George Humphreys sings lead drag role in Donizetti's Viva la Diva

George Humphreys' shirtless curtain call in Glass' The Trial

British barihunk George Humphreys just wrapped up a successful run in Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon at the Salzburger Landestheater, where is a member of the ensemble.

He will next appear with the company in Donizetti's comedy Viva la Diva, whose original title was the mouthful Le convenienze e le inconvenienze teatrali (Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage). Performances start on February 8 and run through April 2.

Donizetti wrote the lead role of La Diva (aka Agata) for a baritone, which opens up another level of comedy as the singer performs in drag. As the drama unfolds and the jealousies come to a head, it is up to La Diva  to rescue an evening at a theater company trying to mount an opera. Donizetti chose a subject that allowed him to compose both virtuosic and parodistic music.

The opera became a great success after its 1827 world premiere in Naples and 1831 performances in Milan, but was soon forgotten. Regular performances did not resume until 1963. Recent performance include a 2015 production at the Volksoper Wien and one at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2017. The National Theatre Prague is currently staging the opera with Roman Hoza in the title role.

The Salzburger Landestheater produces its own version of the opera with a new translation by Andreas Fladvad-Geier, which revives the tradition of transferring the opera’s plot into a local setting to make the parody of the opera world even easier to recognize and appreciate for audiences.

Christian Van Horn only ninth bass to get devilish at The Met

Christian van Horn as Mefistofele (courtesy of the Metroploitan Opera)

On November 8, 2018, Christian Van Horn will become just the ninth bass to sing the title role in Boito's Mefistofele at the Metropolitan Opera. He was preceded by some of the great singers of the last two centuries,  including Giovanni Mirabella who sang the role in 1883,  followed by Eduard de Reszke, Pol Plançcn, Fyodor Chaliapin, Adamo Didur, José Mardones, Dean Peterson and most famously Samuel Ramey.

Samuel Ramey sings "Ecco il monde" from Mefistofele:

The Robert Carsen production will feature an all-star cast that also includes tenor Michael Fabiano as Faust and soprano Angela Meade as Margherita. Mefistofele is the only completed opera by Arrigo Boito, who is best remembered for writing Verdi's librettos for Otello and Falstaff.  The composer was working on his opera Nerone when he died in 1918. The great conductor Arturo Toscanini led a three person team in completing the opera, which finally premiered posthumously in 1924.

Performances of Mefistofele will run through December 1st and tickets are available online.

This will be the opera's first performance at The Met since 2000. Of the 67 performances of Mefistofele, all but 13 came before 1927. Much of the recent interest in the opera is because of Samuel Ramey's devilishly sexy performances at the San Francisco Opera, which were captured on video.

Jonathan Estabrooks in world premiere of Anna Christie

Melanie Lang and Jonathan Estabrooks

Jonathan Estabrooks, who appeared in the very first Barihunks calendar, will be appearing in the world premiere of Edward Thomas and Joseph Masteroff's opera Anna Christie. The Juilliard-trained singer and producer, who continues to look better with each passing year, will take on the role of Mat Burke, the stoker who falls in love with the title character.

The opera will be presented by Encompass New Opera Theatre in New York on October 4 and will run through October 21, 2018 at the Baruch Performing Arts Center.

The cast includes also includes Frank Basile as Chris Christopherson, Melanie Long as Anna Christie, Joy Hermalyn as Marthy Owen and Mike Pirozzi as Larry the Bartender.

Anna Christie, based on Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning play explores the lost relationship of a woman and her father, and the sailor she falls in love with. The sea is a powerful symbol in the play and O'Neill having lived by the docks in New York City's waterfront, was acquainted with the sailors, booze, saloons and night life that he wrote about with such passion and authenticity. Abandoned by her father when she was five years old, Anna suffered a life of hardship and carries a dark secret from her past. An emotionally charged reunion with her father, a captain of a coal barge, intensifies when a merchant sailor is pulled from the cold, dark waters of the Atlantic on a foggy night. When the fog clears, Anna, the sailor and her father are caught in a riveting struggle between love and the sea, changing their lives forever.

The play made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921 and was made into a 1930 Hollywood film starring Greta Garbo in her first talking picture.

Tickets and additional information is available online.

Luis Alejandro Orozco reprising El Payador at Arizona Opera

Luis Alejandro Orozco as El Payador (Photo right: C. Stanley)

Barihunk Luis Alejandro Orozco will be reprising the role of El Payador (the gaucho minstrel) in Astor Piazzolla's tango infused opera Maria de Buenos Aires at the Arizona Opera. Orozco will be joining forces with director John de los Santos, both of whom have become closely associated with this opera. Orozco has performed the lead role in Lexington, Miami, New Orleans, Fort Worth, Mill City Summer Opera and Nashville.

