Rare barihunk trio in Puccini's Tosca

Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Marco Vratogna and Douglas Williams

Puccini operas aren't known for great baritone roles, like Verdi or Wagner, and certainly not a lot of great barihunk roles. Gianni Schicchi is a dying old man, Michele is an old barge operator, Jack Rance is the law and order town sheriff with his eye on the girl, Scarpia is usually played as a lecherous old police chief and The Bonze is usually a despicable old relative.

The only Puccini opera where we regularly get one and sometimes two barihunks is La bohème where the young Parisians often include a sexy Marcello and lower-voice Colline. So imagine our delight when we learned that the online broadcast of the composer's Tosca would include the barihunk trio of Marco Vratogna as Scarpia, Alexander Tsymbalyuk as Cesare Angelotti and Douglas Williams as Sciarrone. We've always liked the idea of a younger Scarpia, as it adds some sexual tension to the Act II "seduction" scene with Tosca.

The trio will join Kristine Opolais as Tosca and Marcelo Alvarez as Mario Cavaradossi for the Berlin Philharmonic's fifth visit to the Easter Festival of the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.

The performance will be on Arte TV for free starting on April 17th.

Seattle Opera announces new season with barihunk-laden Consul, Rigoletto

Donovan Singletary and Steven LaBrie

The Seattle Opera announced its 2013-14 season which includes two operas not generally thought of as barihunk operas, Menotti's The Consul and Verdi's Rigoletto.

The Consul includes three of the hottest singers on the scene, led by Seattle resident Michael Todd Simpson in the major role of John Sorel. Also in the cast are Steven LaBrie as the Police Agent and Joseph Lattanzi as Assan. LaBrie is making his Seattle Opera debut. Performances run from February 22nd to March 7, 2014. The Consul won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950.

Marco Vratogna

This year is the big 200th anniversary of Verdi's birth, so we're getting an ample supply of the Italian's operas. Usually it's Attila that features two barihunks and rarely is it Rigoletto. Seattle has cast the amazing Marco Vratogna as the hunchbacked jester and this is a portrayal that is not to be missed. We caught him at the San Francisco Opera and it was one nothing short of a masterful performance both vocally and dramatically. In the smaller, but important role of the Count Monterone is fitness guru Donovan Singletary. Gilda and the Duke will be performed by Davinia Rodríguez and Francesco Demuro respectively. The opera is being transported to 1930s Italy and performances run from January 11-25, 2014.

Michael Todd Simpson and Joseph Lattanzi

Speaking of anniversary seasons, the Seattle Opera seems to be marking a bunch of them this season, including their 50th anniversary, their 10th year at McCaw Hall and general director Speight Jenkins'  30th year leading the company.

Other operas for the upcoming season include Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment from October 19-November 2, 2013 with tenor Lawrence Brownlee and Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman from May 3-17, 2014 with tenor William Burden and the brilliant mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey. Visit the Seattle Opera website for additional information and don't miss their upcoming Ring Cycle featuring Greer Grimsley as Wotan.

Marco Vratogna profiled: Next Great Verdi Baritone

Marco Vratogna

We've been touting Marco Vratogna as one of the next great Verdi baritones for some time now. He's in San Francisco performing the title role in Verdi's "Rigoletto" right now and local writer Sean Martinfield penned this wonderful and insightful profile of the singer for the Huffington Post, which we just had to share.

San Francisco Opera opened its 2012-13 season this month with Verdi's Rigoletto. Conducted by Music Director Nicola Luisotti, the final performances on Tuesday, Sept. 25 and Sunday, Sept. 30 will feature Marco Vratogna in the title role, Albina Shagimuratova as Gilda, and Arturo Chacón-Cruz as the Duke of Mantua. In his third appearance with SF Opera, Italian baritone Marco Vratogna marks his debut as "Rigoletto," a role he began crafting years ago with Maestro Luisotti prior to either of them arriving in San Francisco. Still in his thirties, a lion-hearted Leo, Vratogna is that rare breed of natural dramatic baritone who owns the vocal prowess and seductive appeal of the alpha male so predominant in the Verdi repertoire.

"Maybe it's a side of me," he said during our recent visit. "I didn't choose anything. Maybe Verdi chose me." [Article continued HERE]

Nathan Gunn: Son of God

Nathan Gunn (right) to play Yeshua (Jesus Christ)

Fans of Nathan Gunn already think he's godlike, so it only seems logical that he was destined to play the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The San Francisco Opera just announced a delightfully ambitious season that includes Mark Adamo's "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene." The opera draws on the Gnostic Gospels, the Canonical Gospels, and decades of biblical scholarship to reimagine the story of the New Testament through the eyes of its lone substantial female character.

Nathan Gunn practicing his Jesus portrayal as Billy Budd

This opera will undoubtedly stir up some controversy, as it looks at the woman who Jesus loved in a whole new light. Mary Magdalene will be played by the Nicole Kidman-esque Sasha Cooke, so we can surely expect a non-traditional Mary-Jesus narrative. We can also expect to hear from the Catholic Church, so this opera will undoubtedly create some press controversy (and opera in the mainstream press is a good thing!). Kudos to the San Francisco Opera for taking a risk and challenging opera audiences and for bringing us an exciting new work.

Speaking of exciting new works, the San Francisco Opera is also presenting Nolan Gasser's "The Secret Garden" and Jake Heggie's "Moby-Dick." David Gockley and the San Francisco Opera family deserves special praise for bringing three new American works to the public in one season during difficult economic times when most companies are reduced to producing an endless stream of lackluster old war horses.

Marco Vratogna sings "Quei due vedesti?" from Simon Boccanegra:

Of course, no opera could survive without the standard repertory and the San Francisco Opera's 2012-13 season includes some great theater. Operas include Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi," Verdi's "Rigoletto," Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann," Wagner's "Lohengrin," Puccini's "Tosca," and Mozart's "Così fan tutte."

Christian Van Horn (left) and Philippe Sly (right)

A number of barihunks have also been cast, including the imposing Christian Van Horn as the four villains in "Tales of Hoffman," Marco Vratogna as Rigoletto, Morgan Smith as Starbuck in "Moby-Dick" and the exciting leading role/mainstage debut of Phillipe Sly as Guglielmo in "Così fan tutte." We've been predicting major stardom for the Met Auditions winner Philippe Sly and we're thrilled that he's been cast in a starring role on a major stage.

We're pretty sure that the San Francisco Opera is the opera hot spot for music lovers this year. Visit the San Francisco Opera website for tickets and additional information.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Hot as Hell in San Francisco

[From top to bottom: John Relyea, Austin Kness, Brian Mulligan, Marco Vratogna, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Greer Grimsley]

The San Francisco Opera announced its 2009-10 season today and hell is going to be really hot. They are performing Gounod's Faust with three barihunks on the stage in the same night! This may be a Barihunks first. The barihunk with the prettiest eyes in all of opera, John Relyea, will be singing Méphistophélès, Brian Mulligan will be singing the Valentin, and Austin Kness (who was a sexy Don Giovanni) will be singing Wagner.

Also burning up the stage in San Francisco will be Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Il Trovatore, Greer Grimsley in Salome and the devilishly hot Marco Vratogna as the evil Iago in Verdi's Otello.

San Francisco under David Gockley always has ravishingly beautiful sopranos, so it's nice to see some barihunks in his casts. We all know that they love hot guys in San Francisco, so the seats should be full and the opera glass rentals sold out.

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