Reader Submission: Italian barihunk Giulio Alvise Caselli

Giulio Alvise Caselli (Photos: Theater Augsburg)

A reader in Germany contacted us about Giulio Alvise Caselli, who will be appearing in a revival of Othmar Schoeck's rarely performed Das Schloß Dürande from March 8-July 6 at the Staatstheater Meiningen. Written in a late-tonal Modernist style reminiscent of operas by Zemlinksy and Schreker, the opera is based on a novella by Joseph von Eichendorff.

The opera premiered at the Berlin State Opera on April 1, 1943 and outraged the Nazis. Military leader Hermann Goering declared it to be “Scheiß!” and ordered it to disappear from the repertory after four performances. Goering believed that the opera's ending portended a bad ending for the Nazi regime.

Video highlights of Giulio Alvise Caselli:

Italian-born Giulio Alvise Caselli studied violin , literature and linguistics in Ferrara and Regensburg, before studying voice with his mother, the soprano and singing professor Maria Gabriella Munari.

He is currently a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater Meiningen, where he performed  Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Biterolf in Wagner's Tannhäuser and Moralès in Bizet's Carmen. He also appeared in the title role of Don Giovanni in the Italian Television RAI 3 broadcast from the Biennale Musica 2010 in Venice.

From 2011-2017, he was a member of the ensemble at the Theater Augsburg, where he made his role debut as Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. He also sang Dr. Falke in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Pelléas in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Nardo in Mozart's La finta giardiniera, Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Algerier in Luigi Nono's “Intolleranza 1960” and Hans Scholl in Zimmermann's Weiße Rose.

Giulio Alvise Caselli (Photos: Theater Augsburg)

He has appeared in various states of undress in a number of productions, including changing into his briefs in Mozart's Don Giovanni, shirtless in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and stripped down as Nardo in the composer's La Finta Giardiniera and most famously lying naked on the stage as Pelleas in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande for an entire act.

From May 23 to June 14, he'll appear in the baritone part of a theatrical representation of Brahm's Liebeslieder. Tickets for Liebeslieder and Das Schloß Dürande are available online.

Bastiaan Everink's sexy website; Opening in Der Vampyr

Bastiaan Everink's website

Bastiaan Everink opens today as Lord Ruthven in Marschners's Der Vampyr at the Theater Koblenz, which runs through June 24. We haven't featured Everink on this site before, which is surprising, since he has some pretty sexy pictures on his website and is not shy about displaying his barihunkiness.

Everink has had an interesting path to the opera stages of the world, serving as a soldier in the  Royal Dutch Marines Corps. He was decorated for his participation in the first Gulf Gar in 1991. After being inspired by a recording of Wagner's Parsifal at a friend's house, he decided to study singing at the Conservatory in Enschede and Amsterdam and then at the The Studio of Vocal Arts with former tenor and US Marine James McCray.

Bastiaan Everink

In 2002, he made his debut in Bonn, Germany, and has joined the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as appearing with the Dutch National Opera, Frankfurt Oper, Innsbruck, Tiroler Theater, Staatstheater Nurnberg, the State Theater in Wiesbaden and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. His roles have included the title role in Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer, Scarpia in Tosca. the title role in Verdi's Nabucco, Jago in Otello, Amonasro in Aida, Klingsor in Parsifal, Gerard in Andrea Chenier, Monterone in Rigoletto, Tonio in Pagliacci, Michele in Tabarro, Jochanaan in Salome, Wolfram in Tannhauser and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.

You can hear Everink talk about his exciting career in the military, as an opera singer and a sculptor on his Ted Talk.

Christopher Maltman's shows some skin in Salzburg

Christopher Maltman in Iphigénie en Tauride

We recently posted about the two runs of the Whitsun Festival at Salzburg's highly successful production of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride.  The opening night performance on May 22 already has opera aficionados across the globe talking about the production, which included an all-star cast led by Christopher Maltman as Oreste,  Cecilia Bartoli as Iphigénie, Michael Kraus as Thoas andTopi Lehtipu sings Pylade.

Iphigénie en Tauride

Beyond the great singing, much of the buzz has centered around an extremely fit Christopher Maltman's nude scene, which proves that a man can be as sexy at 45 than at 25. Maltman is no stranger to nudity, having bared all in the movie Juan, as well in the 2010 Salzburg production on Don Giovanni.

The  Festival has already announced additional performances from August 19-28 to supplement the one remaining show on May 25. Fair warning if you plan on attending, order your seats now because tickets are scarce.

Visit the Salzburg Festival website for additional information.

Christopher Maltman in Iphigénie en Tauride

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.

Christopher Maltman and Topi Lehtipu in Iphigénie en Tauride

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.”

Christopher Maltman in the movie Juan and Don Giovanni in Salzburg

You can next catch Maltman at the Royal Opera in London as the title character in Don Giovanni with fellow barihunks Alex Esposito as Leporello and Nahuel Di Pierro as Masetto. He'll also be reunited with his fellow cast member from Iphigénie, Rolando Villazón, who is singing Don Ottavio.

Photos from the osterfestspiele, Monika Rittershaus and Salzburg