Performance in Phoenix will be on September 28, 29 and 30, with additional performances in Tucson on October 6 and 7. Tickets are available online.

The opera opens with Duende (the Narrator) who relates the story of Maria, a prostitute born in the slums “one day when God was drunk … with a curse in her voice.” Maria is seduced by the rhythms of the tango and soon becomes “the most sorcerous singer and lover” in Buenos Aires. However, her “fatal passion” arouses the wrath of robbers and brothel madams who shoot her to death, and bury her in an unmarked grave. In death, Maria is pulled into a dreamlike Hell where she encounters the choral circus of psychoanalysts who dissect her to the core. She makes a resurrection of sorts when the Duende summons her to return as a Shadow, give birth to a new Maria, and haunt the sordid streets of Buenos Aires which she once walked.

The opera has become popular in Germany, where is has been performed in apparently every city that starts with the letter "B": Berlin, Bonn, Braunschweig, Biel, Bremen and coming to Bremerhaven in April 2019.

A clip of Luis Alejandro Orozco as El Payador:

Unlike most who contributed to the origins and development of the tango, Piazzolla came from a different background. He was a classically trained, refined musician and composer. Piazzolla undoubtedly made tango available to a wider audience and helped extend its boundaries, both stylistically and geographically. For that, he was equally admired and criticized, but it is almost universally recognized that Piazzolla’s style lent tango worldwide cultural legitimacy, even in what is known as the realm of “classical” music.

Luis Alejandro Orozco and Catalina Cuervo (Photo: Jeff Roffman)

Besides being an extraordinarily talented composer, he was also an exceptional bandoneon player. Piazzolla drew from classical and contemporary sources as well as from the deep roots of tango, creating a powerful synthesis that propelled it from being in some regards a thing of the past to a contemporary language, reinvigorating the style. 

Luis Alejandro Orozco was born in El Paso Texas, but raised in Juarez, Mexico for most of his life. He has performed with such companies as Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, El Paso Opera and the Seoul International Opera Festival in South Korea.

Christopher Bolduc takes on Don Giovanni in new concept

Christopher Bolduc (right) as Don Giovanni in Wiesbaden

Christopher Bolduc continues to make his mark at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden in Germany, where he has performed Belcore in Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore, Lescaut in Massenet's Manon, Wolfram von Eschenbach in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème and Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte.

His latest performance will be in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni in Nicholas Brieger's new concept where the Don's conflict is as much with growing older, as it is with women. The current run goes from June 17-29 and includes Netta Or as Donna Anna, Ioan Hotea as Don Ottavio, Young Doo Park as the Commedatore, Heather Engebretson as Donna Elvira, Shavleg Armasi as Leporello, Benjamin Russell as Masetto and Katharina Konradi as Zerlina. The production returns later this year in September and October, as well next year from January 30-February 23. Tickets are available online.

Christopher Bolduc sings Britten's "O Waly, Waly":

Bolduc will take a break from playing Mozart's most famous seducer in November to sing the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin opening on November 10th.

Regular readers will remember his recent sexy debut at the National Theatre (Národní divaldo) in Prague in the title role of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd. The photos are worth checking out HERE.

Watch sexy Evan Hughes in Komische's "Semele"

Evan Hughes and Nicole Chevalier (left) and Nora Friedrichs (right)

American bass-barihunk had a breakout performance as the somnolent god Somnus in Handel's Semele at the Komische Oper in Berlin. He also elevated his status as an operatic sex symbol showing off both his luscious physique and resonant voice in his scene-stealing small role.

Fortunately, the opera is available online at OperaVision and is available for viewing HERE until November 11th. There are remaining live performances on May 26, June 3 and 15, and July 10. Tickets are available online.

Nora Friedrichs and Evan Hughes

The production got off to a rocky start when director Laura Scozzi fell ill shortly after rehearsals began, forcing the Komische Oper's intendant Barrie Kosky to take over the production. Kosky is one of opera's most original and entertaining directors, so the show went on, with the story being told in a flashback set in a burnt-out Baroque hall.

Evan Hughes and Nicole Chevalier (left) and Nora Friedrichs (right)

Semele was written in 1743 and tells the story of clashing gods and mortals, the folly of vanity, and the fatal consequences of forbidden passion.

The plot centers around the cautionary tale of the delectable Semele and the god Jupiter, who tempt fate with a dangerously imprudent love affair. The ambitious Semele craves immortality, but also holds a secret, while Juno, plots a fiery finish to the affair.

Iowa Public Television to broadcast "Billy Budd" with Craig Verm

Craig Verm as Billy Budd (photos: Des Moines Metro Opera)

On September 29th, Iowa Public Television will broadcast the world premiere of the newly orchestrated version of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd. The opera features barihunk Craig Verm, whose promo photo from this production were featured in our 2017 Barihunks Calendar. The episode will be available online.

