Björn Bürger as Papageno and Sofia Fomina as Pamina
You can watch German barihunk Björn Bürger online in the Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s new production of Mozart's Die zauberflöte on the The Telegraph's website. You can watch it live on Sunday, August 4 at 5.35 PM BST/12:35 PM EST/9:35 AM PST and then on demand for seven days until Monday, August 12 at 9.30 AM BST/4:30 AM EST/1:30 AM PST.
Björn Bürger in trailer for Die zauberflöte:
Björn Bürger was previously featured in Glyndebourne's streaming video of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
There are eleven performances at Glyndebourne remaining running through August 24, with an additional performance at the BBC Proms on August 27.
Georg Festl in Pelléas et Mélisande(Photo: Rainer Muranyi)
German barihunk Georg Festl certainly caught the attention of the audience with his sexy, oft-shirtless performance of Golaud in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande at the Theater Freiburg. We thought readers might enjoy seeing a few of the pictures, since the run ended on July 20. This was his role debut.
For those not familiar with the piece, the opera is tragic love triangle involving two noble half-brothers, Golaud and Pelléas, and the enigmatic Mélisande, who comes into their lives unexpectedly after a tremendous and undisclosed personal calamity. She marries Golaud, but he is soon convinced of her illicit union with his brother, and his jealous rage ends in Pélleas’ murder. Mélisande dies after giving birth to a child.
Georg Festl in Pelléas et Mélisande(Photo: Rainer Muranyi)
Festl make his house debut at the Opernhaus Zürich next Spring as Masetto in Don Giovanni in a cast led by fellow barihunk Luca Pisaroni in the title role, Andreas Wolf as Leporello, Wenwei Zhang as the Commendatore, Jane Archibald as Donna Anna, Sine Bundgaard as Donna Elvira, Mauro Peter as Don Ottavio and Natalia Tanasi as Zerlina.
Georg Festl was born in Nuremberg, Germany and studied English and American studies at the University of Music Würzburg. After graduating, he was cast as Artie Green in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard at the Mainfrankentheater Würzburg. He is a recipient of the Richard-Wagner Society scholarship and the Da-Ponte Society scholarship
German barihunk Benjamin Appl, who has become one of the leading lieder recitalists in the world, has announced his first U.S. tour.
He will begin his tour in New York City for three nights at the Park Avenue Armory. On January 6th he will perform Schubert's Die schöne Mülllerin, followed by Schubert's Schwanengesang on January 8th and the composer's Winterreise on January 10th.
He then heads to Portland, Oregon on January 13th, New Orleans on January 15 and 16, Cleveland on January 18 and finally Washington D.C. on January 20th. Those recitals will variously feature music by Schubert, Schreker, Schumann, Duparc, Grieg and Nico Muhly's "The Last Letter," a collection of five songs based on letters sent by soldiers during World War I. The piece was commissioned by the Barbican for Appl in 2015.
He will be joined on the tour by his frequent accompanist James Baillieu.
Samuel Hasselhorn at the Queen Elizabeth Competition
German barihunk Samuel Hasselhorn has won the 2018 International Queen Elisabeth Grand Prize. he will receive 25,000 EUR and guaranteed concerts in Belgium and abroad. In the last two rounds, he performed music by Schumann, Wolf, Schubert, Brahms, Mahler, Mendelssohn as well as "Carlos écoute...Ah, je meurs" from Verdi's Don Carlos.
You can listen to Hasselhorn's final round performance HERE.
Second Prize went to French mezzo Eva Zaïcik and Third Prize went to Chinese bass Ao Li.
Hasselhorn is no stranger to walking away with top honors, as he has previously won the 2018 Emmerich Smola Prize, 2017 Das Lied International Song Competition in Heidelberg, 2015 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, 2013 International Schubert Competition and the “Prix de Lied“ at the 2013 Nadia and Lili Boulanger Competition in Paris.
He has upcoming recitals in Hannover, Germany on May 17th and June 11th. Fans in the U.K. can catch him at Wigmore Hall on June 24th in a program of Beethoven, Schubert, Wolf, Brahms, and Poulenc.
Composer Arnulf Herrmann’s Der Mieter, premiered on November 12th at the Frankfurt Opera with a riveting performance by barihunk Björn Bürger as the suicidal main character Georg.
Arnulf Herrmann's opera is based on Roland Topor's Kafka-esque novel Le locataire chimérique which was made into The Tenant, a psychodrama/thriller movie by Roman Polanski. Unlike the book and film the opera concentrates on being forced to conform to norms by society. The opera's libretto, written by Händl Klaus, delves into the darkest regions of the human psyche probing issues of guilt, paranoia, and sexual obsession.
Herrmann created a haunting soundscape with shattering glass in slow motion, creaking doors, sinking trees, crawling cockroaches and other sounds emanating from forty loud speakers. Bürger's vocal part calls for a wide dramatic range spanning a cappella murmurs to screams of despair.
The opera also features barihunk Sebastian Geyer in two small roles. Additional performances run from November 16-December 7th.
Derek Chester and Marco Vassalli
Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for
purchase HERE.
In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book
this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the
calendar. You can purchase that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!
Germany will have musical celebrations of Martin Luther's Reformation, which occurred 600 years ago this year.
