Tobias Greenhalgh to make role debut in Pagliacci

Tobias Greenhalgh and Boston's Memorial Ice Rink

Barihunk Tobias Greenhalgh will make his role debut as Silvio in Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with the Boston Lyric Opera this Fall. It will be the first time that the company has performed the classic verismo opera.

The opera will be performed at the DCR Steriti Memorial Ice Rink, where the company has previously performed  Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti. Greenhalgh will be joined by tenor Rafael Rojas as Canio and Lauren Michelle as Nedda. Performances will run from September 27 – October 6, 2019 and tickets are available online.

Tobias Greenhlagh in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin:

This season, Greenhalgh is joining the ensemble at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen where his roles will include Count Almavivia in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in June 2020, Valentin in Gounod's Faust running from April-June 2010 and Ottokar in Weber's Der Freischütz, also running form April-June 2020. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

James Wright makes company debut in Shreveport before heading to Sunshine State

Baritone James Wright

We first featured American barihunk James Wright back in 2015, but haven't featured him since. A reader just spotted him making his company debut as Larry in Robert Paterson's Masquerade at Shreveport Opera.

Masquerade is part of a trio of operas from the composer's "Three Way," which also includes The Companion and Safe Word. Three Way premiered at the Nashville Opera in 2017 and was subsequently performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music later that same year.

The plot revolves around four couples at a party at a country mansion who during the course of an evening are forced to face their deepest taboos. The masquerade party is hosted by Pleasure Pilgrims, an online community of sensualists and pleasure seekers, who come from all walks of life to shed the mundaneness of their everyday lives and push the limits of erotic expression.

There is one remaining performance on Saturday, February 9th.

James Wright sings "Largo al factotum":

James Wright can next be seen at Opera Orlando in Florida, where he performs the role of Silvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, which is being paired with Stravinsky's Pulcinella. The cast also includes Brian Cheney as Canio, Suzanne Kantorski as Nedda, Daniel Scofield as Tonio and Alex Mansoori as Beppe. Performances run from March 22-26. Tickets are available online.

Barihunk Zachary Gordin in Festival Opera double-bill

Zachary Gordin sporting his Barihunk tee shirt at the gym

Barihunk calendar model Zachary Gordin is replacing fellow barihunk Hadleigh Adams in the Festival Opera's double-bill on Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins.

Gordin will sing Nedda's lover Silvio, whose affair with Canio's wife leads to the play-within-a-play's tragic turn. He'll be joined by Hope Briggs as Nedda, Alex Boyer as the jealous husband Canio and Laura Bohn as Anna, who will be led by Michael Morgan in the pit.

The Seven Deadly Sins is a satirical ballet chanté in seven scenes. Setting out on a journey across America to aid her poverty-stricken family, Anna I - manifested as two facets of one personality, one who sings and one who dances - finds herself on a seven-year, seven-city quest where she ultimately encounters each of the seven deadly sins. Anna I will be sung by Laura Bohn, who will be joined by Gordin, Kirk Eichelberger, Jonathan Smucker and Robert Norman, with Bryan Nies conducting.

With a libretto by Bertold Brecht, The Seven Deadly Sins was an artistic triumph at its premiere in Paris, but was not performed in the United States until twenty-five years later in 1958, with Lotte Lenye singing the role of Anna I.

There will be two performances of the double-bill on Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, just a short train ride from both San Francisco and Oakland. Tickets are available online.

Barihunk trio in Palm Beach's free waterfront concert

Andrew Bogard, Jason Duika and Michael Chioldi

On December 12th, the Palm Beach Opera will present their annual Opera@The Waterfront at the Meyer Amphitheater. The free concert on the Intracoastal Waterway is a chance to hear arias and ensembles performed by a combination of international opera singers and the Palm Beach Opera Young Artists, orchestra and chorus.

One of this year's featured stars is barihunk Michael Chioldi, who will sing "Si può?..." from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, "Io morro ma lieto in core" from Verdi's Don Carlo,  "This nearly was mine" from South Pacific and the famous quartet from Verdi's Rigoletto. Next season, Chioldi will sing Count di Luna in Verdi's Il trovatore with fellow barihunk Brandon Coleman, who is singing Ferrando.

