Christiaan Smith to make Carnegie Hall debut

Christiaan Smith

American barihunk Christiaan Smith (he dropped the Kotlarek from his name), will make his Carnegie Hall debut with “Songs We Know" on Saturday, November 18 at Weill Recital Hall. Smith will perform the music of The Beatles, Maroon 5, Adele, John Legend, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Simon & Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Tickets are available online.

Smith co-wrote his first solo album "All The Way" with British songwriter Chris Eaton, which will be released later this year.  Eaton has written for Janet Jackson, Keith Urban and Amy Grant. The album’s title song was the first single from the album and was released last month.

Christiaan Smith sings "All The Way" from his new album:

Christiaan Smith recently starred as Gaston in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast National Tour. His songwriting was featured when he opened for one of President Obama’s campaign speeches after being spotted singing in a martini bar in Madison, Wisconsin.

His opera roles have included Schaunard in Puccini's La Bohème, Joseph DeRocher in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking and as Charlie in the composer's Three Decembers, Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, and Dancaïre in Bizet's Carmen.

Derek Chester and Marco Vassalli from the 2018 Calendar/Photo Book

Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for purchase HERE. In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the calendar. You can purchase that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!

Malte Roesner discusses his fach change and fitness routine

Malte Roesner from his recent Barihunks photo shoot

When we first met Malte Roesner in France last year, he was singing as a baritone and wrapping up a decade long run at the Staatstheater Braunschweig (State Theater of Brunswick). Since that time, he has gone through a fach change to bass and recently came to California for a series of coachings and auditions, hoping to make his U.S. debut in the near future.

He is featured prominently in this year's calendar, "Barihunks in Bed," and it's his gorgeous face that graces the cover. We asked him a few questions about this newest stage of his career.

Malte Roesner from his recent Barihunks photo shoot

1. What prompted the fach change?

I have always had an extension in the bottom of my range that is unusual for a baritone, and I remember that when I was studying, I had to be mindful not to  cover and transition into the passaggio "too early“. But, then again, at  20-something years old my timbre seemed too bright for a lower fach, and, after  all, I had the top notes.  So I started my career as a baritone at the Brunswick National Theater and sang  55 roles there over the course of ten and a half years. 

The older I got, the  harder it became to maintain the high baritone tessitura. Regardless, if you are hired for a certain repertoire in the fest-system you, of course, have to sing  it. After I left Brunswick, I  took some time to refocus on technique and come back to my natural voice. Because a singer's identity is often  tied to his or  her voice-type, it didn't even occur to me to try out bass repertoire at first.  It took my voice teacher telling me to just bring absolutely anything I wanted  and felt comfortable with to my lesson for me to start experimenting with lower  repertoire.  I started with bass-baritone arias, but as my voice started to relax into the  new range, I also added in real bass repertoire.

One of the first low bass arias I worked on was Sarastro, because I remembered a rehearsal for a Magic Flute revival – I was singing Papageno – where I jokingly sang a few of Sarastro's  lines down to the low F in the first finale. Afterwards the Monostatos came up  to me and told me that it sounded as if I was actually more at home down there.

Malte Roesner from his recent Barihunks photo shoot

2. What are you working on for rep?

Six months is not a long time for a fach change and my voice is still settling and my timbre  still darkening. So I am trying to stay open minded about what to sing and just take the cues from my voice, but basso cantante seems to describe  it best at the moment. 

For my first auditions I combined some bass-baritone repertoire, like Figaro and Pizarro, with real bass repertoire, like Don Basilio and Sarastro. This seems  appropriate since even some of the greatest basses of the past, e.g. Ezio Pinza  or Cesare Siepi, (I am honestly just looking at rep and not comparing myself), used to straddle the fence in their youth – youth of course being a very  relative term for a bass. 

Recently a friend of mine and two great coaches that I had the chance to work  with in California gave me a few recommendations.  Some of my next projects are  going to be Kaspar from Weber's Freischütz, Boito's Mephistophele and Floyd's Susanna. 

