André Courville, Erik Anstine and Brian James Myer
The Berkshire Opera Festival has announced its 2020 season, which includes Mozart's Don Giovanni starring the barihunk trio of André Courville in the title role, Erik
Anstine as Leoporello and Brian James Myer as Masetto. They will be joined by Laura Wilde as Donna Anna, Joshua Blue as Don
Ottavio, Joanna Latini as Donna Elvira, John Cheek as the Commendatore and Natalia Santaliz as Zerlina.
The new production will be directed by co-founder Jonathan Loy and conducted by artistic
director Brian Garman. The production will include scenic designs by
Stephen Dobay, costumes by Charles Caine, and lighting Alex Jainchill.
The production will open on August 22 with additional performances on the 25th and 28th at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Tickets and additional information is available online.
Erik Anstine can next be seen as Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Opera Omaha on February 7 and 9. André Courville can be heard as Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at the Kentucky Opera from February 14-16. Brian James Myer will be Mercutio in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Knoxville Opera from February 14-29.
Craig Verm and Rachelle Durkin(Photo: David Bachman)
The Pittsburgh Opera is kicking off its new season on October 12 with barihunk Craig Verm in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Director Kristine McIntyre has reinvisioned the opera in the style of film noir. Film noir was popular in the 1940s and 1950s and explored dark stories of crime, sexual motives and deceit. What could be darker and more deceitful than the noted Lothario Don Giovanni, the charming sexual predator who preys on women of all social classes, including the vengeful Donna Anna,
leading to a fight that results in her father’s death?
Some of the greatest film noir movies included Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity, Otto Preminger's Laura, Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep, Charles Vidor's Gilda and Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. Film noir was a response to World War II and at the dawn of the Cold War, which generated stories of espionage and betrayals.
Verm will be joined by Musa Ngqungwana as Leporello, Tyler Zimmerman as Masetto, Brian Kontes as the Commendatore, Rachelle Durkin as Donna Anna, Corrie Stallings as Donna Elvira, Kang Wang as Don Ottavio and Antonia Botti-Lodovico as Zerlina. Performances are on October 12, 15, 18 and 20. Tickets are available online.
Christopher Maltman as Don Alfonso(Marty Sohl/The Metropolitan Opera)
Christopher Maltman will be featured in the upcoming broadcast of Mozart's Così fan tutte from the Metropolitan Opera as part of its Great Performances Series on Sunday, July 29, 2018. The broadcast begins at 12 PM EDT/9 AM PST.
The Met version of Mozart’s comedy about the sexes is set in a carnival-esque, funhouse environment inspired by 1950s Coney Island—complete with bearded ladies, fire eaters, and a Ferris wheel. Maltman stars as Don Alfonso, while Broadway star Kelli O’Hara takes on the role of the scheming maid Despina in a rare appearance on an operatic stage.
Upcoming broadcast's include Verdi's Luisa Miller and Massenet's Cendrillon with Joyce DiDonato.
The Teatro Municipal Santiago in Chile has assembled an impressive trio of barihunks for their upcoming performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The company is presenting dual casts in seven performances from April 16-27.
The first cast includes the barihunk trio of Levent Bakirci in the title role, Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Leporello and Soloman Howard as the Commendatore. To top things off, hunkentenor Joel Prieto is singing Don Ottavio. The second cast includes barihunk Daniel Miroslaw in the title role, joined by Sergio Gallardo as Leporello and Soloman Howard as the Commendatore. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.
Daniel Miroslaw and Levent Bakirci alternate as Don Giovanni
Bakirci, who is new to this site, graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara before pursuing his career as a singer. He has performed Don Giovanni at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, where he is an ensemble member, as well as the Theater Bremen, where he was a member of the ensemble from 2008-11.
Edwin Crossley-Mercer made his U.K. debut in the role of Leporello at the 2014 Glyndebourne Festival. After wrapping up Don Giovanni, Crossley-Mercer heads to Tokyo to perform Schubert's Winterreise on May 3rd and a set of Hollywood standards on May 5th. He then joins the legendary Bryn Terfel for performances of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust in Dresden, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Hamburg.
