Gianluca Margheri featured as "barihunk" in I Puritani article

Italian barihunk Gianluca Margheri was featured in Forum Opera's plug for today's broadcast of Bellini's I Puritani from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Firenze today. The broadcast was on Italian radio Rai 3 and available worldwide. Margheri was singing the role of Lord Walton (apparently with his shirt on!). Performances run through February 15th.

He next heads to Budapest, where he will sing the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni from March 20-26. The last time he performed the role he was shirtless and you can find a clip HERE.

Mariusz Kwiecien returning to Met

Mariusz Kwiecien (Photo: Mikolaj Mikolajczyk)

 On April 17th, Mariusz Kwiecien will return to the Metropolitan Opera in Sandro Sequi’s 1976 production of Bellini's I Puritani. He'll be joined by the sensational tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Arturo, as well as the husband and wife team of soprano Olga Peretyatko and conductor Michele Mariotti.

Mariusz Kwiecien has sung Riccardo with Paris Opera and the Vienna State Opera. Earlier this season, he starred in the title role of the Met’s season-opening new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. A graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he has sung more than 150 Met performances including five roles in new production premieres: Belcore in last season’s L’Elisir d’Amore, the title character in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in 2011, Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen in 2009, Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in 2007, and Dr. Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale in 2006.

Kwiecien made his Met debut as Kuligin in a 1999 revival of Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová and has also starred at the Met in a variety of other roles, most frequently Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème, Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte.

Mariusz Kwiecien as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with Katherine Rohrer in Denver

The April 17 opening performance of I Puritani will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on April 29 and May 3. The April 17 and 29 performances will also be streamed live on the Met’s website.

The May 3 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

After his Met run, Kwiecien returns to his native Poland to perform Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Krakowska from June 6-10. He returns to the U.S. from September 27-October 29 as the title character in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Highlights from Thomas Hampson/Luca Pisaroni Concert

Luca Pisaroni (L) & Thomas Hampson (R)

We recently posted about the much anticipated concert in Heidelberg, Germany featuring Luca Pisaroni and Thomas Hampson. As regular readers will know, not only are these two men some of the most popular barihunks in the world, but they are a father-in-law/son-in-law tandem. They also happen to be two of the greatest singers in the world today.

Luca Pisaroni (L) & Thomas Hampson (R)

For those of you who missed the broadcast, here are the duets from the concerts. We've also added Luca Pisaroni singing "Sorgete... Duce di tanti eroi"  from Rossini's Mamoetto II, which he will be singing at the Santa Fe Opera this summer. A performance that is not to be missed.  You can watch the entire concert at teresa59's YouTube site.

Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni - Il rival salvar... Suoni la tromba (I puritani)

Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni - Restate (Don Carlo)

Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni - Cheti, cheti immantinente (Don Pasquale)

Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni - Uldino...Tardo per gl'anni (Attila)

Luca Pisaroni - Sorgete... Duce di tanti eroi (Mamoetto II)

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Dan Richardson: The Forgotten Barihunk?

Dan Richardson

Sometimes barihunks inadvertently sneak past us even when they're right in our face. In November 2010, we posted about Gabriel Preisser and made a brief mention of Dan Richardson. A reader suggested that he should be featured on Barihunks and we concurred, but for no apparent reason we never did.

Here he is again with the gifted young barihunk Gabriel Preisser singing the famous duet from Bellini's "I Puritani." [Originally posted November 2010]



The Iowa-native recently joined the young artist program at the Florentine Opera Studio [Note to Florentine Opera Studio: You should list the names of your participants].

This past spring, he made his main stage debut with Opera Omaha as Prince Yamadori and the Imperial Commissioner in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Other recent roles include Méphistophélès in Faust with Opera Lousiane, Antonio and Figaro (cover) in Le nozze di Figaro with the Des Moines Metro Opera, and Angelotti in Tosca with the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. He has also performed with the Sarasota Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he performed the role of Don Bartolo for their “Opera in the Neighborhoods” production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

An excerpt of Dan Richardson singing "Il rival salvar tu dei" from Bellini's "I Puritani":



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