I am really looking forward to continuing this journey

Malte Roesner from his recent Barihunks photo shoot

3. You recently came to California. Tell us about your visit.

Except for the the top-tier, the European and the North American opera-worlds  are quite separated. I am in the rare situation that, because I was born in New  York to German parents, I have dual citizenship which allows me to work in both  areas without a visa. This is why ever since I started singing professionally, I  had the plan to one day also sing in the US. 

When a patron and Barihunks invited me to California for an audition tour, I of  course jumped at the chance.  In September, I had the opportunity to prepare my very first auditions in San Francisco and Los  Angeles as a bass. with some of the best coaches I have ever worked with, and then audition for a couple of great companies in the Bay Area. 

Leaving the practice room for the first time after such a transition can be daunting, so I am really happy about the very positive feedback that supports my  decision for the fach change. 

But of course my month in California was not just all work. I fell in love with the Bay Area; exploring San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, and spent more time wine-tasting with a former sommelier as my guide in the wine country than I would like to admit (note to self: it's good to be a bass). I tasted  amazing food from all over the world. Most notably, I had the chance to eat at  one of the restaurants of Dominique Crenn, the highest rated female chef in the  world. I got to hear great opera and a concert that merged Jazz with classical  and northern African influences. I spend time in museums, thrift stores and spas, in nature, on a ferry and on a roller-coaster. I went to a baseball game and a drag show with Latrice Royale. I even got to have lunch with Jake Heggie and talk to him about my translation of one of his operas (For a Look or a Touch) and he turned out to be an extremely nice guy. 

But most importantly I met kind, generous and wonderful people and made new friends.  As one can tell I just had the worst time ...

Malte Roesner from his recent Barihunks photo shoot

4. What is your workout routine?

After an injury a few years ago, I unfortunately had to stop training martial arts for a while. I  started doing a work out method called EMS (Electro Myo Stimulation) instead  that is unfortunately not FDA approved in the States yet. I used the fitness-level I got there to start testing my limits and tried all kinds of things. I built some muscle-mass with squats and barbell complexes and then I  got really lean with HIIT (high intensity interval training). 

At the moment I am more interested in functional fitness.  I do heavy multi-joint barbell lifts for strength, kettlebell and bodyweight  HIIT workouts for conditioning, and some yoga; because yoga is just good for you.  For me, the combination of these methods covers all aspects of fitness I need  for my well-being.  The dynamic full body workout with kettlebells and the  gentle strength and flexibility gained through yoga seem to me especially ideal  for singers, seeing as both work with the breath.

Malte Roesner demonstrating the "baritone claw" in San Francisco

5. Is it really "All about the bass"?

Is there any question about that?

Well, I guess in opera it often seems as if it were all about the soprano and the tenor, but that is OK.  I love the roles that might be coming my way and I love how the new fach feels  in my body. Maybe it has to do with the fact that while I was singing as a  baritone, the tessitura was  high relative to my passaggio and my range. I had  this whole lower part of my voice that I never got to use. Now I am just  discovering the relaxation and opening needed for the extreme low notes. Most  other voice-types have their money-notes in the top. Only a bass is truly  measured by his low notes.  Especially as a recovering baritone, the top is not an issue for me.

So in this  sense, being a bass really is “all about the bass.”

You can enjoy more pictures of Malte Roesner in our new "Barihunks in Bed 2017" calendar, which is available now. Simply click on the LULU button below.

Baritone quartet in updated Don Giovanni

Baritone quartet in Venture Opera's Don Giovanni

Four of the hottest guys in opera are coming together to create a Barihunk Quartet in Mozart's Don Giovanni with New York's newest and highly innnovative opera company. Venture Opera was founded by Jonathon Thierer in 2014 and perform installation opera throughout New York City in venues that enhance their artistic vision.

Philip Cutlip will sing the title role and be accompanied by his sidekick Eric Downs as Leporello. Matthew Patrick Morris will sing Masetto and Christian Zaremba will sing the Commendatore. 