He'll be joined by Jason Duika, who is a Palm Beach Opera Young Artist and is featured in the 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar. He'll be singing "Ò vin, dissipe la tristesse" from Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet and the Ice Cream Sextet from Kurt Weill's Street Scene. This season with Palm Beach Opera he'll perform Dancairo in Bizet's Carmen and Dr. Malatesta in the family performance of Don Pasquale.

Joining them will be bass-barihunk Andrew Bogart, who is celebrating a birthday today and who is also a Palm Beach Opera Young Artist this season. He will be sing "La calunnia" from Rossini's Barber of Seville, the trio "O suave il vento" from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and "Signorina in tanta fretta" from Donizetti's Don Pasquale.  This season with Palm Beach Opera, he will sing Lakai/Truffaldino in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and a family performance as the title character in Don Pasquale.

Enjoy Jason Duika and 17 more of the world's hottest opera singers in this year's Barihunk Charity Calendar. Order before the holiday rush!!!

Romain Dayez & Jason Duika 

ORDER HERE:

Matt Treviño's ghostly German debut in Leipzig

Matt Treviño as the Canterville Ghost

American bass-barihunk Matt Treviño is making his German debut at Opera Leipzig as the ghost in Gordon Getty’s opera The Canterville Ghost, based on Oscar Wilde’s story of the same name.

Wilde’s anti-ghost story, which was first published in the newspaper "The Court and Society Review" in 1887, tells the tale of a ghost who fears those he’s supposed to be haunting. Both Bram Stoker, who penned Dracula ten years later, and Wilde tackled changing belief systems in a rational and enlightened era. In The Canterville Ghost,  Wilde satirizes his generation’s meaningless preoccupation with the occult and paranormal phenomena.


The opera opened on May 9 and additional performances are scheduled for May14 and June 14 and 24. The Canterville Ghost is being paired with Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. 

Shirtless, Sexy Alessio Arduini in Pagliacci

Alessio Arduini as Silvio in Pagliacci

You can't get much sexier than the combination of über-hunkentenor sensation Jonas Kaufmann and barihunk Alessio Arduini. The two teamed up for a double-bill of Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci at the Salzburg Easter Festival last month. Arduini's Silvio and Kaufmann's Canio were joined by Dimitri Platanias as Tonio, Tansel Akzeybek as Beppe and Maria Agresta as Nedda under the baton of Christian Thielemann.You can watch the entire performance of Pagliacci HERE.

Alessio Arduini and Maria Agresta in Pagliacci

Director Philipp Stölzl probably secured his place in our year-end "Best of the Year" feature by having Alessio Arduini shirtless in his scene with Maria Agresta. The Italian barihunk showed why he has quickly become one of the most popular singers on the site. He certainly gives new meaning to the term "chest voice."

Jonas Kaufmann as Canio

Alessio Arduini is curently at the Vienna State Opera where he's singing Doctor Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale from April 26-May 11 and then Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni from June 11-19. On April 26, Jonas Kaufmann performs an evening of German operetta in Baden-Baden.

John Brandon's singing Valentine in Monroe, Louisiana

John Brandon

Barihunk John Brandon will be part of the Louisiana Opera's "Lovin' Broadway" Valentine's Day party in Kilbourne Hall at Grace Episcopal Church. Brandon will join soprano Betsy Uschkrat, tenor Tyler Smith, soprano Claire Vangelisti, tenor Julian Jones and accompanist Richard Seiler for an evening of Broadway solos and duets.

Brandon, who made his debut with Louisiana Opera last May in Pagliacci will returen this summer to sing the title role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville on June 5 and 7 at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

For information or will-call reservations, call 318-342-3247

Andrew Garland in Pagliacci/Carmina Burana and World Premiere

Andrew Garland

We've been huge fans of American barihunk Andrew Garland since the beginning of his career. We realized the true extent of his amazing artistry with the release of his CD American Portraits on GPR Records. Garland keeps his incredible body in shape by running and biking (and apparently some weight lifting, as well).