The production, which was filmed in July, features a number of other singers familiar to readers, including Zachary James as the evil John Claggart, Michael Adams as Donald, Emmett O'Hanlon as the Novice's Friend and barihunk turned hunkentenor Chris Carr as Maintop. The all-male cast included 70 singers and was the largest ensemble in the 45 year history of the Des Moines Metro Opera. [Zachary James is slated to appear in our 2018 calendar].

The Iowa Public Television coverage includes behind-the-scenes footage and perspectives on the making of Billy Budd, the stage experience, the opera’s complex emotional themes, as well as interviews with Des Moines Metro Opera General and Artistic Director Michael Egel, conductor David Neely, stage director Kristine McIntyre and principal cast members.

Craig Verm as Billy Budd (photos: Des Moines Metro Opera)

“'Billy Budd' is a true masterpiece,” said Craig Verm, the baritone featured in the title role. “It’s epic in its scope of onstage forces of orchestration, of story, of morality, and of good and evil. It’s gripping. It’s magical.”

In 2007, Verm first appeared in the opera as the Novice's Friend in Pittsburgh opposite the Billy Budd of Nathan Gunn and the thrilling Claggart of Greer Grimsley. The production was directed by the woman who inspired Barihunks, Francesca Zambello.

Billy Budd had its world premier at London’s Royal Opera House on December 1, 1951 conducted by the composer with the role of Captain Vere sung by Britten’s partner Peter Pears. Billy Budd received its United States premiere in 1952 at the Indiana University Opera Company with Jack Gillaspy in the title role.

A number of famous barihunks have sung the role of Billy Budd, who many believe was secretly desired by the evil Claggart. Famous barihunk Billy Budd's include John Chest, Simon Keenlyside, Richard Stilwell, Nathan Gunn, Rod Gilfry, Bo Skovhus, Thomas Hampson, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Peter Mattei, Lauri Vasar, Lucas Meachem, Jacques Imbrailo, Daniel Belcher, Roderick Williams, Iurii Samoilov and Liam Bonner. 

Barihunk trio in live stream of "La pietra del paragone" from Rossini Festival

Gianluca Margheri and Paolo Bordogna

The barihunk duo Gianluca Margheri, Paolo Bordogna and Davide Luciano will appear in a live stream of La pietra del paragone (The Touchstone) from the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro on August 11th. Gianluca Margheri sings the Conte Asdrubale, Paolo Bordogna sings Pacuvio and Davide Luciano sings Macrobio. The cast also includes La pietra del paragone as the Marchesa Clarice, Maxim Mironov as Cavalier Giocondo, Aurora Faggioli as Baronessa Aspasia, Marina Monzó as Donna Fulvia and William Corrò as Fabrizio.

Much of the action taken place in and around a swimming pool, so you'll get to see some barihunk skin in this popular production.

La pietra del paragone, which was Rossini's first major commission, was first performed at La Scala in Milan on September 26, 1812 and was an instant success. Despite its early success in Europe, the work did not receive its North American premiere until 1955 and not until 1963 in Britain, when it was performed at he St Pancras Town Hall.

In Rossini's comedy, a wealthy man devises a test to separate his true friends from those who love him only for his money. Although “touchstone” is no longer regularly used in the English language, it is still alive in an Italian proverb that forms the basis of this comic opera. They say “Men have a touchstone to test gold, but gold is really the touchstone to test men.” (“L’uomo ha la pietra di paragone per saggiare l’oro, ma l’oro è la pietra di paragone per saggiare gli uomini.”) 

You can also watch the same Pier Luigi Pizzi production on Medici.TV with barihunk Marco Vinco as Il Conte Asdrubale, Paolo Bordogna as Pacuvio and Pietro Spagnoli and Macrobio.

Vittorio Prato as sexy Guglielmo in Geneva

Alexandra Kadurina and Vittorio Prato

Italian barihunk Vittorio Prato shows off some skin as Guglielmo in German director David Bösch's new production of Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. The cast also includes Veronika Dzhioeva as Fiordiligi, Alexandra Kadurina as Dorabella, Steve Davislim as Ferrando, Monica Bacelli as Despina and Laurent Naouri as Don Alfonso.

Bösch's vision in this production is to bring out both the dark cynicism of Da Ponte’s cruel game of lime and Mozart’s luminous music of love. He figures that if "all women are like that," then "all men are too."  The moral of this production is that if love’s a game, the it’s worth learning how to play it.

There are performances remaining on May 10 12 and 14. Tickets are available online.  

Next up for Prato is Puccini's five-part Messa a Quattro voci con orchestra, or Messa di Gloria at La Monnaie with tenor Sergey Romanovsky. There is a single performance on June 14th. Tickets are available online.