Philip Cutlip (left) and Matthew Morris (right)

Venture Opera's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni casts the serial seducer as a Catholic priest who abuses his power to have his way with women. Taking place in one of the oldest surviving gothic-revival religious buildings in New York, the adaptation revolves around the theological question of the Act of Contrition.


Performances will be on November 6, 8 and 10 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in the heart of the Lower East Side. Tickets and additional cast information are available online.

Henk Neven's sexy Don Giovanni in Bergen

Henk Neven in Bergen's Don Giovanni

For the Bergen National Opera's new Don Giovanni, British director Oliver Mears has transformed the stage of Grieg Hall in Bergen, Norway to a grand 1960s cruise ship with its classy salons and swimming pools. The production sets the story amongst the labyrinthine corridors and salons of a grand ship, with its upper and lower decks and their implicit privileges and deprivations. What could be more appropriate in a city set along Norway's famous fjords?

Mear's said of the production, "We wanted to set the production somewhere that was self-contained, labyrinthine, where it could be plausible that characters keep running into each other (as they do in the original libretto), and where the class and status differences so crucial to the original story could retain their importance.'

In the title role they've cast Dutch barihunk Henk Neven, who spends much of the opera in various stages of undress. Tickets and additional cast information are available online.

Henk Neven sings "Deh viena alla finestra" in Amsterdam:

After Don Giovanni, Neven returns to his native country to perform Bach's Matthäus Passion with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century from March 25-30. He then heads across the Pond for two performances of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, first in Quebec City on April 9th and then at New York's Carnegie Hall on April 12th.

Barihunk Quartet in Opera Atelier's Persée

Olivier Laquerre (Méduse) left, Vasil Garvanliev (Phinèe) center, and Curtis Sullivan (Cyclope) 2nd from right Photos on left and right by Bruce Zinger

 

Opera Atelier has revived their critically acclaimed production of Lully’s Persée with four barihunks in the cast: Olivier Laquerre as Méduse, Vasil Garvanliev as Phinèe, Stephen Hegedus as Protenor/Divinite Infernale and Curtis Sullivan as Cyclope.

The company first staged the production in 2000, which was the opera's first fully staged production since it inaugurated the Royal Opera House at Versailles in 1770 during the wedding celebrations of the future King Louis XVI to Marie Antoinette. Their 2004 revival of Persée was the subject of a documentary.

Stephen Hegedus (right)

The Royal Opera House has invited Opera Atelier to bring Persée back to Versailles for the first time  since the 1770 performances. It will be performed on May 23, 24, and 25 after the current run at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. There are performances tonight, as well as May 2 and 3.

You can also catch Stephen Hegedus performing Bach’s Magnificat and Bruckner’s Te Deum with l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec on May 28.

BariChunk to BariHunk Kasey Yeargain to make professional debut

Kasey Yeargain "Before & After"

We have had few posts that have generated as much interest as Kasey Yeargain's transformation from an overweight, unhealthy, depressed singer into a healthy, physically fit, confident barihunk who cuts a mean figure in a uniform. His story shot into our ten most viewed posts within a month and remains in our Top 5 to this day.

At his heaviest, he weighed between 270-300 pounds (122-136 kilos) and he now weighs around 199 pounds  (90 kilos). He has created his own blog called The Opera Bro where he shares his story and talks about his weight loss and fitness routine.

Kasey Yeargain as Zuniga

His incredible story culminates on May 2 at the Tulsa Opera where he is making his professional stage debut as Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen. We often joke about Carmen running off with Escamillo when there's a barihunk in the role, but in this production she may run off with the officer Zuniga. If you can't make opening night, there will be an additional performance on May 4. Tickets are available online.

This summer, he'll be able to strut his stuff opposite one of the great bodies in opera, as he takes on the Prison Guard in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking opposite über-barihunk David Adam Moore at the Des Moines Metro Opera. This will be Yeargain coming full circle, as his dedication to fitness began while he was a studio artist with the same company last year. Performances will run from June 28-July 19 and tickets are available online.