He opened last night at the Hawaii Opera in a double-bill of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Orff's Carmina Burana. Garland is performing both Silvio in Pagliacci and the baritone solo in Carmina Burana. He's joined by the talented young soprano Elizabeth Caballero, who is singing Nedda. There are two performances remaining, a matinee on March 30 and an evening performance on April 1st. Tickets are available online. If the video of Garland singing Estuans Interius from Carmina Burana is any indication, it should be an incredible performance.

If you can't get away to the island paradise to catch Garland, you can hear him on April 13th in Easton, Pennsylvania where he will be the soloist in the world premiere of composer Gabriela Lena Frank's Songs of Cifar and the Sweet Sea composed for the Lafayette Choirs and featuring the Chiara String Quartet.

She wrote the music to texts by the Nicaraguan poet Pablo Antonio Cuadra (1912-2002). As a young man, Cuadra spent more than two decades sailing the waters of Lake Nicaragua, meeting peasants, fishermen, sailors, woodcutters, and timber merchants in his travels. From such encounters, he was inspired to construct a cycle of poems that recount the odyssey of a harp-playing mariner, Cifar, who likewise travels the waters of Lake Nicaragua.

The concert is free to the public and it's only a 90 minute drive from New York City or Philadelphia. 

David Adam Moore shirtless as Silvio; Debuting Dead Man Walking this summer

David Adam Moore as Silvio and Adina Nitescu as Nedda

The long-awaited production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci has opened at the San Diego Opera and there are still three performances left to catch barihunk David Adam Moore heat up the stage as Silvio. This production is being directed by Australian stage director Andrew Sinclair, who thankfully has the popular Barihunks calendar model shirtless. Moore is returing to the company after his heralded 2010 swashbuckling company debut as Mercutio in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet.

The role of Silvio is not new to the American singer, as he's performed it with the New Orleans Opera. Music critic George Dansker praised those performances in Opera News: "Moore offered a gorgeously sung Silvio, and his acting, particularly his harrowing reactions to what was happening during the commedia, was top notch."

Remaining performances are tonight, Friday January 31 and Sunday February 2 and tickets are available online. 

 Interview with David Adam Moore:

Moore will be taking on what is arguably the sexiest barihunk role this summer, when he debuts as death row inmate Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking at the Des Moines Metro Opera. Performances will run from June 28-July 6 and tickets are currently only on sale to subscribers. We'll keep you posted about individual tickets sales.

Next on his agenda is a return to Israel, where he will sing Dr. Malatesta in Donizettis comedy Don Pasquale at the Israeli Opera from February 18 - March 1. 

Cast Change: Alex Lawrence to close Pagliacci in Zurich

Alex Lawrence

Barihunk Alex Lawrence, who also happens to the be the son-in-law of barihunk Rod Gilfry, is stepping in as Silvio in the closing night performance of Pagliacci at the Opernhaus Zürich. The performance will be on Saturday, January 12 at 7 PM and also features Elena Moșuc as Nedda, Zoran Todorovich as Canio and Lucio Gallo as Tonio.

Tickets are available online. 

Lawrence scored a huge success as Sam in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti in Zurich last November. 

David Adam Moore takes on Carmina Burana and Silvio at New Orleans Opera

David Adam Moore as he appeared in the Barihunks Calendar

We've always found Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" a somewhat sexy piece of music with its songs about the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust. With that in mind, having sexy barihunk David Adam Moore sing the baritone part seems like dream casting. Moore will be performing a fully-staged version of Carmina Burana, as well as Silvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with the New Orleans Opera opening tonight.

This is the first time that the New Orleans Opera is producing Carmina Burana and they are going all out. They will be joined by the New Orleans Ballet Theatre along with the combined choral forces of the New Orleans Opera Chorus, Loyola University Chorus and the New Orleans Vocal Arts Chorale in what promises to be a spectacular show. There will be a second performance on Sunday, April 29, so if you're anywhere in the area, click HERE for a ticket.

Bernd Weikl sings Estuans Interius from Carmina Burana:

Moore will play the "other man" in Pagliacci opposite the Russian-born, American-raised soprano Inna Dukach. Here is an interview with Moore conducted by New Orleans Opera Executive Director Timothy Todd Simmons. You can hear about his "other career" in the visual arts, his country music roots and his upcoming recording of "Soldier Songs," which we've featured on the site:

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Happy Birthday, Leonard Warren (April 21, 1911-March 4, 1960)

Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest American baritones ever, Leonard Warren (born Warenoff). The family Americanized the name when his Russian father settled in the United States.

