French Canadian barihunk Étienne Dupuis will open on December 2nd as Oreste in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride at the Palais Garnier. It will be his role debut. The production runs until Christmas Day and tickets are available online.
Director Krzysztof Warlikowski's production returns to the Paris Opera with Véronique Gens as Iphigénie, Stanislas de Barbeyrac as Pylade and Bertrand de Billy conducting.
Gluck's emotionally charged opera retells the Greek tragedy of Iphigénie, condemned to murder her own brother, Oreste, himself a murderer.
Gluck's 1779 opera took his operatic reform to its logical conclusion. The recitatives are shorter and they are récitatif accompagné (i.e. the strings and perhaps other instruments are playing, not just continuo accompaniment). The normal dance movements that one finds in the French tragédie en musique are almost entirely absent. The drama is ultimately based on the play Iphigenia in Tauris by the ancient Greek dramatist Euripides which deals with stories concerning the family of Agamemnon in the aftermath of the Trojan War.
A nude extra (left) & Etienne Dupuis and Veronique Gens
Upcoming performances for Dupuis include Albert in Massenet's Werther at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Pink in Another Brick in Bilodeau's The Wall at Opéra de Montréal and Jacques de Lusignan in Halévy's rarity La Reine de Chypre at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
Barihunk John Moore made his company debut yesterday at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, as Thoas in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride. The all-star cast directed by James Darrah includes Alexandra Deshorties in the title role, William Berger as Oreste and Colin Ainsworth as Pylade.
Iphigénie en Tauride, based on the Greek myth about a priestess facing the aftermath of her family’s violent history, is often considered the culmination of Gluck’s life ambition to achieve a perfect union of music and drama. There are performances remaining on March, 7, 9, 11 and 13 and tickets are available online.
Thomas Allen sings Oreste's aria "Dieux qui me poursuivez":
He then heads to the Florida Grand Opera to make his company debut as Tadeusz in Mieczysław Weinberg’s 1968 opera The Passenger. The opera was banned in the Soviet Union and was first premiered in 2010 at the Bregenz Festival. Weinberg, a Soviet composer of
Jewish-Polish heritage who died in 1996, never saw a performance of this
lost masterpiece in his lifetime.
John Moore sings Largo al factotum from the Barber of Seville:
The opera revolves around an encounter between two women – one a former
Auschwitz guard and the other a former prisoner. Melrose plays Tadeusz,
a camp inmate and violinist who defies the Commandant byordered by
performing some meloncholy music by Bach rather than a frolicking waltz.
Needless to say, things don't end well for Tadeusz.
Performances run from April 2-9 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and tickets and additional cast information is available online.
There will be two opportunities to see the highly successful production of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride at the 2015 Whitsun Festival at Salzburg, which still has two performances remaining on May 22 and 25. If you can't make the current run, it will be revived from August 19-28 and opening night is already sold out.
The opera features barihunk Christopher Maltman as Oreste in the best shape of his life (which is saying something!). He'll be joined in the cast by Cecilia Bartoli as Iphigénie, Michael Kraus as Thoas and Rolando Villazón as Pylade.
With Iphigénie en Tauride, Gluck took the final step in his mission of operatic reform, radically distancing himself from both the formulaic opera seria, with its rigid sequence of numbers, and traditional French opera, creating a psychologically sound musical drama with self-contained scenes and integrated arias.
Gluck had long since given the chorus an active role, and in this work, the ballet scenes that were obligatory in Paris are no longer harmless, non-committal amusements, but organically integrated in the action. Gluck stated that opera “...should speak the language of the heart, credibly portray great human passions, and serve poetry.”
Visit the Salzburg Festival website for additional information.
Bass-barihunk Nicholas Dinopoulos will take part in Australia's Remembrance Day at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Tuesday, November 11th.
The concert is part of the Local Heroes program, a year-long tribute to the inspiring individuals who were affected by WWI and whose personal stories will be shared and celebrated with each Local Heroes concert of 2015. He will be joined by accompanist Andrea Katz, soprano Merlyn Quaife and mezzo-soprano
Sally-Anne Russell.
The program includes music by Liszt, Mahler, Poulenc, Delius, Rorem, Schumann and Simon & Garfunkel's The sound of silence. Click HERE for additional information.
From December 3-9, one can catch Dinopoulos in Pinchgut Opera's production of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride featuring Grant Doyle and Caitlin Hulcup. Click HERE for additional cast and ticket information.
Zachary Gordin: Mr January in the Barihunks Calendar
Our 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar is now on sale. Click on the LULU button below and enjoy 19 of the hottest men in opera.
Nathan Gunn as Billy Budd, at the Met on left (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) & in San Francisco (Darryl Bush SF Chronicle)
Nathan Gunn has become the über-barihunks of barihunks. Not only is he the reason that the phrase was first coined 15 years ago by director Francesca Zambeloo, but he has shown amazing staying power as one of opera's most popular sex symbols. After all, how many opera singers have had their workout routines featured in the Wall Street Journal?