Michael Travis Risner in Le nozze di Figaro in Greeley, Colorado

Michael Travis Risner working out and backstage for Marriage of Figaro

Michael Travis Risner, who has appeared on our site in Boulder Opera's productions of Rossini's The Barber of Seville and Mozart's Don Giovanni, will be performing Figaro in the University of Northern Colorado Opera Theatre production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro on April 15th in Greeley.

The company will be performing on both April 14 and April 15 with separate casts. He'll be joined by Alberto Beltran as the Count, Meggie Moyer as the Countess, Katie Warner as Susanna, Zecheriah Oswald as Bartolo, April Phillips as Marcellina, Margaret Siegrist as Cherubino and Sean Stephenson as Basilio.

Risner received his Masters in Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Colorado State University. He has been appearing on the stages of Colorado's Front Range for the past 20 years as a singer, actor, director, and stage combat instructor and choreographer (his resume even lists "fitness model").  He has performed the title role in Monostatos in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Dancaire in Bizet's Carmen, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Eddie/Dr. Scott in Rocky Horror Live!, Lancelot in Camelot, Anatoly in Chess and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Footloose (Chuck).

A bit of trivia about Greeley, which was was named after Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune, who came to Colorado in the 1859 Pike's Peak Gold Rush. His trip popularized the phrase "Go West, young man"

Introducing Basque Barihunk Vincent Simonet

Vincent Simonet (Photos: JF l'Oiseleur des Longchamps)

Hunkentenor turned barihunk Vincent Simonet is a native of Bayonne in the Basque region of France. He is a decendent of the famous 19th century baritone Paul Barroilhet (aka Paolo Barroilhet), whose bust still graces the Opera Garnier in Paris. Barroilhet created a number of Donizetti roles, including Eustachio de Saint-Pierre in L'assedio di Calais, Lord Duke of Nottingham in Roberto Devereux, Alfonso XI of Castile in La favorite and Camoëns in Dom Sebastien. 

This summer at the Centre Européen de Musique, Simonet performed Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola coached by the great Spanish mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza. He has also been heard in Joseph Haydn's Isola Disabitata in Saint-Denis, as Fritz in Jacques Offenbach's La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein at the OPERACADEMY in Paris and in Rekviem 3, which staged Verdi's Requiem in an adaptation of Josef Bor's novel The Terezín Requiem at the Opera de Paris Bastille Amphitheater. 

Vincent Simonet (Photos: Bruno Melegari)

Simonet was asked by French composer Philippe Mazé to sing at the 100-year anniversary of the Cathedral of Monaco (Saint Nicholas Cathedral). The cathedral is home to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monaco where many of the Grimaldis are buried, including Prince Rainier III and his wife Grace Kelly.

Simonet is also one of the initiators of the charity recital "Ensemble pour les Enfants Malades" (Recital for the Sick Children) which was a benefit for the Pediatric Immuno-Hematology Department at the Hôpital Necker de Paris.

You can enjoy hot men all year long in our new 2017 Barihunks in Bed calendar, which is now on sale at LULU. 

Italian Barihunk Franco Cerri at Torre del Lago Festival

Italian Barihunk Franco Cerri

Barihunk Franco Cerri is at the Torre del Lago Festival through August 13th in Puccini's hometown where he's performing Sciarrone in the composer's Tosca, as well as Tartaglia in the Ferruccio Busoni version of Turandot. Last season, he performed Guccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi at the Festival. 

Busoni’s Turandot is based on same subject that Puccini set to music by Puccini, but has a more ironic fairytale style than the better known work. Busoni has been fascinated by the fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi before Puccini and wrote his own libretto. Busoni’s Turandot, premiered at the Municipal Theatre in Zurich on May 11, 1917 and remains among one of the most significant works of his rich artistic productions  It took Busoni 100 days to write the Turandot score, a record time but, needed to not miss the opportunity that the Theatre of Zurich had offered him to host his composition.

There are various oddities in Busoni's libretto which recall the play's Commedia dell'arte roots: characters with Italian names like Truffaldino,  Pantalone and Cerri's character Tartaglia; Allah is praised in China; and there are references to Venice, St. Mark's, and gondolas. The spoken dialogue harks back to Mozart's operas, especially The Magic Flute. In comparison to Puccini's opera on the same subject, Busoni retains the intimate, unreal atmosphere of Gozzi's pla.y Busoni's princess Turandot is not quite so implacable; her heart is readier to melt.

Barihunk Franco Cerri backstage at Torre del Lago (left) and in rehearsal (far right)

The opera is often performed as part of a double bill with Busoni's earlier one-act opera Arlecchino, a tradition which began at the premiere (the Festival is not performing Arlecchino). The first performance in Italy (without Arlecchino) was on November 29, 1936 in Rome, conducted by Fernando Previtali. Previtali, a Busoni champion, who went on to conduct performances in other Italian cities and conducted the premiere of the opera at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 1964.