Barihunk Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek to join Liza Minnelli

Liza Minnelli & Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek

Barihunk Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek will join four-time Tony Award-winning legend Liza Minnelli at New York's Joe's Pub at The Public Theater as part of an all-star tribute concert and benefit celebrating the music of incomparable multi-award-winning composer Jule Styne. Proceeds from the concert will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The May 11th benefit will also feature Marissa Mulder, Anita Gillette, Leslie Uggams, David Burtka, Carolee Carmello, Jennifer Diamond, Mandy Gonzalez, Randy Graff, Dee Hoty, Rita McKenzie, Alice Ripley and 1998 Miss America Kate Shindle.

Jule Styne is a Tony Award- and Academy Award-winning composer known for writing over 1500 songs over the course of his career, including scores for such notable Broadway musicals as Gypsy, Funny Girl, Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, Peter Pan, Bells Are Ringing, Do Re Mi, Sugar and Hallelujah Baby! Teaming with lyricist Sammy Cahn in the 1940s, he also created a string of Hit Parade leaders and chart-topping hits, including the Oscar-winning "Three Coins In The Fountain."

David Burtka

Styne's illustrious collaborators include Stephen Sondheim, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Bob Merrill, Leo Robin and E.Y. Harburg, with their combined efforts over the years having produced such unforgettable showstopping standards as "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Don't Rain On My Parade," "Let Me Entertain You," "The Party's Over," "People," "Never Never Land," "Just In Time," and "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend."

Tickets are $35 and are available HERE.

Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek can currently be seen as Joseph DeRocher in Dead Man Walking at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater in Chicago on April 27th. Tickets are available online. From May 30-June 15, he sings Count Almaviva in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro at the Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma, California.

Lucky Vixen chased by shirtless Lauri Vasar

Lauri Vasar in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen (Photo: Monika Rittershaus)

Whenever we post about Estonian barihunk Lauri Vasar he seems to be either shirtless or pantless. We've featured him as Billy Budd without his shirt and in Il Prigioniero without his shirt or pants. Vasar who has been incredibly popular with our readers also made our coveted "Barihunks Best of 2013" list along with Christopher Burchett for "Best Underwear Shots," one of our favorite categories.

Lauri Vasar from previous Barihunks posts

Vasar is shirtless again and in an opera that is known for showing more fur than skin, Leoš Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen (Das schlaue Füchslein. Vasar is playing the role of the Forester at the Hamburg State Opera, a character which was based on Janáček himself. At the heart of the story is a sexy and evasive Vixen who is pursued by the Forester.  The character of the vixen was inspired by a younger woman who Janáček was somewhat obsessed with in real life. 

We won't tell you how the opera ends, but if a shirtless Lauri Vasar was chasing us around, it would definitely have a happy ending. 

The Cunning Little Vixen, which opened yesterday, runs through April 5th and tickets are available online. 

Dan Kempson & Matthew Morris together in La bohème

Dan Kempson & Matthew Morris from previous Barihunks calendars

Two of the most popular guys to ever appear in our annual Barihunks Charity Calendar will be appearing together on stage together. Dan Kempson and Matthew Morris will be performing scenes from Puccini's La bohème with the Savannah Symphony at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts on January 31st.

Kempson will perform Marcello and Morris will take on Schaunard. The duo will be joined by Meechot Marrero as Mimi, Amy Shoremount-Obra as Musetta, Cooper Nolan as Rodolfo and Scott Russell as Colline. Tickets range from $16 to $70 and are available online.

Dan Kempson in Sweeney Todd

Upcoming performances for Kempson include a reprisal of his critically acclaimed performance in Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox with the Skylight Music Theater from March 14-30. He then takes on the role of Lieutenant Gordon in Kevin Puts' Silent Night at the Fort Worth Opera Festival. The cast also includes fellow barihunks Morgan Smith and Craig Irvin. Performances are on May 4 and 10 and tickets are available online.

We also suggest you check out Kempson's sound files on his website, which includes one of the most beautiful performances of Johanna from Sondheim's Sweeney Todd that we've ever heard.