Soloman Howard will head to Santa Fe this summer to perform the Bonze in Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
Daniel Miroslaw can next be seen at the Oper Frankfurt, where he is an ensemble member, as Quinault in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.
What could we possibly say about Mozart that either hasn't been said or
you don't know already? Born on January 27, 1756, he was a child
prodigy, who wrote his first symphony when he was eight years old and
his first opera at age twelve. He went on to write some of the most
important masterpieces of the Classical era, including symphonies,
operas, string quartets and piano music. Of course, he has been an
endless source of material for Barihunks, especially his operas Don
Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro and Cosi fan tutte, which provide us with an ongoing stream of
sexy low voices.
We think the best way to celebrate his birthday is with some music from our favorite singers:
Aaron Sørensen sings Mozart's "Alcandro, lo confesso"
Erwin Schrott sings the Catalog aria:
Cesare Siepi sings "Per questa bella mano":
Rod Gilfry and Liliana Nikiteanu sing "La ci darem la mano"
David Castillo as Atzuko in
¡Figaro! (90210)(Photo by Ben Gibbs, courtesy of LA Opera)
After a successful run at the Los Angeles Opera, ¡Figaro! (90210) is now being performed in New York's Times Square from March 19-April 3. The opera is an updated and rewritten version of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro about class and power. The piece is set in present-day Los Angeles and filled with pop references, contemporary slang and includes current topics like immigration reform and income inequality.
David Castillo, who we recently featured in his successful run as Anthony Hope in Townsend Opera's Sweeney Todd, will reprise the role of the stoner Atzuko. (Don't miss our interview with him). He's joined by barihunk Luke Scott as Paul Conti, José Adán Pérez as Figaro and Ethan Herschenfeld as Babayan. Other cast members include Samarie Alicea as Susana, Raquel Suarez Groen, Dwayne A. Washington as teenage troublemaker Li'l B-Man, Emma Grimsley, Sahoko Sato Timpone, Lori Mirabal and Michael Kuhn. Sets are designed by Steven C. Kemp, costumes designed by Lux Haac and lighting designed by Gina Scheer.
Luke Scott who plays Paul Conti
The libretto is in English and "Spanglish" and is about the undocumented workers Figaro and Susana who can't wait to get married. On
their way to the altar they have to navigate a world of lecherous
bosses, Botoxed starlets, bumbling human traffickers, ambitious
hip-hoppers, and pothead gardeners in a wild adventure that recasts the
classic opera as a madcap comedy about citizenship in today's America.
Performances are at The Duke on 42nd Street and tickets are available online.
On April 16 and 17, Castillo will be a soloist in the Los Angeles Master Chorale's
staged production of Handel's Alexander's Feast at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Gianluca Margheri as a very believable Don Giovanni
Barihunk Gianluca Margheri just finished performing the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Théâtre de la Colonne in Miramas, France, where these photos were taken. We can certainly understand how thousands of women would fall under the seductive spell of someone who looked like this!
He now takes the red-themed production by Pierre Thirion-Vallet to Théâtre des Sablons in Neuilly sur Seine, France for performances on March 19 and 20.
Other upcoming shows for the Italian singer include Rossini's Petite Messe Solennele in Palermo on April 11, Rossini's La Cenerentola in Palermo on April 21 and 26, Purcell's The Fairy Queen at the Hungarian State Opera from June 17-23 and Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in St. Gallen beginning on September 17 and running through November 25.
Off the Page Productions is a vastly revised and updated version of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro dubbed The Marriage of Kim K, which needless to say, refers to reality TV star Kim Kardashian. Before purists get too upset, the entire venture is tongue in cheek and even the marketing campaign pokes fun at the entire endeavor (you can watch Episode 1 below and more on YouTube).
The piece stars Gabriella Noble as Kim Kardashian, Jack Trzcinski as Figaro, James Quilligan (who has been featured on this site) as former NBA player Kris Humphries and briefly Kim K's husband, Ell Potter as the Countess, Jono Hobbs as the Count, Amelia Gabriel as Beth and John Paul as Mo.