One of our favorites will have its world premiere at an open air concert in Tecklenburg in September with additional performances at the Stadtkirche Westerkappeln on October 14th and 15th, and then in Seligenstadt and Aschaffenburg. The concerts will feature barihunks Marco Vassalli and Malte Roesner in a new piece written by composer Thomas Gabriel and librettist Eugen
Eckert called "Bruder Martin" (Brother Martin). The two singers will be
part of a four soloists backed by orchestra and a massive chorus, which will tell the life
story of Martin Luther in an oratorio-style piece.
Leipzig
is in the midst of a month long celebration of the Reformation
featuring a number of barihunks. On June 12, Felix Schwandtke will
perform music by Johann Rosenmüller at the Nicolaikirsche, Jochen
Kupfer will perform Mendelssohn's Paulus at the Thomaskirsche on June
15th, and on June 18th, Luca Pisaroni will perform Bach's Mass in B-minor at the Thomaskirsche. The entire program is available here.
Felix Schwandtke
On June 17th, barihunk Roman Trekel will perform the debut of
composer Daniel Pacitti and librettist Christian Meißner's new work
"Luther Oratorio" under the baton of Helmuth Rilling at the Berliner
Dom.
The Reformation happened when Martin Luther
rejected several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
He strongly disputed the Catholic view on indulgences as he understood
it to be, that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased
with money. Luther proposed an academic discussion of the practice and
efficacy of indulgences in his 95 Theses of 1517. Luther taught that
salvation and, consequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds
but are received only as the free gift of God's grace through the
believer's faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin. His theology
challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching that the
Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God.
His
translation of the Bible into the vernacular (instead of Latin) made it
more accessible to the laity, an event that had a tremendous impact on
both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a
standard version of the German language, added several principles to the
art of translation, and influenced the writing of an English
translation, the Tyndale Bible. His hymns influenced the development of
singing in Protestant churches. His marriage to Katharina von Bora, a
former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing
Protestant clergy to marry.
Malte Roesner photographed in Montreuil-Bellay, France
Barihunk Malte Roesner will make his North American debut in Soler's The Chastity Tree with West Edge Opera from August 6-19.
Despite being born in New York City, Roesner was raised in Germany and has focused his career in Europe. During his decade as a fest singer at the Staatstheater Braunschweig he portrayed more than fifty roles in the baritone repertory. He took some time off to retrain as a basso cantante and auditioned in the United States last year, eventually landing one of the few principle roles for a bass, Doristo in The Chastity Tree. (We've been told that two other U.S. announcements are forthcoming).
The two-time winner of the Richard-Wagner-Foundation scholarship will be joined by an all-star cast led by sopranos Christine Brandes as Cupid and Nikki Einfeld as Diana. The gifted accompanist Robert Mollicone will conduct.
This is Spanish composer Vicente Martín y Soler's most famous work and is also known by its original title L'arbore di Diana. In the last decade, the opera has been performed in Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, Montpelier (France) and Minneapolis. Barihunks Marco Vinco and Giorgio Caoduro have both sung the role of Doristo.
The piece is of the three operas that he composed during Soler's sojourn at the court in Vienna, with the libretto by Italian Lorenzo Da Ponte, who was also author of three librettos for the Austrian composer Mozart. Da Ponte created a story from a legend that tells the tale of how Diana, the Greek god of chastity, falls in love with the shepherd Endymion. The plot —halfway between pastoral literature and erotic comedy also praises the political openness of the Archduke Joseph II of Austria.
The work was enthusiastically received with 70 performances in the three years after its premiere.
West Edge Opera's summer festival will also include Thomas' Hamlet with barihunk Eddie Nelson and Libby Larsen's Frankenstein with barihunk Josh Quinn. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.
Thank you again to our readers, who keep this site alive and thriving. Your purchases of our calendars and tee shirts goes to supporting young artists and opera projects.
BEST NEW OPERA (tie): Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's Breaking the Waves
John Moore, Kiera Duffy and the cast of Breaking the Waves
Barihunk John Moore performed in the premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's Breaking the Waves at Opera Philadelphia and then reprised his role at the PROTOTYPE Festival along
with co-star Kiera Duffy.
The
opera is based on the Oscar-nominated 1996 film by Lars von Trier and tells of the story of a woman's sexual desires and confessions after her husband becomes paralyzed. The opera was performed with a "mature audience" warning in Philadelphia, as it involved nudity from the leads. More importantly, the opera is a riveting piece of theater.
BEST NEW OPERA (tie): JFK at Forth Worth Opera
Daniel Okulitch as LBJ and Matt Worth as JFK
The Fort Worth Opera, in
collaboration with the American Lyric Theater, debuted David T. Little and Royce Vavrek's JFK in April to rave reviews. The opera, which starred barihunks Matthew Worth as JFK and Daniel Okulitch as LBJ, tells of the final twelve hours of President John F. Kennedy's life. Okulitch performed a memorable and scene stealing, comic piece stripped down to his Texas flag inspired underwear.