Tickets for Tosca and Turandot are available online.

Born in Genoa, Italy, Cerri  began his studies with piano, drama and ballet dancing. While at the Conservatory, he studied singing with the great Italian baritone Silvano Carroli. In 2012, he won the Città di Alcamo International Singing Competition.  

Franco Cerri sings Rossini's "Resta immobile" from William Tell:

He made his professional debut as a bass, singing the Bonze in the Puccini's Madame Butterfly and the title role in Rossini's Mosè in Genoa. His debut as baritone was with the role of Marcello in Puccini's La boheme followed by the role of Silvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

He has performed Riccardo in Bellini's I Puritani in Licata, Madama Butterfly and The Barber of Seville at the Arena Alpe Adria of Lignano, Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata at the Trentino Opera Festival, Manzitti’s Les Invisibles at the Great Palazzo Ducale in Genoa and Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at the Festival Illica Castell'Arquato.

An interview with Sam Roberts-Smith

Sam Roberts-Smith

We've been following Sam Robert-Smith's career since he was a finalist in the 2009 Mathy Awards. In 2011, he broke our hearts with the news that he was now singing tenor and healed the wounds with the news that he was back in the barihunk realm. We asked him a few questions about his interesting career path in his young career.

1. What drew you to a career in opera?

For as long as I can remember I’ve always wanted to sing. However, It wasn’t until a knee injury sidelined me from playing school sport that I subsequently had the available time to start singing lessons. I went to an all boy school in Western Australia and was the only voice student in my entire year group. Classical singing wasn’t the ‘coolest’ subject to take at that age but luckily I was also a School Prefect, Swim Captain and Water-polo Captain, which definitely helped me avoid any unwanted attention. Three weeks after lessons began I came second in the school music competition singing Non piu andrai from Le Nozze di Figaro. I was so nervous but after finishing felt a huge sense of achievement. This was a way of connecting and communicating with an audience like I had never experienced before. It took me completely by surprise and made me consider the possibilities of what it would be like singing and performing as a job. The more I researched the great singers and learned about the incredible world of Opera the more I wanted to be involved. Being an Opera singer was never part of my original plan but I think opera chose me. It has been a wonderful journey so far and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

2. What's with the baritone to tenor to baritone switches? Do you prefer one over the other?

I began my voice studies at the WA Academy of Performing Arts as a baritone and have always been a baritone. The difficulty came when I was able to develop the top of my range quite easily and initially had a tenorial quality to the upper notes of my register. After graduating and finishing my post-graduate studies I moved to Sydney and became a member of the Opera Australia ensemble, as a baritone. During my first OA year I was singing smaller roles such as Morales in Carmen and Yamadori in Madama Butterfly. A meeting was arranged with the Artistic Director, who had come to observe many of my performances. He had been impressed, especially with the top of my voice and offered me a position in the OA Young Artist Program as a tenor! I had always wanted to be in the program but was unsure about switching voice types. I accepted on the condition that it was a trial, and if I were not comfortable by the end of the contract I would return to the baritone repertoire. Retrospectively I think the Artistic Director was excited at the prospect of having a tall tenor in the company rather than the longevity of my voice. I performed roles such as Don Ottavio, Tamino, and Remendado (not an easy feat after singing Verdi baritone roles up to that point) but felt I was only just managing. Going through a voice transition unassisted and in public was one of the hardest things I have experienced.  In September 2014 I left OA. While I had the ability and notes to sing the majority of tenor repertoire I still, after two years did not feel comfortable maintaining the tessitura or seem to have the mentality that many tenors do. I think I am lucky having the ability to sing both and have done so professionally, but it has been confusing for people. My voice definitely sits towards the baritone repertoire, however it seems to fall between the two. I have now settled on calling myself a Bari-tenor. I will be touring with The TEN Tenors across Australia, New Zealand and America this year but will also be singing the role of Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles, with baritone recitals in WA and the Sydney Opera House.

Sam Roberts-Smith

3.  Tell us about your participation in The Ten Tenors.

Soon after leaving OA, I travelled to Paris for the finals of the Paris International Opera Awards, as a baritone. While there, I was in contact with The Ten Tenors who were looking to replace an exiting member for the remainder of their Ten Tenors On Broadway tour. I try to make the most of every possible opportunity presented to me and was available during that time. I sent a few audition video clips in (Nessun dorma being one!) and was successful in being offered the position. I decided to give it a go and learn as much as possible from Australia’s premier classical-crossover group. Because there are ten of us, I usually sing the lower harmonies and all of the heavier operatic numbers. Having a Bari-tenor voice has been very useful in the group, especially when we perform everything from Queen and David Bowie to Puccini and Rossini. Brand wise it’s not ideal for me being a Baritone in the TEN Tenors, but they couldn’t really change the name to The NINE Tenors and Sam! Being in the group is completely different from the main stage baritone operatic work I do, but I feel extremely lucky having the opportunity to do both.