Warren's first job was working in his father's fur business in New York In 1935.  He studied voice with Sidney Dietch and the great Giuseppe De Luca and joined the chorus of Radio City Music Hall. In 1938 he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air and was granted a stipend to study in Italy.

Leonard Warren & Astrid Varnay sing "Favella il Doge" from Simon Boccanegra:

Warren made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in excerpts from Verdi's La Traviata and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci in November 1938. His formal operatic debut took place in New York in January 1939, when he sang Paolo in Simon Boccanegra. He quickly became one of the most popular baritones of his time. He also sang in San Francisco, Chicago, Canada, and South America. He appeared at La Scala in Milan in 1953. In 1958, he made a highly successful tour of the Soviet Union. His last complete performance at the Metropolitan Opera was as Simon Boccanegra on March 1, 1960. Three days later he collapsed while singing the aria "Urna fatale dal mio destino;" as Don Carlo during a performance of Verdi's La forza del destino. He had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died backstage.

Leonard Warren  sings "Urna fatale...È salvo, o gioia":

Leonard Warren was particularly acclaimed as one of the foremost interpreters of the great Verdi baritone roles; he also sang the parts of Tonio in Pagliacci, Escamillo in Carmen, and Scarpia in Tosca. He was reputed to be a person of an intractable character, who always tried to impose his will on stage designers, managers, and even conductors, in matters of production, direction, and tempi. He caused pain, a colleague said, but he had a great voice.

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The "Flexin' Texan" Michael Mayes & The "Hot Pole" Mariusz Kwiecien

Michael Mayes' Barihunks Calendar Shot

We've raved about Michael Mayes' podcast, the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow podcast, for years and it remains one of the most entertaining shows on the web. His podcasts are often fueled by either heavy doses of caffeine or liberal servings of alcohol. Michael makes sure that no topic is off limits. Some of the recent topics include "Country Music is 3 chords and the truth," "The shared lexicon of opera and addiction," "Sleeping against the pole~ not the Polish guy, but the actual pole," "Singing opera in the mobile home" and "Heterosexual countertenors sure let you know."

Mayes is currently in Nashville reveling in his country roots. One thing that we can say with certainty is that Michael Mayes is an unabashed country boy and Elvis Presley fanatic. It's so refreshing to meet an opera singer who remains authentic to who he is and doesn't start talking in the "international opera accent."

Mayes is performing Silvio in Pagliacci with the Nashville Opera, which continues to be one of the most interesting and creative smaller opera companies. Mayes' Silvio has been greeted with critical acclaim and there is one more performance on Sunday, December 4th. Get your tickets HERE.

We've been eagerly awaiting to hear when Mariusz "the hot Pole" Kwiecien's new CD of "Slavic Heroes" would be released. We've now learned that it will available in the U.S. on January 10, 2012. The album includes arias by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Smetana, Dvoák, Moniusko, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Szymanovsky. Included is Apollo's Hymn from Szymanovsky's "King Roger," which he will be singing at the Santa Fe Opera this summer from July 21 to August 14.

Mariusz Kwiecien

Kwiecien is wrapping up 2011 in his native Poland with performances of Moniuszko's Halka and Mozart's "Don Giovanni." He opens 2012 at the Bavarian State Opera performing the Marquis de Posa in Verdi's Don Carlo, which we've been told is SOLD OUT. The cast is one of the best that we've seen assembled at any opera house. It includes René Pape as King Philipp II, Jonas Kaufmann as Don Carlos and Anja Harteros as Elisabeth.

If you want to enjoy photographs of talented young artists like Michael Mayes all year long, you can purchase our 2012 Barihunks Charity Calendar by clicking HERE. You'll also be assisting the next generation of young singers, as all of the proceeds will go to young artist programs. We're announcing our first two beneficiaries next week.

Please feel free to contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com with your tips, comments, praise and occasional corrections.