Fort Worth was a fitting setting for the opera, as it was the last place that the
President slept before being gunned down in Dallas. JFK left the Hotel
Texas (now the Fort Worth Hilton) on the rain-soaked morning of November
22, 1963, and spoke to thousands who had waited in the rain to hear him
speak. Those remarks were to be his final public speech.
HOTTEST NEW BARIHUNK TO THE SITE: Basque Barihunk Vincent Simonet
Basque barihunk Vincent Simonet
Our hearts starting racing when we saw these pictures of Basque barihunk Vincent Simonet by photographer and fellow barihunk JF l'Oiseleur des Longchamps. Simonet is a decendent of the famous 19th century baritone Paul Barroilhet (aka
Paolo Barroilhet), whose bust still graces the Opera Garnier in Paris.
This summer he performed Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Centre Européen de Musique. He was asked by French composer Philippe Mazé to sing at the 100-year anniversary of the Cathedral of Monaco (Saint Nicholas Cathedral). The cathedral is home to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monaco where many of the Grimaldis are buried, including Prince Rainier III and his wife Grace Kelly.
Simonet is also one of the initiators of the charity recital "Ensemble pour les Enfants Malades" (Recital for the Sick Children) which is a benefit for the Pediatric Immuno-Hematology Department at the Hôpital Necker de Paris. We love a barihunk who does charity work!
HOTTEST PERFORMANCE: Hadleigh Adams in Powder Her Face at West Edge Opera
Hadleigh Adams as The Duke in Powder Her Face
West Edge Opera, situated across the Bay from it's big budget sister San Francisco Opera, continues to make waves with the most innovative and thrilling productions anywhere. Under the inspired leadership of Mark Streshinsky they have made the Top 10 lists of virtually every music critic on the West Coast. Their productions, which take place in old abandoned train station (where portions of the movie RENT were filmed), are so popular that they often have to add performances.
Such was the case with Thomas Adès' provocative Powder Her Face starring barihunk Hadleigh Adams, hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock and sexy soprano Emma McNairy, who previously made waves with her sizzling Lulu with the company. Adams sang the roles of the vapid Duke (for which he strips down completely!), the condescending hotel manager, and the hypocritical judge who condemns the Duchess.
The opera was brilliantly directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer, which the Financial Times dubbed "buoyant" and "exhilirating."
Upcoming performance for Adams include Jonathan Dove's Flight with Opera Parallèle and Puccini's La fanciulla del West with the Michigan Opera Theater.
Ryan McKinny as Amfortas
We have to give a close runner-up mention to Ryan McKinny as Amfortas in Bayreuth's Parsifal. If you can look this sexy in a "man diaper" then you deserve some credit.
BEST BARIHUNK CHARITY WORK: Michael Hewitt/Cancer Research
Michael Hewitt (from our calendar and buffing up for charity work!)
Barihunk Michael Hewitt took to crowd sourcing to raise $3000 for The Decath10n, which raised money for pediatric cancer research at the University of Texas MD Anderson
Cancer Center in Houston. (Full disclosure: Barihunks contributed to the effort).
Michael is also featured in July in our 2017 "Barihunks in Bed" calendar. He will make his company debut with the Glimmerglass Opera in 2017 in the role of Jud Fry in Oklahoma!
Hewitt also has a fitness website and he says that consistency is the key to staying in shape and that you can't outwork a poor diet.
BEST NEW SOLO WORK FOR BARITONE: Clint Borzoni's Two German Songs for Baritone and String Quartet, sung by Marco Vassalli
Composer Clint Borzoni and barihunk Marco Vassalli worked on this commission over Skype after the German singer chose Hermann Hesse's Stufen and Hilde Domin's Margere Kost for his text. Musica Marin presented the works, which were inspired by adding something other than Samuel Barber's Dover Beach to the repertory for baritone and string quartet. Vassalli performed all three pieces at two sold out concerts in the former home of Ansel Adams in San Francisco.
Borzoni, one of the most talented young composers on the scene is now Musica Marin's "Composer-in-Residence." Barihunk Edward Nelson will perform the composer's new arrangement of his aria "Two Nooses" from his opera When Adonis Calls, arranged for baritone, viola, cello and piano. Borzoni's opera The Copper Queen won the Arizona Opera's award for best new opera.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN AN OPERETTA: Dominik Köninger in Oscar Straus' The Pearls of Cleopatra
Dominik Köninger
What would a Barihunk "Best of..." list be without German barihunk Dominik Köninger? He made our list again by giving the funniest performance of the year as the Roman Officer in Oscar Straus' The Pearls of Cleopatra(Die Perlen der Cleopatra) at the Komische Oper in Berlin.
The operetta has been on the shelves for more than eighty
years and was written before the composer fled the Nazi Anschluss in 1939. As the Roman Officer, Köninger is shown in some pretty sexy situations and there also plenty of scantily clad,
energetic performers on stage, adding to the lively Cabaret feel of the
pre-Nazi Weimar Republic.
The operetta is viewable on the OperaPlatform. We sure hope that someone else produces this work using this Barrie Kosky production, which is perfect in every way.