4.  What are your thoughts about singers taking care of their bodies as well as their voices? Do you have a routine to stay in shape?

I think it is essential having a healthy mind and body in life generally. As a singer, we should take even greater care of our health. Personally I try to get to the gym or do something physical every day. Not only does it make you physically stronger but helps with stress management. The result is you feel better and look better which is becoming more and more important to casting agents. That being said, I don’t lift weights on performance or coaching days. Resistance training can tighten your muscles, limiting your ability to breath deeply and relax the muscles around the head and neck. It is a difficult balance between maintaining a fit and healthy body while keeping the muscles flexible and relaxed for singing. There are some periods were I have been required to sing every day while on tour and can’t exercise. Performing a highly physical show every night can be enough activity but I still watch what I eat and always get back to the gym when I can. My advice would be it’s never too late to start. It’s going to be difficult but the hardest part is starting. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

5. Anthony Roth Costanzo went the full monty at ENO...Any limits on what you'd do at a stage director’s request?

I guess it depends on the story itself. If it were necessary to help communicate a part of the plot or was a choice my character had to make then I would have to. I don’t think the performing arts are for the shy or faint-hearted. However, I also don’t believe in artists being asked to perform naked for the ‘shock’ factor, or simply to sell tickets. If the nudity has a meaning behind it and is actually part of the story then I would be open to it. While we all want to have an impact on the audience, I think it’s a fine line between making an audience think, and making an audience uncomfortable and upset. It obviously depends on the content and type of show but these ideas need to be thought through and discussed properly by all involved in a production or performance.

Sam Roberts-Smith

6.  Are there any roles in particular that you really hope to get to perform someday?

Now that I am getting older and my voice is changing yet again, I am really enjoying singing some of the heavier baritone repertoire. Because I have had the opportunity to experiment with the extremes of my range, and have focused years on developing my upper register, I am fortunate that some of the more difficult phrases in Verdi, Leoncavallo and Puccini come more easily to me than most. The tenor and Bari-tenor training has not gone to waste! Luckily my voice has darkened naturally without losing the facility for the top. I am currently happy singing the young baritone roles such as Silvio, Guglielmo and Billy Budd while I still can but have the secret desire to sing Rigoletto and Macbeth eventually. Two of my all time favorites! I am aware that they are both vocally huge and challenging parts but I am excited by the prospect of performing them one day.

7.  Do you prefer singing standard operatic repertory or newer pieces?

I am a fan of both the standard repertory and new works. I think for me, it is more about how an opera is written for the voice and if the music touches me in some way. There are very famous works that when performed badly can be extremely boring and unrewarding, however a brand new piece which has been written and cast well can be extraordinary. The standard repertoire has survived for many reasons and is loved by audiences around the world. Opera Australia for example performs La Boheme every year without fail. I have found that some of the newer pieces propagandized as ‘opera’ do not fit within the style and tend to be a mix of genres. This poses the question whether they are even operas at all. The world is constantly changing, as is opera. I am happy singing any work as long as it’s an enriching experience for the audience.

8.  What other passions do you have aside from music?

Aside from music, over the last few years I have become increasingly interested in politics. Politics affects everything. There is no escaping it. I have been looking at ways to make a difference when I’m not travelling around the world and have slowly been getting involved when I can. I have been so extremely lucky to travel and deal with many different cultures and situations. This has given me a unique insight into how the world works and what decisions can be made to help improve people’s lives. It has also been fascinating watching the field of US candidates running for the United States presidential election recently. A quote from Pericles “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics wont take an interest in you”. I’m not sure when or if my interest in politics will lead anywhere, but it has become a passion of mine.

9.  What do you listen to other than opera?

I listen to most music actually. The only genres I’m not a huge fan of are heavy metal rock and rap. I think that’s more because I don’t understand them more than it being bad. In New Orleans last year I went to Preservation Hall and listened to old school, no-frills jazz. It was one of the best performances I’ve seen. The musicians had obviously been playing their entire lives and seemed to of mastered their craft. It was a night I will not forget. I like to train at the gym to dance and up beat pop music. It gives me that extra energy to work harder and is part of the escapism from opera each day for an hour or so.

10. Do you plan on taking your career outside of Australia? 

Australia really is far away from the rest of the world. However, in the last few years I have had the opportunity to perform extensively throughout Australia and internationally including performances in France, The Netherlands, South Korea, China, England, Scotland, and North America. China was very interesting last year. I performed Il Conte in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Australian International Opera Company around the whole country for a month. From Wuhan to Guangzhou to Xining and many other places in between. It was a completely different culture but fascinating none the less. I have been extremely fortunate to work consistently in Australasia and abroad since graduating but would still love to expand that more into Europe eventually.