Matthew Morris performing in Santa Fe (Photo by Barihunks)

Upcoming performances for Matthew Morris include Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem from February 19-23 with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. On April 10 and 12 he sings the complete role of Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème with the El Paso Opera. Tickets are available online.

John Brancy portrays Apollo in Charpentier's Orphée

John Brancy shows off some Apollo-esque guns

The ascendant Gotham Chamber Opera will present the New York stage premiere of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux enfers in partnership with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra. Apollo, the god of beauty and the sun, will be performed by barihunk John Brancy. Joining him in the cast will be Daniel Curran as Orphée, Jeff Beruan as Pluton, and Jamilyn Manning-White as Eurydice.
 
Charpentier’s 1686 opera retells the story of Orpheus who, upon learning of Eurydice’s sudden death, descends to Hades in order to convince Pluto to allow her to return with him to earth. The story of selfless love and the power of music to overcome death is being staged by Andrew Eggert at St. Paul’s Chapel near the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. Costume designs are by Vita Tzykun, who happens to be the partner of barihunk David Adam Moore.

John Brancy's winning performance at the 2013 Marilyn Horne Song Competition:    

Tickets and additional information is available online.

Charpentier (1643-1704) was one the most important French composers of his generation and a premiere composer of French oratorios. His work is marked by its lyricism, skilled polyphony, and sensitive use of harmonic resources. In addition to his oratorios and sixteen operas, Charpentier composed 12 masses, elaborate motets with chorus, a Te Deum, a Magnificat and other works.



In 2014, Brancy can be seen as Harlequin in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos with Pacific Opera Victoria and Sonora in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West with Oper Frankfurt.

A stunning Duncan Rock as Tarquinius at Glyndebourne

Duncan Rock in The Rape of Lucretia (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith)

We've been following the amazing career of barihunk Duncan Rock and watched with great delight how quickly he's developed a devoted following amongst opera goers. We love his willingness to push his artistic boundaries, appearing in everything from Billy Budd at Glynebourne to an updated, gender bending Don Giovanni: The Opera at London's famous nightclub Heaven.

We received more mail about him after he appeared in last year's Barihunks calendar, than any other singer. He has quickly become the perfect example of what opera companies are often looking for today: Great voice, great appearance and great acting. In the pantheon of young baritone talent, he has more people talking than almost any other singer.

Duncan Rock in The Rape of Lucretia (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith)

He's currently turning heads and receiving rave reviews for his portrayal as an often shirtless Tarquinius in Benjmain Britten's The Rape of Lucretia at Glyndebourne. In this production, he is being directed by the great Irish actress and theatre and opera director Fiona Shaw, who is undoubtedly pushing him to even higher artistic standards. Tim Ashley, of the Guardian commented, "Rock undercuts Tarquinius's raffish allure with unnerving intimations of psychotic violence."

The Rape of Lucretia was first performed at Glyndebourne in 1946. It tells the story of Lucretia, who is raped by the tyrant Tarquinius Superbus, ruler of Rome. Unable to live with the shame, Lucretia  commits suicide. The action of the opera is commented on throughout by a Male and Female Chorus who occupy another dimension, at times narrating the story and at times voicing the thoughts of the different characters.

Duncan Rock in The Rape of Lucretia (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith)

There are three remaining performances at Glyndebourne on October 22, 25 and November 28, as well as a tour to Woking, Norwich, Canterbury and Plymouth. A recording of this production will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on December 28th.

For tickets, call 01273 815000 or visit the Glyndebourne website.

Gregory Jebaily to appear in Montemezzi rarity

Gregory Jebaily

Barihunk Gregory Jebaily, who we introduced to readers in April and June with sexy shirtless photos, will be singing the role of Manfredo in Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re ("The Love of the Three Kings") with the Queen City Chamber Opera in Cincinnati. 

L'amore dei tre re is a verismo rarity composed in 1913 by Italo Montemezzi, composed with a mix of Italian lyricism, Wagnerian lushness and Debussian languor. The opera was popular during the first half of the 20th century but has rarely been performed since.