BEST "OVERNIGHT SENSATION": Björn Bürger
Björn Bürger as Don Giovanni and the Barber
We've been keeping our eye on German barihunk Björn Bürger since 2014, when he caught our eyes and ears at the Mirjam Helin Competition. We continued to be impressed by him as an ensemble member at the Frankfurt Oper, where he performed Pelléas, Schaunard, Plunkett in Martha, Curio in Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Frank and Fritz in Die Tote Stadt. Count Almaviva, Masetto and Owen Wingrave. But we really began to take note with his sexy portrayal in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni at Den Norske Opera.
There is no such thing as an overnight sensation, as years of coaching, training and performing goes into any singer's career, but Bürger may have had just such a moment this year. His performance in the title role of Rossini's Barber of Seville at the Glyndebourne Festival was the talk of the town, where his cast mates included Taylor Stayton as Almaviva and Danielle de Niese as Rosina.
The Guardian said that Bürger "dominates with singing of great bravado and warmth," while The Express wrote that he sang "beautifully...and acted with impressive energy.' Mark
Valencia in What's on Stage wrote, "The handsome young baritone exudes
elegant bonhomie and fourth-wall-breaking razzle-dazzle, and he delivers
Rossini's tongue-twisters with an eloquence it would be hard to
better."
BEST APPEARANCE IN AN ADULT MAGAZINE: Edward Miskie in Britain's Mascular Magazine
Edward Miskie (right) in Mascular Magazine
Edward Miskie, who has appeared in our Barihunks Calendar for the last two years, was asked to pose for the UK's erotic art magazine Mascular Magazine. The
magazine is geared toward those who love bears (and we have a ton of readers who fit that category!)
However, Miskie shows more skin in our new calendar than he did in his photoshoot with Brooklyn-based photographer Ron Amato for the magazine's feature entitled "Pride." Whether in a suit or staring out shirtless from his bed, this is one sexy man who holds his own with any of the models in Mascular Magazine. Check it out for yourself.
BEST JOKE THAT WE PLAYED ON READERS: Nathan Gunn and Anna Netrebko appearing in Wagner's Ring at the MET
Nathan Gunn would make one sexy Wotan. Check out that spear.
Barihunk Zachary Luchetti penned an April Fool's Day joke for us claiming that Nathan Gunn and Anna Netrebko would be appearing the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Wagner's Ring as Brünnhilde and Wotan. Luchetti is one of the most entertaining and original personalities in the industry and we loved running with this gag. It was worth it just for the emails from people outraged that this duo would take on role "obviously ill-suited to their voices," as one reader wrote. This is why one should read every post to the end (especially on April 1st).
BEST INTERVIEW: Malte Roesner discussing fitness routineand his fach change
Malte Roesner
When we first met Malte Roesner in France last year, he was singing as a
baritone and wrapping up a decade long run at the Staatstheater
Braunschweig (State Theater of Brunswick). Since that time, he has gone
through a fach change to bass and recently came to California for a series of auditions. We will have an exciting update about his upcoming U.S. debut(s) in a future post. (Yes, debut may be plural).
He is featured prominently in both our 2016 calendar and our "2017 Barihunks in Bed" calendar.Roesner, who is one of the most intelligent singers on the scene, also translates operas, having translated both Jake Heggie's For a Look or a Touch and Jonathan Dove's Mansfield Park from English to German.
In our interview with him, the always fascinating singer discussed his recent fach change from baritone to bass, his workout routine, his month-long audition tour in the US and why it's “all about the bass.” You can read the entire interview HERE.
BEST WEIGHT LOSS: Lucas Meachem
Lucas Meachem
When we posted an interview with barihunk Lucas Meachem about his recent weight loss it went viral and jumped to one of our ten most viewed posts ever (and the top post that didn't reveal any "skin")!!!
Prompted by being forced to deal with high cholesterol and the new age of HD opera broadcasts, Meachem took his wife's advice and switched to a plant-based diet, which led to an amazing physical transformation.
When he took the stage as Doctor Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale at the San Francisco Opera, Meachem had slimmed down a remarkable 45 pounds (20.4 kilos). He also sounded as luxurious and resonant as ever.
He told us, "I used to rail against the system for it's
unfairness that weight is even an issue when it came to my voice. For me
vocal prowess should be the main determining factor of an opera singer
but I realized that I couldn't play by those rules anymore. The fact is
it's easier to change yourself than the system. So instead of resisting,
I decided to change myself."
On an unrelated note, Meachem won the San Francisco Opera's inaugural "Emerging Star of the Year" competition, whose goal is to engage the community in
the thrill of experiencing artists on the cusp of greatness, and to
build awareness among the broader opera-going public of San Francisco
Opera's leadership in nurturing and showcasing new talent.
BEST GATHERING OF A BARIHUNK SEXTET IN ONE PLACE (tie): A Midsummer Night's Dream atTeatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona and Lakes Area Music Festival
Prior to 2016, the most barihunks that we had ever featured on one stage at the same time was four. It seemed like this year at least two companies decided to blow that number out of the water, as both the Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona and the Lakes Area Music Festival decided to present operas with SIX barihunks performing together.
Zachary Altman and Nicholas Masters (top); Dario Shikhmiri, Rocco Cavalluzzi, Federico Benetti and Paolo Ingrasciotta (bottom l-r)
The cast list for Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream
at the Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona, included Zachary Altman as Bottom, Nicholas Masters
as Quince, Dario Shikhmiri as Starveling, Rocco Cavalluzzi as Snug,
Federico Benetti as Theseus and Paolo Ingrasciotta as Demetrius.