The Marriage of Kim K tells four stories at once, each revolving around a
marriage: The story of the Count and Countess from the
original; the story of the breakdown of Kim Kardashian’s first
marriage to Kris Humphries (which lasted 72 DAYS): the story of thr couple Mo and Beth who enjoy watching all of this on TVl and, the story of Figaro himself, a young
vlogger, whose makes his own marital decisions based on these stories.
James Quilligan and Gabriella Noble
The librettist of Kim K is the Oxford-based poet and librettist Leo Mercer, who penned the libretto for The Prophetess at the Keble O'Reilly Theatre, a retelling of Henry Purcell’s baroque opera Dioclesian. Mercer is the President of the Oxford University Poetry Society and in 2014 took 2nd Prize at both the BBC Proms Poetry Competition and the Poetry Book Society Student Competition.
Episode 1 of the Kim K marketing campaign:
Jack Trzcinski sings "Superficial" from The Marriage of Kim K
The performances are at the Keble O'Reilly Theatre at Oxford, and they
have performances remaining on March 3rd at 7:30 PM, March 4 at 7:30 PM,
and a matinee and evening performance on March 5th. Tickets can be booked here.
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.
André Courville, Anthony Whitson-Martini and Jared Bybee
Not to be outdone by the barihunk sextet rotating in casts in Don Giovanni at the Hampstead Garden Opera in the U.K, we were notified that the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia is also showcasing a bevy of barihunks in their production of the same opera.
André Courville will be singing Leporello (and rotating it with Nathan Milholin), Anthony Whitson-Martini will be singing Masetto (and rotating it with Jorge Espino) and Jared Bybee will be singing the title role (and sharing it with Daniel Noyola and Ethan Simpson). To top things off Anthony Schneider will be singing the Commendatore. November 7, 10 and 12 in Philadelphia, November 14 in Bethlehem (PA), November 17 & 19 in Haverford and November 21 in Doylestown.
Nathan Milholin, Ethan Simpson and Anthony Schneider
AVA first presented Don Giovanni in 1986-87 with
additional performances in 2000, 2005 and 2011, which featured many alumni who went on to international careers, including Nicholas Masters, Burak Bilgili, Latonia Moore, Michael Fabiano, Bryan Hymel, Ellie Dehn, Taylor Stayton and Othalie Graham.
Tickets and additional cast information is available online.
Enjoy 18 more barihunks in our new Charity Calendar, which is on sale now.
Dominik Köninger as Papageno in the Barrie Kosky production
German barihunk Dominik Köninger is at the Edinburgh Festival reprising his highly-acclaimed Papageno in Barrie Kosky's magical production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, which has performances remaining on August 29 and 30.
The innovative Barrie Kosky production of Die Zauberflöte is a collaboration with the
amazing British theater group “1927," who put together a production that mixes silent
movies, Weimar era cabaret, David Lynch and a touch of the Grimm's Fairy Tales.
The oft-shirtless Dominik Köninger
If you can't catch Köninger as Papageno in the U.K., you'll have plenty of additional opportunities as he's singing the role in the same production at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein beginning on September 19th, then again in Barcelona next summer at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
We've been huge fans of Dominik Köninger since he won the 2011
Wigmore Hall Song Competition and have been enjoying his regular
appearances at the Komische Oper Berlin, where he's sung in Monteverdi's
Orpheus, Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Pantalone in Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges, Oreste in Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride and Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.
Dominik Köninger sings Hai gia vinta la causa from the Marriage of Figaro:
He returns to Berlin on September 11th to sing the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare with fellow barihunk Günter Papendell as Achilla. On October 2nd, he'll open in Barrie Kosky's new production of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. For the first time in the opera's 132-year performance history, the role of Hoffmann will be sung by a baritone, which was Offenbach's original intention.
Grigory Shkarupa and Maxililian Krumme (far right in Cosi fan tutte)
The Bregenzer Festspiele opened their production of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte today and we received an enthusiastic email from an attendee alerting us to two barihunks in the cast, both of whom are new to us. Maximilian
Krumme is singing Guglielmo and Grigory Shkarupa is singing Ferrando under the direction of Jörg Lichtenstein.