Listen to an entire performance of The Love of the Three Kings from 1962:

The plot may have contributed a bit to its relative obscurity: Archibaldo, an old blind king, menacingly guards his daughter-in-law, Fiora, against the advances of her lover, Avito, a vanquished prince. Three characters die before the unhappy ending.

The performances with Queen City Chamber Opera will be on November 2nd and 3rd and are a part of National Opera Week in Cincinnati. Tickets are only $18/$26 and are available online. You can listen to sound clip of Jebaily on his new website.

Who gets the money for the Charity Calendar? 

This year we're looking for originality on Facebook and Twitter. We'll consider any idea that involves young artists, not just young artist programs...video projects...recital ideas...you name it.

Most LIKES on Facebook and most retweets on Twitter will increase your odds of winning.  (Use #Barihunks2014). Post your comments to our Facebook feed with who you should think is deserving of the a charitable contribution and why.

Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of The Pearl Fishers

Philip Cutlip as Zurga at Minnesota Opera

On this date 150 years ago, Georges Bizet' s Les pêcheurs de perles  (The Pearl Fishers) premiered at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris. Along with Carmen, it's one of his nine operas that has managed to maintain a place in the standard repertoire of opera companies around the world. Occasional performance of La jolie fille de Perth and Ivan IV can still be seen, but they are relatively rare.

The Pearl Fishers tells the story of how two men's vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman, whose own dilemma is the conflict between secular love and her sacred oath as a priestess.

Despite a good reception by the public, press reactions to The Pearl Fishers were generally hostile and dismissive, although other composers, notably Hector Berlioz, found considerable merit in the music. The opera was not revived in Bizet's lifetime, but from 1886 onwards it was performed with some regularity in Europe and America.

William Burden and (the original barihunk) Nathan Gunn in Pearl Fishers:

After its opening run, The Pearl Fishers was not performed again until eleven years after Bizet's death when it was presented in Italian at La Scala on March 20, 1886. After this it received regular stagings in European cities, often with the Italian version of the libretto. These revivals, which possibly reflected the growing success of Carmen, were followed by the publication of several versions of the music that incorporated significant differences from Bizet's original.

The opera is also somewhat responsible for the term "barihunks," as opera lore has it that director Francesca Zambella coined the phrase to describe a shirtless Nathan Gunn, who was singing the role of Zurga in her Philadelphia production in 2004.

The role of Zurga has certainly kept us busy at Barihunks, as it is often staged either shirtless or with a liberal amount of skin exposed. Barihunks on the site as Zurga include Lee Poulis, Philip Cutlip, Nmon Ford, Troy Cook, Craig Verm, Liam Bonner, David Adam Moore and, of course, Nathan Gunn.

Upcoming performances of the opera, include performances the Fort Worth Opera Festival from April 19 to May 2, 2014 starring Lee Poulis as Zurga and Sean Panikkar (of Forte fame) as Nadir. As an added bonus, barihunk Justin Hopkins has been cast as Nourabad. The production will be directed by the exciting and talented John de los Santos. 

A concert performance in Nantes, France will feature two barihunks familiar to readers of the site, Etienne Dupuis as Zurga and Nicolas Courjal as Nourabad.

Dan Kempson named Donald Gramm Memorial Award winner

American barihunk Dan Kempson has been awarded the Donald Gramm Memorial Award by the Santa Fe Opera named in honor of the internationally acclaimed American bass-baritone who appeared numerous times with the Santa Fe Opera. Kempson was given the award for his outstanding contribution as a baritone during his summer with the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer Program.

The famed apprentice program received 968 applications this year and only 43 singers were chosen to perform with the Santa Fe Opera during its 57th season. Kempson was the cover for Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, performed Le Notaire​  and was the cover for Baron Grog in Offenbach's The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein and performed Father Flynn from Douglas Cuomo's Doubt in the Apprentice Scenes Showcase where they performed the final scene from Act 1.

The Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer Program provides young artists the opportunity to work and perform with some of the most respected conductors, directors and singers in the classical music world. The apprentices form the backbone of the season’s five operas as members of the chorus and in supporting roles. They receive coaching, lessons in diction, period music style, and performance with faculty from The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, San Francisco Opera, and Manhattan School of Music, as well as master classes by artists such as Harry Bicket, Christine Brewer, and Joyce DiDonato.

Daniel Okulitch to star in operatic version of Brokeback Mountain

Daniel Okulitch in Dead Man Walking

Madrid's Teatro Real has confirmed that Canadian barihunk Daniel Okulitch will star in the world premiere of  Charles Wuorinen's operatic adaptation of Brokeback Mountain, based on the 1997 Annie Proulx's story of a cowboy love affair that became an Oscar-winning film. Okulitch will play the role of Ennis Del Mar, which was portrayed by Heath Ledger in the 2005 movie adaptation. American tenor will Tom Randle will play the Jake Gyllenhaal role of Jack Twist.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain

Although no exact date has been announced for the premiere, it is expected to open on January 28, 2014 and run through February 11th. We suspect that the music will be drastically different from the movie soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla, as Wuorinen writes in the 12-tone style. His previous opera was Haroun and the Sea of Stories, based on Salman Rushdie's novel. Santaolalla won the Academy Award for "Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score."

 Guitar transcription of Gustavo Santaolalla's "Brokeback Mountain" music:

David Fry sings Wuorinen's "Never again the same"

Brokeback Mountain was originally commissioned for a 2013 premiere by Gerard Mortier while he was at the embattled New York City Opera. When he became the head of the Teatro Real, Mortier decided to revive the work and present it there. Annie Proulx has written the libretto and it will be directed by Dutch director Ivo van Hove.

André Schuen debuts as Don Giovanni in Montpellier and Versailles

André Schuen as Belcore in Graz (right)

We just learned the André Schuen will be singing the title character in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Opéra National Montpellier for the first time in his young career. He had previously sung the role of Masetto in Graz. The opera opens today and there will be six performances running through June 16. The opera then travels to Versailles with the same cast on June 23, 25 & 27, 2013.

We've been watching his rapidly emerging career, which included his sensational shirtless performance as Belcore in Donizetti's "The Elixir of Love" at the Graz Opera in Austria in November 2012. After this run of Don Giovanni, Schuen returns to Graz where he will perform Die Heerrufer des Königs in Wagner's Lohengrin, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflote and  Alphonse in Donizetti's La favorite.

We will try to post pictures as soon as they are available. 

Reader Submission: David Castillo

David Castillo

We're wondering if the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music is the new barihunk breeding ground. Previously we featured Austin Thompson and Kevin Blickfeldt, who both created quite a bit of buzz when we posted them. A reader has now submitted David Castillo, a 2011  Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Finalist and a Masters student studying with fellow barihunk Rod Gilfry. Castillo was the 2012 Encouragement Award recipient from the Palm Springs Opera Gild Voice competition. 

As far as we can recall, he's our first Filipino-American singer featured on Barihunks. The New Orleans native received his Bachelor of Music from Loyola University New Orleans, where he made his professional debut in 2011 as Old Gypsy in Il Trovatore with the New Orleans Opera and Bill Bobstay in H.M.S. Pinafore with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.  In 2010 and 2011 he was with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, where he has performed the roles of Marco in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Le Fauteuil and L’Arbre in Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, and Liberto in Monteverdi's L’incoronazione di Poppea.

David Castillo with fellow barihunk Simon Keenlyside

On April 7th, Castillo will head south from L.A. to perform in the Palm Springs Opera Guild's 15th annual “Opera in the Park”. He will join other artists in a performance of arias accompanied by a live orchestra. He then returns to USC to perform the Second Commissioner in Poulenc’s The Dialogues of the Carmelites. Performances run from April 25-28. Fans on the East Coast can catch him this summer at the Green Mountain Opera Festival in Vermont. He'll be peforming Sid in Britten’s Albert Herring, covering fellow barihunk Michael Mayes in the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and performing as a soloist in the Emerging Artist recital and the annual gala concert. The Don Giovanni will also feature Tom Corbeil as Leporello and Jonathan Lasch as Masetto, both of whom have appeared on this site.