Eric Broker, Andrew Lovato, Sam Parkinson, John Taylor Ward, Rodolfo Nieto and Benjamin Sieverding
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe the Lakes Area Music Festival's production of the same opera included John Taylor Ward as Bottom, Andrew Lovato as
Demetrius, Rodolfo Nieto as Theseus, Benjamin Sieverding as Quince, Eric
Broker as Starveling and Sam Parkinson as Snug. John Taylor Ward not
only performed in the opera, but he serves as Associate Artistic Director
of the company and wrote the program notes.
All we have to say for 2017, is bring us more performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
BEST SHIRTLESS APPEARANCE: Alessio Arduini in Così fan tutte
Alessio Arduini in Così fan tutte
We don't know how this site could survive without streaming video from opera houses around the world, as it continues to be an endless source of content and visual and audio excitement.
Imagine our reaction when we watched the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of the Royal Opera House production of Mozart's Così fan tutte with a shirtless Alessio Arduni asGuglielmo. German director Jan Philipp Gloger made his house debut with the new production using librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte’s alternative title for the opera: "The School for Lovers." The ROH cast a vocally and visually impressive cast to live up to the title, which included Corinne Winters as Fiordiligi, Angela Brower as Dorabella, Daniele Behle as Ferrando, Johannes Martin Kränzle as Don Alfonso and Sabina Puértolas as Despina.
Arduini is currently performing Marcello at the Metropolitan Opera on Januray 6,11 and 14.
SEXIEST SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT: Zachary Gordin on Instagram
Zachary Gordin on Instagram
If you're not one of Zachary Gordin's 1,450 followers on Instagram (zgordin) then you're missing out on some of the best barihunk shots on the internet. Gordin's site alternates personal posts with images from performances and his brutal gym workouts.
The fitness buff also serves on the voice faculty of Sonoma State University and operates a private vocal studio in the San Francisco Bay Area. Upcoming performances include "Mozart at the Opera" with the Youth Orchestra of San Antonio on January 22 and a recital with accompanist Brian Nies at the Green Music Center in Sonoma.
We particularly love him because he includes us in his bio, "Gordin is also widely recognized as the face of the website Barihunks, which celebrates physically fit and vocally-talented operatic baritones from around the globe."
THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL OF OUR READERS, AS 2017 WILL MARK OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY. WE REMAIN COMMITTED TO PROMOTING SINGERS IN THE BARITONE TO BASS RANGE AND ENCOURAGING AND FUNDING NEW REPERTORY FOR THOSE VOICES.
Barihunk Benjamin Appl has won Gramophone Magazine's coveted "Young Artist of the Year" award. James Jolly of Gramophone wrote the following in his nomination for Appl's award:
For the past few years, British music-lovers have been aware of a major new singing talent in their midst, Benjamin Appl. Listeners to BBC Radio 3 have had a particularly privileged ring-side seat as this young German baritone was a New Generation Artist for the class of 2014-16; but he’s an increasingly visible figure on the concert scene, and once seen – tall, blond, handsome and with a commanding stage presence – he’s not easily forgotten. The last private pupil of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (there’s a YouTube clip of the two baritones, nearly a half century apart in age, working on Lieder together), Appl has been named an ECHO Rising Star and, earlier this year, he signed a contract with Sony Classical, the first fruits of which will appear early next year.
Benjamin Appl accepting his Grammophone award (Photo: Benjamin Ealovega)
Appl has appeared on a number of recordings, often alongside other singers – in the Mendelssohn song series with the pianist Malcolm Martineau for Champs Hill or in songs by Schumann alongside Ann Murray for Linn (‘With clear, incisive diction, he characterises vividly in the narrative “Ballade des Harfners” and catches both the Lear-like weariness of soul and the accusatory bitterness of “Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt”, wrote Richard Wigmore in March last year). But 2016 saw the appearance of his first two solo recordings.
Champs Hill’s May release, entitled ‘Stunden, Tage, Ewigkeiten’, linked Schumann’s song-cycle Dichterliebe with other songs to words by Heine. As Richard Fairman wrote, ‘Appl has a baritone voice with its own character and a natural appreciation of the essentials of singing Lieder’. Barely a month passed before his next disc, a Wigmore Hall Live recording – with Graham Johnson at the piano (Appl has worked with just about every major accompanist on the British scene) – of Lieder by Schubert. Hugo Shirley, who reviewed it, felt a marked advance even on that first disc: ‘His instinctive feel for these songs is immediately striking and manifests itself in the sort of artlessness that distinguishes the finest Lieder singers: a lack of tension, an easy relationship with the poetry, a confidence in the words and Schubert’s melodies to communicate with nothing but the gentlest helping interpretative hand.’
This young singer has huge potential and we look forward to following the exciting journey that lies ahead. As Richard Fairman concluded, in his May review: ‘Sample his debut solo disc and you will hear the current front-runner in the next generation of Lieder singers.’
Barihunk Holger Falk just completed a run at the Bregenz Festival in Miroslav Srnka’s new opera Make No Noise. The chamber opera, which based on Isabel Coixet's "The secret life of words," is about the search for communication between people.