There are three performances remaining on August 18, 20 and 22 and tickets and additional cast information is available online.
Maximilian Krummen
Maximilian
Krumme was born in Fürth and raised in Radolfzell, Germany. He graduated from
the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with a Masters of Music.
Since the 2013-14
seaason, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the
Staatsoper Berlin. At the Opera Studio he has performed Fiorello in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Baron Douphol in
Verdi’s La Traviata, Kilian in Weber’s
Der Freischütz, Sciarrone in Puccini’s
Tosca, as well as the New Music
Productions workshops.
He has also
performed Papageno, Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and Morales in Carmen
at the Theater Aachen. He previously sung Guglielmo at Hamburg Theatre Academy.
This is his second appearance in Bregenz, having appeared last season in the
double-bill of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol and
Szymon Laks Le Hirondelle inattendue.
After the Festival, Krummen returns to the Staatsoper in Berlin to sing Ecclitico in Haydn's Il mondo della luna, Kilian in Weber's Der Freischutz and Sciarrone in Puccini's Tosca.
Grigory Shkapura
Grigory Shkarupa was born in St. Petersburg and studied at the Glinka Choral College and the St.
Petersburg State Conservatory. At the Opera Studio of the
Conservatory he performed Gurnemanz in excerpts from Wagner’s Parsifal, Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen and Panas in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Night before Christmas Eve. He is also a member of the International Opera Studio at the
Staatsoper Berlin.
He's performed numerous roles at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, including the Prisoner in Verdi’s Nabucco, Patsyuk in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Night before Christmas Eve, Mityukha in Mussorgsky’sBoris Godunov, Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen, The Monk in Verdi’s Don Carlo and the Soldier in Berlioz’s Les Troyens. After the Festival, Shkarupa returns to Berlin to sing Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca, Samuel in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera and Grenvil in Verdi's La traviata. You can listen to Shkarupa sing a Russian folk song HERE.
Two of our very favorite (really, really) low voices will be making their respective role debuts as Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio).
The coveted Mozart bass role will be sung by Aaron Sørensen with the Houston Symphony Orchestra on January 23 and 25 under the baton of Andrés Orozco-Estrada. The cast also includes Lauren Snouffer as Konstanze, Paul Appleby as Belmonte, Rafael Moras as Pedrillo and Abigail Dueppen and Blonde. It will be performed in concert performance. Tickets are available online.
Matti Salminen sings "O, wie will ich triumphieren":
A month later Kevin Thompson will take on the role with West Bay Opera under the baton of José Luis Moscovich and directed by barihunk Eugene Brancoveanu. Performance will run from February 13-22. The cast also includes Nikki Einfeld as Kostanze, Michael Desnoyers as Belmonte, Tapan Bhat at Pedrillo adn Chelsea Hollow as Blonde. Tickets are available online.
Osmin, who the Pasha's comically sinister overseer of the harem, is a send-up of earlier stereotypes of Turkish despotism. Osmin's music includes some of the composer's most spectacular and vocally challenging music. His Act 3 aria "O, wie will ich triumphieren" includes characteristic 18th century coloratura passage work, and twice goes down to a low D (D2), one of the lowest notes demanded of any voice in opera. In the aria, Osmin sings of the delight that he will have when Pedrillo, Belmonte, Blondchen, and Konstanze are all hanged. The first Osmin was Ludwig Fischer, a bass noted for his wide range and skill in leaping over large intervals with ease.
Eleven basses show off their Low D:
Osmin's other arias are "Solche hergelaufne Laffen" from Act 1, where he explains in graphic detail why he does not like Pedrillo. Also in Act 1 is "Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden," when he sings a song while picking figs, not realizing that Belmonte is watching. His song advises the listener to reward your love with kisses and make her life great. It also advises the young lover to lock up your woman's other lovers, lest they tempt her to forget her faithfulness.
Time is running out to buy your 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar, which you can order for the next 5 days by clicking below.