Dame Joan Sutherland and Sam Roberts-Smith

10. What was it like meeting Joan Sutherland?

I was 20 years old at the time and didn’t realize the gravitas of the situation until a few years later. I obviously knew who she was but did not truly appreciate the moment. I had won the Joan Sutherland Vocal Scholarship earlier that year and was subsequently invited to perform at her birthday celebration for her. Dame Joan Sutherland reached the pinnacle of operatic success in Australia and around the world. Not only was she an amazing artist but an inspiring ambassador for her country. Luckily a few years later I had the opportunity to meet and be conducted by Maestro Richard Bonynge in La Sonnambula at the Sydney Opera House.

11. Tell us something about yourself that has nothing to do with opera.

I am totally addicted to Coke Zero, getting through about 10 cans a day. I know most people think this is bad but at least it doesn’t have any sugar in it. My guilty food of choice would have to be Ferrero Rocher. I can’t have them around me or in the house because I find them irresistibly delicious. Not so great for someone who likes staying in shape. If you do want to get me some as an opening night gift, I wont be upset.

Thomas Tatzl's pa-pa-pa-passionate Papageno

Thomas Tatzl as Papageno (photos by Sandra Then)

Austrian barihunk Thomas Tatzl is one of the few singers who has performed Papageno by two different composers, having frequently sung Mozart's in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), but also Peter von Winter’s in his production of Das Labyrith at the Salzburger Festspiele. Now he's also one of the few singers to have performed the role in a dress (topless with a chorus of transsexual nuns!) .

Tatzl, who has sung 10 Mozart roles in his young career, will perform Papageno through March 28th at the Theater Basel. He'll be singing some additional Mozart at Sage One in Newcastle, England on February 5th when he performs the composer's Mass in C-minor with an all-star cast that includes Sally Matthews, Rosemary Joshua and Stuart Jackson with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Chorus.

Tickets for the Magic Flute are available online.

ONLY 9 DAYS UNTIL THE NEW YEAR! Time is running out to order your 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar, featuring 18 of the sexiest men in opera. ORDER TODAY by clicking HERE (you won't regret it!).

Seth Carrico, Cyril Rovery & Patrick Egersborg

Keith Phares' sexy Zurga in Seattle

Keith Phares in Seattle Opera’s Pearl Fishers (Photos © Elise Bakketun)

Barihunk Keith Phares is alternating the role of Zurga with Brett Polegato in the Seattle Opera's current production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers. Phares, who turns 41 on October 26, appears to be in the best shape of his career, as witnessed in these photos from the opera. Phares has one performance left on October 30, which is opposite the stunning Léïla of Elizabeth Zharoff and the Nadir of Anthony Kalil, who joins him in the famous duet "Au fond du temple saint.”

There are additional performance with Polegato, Maureen McKay and John Tessieron October 21, 24, 28 and 31.  Tickets and additional production information is available online.

Upcoming performances for Phares include the Alzheimer's Stories with the Montclair State University Chorale on December 6th and a return to his acclaimed performance of Charlie in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers with the Florentine Opera from March 11-20.

MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR BEFORE THE HOLIDAY RUSH; 18 OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST SINGER FROM 9 COUNTRIES.

Donovan Singletary's sexy and devilish Mefistofele

Donovan Singletary

Barihunk Donovan Singletary is opening up in Boito's Mefistofele tonight with the Knoxville Opera, which will mark the first professional performance of the opera in Tennessee. There will also be a matinee performance on October 11th. Tickets are available online.

The company is touting that the production will include over 200 on the stage, inlcuding a 50-member onstage orchestra and over 100 choristers. The already fit 32-year-old Singletary, clearly hit the gym to tone up, as the director has him showing off his magnificent torso in the show. The cast also includes Cody Austin as Fauts, Julia Lima as Margherita, Ryan Ford as Wagner and Allison Deady as Marta.


The opera, which is based on Johann von Goethe adaptation of the Faustian legend was written in 1868, but only found success in the repertory after the composer made revisions to the opera.

Make sure to check out this great profile on Donovan Singletary from the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

IF YOU LOVE BEAUTIFUL BARITONES, MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 

2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR TODAY!!!! 

Sexy preview of Randal Turner in Bonfire of the Vanities

Randal Turner as Sherman McCoy

The creators of composer Stefania de Kenessey and librettist Michael Bergmann's operatic version of Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities have been gracious enough to give us brief preview of the opera. The scene shows barihunk Randal Turner as Wall Street trader Sherman McCoy in the iconic "Masters of the Universe" scene after the prisoners have stripped him of his clothes.