Make No Noise tells the story of a young woman who is caring for a man
seriously injured in a fire on an oil platform. She is almost deaf, and
he bears the blame for the death of his best friend who died in the fire
on the platform. Neither has any words for the events which have
altered their lives abruptly. Both have found a bearable way of dealing
with their respective pasts – silence. When they meet on the shut down
oil rig, they sense in their unique connection a way of being able to
live with their traumas.
"Make No Noise" with Holger Falk and Okka von der Damerau:
Holger Falk, who is new to this site, began singing as a boy with the famous Regensburg Cathedral Boy's Choir. He studied voice at the Würzburg Conservatory in Milano, including work with the great tenor Franco Corelli. He has performed in many of the great theaters of Europe, including the Theatre de la Monnaie Brussels, Theatre Champs Elysées Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, National Opera Warsaw and Oper Frankfurt.
He was the first singer to record all 115 mélodies of Francis Poulenc for male voice. He has also recorded lieder by Wolfgang Rihm, Franz Schubert, Josef Matthias Hauer and Eric Satie. He won the prestigious Echo Klassik Award in 2016 for his Satie recording.
Roman Grübner began his musical studies at age seven at the the Balettausbildung Staatstheater Schwerin studying piano and voice. At 16, he won the second prize of an all-German youth competition. He continued his studies at the Academy of Music "Hans Eissler" and the Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach Gymnasium of Music in Berlin.
From 2007 to 2009, Grübner was an ensemble member at the Mecklenburg State Theatre in Schwerin, where he sang Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Mercutio in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Figaro in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Morales in Bizet’s Carmen. He been a featured guest artist at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and part of the ensemble at the Stadttheater St Gallen, where he performed Harlekin an Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, Roberto in Mozart's La finta giardiniera, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Pappacoda in Johann Strauss’ Eine Nacht in Venedig.
Roman Grübner
In 2009, he made his debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio conducted by Roy Goodman. The following year, he returned to perform Bach’s St Matthew Passion. At the Berlin Philharmonic, he’s performed Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Puccini’s Messe di Gloria and Mendelssohn’s Paulus.
His
songs repertoire includes more than 350 songs by Schubert, Wolf,
Richard Strauss, Mahler and Grieg. He can be seen on the DVD of Richard
Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos starring Renee Fleming and conducted by
Christian Thielemann.
Grübner has also worked as an
actor and model. He'll also be appearing in our 10th Anniversary
"Barihunks in Bed" commemorative calendar.
Oper Stuttgart is reviving Philippe Boesmans’ REIGEN in celebration of the Belgian composer's 80th birthday. In 1993, he paired up with director Luc Bondy and turned Arthur Schnitzler’s controversial drama into an opera.
The 1900 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler's created a bit of a scandal when it was first published. The play depicts men and women of various social classes through ten
sexual encounters that work their way like a relay back to the same
prostitute who is seen in the first encounter. Although the play spoke about class and society in turn-of-the-century Vienna, it is also a universal story about the attitudes, tensions and relationships
between the sexes. The circular narrative speaks first the prostitute and the soldier, then the soldier and the
chambermaid, the chambermaid and a young man, until finally the Count
meets up again with the prostitute.
Oper Stuttgart's trailer for REIGEN:
The Count in this production is sung by André Morsch, who only appeared briefly on this site on a post about Don Giovanni. The German singer began his studies in Austria before moving on to the Amsterdam Conservatory and The New Opera Academy in The Hague. He was the winner of the prestigious 'Internationaler Wettbewerb für
Liedkunst' in Stuttgart where he also received the Hermann- Reutter-
Prize after previously winning the Prix Bernac at the Ravel Academie in
Saint Jean de Luz.
André Morsch sings Schumann, Fauré and Ravel:
Since September 2011, he has been a member of the ensemble at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart, where he has sung Figaro in Mozart's Le
Nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Harlekin in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Dandini in
Rossini's La Cenerentola. In 2005 he was part of Le jardin des Voix, led by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants. He appears on a number of CDs and DVDs, including a performance of title role in Lully’s Cadmus et Hermione at the Opera Comique in Paris, which won the 2009 Diapason d'Or as DVD of the year.
You can watch REIGEN online beginning on May 6 at The Opera Platform. Live performances run from April 24 through June 6 and tickets are available online.
Bastian Thomas Kohl, who we introduced to readers back in September, will be performing Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni along with fellow barihunk John Chest at the Nantes-Angers Opera from March 4-May 8. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.
Kohl, began his musical career at the age of four and
received his formal training at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig and in Vienna at the Universität
für Musik und darstellende Kunst.
His international career began at the age of nineteen as a member of
the Opernchor Leipzig appearing frequently with Gewandhausorchester
under the direction of Riccardo Chailly. Kohl, who has been a member of the ensemble at the Opernhaus Zürich since the 2014-15 season, will be performing Der König in Schiphorst's Die Gánsemagd, an Armored Man in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Narumov in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades.