Sexy Günter Papendell returns as Don Giovanni in Berlin

Günter Papendell at the Komische Oper (center in Armida)

Günter Papendell, one of our favorite singers at the Komische Oper is returning to the stage in four performances of the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni. We first were introduced to the sexy German barihunk when a colleague forwarded us a picture of a nude Papendell backstage [see photo above].

We've since followed him in a series of critical successes in edgy operas like Odysseus and Così fan tutte o sia La scuola degli amanti, as well as in more more standard roles like Malatesta, Count Almaviva and Prince Yeletsky. One thing we love about him is the frequency in which he is shirtless or in some revealing outfit. Of course, the Komische Opera is notorious for showing some skin, with opera fans still talking about director Calixto Bieto's production of Gluck's Armida, which set a new standard for nudity in opera.

Günter Papendell in Odysseus

Performances of Don Giovanni will run from April 13-May 12 and tickets are available online. Later this season at the Komische, Papendell will be appearing as Demetrius in Britten's A Midsummer,  Night's Dream, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, the title character in Rameau's Castor et Pollux and reprising his successful and sexy portrayal of Odysseus in the Claudio Monteverdi/ Elena Kats-Chernin trilogy of the same name.

Listen to Papendell in Franz Lachner's Requiem:

Introducing sexy Belgian barihunk Romain Dayez

Romain Dayez as Leporello (Photo by Pierre Yellal)

Belgian barihunk Romain Dayez has been on our list of singers to post for over a year. In fact, we tried to get him into this year's Barihunks calendar, but couldn't get a high resolution photo in time. When we saw this photo of him as Leporello from the Festival du Haut Limousin in France we decided that we just couldn't keep him from our readers any longer.

The photo that didn't make the Barihunks calendar

The 22-year-old, who hails from a family of artists, entered the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in Belgium in 2007 before continuing his music studies at the Conservatoire Supérieur National de Musique in Paris three years later. Much of his early career has been focused on oratorios and baroque repertoire. He seems to have a particular affinity for Mozart, having had success as Nardo in La Finta Giardiniera and Leporello in Don Giovanni. He has a particular passion for French chansons, which he has included in recitals at numerous festivals.

Long-term, he may have a future as an artistic administrator, as he's promoted music from the baroque, as founder of L'Olimpiade, to new music collaborations with groups like the Parisian rappers Milk Coffee & Sugar.

Romain Dayez with Milk Coffee & Sugar performing "Chanter Déchanter" 

(at the 1:32, 2:45 & 4:03 marks):

He is currently performing the Phillippe Boesmans/Luc Bondy opera Reigen at the Salle d'art Lyrique at the Paris Conservatoire. On March 17th, he'll sing the role of Christ in Bach's St. Matthew's Passion at the Basiliek van Hulst in Holland. On March 30th, his group L'Olimpiade will perform music by Charpentier and Couperin at the Hôtel de Soubise.

Further down the road he will sing and direct a project about composers Arvo Pärt and Philip Glass with his Alliage Art Project. We will post more about that in the Fall.

Dayez sings Schubert's Der Wegweiser:

Nicholas Nelson performs and explains Tosca

Nicholas Nelson

Barihunk Nicholas Nelson explains the plot of Tosca in one minute with one beer.  He'll be performing in the opera as Angelotti from February 1-9 at the Portland Opera with Kara Shay Thomson as Tosca, Roger Honeywell as Cavaradossi and Mark Schnaible as Scarpia. Tickets are available online.

Nelson is a returning Resident Artist with the Portland Opera. He previously performed roles with the Portland Opera in Bernstein's Candide, Philip Glass' Galileo Galilei, Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Ravel's L’Heure Espagnole and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, and Puccini's Turandot. Nelson made his debut with Tacoma Opera last season as Selim in Turk In Italy.

Originally from Winthrop, Minnesota, Nelson attended the University of Minnesota. In 2007, Nelson won First Prize at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Minnesota District.