WQXR 105 in New York City recently asked Nathan Gunn to name the "Top 5" operas in which he was asked to disrobe. Not only did he manage to come up with a great list and descriptions of each role, but he showed a great grasp of the history of the term "barihunk." Here is the list, followed by the video:
5. Daniel Catán - Florencia en el Amazonas (Riolobo)
4. Tobias Picker - An American Tragedy (Clive)
3. Péter Eötvös - Love and Other Demons (Father Delaura)
2. Benjamin Britten - Billy Budd (Billy Budd)
1. Gluck - Iphigénie en Tauride (Oreste)
We've been following the meteoric career of German barihunk Dominik Köninger since he started blowing away judges at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition last year. Although he's been performing on stages since 2004, when he made his operatic debut at the Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele, his victory in London has made him a hot commodity with opera companies and major conductors.
Köninger sings Beethoven's 'Adelaide' and Korngold's "Du reine Frau aus Licht und Elfenbein" in the finals:
On April 15-16, he joins maestro Christopher Hogwood, the Limburg Cathedral Boys Choir and the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra for performances of Mozart’s version of Handel’s Ode to St. Cecilia.
He will also perform Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at the New National Theatre in Tokyo in a new production by Damiano Michieletto.
We also have some news that's so fresh it hasn't even appeared on the opera company's website. This year, Köninger will join the ensemble of Komische Oper Berlin in Berlin, where he will perform Guglielmo, Il Conte, Orfeo and Orest in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride.
The last time we featured the 39-year-old French barihunk Laurent Alvaro he was nude in Howard Shore's operatic version of "The Fly" at the Théatre du Châtelet He's currently playing Thoas in "Iphigenie in Tauris" and Arcas in "Iphigenie in Aulis" at the Nederlandse Opera where he's still shirtless, but wearing pants.
Laurent Alvaro in the Iphigenie double-bill
One thing is certain, he's as sexy as ever. The double-bill of the underperformed Gluck operas runs through September 22. Click HERE for additional cast and performance information.
Christoph Zadra as Agamemnon (Center & Right) in Vienna
There are certain operas that give us particular delight, as they are both musically rich and filled with roles for barihunks. Don Giovanni, The Pearl Fishers, Billy Budd, Carmen and The Rape of Lucretia come immediately to mind. When looking through our stats of our most popular posts, it dawned on us that singers who performed in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride were some of our most popular singers. Among those are Rod Gilfry, Stephane Degout, Nathan Gunn and our all-time most popular barihunk Gabriel Bermudez.
We couldn't resist posting Christoph Zadra, who is pictured above. He is 34-year-old Viennese actor who works primarily in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. He was Agamemnon in the Vienna production of Iphigénie en Tauride with Stephane Degout and showed up in a number of the publicity shots (apparently for good reason).
Stephane Degout as Oreste in Vienna
Iphigénie en Tauride premiered in Paris in 1779 and was part of his reform movement that forever changed opera. Like Beethoven's Fidelio it is filled with a message of humanity and it became Gluck's greatest success during his lifetime. It's great to see it returning to the repertory of opera houses throughout the world, as it's an amazing piece of theater and filled with some of the most beautiful music ever written. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard and is based on Euripides great story. Like any great story, it is filled with emotion and conflict which creates moral dilemmas and turmoil for the characters.
Here is an extended scene with Rod Gilfry and tenor Deon van der Walt, which ends in the great baritone aria "Dieux protecteurs de ces affreux." You can watch the entire performance on YouTube at the site of carrangel2:
The story of the opera is pretty straightforward: Iphigenia has been saved from being sacrificed by her father. She now lives on the island of the Taurians and has the task of killing any foreigner that comes to the island seeking refuge. Her dreams are plagued by memories of the bloody destruction of her family. She does not know that her brother Orestes was able to escape the massacre. Years later she sees him and his friend Pylades who have been taken prisoner by the Taurians. But brother and sister fail to recognise each other. However, the unknown prisoner reminds Iphigenia of Orestes, so she decides to save him. Orestes, though, prefers to face death instead of Pylades. During the sacrifice, brother and sister recognise each other. Just as Thoas, the king of the Scythians, is about to kill Orestes, Pylades suddenly appears and murders the king. The people sing in praise of the coming peace and the end of the wars on Tauris.
Zadra & Degout in Vienna; Bermudez in Zurich
Clearly, readers of this site love Gabriel Bermudez in this role, as you've made him our most popular singer. Unfortunately, his YouTube site does not allow embedding, so we can't post the video of his singing "Dieux protecteurs de ces affreux," but you can watch it by clicking HERE.
Lately, the great tenor Placido Domingo has been taking up baritone roles, including Orestes in Iphigénie en Tauride. His performance at The Met was a huge success and now he's taken it to the Washington National Opera in Washington D.C., where we've learned that another one of our Über-popular singers, Randal Turner, is covering for the 70-year-old conductor/singer/impresario. Certainly, Turner would be about as perfect for this role as any singer around today. For those of you who still prefer a baritone in the role, we'll make sure to let readers know if Turner is scheduled to perform. Performances run from May 6-28 with a cast that includes the great soprano Patricia Racette as Iphigenie and barihunk Simone Alberghini as Thoas. Click HERE for additional cast and performance information.