John Chest
Upcoming performances for John Chest include the Marchese d'Obigny in Verdi's La traviata at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Albert in Massenet's Werther at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Valentin in Gounod's Faust at the Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse with fellow barihunk Alex Esposito as Méphistophélès. He is a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
The Angers-Nantes Opéra was created in January 2003 through the merger of the opera companies of Angers and of Nantes. The company uses a variety of performance spaces in the two cities, and across the region, but the main spaces are the 728-seat Grand Théâtre in Angers, and the 784-seat Théâtre Graslin in Nantes.
A shot from Marco Vassalli's recent California photo shoot
KDFC, San Francisco's premiere classical music station, did a great feature on Marco Vassalli's US debut this weekend with Musica Marin in San Francisco, which you can listen to HERE. They attended a rehearsal of the world premiere of the new Clint
Borzoni songs for String Quartet & Baritone that the German-Italian singer is performing in a salon-like in the former home of Ansel Adams near the Golden Gate Bridge. Vassalli chose Hermann Hesse's Stufen and Hilde Domin's Margere Kost,
making these the first German language texts set by the composer.
Vassalli will also be performing lieder by Schubert and Richard Strauss, Italian songs by Tosti and Samuel Barber's Dover Beach, which is also scored for string quartet and baritone. He'll be joined in the lieder/song sets by Ronny Michael Goldberg, an accompanist and coach with the San Francisco Opera's Adler Fellow Program.
Marco Vassalli rehearsing Clint Borzoni's Stufen with Musica Marin
Borzoni, one of the most talented of many gifted American composers on the scene, recently completed his fourth opera, When Adonis Calls,
based on the poetry of Gavin Dillard and arranged by John de los Santos. The opera was presented at
Fort Worth Opera’s 2015 Frontiers Showcase. He is currently working on his fifth opera, The Copper Queen, also with librettist John de los Santos for Arizona Opera’s program, Arizona Spark.
Vassalli just wrapped up a performance of Leonard Bernstein's Candide at the Staatsoper Hannover. He grew up on Lake Constance and
began his studies at the Hochschule fur Musik in Cologne, where he
studied with the famed soprano Edda Moser.
Marco Vassalli(left)and Ronny Michael Greenberg (far right)
Rehearsals kicked off for the upcoming U.S. debut of Marco Vassalli with Musica Marin, who is performing the world premiere of the new Clint
Borzoni songs for String Quartet & Baritone along with songs by Schubert, Richard Strauss and Tosti. He'll also be performing Samuel Barber's beautiful and moving Dover Beach, one of the few other pieces scored for String Quartet & Baritone.
Portions of this concert were funded by sales of the 2016 Barihunks calendar, so we would like to personally thank everyone who bought a calendar! Every year we donate proceeds to promote young artists and works written for baritone or bass. This year, we plan on funding a special baritone/bass prize at a major singing competition.
Vassalli's debut performances with Musica Marin are on Friday, January 22 and Sunday, January 24 in San
Francisco. The German-Italian baritone kicked off rehearsals with accompanist Ronny Michael Greenberg, a current Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera and former participant in the Merola Opera Program. The Sunday matinee is almost sold out, but there are still tickets for
the Friday night performance. Tickets for both shows are available on
the Musica Marin website.
Here is a sneak preview of them rehearsing Schubert's Nacht und Träume.
Rehearsals for the Borzoni songs with texts chosen by Vassalli begin on Monday with the composer and members of the Musica Marin quartet led by Ruth Kahn. Vassalli chose Hermann Hesse's Stufen and Hilde Domin's Margere Kost, making these the first German language texts set by the composer. Our first charity calendar helped fund a performance of Borzoni's beautiful setting of Walt Whitman's "I Dream’d in a Dream" sung by Randal Turner, which you can listen to HERE.
Borzoni, one of the most talented of many gifted American composers on the scene, recently completed his fourth opera, When Adonis Calls,
based on the poetry of Gavin Dillard and arranged by John de los Santos. The opera was presented at
Fort Worth Opera’s 2015 Frontiers Showcase. He is currently working on his fifth opera, The Copper Queen, also with librettist John de los Santos for Arizona Opera’s program, Arizona Spark.
Vassalli just wrapped up a performance of Leonard Bernstein's Candide at the Staatsoper Hannover. He grew up on Lake Constance and
began his studies at the Hochschule fur Musik in Cologne, where he
studied with the famed soprano Edda Moser.
Malte Roesner and Milda Tubelytė in Mansfield Park
We finally have pictures of Barihunks calendar model Malte Roesner as Edmund Bertram from Jonathan Dove's Mansfield Park, which opened on December 5th at the Staatstheater Braunschweig and has additional performances on January 2 and 10, and February 21 and 26. Tickets are available online.
The multi-talented Roesner also translated the libretto from
English into German, which he also recently did with Jake Heggie's
Holocaust themed opera For a Look or a Touch.
The 18-scene chamber opera is based on the 1814 novel by Jane Austen. It's the story
of Fanny Price, a Cinderella-like heroine, who quietly negotiates her
way through the moral perils of early nineteenth century high society,
from landscape gardening and amateur theatricals to balls and arranged
marriages, and wins the hand of the man she has loved all her life.
Edmund Bertram is the lead character of the novel. He intends to be a
clergyman is known for his kindness and generosity towards Fanny,
distinguishing him from the rest of his
family, who tend to exploit her good nature and mock her less
privileged upbringing.