Ottawa Citizen: "A Barihunk comes home"

Jonathan Estabrooksand pianist Judy Ginsburg. (Photo Jean Levac, Ottawa Citizen)

We love that the term "barihunks" has entered into everyday usage. It's nice to see that people don't just think of opera as a fat lady with horns standing at the front of the stage singing Jo-ho-to-ho. We've seen the term creep into opera reviews and articles about singers, so imagine our elation when we saw the headline "A 'barihunk' comes home."

Jonathan Estabrooks was recently featured in his hometown newspaper the Ottawa Citizen with that blaring headine. Estabrooks is one of the newer singers on the site and one of the growing number of artists who are using social media to enhance their visibility. Unlike two of our favorites, Michael Mayes of the Texapolitan Opera Podcast and Michael Rice of OperaNow!, Estabrooks is a vlogger (video blogger). His videos are lighthearted and feature other artists who he is working with. You can subscribe to his videos HERE. He even has a vlog with his brother and fellow singer Bryan Estabrooks, which you can view HERE.

Estabrooks will be performing his first Silvio in Pagliacci at OperaLyra in Ottawa from September 10-17 with tenor Richard Leech and soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah. 

Click HERE to read the entire feature on Jonathan Estabrooks from the Ottawa Citizen.

For the next week we will be accepting submissions for our first Barihunks charity calendar, which will benefit young artist programs. Send High Res photos and a brief bio to Barihunks@gmail.com

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Simon Keenlyside: Just Can't Get Enough

Simon Keenlyside

Our recent post praising the artistry of Simon Keenlyside turned out to be an extremely popular post, so we're posting more of the popular barihunk. Simon-mania must be in the air, as "ColoraturaFan" on YouTube posted this 15 minute tribute, which covers most of his great roles.

Enjoy another healthy dose of Keenlyside:



Next month, Keenlyside will be performing Pelleas et Mellisande in Paris and London, followed by Verdi's Macbeth at Covent Garden and then the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro at Salzburg. His Macbeth opens in theaters around the world in June. Visit the Opus Arte Cinema website for screenings in your area.

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Michael Mayes' Hysterical "Noir" Film

Michael Mayes Preparing for Silvio - Seriously!

Barihunks is always eager to see the latest Michael Mayes video. They are some the funniest videos in the opera world. His latest shows him preparing for the role of "Silvio," the "other man" in I Pagliacci.

As fans of verismo know, operas like Pagliacci are all about life imitating art (or is it art imitating life!). So Michael Mayes went beyond the score in learning his role, which he will perform with the Baltimore Concert Opera.



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Barihunks Heating Up The Pacific Northwest

Two young barihunks will be singing at smaller opera companies that sit in the shadow of the esteemed Seattle Opera. Joshua Jeremiah is new to Barihunks and he is a welcome addition. He is yet another singer who came through the Seattle Young Artists Program. Others include Michael Krzankowski, Jonathan Lasch, Michael Todd Simpson, David Adam Moore, Morgan Smith and Tom Forde (see below).Visit the Spokane Opera website for ticket information.

Joshua Jeremiah will playing the role of Silvo in Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," a role that we rarely see on Barihunks. However, we hear that Jeremiah will be sans shirt, which should be a good enough excuse to visit Spokane (as witnessed from the photo). We would like to welcome this talented young singer to the site.



Another graduate of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program is Tom Forde, who has appeared on this site before. He's making his debut as the title character in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." Forde has a rich voice and winning stage personality, so he will undoubtedly triumph in this role. We understand that he spent some extra time at the gym to ensure that he looked great in his costume. Visit the Tacoma Opera website for ticket information.
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Simon Keenlyside: "Marrying music and theater"

I don't think that I could say it better than Joyce DiDonato, who at the end of this clip says, "That right there is a lesson in marrying music and theater."

One doesn't see anything from Pagliacci on this site too often. Partially because it's hardly a barihunks opera and, frankly, I've never liked the opera. But Simon Keenlyside can make anything exciting. Someone recently emailed me enthralled with Keenlyside's "animal magnetism." This is a guy who can dominate a stage like the great singing actors of our time, Leonie Rysanek, Bryn Terfel, Maria Callas or Raina Kabaiwanska.

He also happens to be the hottest barihunk over 40. Period. Wouldn't he make a hot James Bond? Maybe Jake Heggie can write the opera.

This site can be contacted at barihunks@gmail.com

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