Benjamin Appl to make rare U.S. appearance

Benjamin Appl

German barihunk Benjamin Appl has already been recognized as one of the leading lieder singers of our age, despite being only 35 years old. 

From May 31-June 3, he will make a rare appearance in the United States when he performs Kullervo by Siblius with the Seattle Symphony and soprano Maria Männistö. We believe that this may be his West Coast debut, as his bio lists his only U.S. appearances at Carnegie Hall and at the Ravinia Festival. He will also be joining soprano Helena Juntunen for a performance of Kullervo on May 17th with the Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Benjamin Appl sings Schubert's Der Einsame:

The Kullervo "choral symphony" is based on the epic poem Kalevala. It is not until the third movement, over thirty minutes from the beginning of the work, that the male voice choir and the soloists make their voices heard. The orchestra creates the atmosphere and finally the choir begins the story: Kullervo, son of Kalervo, son of an old man, wearing blue stockings. The archaic atmosphere is accentuated by male voice choir, which sings in unison.

Berfore his U.S. appearance, Appl has a series of lieder recitals, including a Bach recital in Köln and his HEIMAT recital tour, which is headed to Hong Kong, the Château de Coppet in Switzerland, the Gut Holzhausen Voices Festival in Nieheim, Germany, and at the Reydale Festival in Pickering, U.K.

Jonathan Estabrooks to sing Lerner & Loewe

Jonathan Estabrooks

Canadian barihunk Jonathan Estabrooks is returning to his native country to perform with the Vancouver Symphony. He'll be making a familiar foray from opera to the world of musical theater, as he joins soprano Amy Wallis and tenor David Curry in an evening of music by Lerner and Loewe. They'll perform under the baton of Steven Reineke on Friday, November 21 and Saturday, November 22 at the Orpheum Theater. Tickets are available online.

The duo is known for creating some of the greatest musicals of all time, including Camelot, My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, and Gigi. Estabrooks will be performing such familiar hits as If Ever I Would Leave You, They Call the Wind Maria and Gigi.

Estabrooks will also be signing copies of his debut album ‘These Miles’ after the show in the main lobby.

If you can't make it to Vancouver, you have plenty of time to buy tickets for his performances with the Seattle Symphony and Steven Reineke when he takes on the Broadway classics of Rodgers & Hammerstein from March 6-8, 2015. Tickets are available online. 

Jonathan Estabrooks isn't in this year's Barihunks calendar, but he has appeared in previous years. However, you can still enjoy 19 more of the hottest guys in the opera world by ordering your copy today. Just click the handy LULU button below.

Peter Bording Shower Scene; Introducing Stephen Hegedus

Peter Bording

We haven't featured the sexy Dutch barihunk Peter Bording in awhile. We received an email alerting us that he has a sexy shower scene in Essen's holiday classic "Die Fledermaus." You can watch the clip HERE. The opera opens Sunday, December 18th and runs through New Years Eve. Bording then moves on to the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck where he'll be performing Franz Lehár's "Die Lustige Witwe."

We also received a reader submission about Stephen Hegedus, who is new to this site. They saw him perform in Handel's Messiah with the Seattle Symphony on Friday night, a performance that he will reprise on Sunday night. The Seattle Times wrote of his performance, "The bass-baritone soloist, Stephen Hegedus, sang with commanding lyricism." On December 21 and 22, Hegedus will perform the Messiah with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Both performances are sold out.

A graduate of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, Stephen Hegedus’s  appearances in the 2010-2011 season included the title role of Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Hamilton), Albert in Massenet’s Werther (Opéra de Montréal) Zuniga in Carmen (Brott Festival) and the Marquis inLa Traviata (Vancouver Opera). On the concert stage he performed Handel’s Messiah with the Victoria Symphony and the Grand Philharmonic Choir, Bach’s Magnificat with the Orchestre Métropolitain du grand Montréal and Howard Blake’s The Bear with the Toronto Symphony.

Stephen Hegedus

 

He has performed with Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile, Pacific Opera Victoria, Les Violons du Roy, San Antonio Symphony, Houston Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, the André-Turp Musical Society The Aldeburgh Connection, the Lamèque International Baroque Festival, La Sinfonia de Lanaudière, the Aldeburgh Festival and the International Bach Festival in Toronto.  

In April 2009, he made his Carnegie Hall debut singing Bach’s Mass in B-minor with the Oratorio Society of New York and returned in 2010 singing Handel’s Messiah. Recently Stephen appeared as a finalist at Placido Domingo’s Operalia, The World Opera Competition, and was awarded 2nd Prize at the 32nd annual Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition hosted by the Oratorio Society of New York. Other awards include The Janet Stubbs Fellowship and The William and Phyllis Waters Graduating Award, both from the University of Toronto. He is a grant holder of the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Canadian Opera Singers and of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Stephen Hegedus as Figaro

Stephen holds a Master’s of Music in Opera from the University of Toronto and has pursued further studies at the Banff Centre, the Britten-Pears Programme (Aldeburgh, England), The Canadian Vocal Arts Institute (Montreal), The International Vocal Arts Institute (Tel Aviv) and the Centre for Opera in Sulmona, Italy. Upcoming engagements include appearances with the Seattle Symphony, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Victoria Symphony and Pacific Opera Victoria.

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