Malte Roesner, : Solen Mainguené and Milda Tubelytė in Mansfield Park
The opera will be heard in the United States on March 18, 19 and 20 at the Indianapolis Opera with barihunk Gregory Gerbrandt taking on the role of Edmund Bertram. Additional information is available online.
Malte Roesner is prominently featured in our 2016 Barihunks Charity
Calendar, which is on sale for only two more weeks. Roesner's photos were shot in and around Montreuil-Bellay in the heart of France's Loire Valley this summer.
German barihunks Malte Roesner & Marco Vassalli from the 2016 Barihunks Calendar
All of the proceeds from the calendar are going to fund the creation of the
Foundation for the Advancement of Baritones (FAB), which will promote
new music for low voices, assist artists financially and fund a baritone
prize at a competition to be named in January. You can purchase a calendar HERE in time for the New Year. ORDER NOW and help support young artists and the future of opera.
Ever wanted to play Santa Claus for a sexy barihunk? Well, now is your chance to give the gift of an American recital debut for Italian-German barihunk Marco Vassalli. He is selling calendars to raise funds for his much anticipated U.S. debut with Musica Marin in a concert that includes
the world premiere of two Clint Borzoni songs. The calendar is available HERE and $10.40 of every sale goes towards his expenses to come to America.
The texts of
these songs were selected by and written for the singer and are written
for string quartet and baritone. Vassalli chose Hermann Hesse's Stufen and Hilde Domin's Margere Kost.
Borzoni and Vassalli have never met in person and worked on the songs
together over Facebook video and Skype. San Francisco's Bay Area
Reporter broke the news in a recent article, which you can read HERE.
Marco Vassalli discusses why he chose two poems for his US debut:
The premiere is being funded with an Indiegogo campaign
that launched today. Some of the perks include having one of the songs
dedicated to you, a signed page from the composer's notebook, copies of
Vassalli's CD of Italian songs and access to numerous private events and
concerts. All of the proceeds will also be used to fund the world premiere of the Borzoni songs.
Marco Vassalli sings Mendelssohn's "Es ist genug":
If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can attend the concerts, which will be held in a private home in one of the City's most beautiful neighborhoods overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Tickets for the Friday, Janyary 22nd concert at 7 PM are available HERE and for the Sunday, January 24 matinee at 3PM you can click HERE.
German barihunk Benjamin Appl will be on tour from November 15-23 accompanied by pianist Gary Matthewman. The tour will take him to Abbeystrewry Church in Skibbereen, Station House Theatre in Clifden, Hugh Lane Galler in Dublin, Tipperary Excel Center, Triskel Christchurch in Cork, the Pavillion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire and Warrenpoint Town Hall in Down.
The program will included selections from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute, as well as arias from Lehár’s The Merry Widow and Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. Appl will also offer a selection of songs by Mendelssohn, Poulenc, Schubert and a newly commissioned work from Irish composer Marian Ingoldsby.
Benjamin Appl sing Ungeduld from Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin:
Following his debut at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall earlier
this year, Appl appeared with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in
September in a performance of Mahlers' Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.
The last-ever student of the great
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, he was awarded the prestigious Schubert Prize
by the Deutsche Schubert-Gesellschaf in 2012.
IF YOU LOVE BEAUTIFUL BARITONES, MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR
Marco Vassalli with Malte Roesner in the 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar
Despite being mentioned in a couple of our posts, we've never properly introduced barihunk Marco Vassalli, who appears on the cover of our 2016 Barihunks Calendar, as well in in June and October. He is currently performing in Leonard Bernstein's Candide at the Staatsoper Hannover through January 6th. He then heads to California to perform with Musica Marin in the world premiere of two works by composer Clint Borzoni for baritone and string quartet, one based on Herman Hesse's Stufe and the other on Hilde Domin's Magere Kost.
Marco Vassalli is a German singer born of Italian roots. He
grew up on Lake Constance and began his studies at the
Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, where he studied with the famed soprano Edda Moser. In October 2002, he finished his
graduate studies there with honors.
Marco Vassalli in the 2016 Barihunks Calendar
He has established himself as a refined singer of sacred music, having performed Bach's St. Matthew's Passion, St. John's Passion, Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, as well as Haydn's Die Schöpfung,
Handel's Messiah, Fauré's Requiem, Verdi's Requiem and Duruflé's Requiem.
On the stage, he's performed Damilo in Lehar's The Merry Widow, Dr. Falke in Johann Straus' Die Fledermaus, Marcello in Puccini's La bohème, Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Pelléas in Debussy's Pelléas et Melisande, Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di
Figaro, Doctor Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Wolfram
von Eschenbach in Wagner's Tannhäuser.
In the Spring of 2016, he will sing Roman Cykowski in the Comedien
Harmonistas at the Theater Osnambrück before performing Schubert's
Winterreise in Braunschweig and Königsluter
He appears on a number of recordings, including Lehár's Der Graf von Luxemburg, Gounod's La nonne sanglante, Wagner's Parsifal and his solo album of Italian songs, VIAGGIO D'AMORE.
ORDER YOUR BARIHUNKS CALENDAR FEATURING MARCO VASSALLI NOW!