Lyric Opera of Chicago opened their Diamond Anniversary season in style with a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni directed by Robert Falls and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. The cast includes two of the most popular barihunks on this site, Mariusz Kwiecien as the Don and Kyle Ketelsen as his sidekick Leporello. The vocally resplendent cast also includes Marina Rebeka as Donna Anna, Ana María Martínez as Donna Elvira and Andriana Chuchman as Zerlina.
Lyric Opera of Chicago was quite generous in supplying pictures to the press, so we thought we'd share some of the best. The opera runs through October 29th and tickets are available online.
Aaron Sørensen from the Barihunks calendar & the Criterion Theatre in Maine
Aaron Sørensen, who was one of this year's recipients of a Barihunks calendar grant, made his West Coast recital debut in a concert with hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock with the grant. Having wowed audiences along the Pacific Ocean with his sonorous low notes, he now returns to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. He'll be at the Bar Harbor Music Festival performing Colline in a single night performance of Puccini's La boheme.
The opera will be performed in the historic art-deco Criterion Theater in downtown Bar Harbor. Opened in 1932 as a movie palace, prominent families like the Rockefellers, who vacationed in the area, were frequent patrons. The theatre is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and recently reopened after a $150,000 upgrade to their marquee.
Aaron Sørensen sings Mozart's "Alcandro, lo confesso" at his West Coast recital debut at Duende (Don't miss the low note at the end!):
Now in its 48th season, the
Bar Harbor Music Festival has advanced the careers of over 1,800
aspiring instrumentalists, singers, and composers, presenting a
summer of
music
encompassing recitals, chamber music, Pops, a new composers series, opera,
jazz, and string orchestra concerts.
La boheme will be performed on Friday, July 11 at 8:00 p.m.. The cast also includes Jonathan Lasch as Marcello, Chad Sloan as Schaunard, Janinah Burnett as Mimi and Scott Scully as Rodolfo. Tickets are available online.
Ola Eliasson as Don Giovanni (photo: Markus Gårder)
Ola Eliasson as Don Giovanni with Sara Widén as Zerlina
(Photo: Markus Gårder )
A reader in Stockholm recently saw Ola Eliasson in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni and was surprised that the Swedish barihunk had never been featured on the site. Well, that's an omission that we're more than happy to rectify.
Eliasson originally studied percussion, guitar, French horn and piano at the Royal College of Music before settling on vocal studies. We're not sure how he's slipped past our eagle eyes, as he's been a member of the Royal Opera ensemble since 1997, singing such roles as CountAlmavivain Mozart's Marriage of Figaro), Papagenoin Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Guglielmoin Mozart's Cosifan tutte, Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville, Olivier in Richard Strauss' Capriccio, Silvioin Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Schaunardin Puccini's La bohème.
Ola Eliasson sings Grieg's "Jeg elsker Dig":
His career has been predominantly on the stages of Sweden
including appearances with the Göteborg Opera and Drottningholm
Court Theater
There are two performances of Don Giovanni remaining at the Royal Opera on April 22 and 27, and then it returns to the repertory in the Fall. This summer, he can be been seen as Alberich in Wagner's Das Rheingold at the Dalhalla Opera Festival form August 8-17.
We've previously reported on the wonderful trend of barihunk cover boys increasingly gracing the front of the leading music magazines in the world. We particularly love it when they're featured in February, the month of Valentine's Day. Alex Esposito was featured on the cover of the German magazine Das Opernglas and Ildar Abdrazakov is featured on Opera News, both draped in Valentine's Day hot red.
Alex Esposito is in the middle of the sold out run of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House opposite fellow barihunk heartthrobs Mariusz Kwiecien as the Don and Alexander Tsymbalyuk as the Commendatore. Ildar Abrdrazakov is in the gorgeous production of Borodin's infrequently performed Prince Igor at the Metropolitan Opera.
Fortunately for opera lover, both performances are being broadcast worldwide. The March 1st performance of Prince Igor will be broadcast live in HD from the Metropolitan Opera. You can click HERE to find a theater near you.
The February 12th performance of Don Giovanni will be broadcast live to cinemas in
Europe. and taped for screenings worldwide throughout March. If you're
in Europe, check the Royal Opera House website for listings. If you're outside of Europe, check your local movie listings.