The phrase is taken from the original book and refers to the ambitious young men who racked up millions of dollars in bonuses at investment banks like Salomon Brothers, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Randal Turner in "Masters of the Universe" scene from Bonfire:

The story takes on the universal socioeconomic tensions in 1980s New York City that is home to both Wall Street and Harlem. Turner's character is a successul bonds trader whose popularity propels him to the top of the financial world. But just as he meets the peak of his success, he collides with a scandal that brings all of New York City crashing down upon him. His former admirers and current problems include a ferocious Harlem reverend, played by fellow barihunk Keith Miller; a wealthy and sexually predatory femme fatale, sung by Yingzie Zhou; Sherman's cossetted housewife, sung by Anne-Carolyn Bird; and, an idealistic lawyer who demands better for her city, performed by Adrienne Danrich.  

 

The world premiere will be on October 9 and 10 at the El Teatro at El Museo del Barrio in New York City. Tickets are available online.

Calendar Model Profile: Jason Chandler Duika

Jason Duika far left, right (and with Romain Dayez in the Barihunks calendar, center)

We featured Jason Chandler Duika in the months of January and May in our new Barihunks charity calendar. He was an instant sensation with readers, so we figured that we're share a few more photos, video and biographical information about the emerging American baritone. 

After a solid first year at Palm Beach Opera in 2015, he was invited back to sing the roles of Dancairo, and cover Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, sing the family performance and cover Dr. Malatesta in Donizettis Don Pasquale, sing Paquiro in Goyescas, by Granados, and cover Harlequin, and sing the Wigmaker in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. In early April, he will return to his alma mater, Alma College in Michigan to sing the title role of Saul in Handel's oratorio.

Jason Duika sings Hamlet's "Ô vin dissipe la tristesse":

Jason entertains ambitions of singing throughout the world, particularly the repertoire of Donizetti, Mozart, Puccini, and eventually Verdi, whom he enjoys most.

"I am greatly honored to be featured as a part of the barihunks mission, to help, support, and maintain young operatic artists in their continuing journey to success."

The 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar is now on sale and available online. For the past four years, the calendar has raised money for young artist programs and young artist projects. Proceeds from this year's calendar will fund the creation of the Foundation for the Advancement of Baritones (FAB), which will fund baritone and bass cash prizes at song competitions, commission music for baritones and basses, and be used to fund other projects featuring low male voices.

New York-based composer Clint Borzoni has already been commissioned to write two songs for string quartet and baritone, which will be performed by calendar model Marco Vassalli in January.

BUY YOUR CALENDAR NOW BY CLICKING BELOW

Barihunk quartet in Paris Opera's Don Giovanni

Alessio Arduini (left) & Fernaando Radó (center, right)

Four of the the hottest men in opera are performing together at the Paris Opera's Don Giovanni. Artur Ruciñski sings the title role, with Alessio Arduini singing Leporello, Fernando Radó performing Masetto and Alexander Tsymbalyuk as the Commendatore. Arduini and Radó have both created mini-sensations with their shirtless pictures on this site.

The all-star cast also includes Maria Bengtsson as Donna Anna, Karine Deshayes as Donna Elvira, Matthew Polenzani as Don Ottavio and Nadine Sierra and Gaëlle Arquez rotating as Zerlina. Performances run through October 18th and tickets are available online.

Joanna Jakubas & Artur Ruciński sing Là ci darem la mano:

After Paris, Alessio Arduini will head to the Vienna State Opera where he will appear as Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola, Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, the title role in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and Marcello in La bohème. Tsymbalyuk will head to The Met to sing Timur in Puccini's Turandot and then to Munich for Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto. Radó will next sing Monterone in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Teatro Real in Madrid and then return to Masetto as the Dutch National Opera. Ruciñski will also head to The Met to sing Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and then Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor an the Royal Opera in London.

Björn Bürger's really, really sexy Don Giovanni

Björn Bürger as Don Giovanni at Den Norske Opera (photos: Jörg Wiesner)

Björn Bürger, who has previously sung Masetto, is now making his debut in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni. His performance, with open shirt and sporting white boxers, has been turning a few heads with his macho and sexual portrayal of the lascivious seducer. The cast includes Marcell Bakonyi as Leporello, Ann-Helen Moen as Donna Anna, Magnus Staveland as Don Ottavio and Marita Sølberg as Donna Elvira. Performances run through September 16 and tickets are available online.

Björn Bürger as Don Giovanni and Marita Sølberg as Donna Elvira. (Foto: Jörg Wiesner)

Bürger, who is making his debut with Den Norske Opera, is a member of the Frankfurt Opera where he has sung Bengtson in Reimann's Die Gespenstersonate, Astolfo in Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Marcello in Puccini's La boheme. He returns to Frankfurt this season to sing Frank and Fritz in Korngold's Die tote Stadt, Don Bucefalo in Valentino Fioravanti's La cantatrici villane and Curio in Handel's Giulio Cesare. 

Fans in the U.K. will be interested to know that he will make debut as Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2016.