Roberto Tagliavini(Photos courtesy of Arena di Verona)
Italian bass-barihunk Roberto Tagliavini will make his debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Verdi’s Il trovatore as Ferrando, which opens today and runs through December 9th.
He'll be joined by another singer making his house debut, the amazing Polish baritone Artur Ruciński, who is sing the Count di Luna. The rest of the all-star cast includes tenor Russell Thomas as Manrico, soprano Tamara Wilson as Leonora, and mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as the tortured gypsy Azucena,
Upcoming performances for Tagliavini include Pagano in Verdi's I Lombardi at Opera de la ABAO in January, Zaccaria in Verdi's Nabucco at the Bavarian State Opera and Basilio in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia in Parma.
Another famous singer with the same last name, Ferruccio Tagliavini, who was one of the greatest tenors of his era, made his U.S. debut in Chicago as Rodolfo in 1946.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky is back performing regularly after undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. He briefly returned to the stage on September 25, 29 and October 3 to sing some of his scheduled performances of Count di Luna in Verdi's Il trovatore at The Met. The outpouring of love for the Siberian barihunk has been universal, as he's been met with thunderous applause wherever he's gone and social media was filled with "get well" wishes.
On October 12, Russian president Vladimir Putin awarded him the Order of Alexander Nevsky, one of the country's highest honors.
On October 29th he made a triumphant return to the concert stage joined by mezzo Elīna Garanča at the Kremlin Palace. which they repeated on November 2. They sang selections from Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, Il trovatore, La favorita, The Merry Widow and Don Giovanni. You can watch the concert below. You won't want to miss his encore, which was so moving that Elīna Garanča had to wipe away her tears.
On
November 18th, he joins fellow barihunk Ildar Abdrazakov at the Bashkir
Opera. He returns to the stage on December 19, when he appears in the
title role of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House in London.
He returns to the US stage on February 3rd as Count di Luna in Verdi's Il trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera. This
is a reprise of the role he first performed after cancer treatment at
The Met on September 25, 29 and October 3 of this year.
MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR BEFORE THE HOLIDAY RUSH; 18 OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST SINGER FROM 9 COUNTRIES.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed the Order of Alexander Nevsky on über-barihunk Dmitri Hvorostovsky. The award is given for exceptional artistry over a period of 20 years or more.
Hvorostovsky has received an outpouring of worldwide love since he revealed earlier this year that he was receiving treatment in London for a brain tumor.
He will next appear on Ocotber 29th with mezzo Elīna Garanča in a concert at the Kremlin Palace, which will be repeated on November 2. On November 18th, he joins fellow barihunk Ildar Abdrazakov at the Bashkir Opera. He returns to the stage on December 19, when he appears in the title role of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House in London.
He returns to the US stage on February 3rd as Count di Luna in Verdi's Il trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera. This is a reprise of the role he first performed after cancer treatment at The Met on September 25, 29 and October 3 of this year.
DISCLOSURE: Barihunks deliberately stays out of political issues.
We are well aware of the fact the Vladimir Putin and Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad are meeting today. This post is solely intended to honor
Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR BEFORE THE HOLIDAY RUSH; 18 OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST SINGER FROM 9 COUNTRIES.
Dmitry Hvorostovsky in Il Trovatore and the Anvil Chorus
Dmitry Hvorostovsky makes his return to the stage on September 25th in the Met's Il Trovatore after being treated for brain cancer in London. He'll be joined by Anna Netrebko as the heroine Leonora, Dolora Zajick as the gypsy Azucena, Yonghoon Lee as Manrico and Štefan Kocán as Ferrando. He'll perform through February 13th when he'll be replaced by Vitaliy Bilyy for the remaining performances. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.
Dmitry Hvorostovsky in Il Trovatore
The October 3 performance will launch the tenth season of the Met’s Live in HD series when it is transmitted to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world. Hvorostovsky has sung Count di Luna in two previous seasons at the Met, including the premiere of David McVicar’s staging. He made his Met debut in 1995 as Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. Since then, he has sung over 170 performances with the company including Verdi roles such as Anckarström in Un Ballo in Maschera, Rodrigo in Don Carlo, the title role in Rigoletto, Germont in La Traviata, and Don Carlo in Ernani.
Later this season, he will sing a recital at Carnegie Hall and star as the title character in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.
The Ravenna Festival is kicking off on November 8th with a gala concert of music from Mozart and Verdi. The next day they will launch "Trilogia D'Autunno" (Autumn Trilogy) which will feature three of Verdi's most popular operas: La traviata, Il Trovatore and Rigoletto. Barihunk Luca Dall'Amico will be featured in both Rigoletto as Sparafucile and Ferrando in Il Trovatore. For all of you Hunkentenor fans, Bulent Bezduz will be singing Giorgio Germont in La traviata. The festival runs through November 18th and tickets are available online.
Daniel Giulianini
Thursday's gala concert will feature a barihunk who is new to us, Daniel Giulianini. The concert is affordable, as well, with tickets only ten Euros (five Euros for those under 26). The program includes the duet "La ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni, Germont's aria "Di Provenza" from La traviata, as well as the Violetta/Germont duet from the same opera.