Abdrazakov next takes on the four villains in Offenbach's Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Wiener Staatsoper from May 23 to June 4. Esposito next takes on Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola from the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich from March 4-12.
Today is the anniversary of the premiere of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito and we thought it deserved a mention, since we give a disproportionate amount of attention to the Big 3 - Don Giovanni, Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutte. The opera doesn't really have much music for a baritone to show off. In fact, there is only one aria, "Tardi s'avede," which belongs to Publius and was written for a lyric bass.
Nonetheless, we found this beautiful version of the aria sung by bass-barihunk Luca Pisaroni, which is worth sharing. In the aria, Publius feels sorry for his Emperor and tries to get Tito
to wake up to the fact that his best friend, Sesto, had tried to
assassinate him.
The opera premiered on September 6, 1791 and was written as a commission to celebrate the coronation of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor as King of Bohemia. The opera remained popular after Mozart's death and in 1806 became his first opera to be performed in London. It wasn't performed in the United States until 1952, when it was presented at Tanglewood in English.
There are a couple of all-star productions of the opera this year, led by barihunk Alex Esposito taking on Publius at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels in October. The cast also includes Kurt Streit as Tito, Véronique Gens as Vitellia and Anna Bonitatibus as Sesto.
In November and December, the opera will be performed at the Paris Opera with Bálint Szabó as Publius and Saimir Pirgu as Tito.
The New Generation Opera Ensemble is experimenting with High-Definition streaming video of their current production of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Helsinki Festival. The production features Finnish barihunk Waltteri Torikka in the title role, who we introduced to readers two years ago.
If you're not sure that you want to invest the €9,90 to watch the performance the site lets you watch the first ten minutes for free before deciding. There are two performances remaining on August 22 and 24 at 7 PM EEST (12 PM EST/9 AM PST). Click HERE to watch the live stream.
Waltteri Torikka and Timo Riihonen
New Generation Opera Ensemble is tinkering with new technologies with the goal of bringing opera to more people. Their advisory board includes some of the biggest Finnish names in classical music and opera, including Jorma Hynninen, Soile Isokoski, Markus Lehtinen, Karita Mattila, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Kaija Saariaho, Aulis Sallinen and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Torikka won the Finnish national “Lappeenrannan laulukilpailut” song competition in 2010 and received the “HSBC Laureates” prize at the prestigious Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2009. Torikka recently wrapped up a stint as an apprentice artist at the Finnish National Opera. You can follow the 27-year-old barihunk on Twitter at @WaltteriTorikka.
There's one thing that we've learned in our five years of existence: Barihunks has a loyal group of ginger lovers. Every time we post a redhead on the site, we seem to get a half-dozen emails touting another "strawberry blond" singer.
A recent email came from a friend and it was about a wonderfully gifted singer who we both had seen many times on stage. It began, "Have you seen William Berger lately? Not sure what's he's done, but he's looking really H-O-T these days."
We're not sure either, but it looks like he's lost a stone or two and adopted a distinctly stylish new look. Whatever he's done, we agree that he looks as great as he sounds. We've seen other singers go through some amazing transformations recently, most notably the very public evolution of Michael Mayes from Bari-Chunk to Bari-Hunk, which remains one of our most visited and inspirational posts.
William Berger sings "Revenge Timotheus Cries" from Handel's Alexander's Feast)
Berger is an amazing talented baritone who sings with an incredible depth of emotion and colors his phrases beautifully. We still remember his performances with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra where he sang Aeneas opposite the great Susan Graham's Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas under maestro Nicholas McGegan. Even though he has no real aria the beauty of his singing was unforgettable.
He was also a successful Papageno for Garsington Opera last year, a role he'll be reprising next year at L'opéra de Toulon.
William Berger sings Mozart's "Abendempfindung"
Berger and McGegan are also releasing a recording of late 18th-century operatic arias with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Berger also has a highly-acclaimed new recording out called "Insomnia" and we encourage you to read Berger's own thoughts on this very personal project.