Monica De Rosa McKay & Daniel Giulianini sing the Germont/Violetta duet:
Daniel Guilianini is a 23-year-old Italian baritone who studied with tenor William Matteuzzi. Guilianini was adopted from a Bulgarian orphanage by Italian parents at the age of six and started singing from a very early age. He attended the Forli Musical Lycée, where he studied classical singing, and for a short while the trombone. He apparently has a special fondness for singing Neapolitan songs.
He has won various regional competitions and in 2008 was runner up in Serata d'Onore, the national young opera singers' competition.
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Malcolm MacKenzie in Trovatore; Dan Kempson & Justin Hopkins in Hydrogen Jukebox
The Ft. Worth Opera Festival continues to establish itself as a major force among summer opera festivals internationally. The company continues to showcase some of the best emerging talent in the business today, as well as mixing standard repertory with operas that both challenge audiences and appeal to a new generation of opera goer.
Among the "second tier" of opera companies, Ft. Worth practically stands alone in terms of both innovation and quality of performance. Next season is no exception, when they will feature two standard repertory operas, Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" and Puccini's "Tosca," with two contemporary operas, Mark Adamo's "Lysistrata" and Jake Heggie's "Three Decembers."
This year's surprise hit is Philip Glass "Hydrogen Jukebox," which has been completely sold out for weeks. It also happens to feature two emerging barihunks, Dan Kempson and Justin Hopkins. The show also features them baring a bit of skin, so warn your grandma. It's no secret that we're huge Glass fans on this site where you can watch his opera "Kepler" in its entirety, so we're thrilled that Glass is being performed deep in the heart of Texas.
Emerging Barihunk Jesse Enderle and Director John de los Santos
This year's Fort Worth Opera Festival is also featuring a critically acclaimed production of Verdi's "Il Trovatore" with baritone Malcolm MacKenzie. Also on the program is an updated version of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Mikado" directed by our favorite young director/choreographer John de los Santos, who choreographed last year's hit "Before Night Falls." Fans of countertenors will be delighted with the production of Handel's "Giulio Cesare," which features two countertenors and a male soprano. Despite the high male voices, barihunk fans will be delighted to know that Achillas will sung by the stunning and gifted young singer Donovan Singletary, who was a standout in the Lindeman Young Artists program.
Donovan Singletary
Here is Singletary performing some Rachmaninov songs:
The festival runs through June 5. Check out the Ft. Worth Opera website for performance times and additional cast information.
One of our great regrets at Barihunks is that there aren't more opportunities to post from Verdi's operas. Other than Attila there are very few Verdi roles that are naturally barihunk roles. We like the trend in many opera houses of casting younger singers as Germont père, which is more age appropriate, as Germont's father was probably in his 40s or 50s and not in his 70s like he's often portrayed. Also, we love the idea of a younger, sexy Iago, because we find opera "bad boys" kind of hot.
It's nice to see singers some of the greatest barihunks tackling more Verdi roles. Simon Keenlyside and Dmitri Hvorstovsky seem to be leading the pack. Keenlyside has performances of Macbeth and Germont père coming up in London. Hvorostovksy has performances of Don Carlos in Tokyo and Ernani and Germont père at The Met.
Here is Keenlyside singing the aria "Pietà, rispetto, amore" from Verdi's Macbeth:
Anyone who can't attend his performance of the Count di Luna in Verdi's Il Trovatore at The Met will now be able to watch it live in movie theaters on April 30 at 1pm EDT.10 AM PST. The performances are part of the The Met: Live in HD series and the cast includes Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick and Marcelo Álvarez. Encore presentations will be given at movie theaters in the U.S. on May 18 and in Canada on June 4 and July 18. The April 30 performance will also be broadcast live on radio stations in the U.S. and abroad. Click HERE for information about performances in the U.S. and Canada.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky singing Di Luna's cavatina "Il balen del suo sorriso":
Ukrainian-born barihunk Alexander Tsymbalyuk will be performing a recital with the Rosenblatt Recitals series in London, England. The program is a wonderful mix of Russian music and operatic show pieces. The program begins with songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, then concludes with arias by Verdi, Boito and Massenet.
As we've reported, Tsymbalyuk is slated to return to the Metropolitan Opera in Il Trovatore. His star is clearly on the rise, as he's also scheduled to perform at the Bavarian State Opera and the Royal Danish Opera.
The recital is scheduled for June 2 at St John's, Smith Square. For ticket and concert information visit the Rosenblatt Recitals website.
For a sampling of the wonderful programs put on my Rosenblatt recitals, check out this amazing video of fellow barihunk Leigh Melrose singing the Canon aria from Billy Budd.
Barihunk Alexander Tsymbalyuk is a regular at the Hamburg State Opera, where he is currently performing in the "Barber of Seville" and "Marriage of Figaro." But the big news for those on the East Coast is that he's returning to the Met this Fall to perform Ferrando in Il Trovatore.
