The other barihunk "The Tempest" at USC

Kevin Blickfeldt

There's been a lot of attention given to Thomas Adès' "The Tempest" at the Metropolitan Opera with barihunk Simon Keenlyside. But on the opposite coast, the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music is producing a barihunk-laden performance of Lee Hoiby's "The Tempest."

Austin Thompson plays the major role of Prospero and Kevin Blickfeldt plays Antonio. They are joined by a bevy of low voices, including David Castillo as Ferdinand, Steve Pence as Alonso, Cole Cuomo as Sebastian,  Travis Sherwood as Trinculo and James Hayden as Stephano, and Abram Poliakoff and Robin Wyatt Stone as courtiers. 

There are two more performances Friday night and Sunday afternoon. You can get additional information on the USC website.

Austin Thompson

Shakespeare's story has inspired 50 operas including Fromental Halévy's La Tempesta, Zdeněk Fibich's Bouře, Frank Martin's Der Sturm and Michael Tippett's The Knot Garden. Incidental music based on The Tempest has been written by Arthur Sullivan, Ernest Chausson, Jean Sibelius, Malcolm Arnold, Lennox Berkeley, Arthur Bliss, Engelbert Humperdinck, Hector Berlioz, Willem Pijper and Henry Purcell. You can see the second HD broadcast of Adès' "The Tempest" in theaters on November 28th.

Our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar is available by clicking below:

Keenlyside's Sexy ads for Met's "The Tempest"

Simon Keenlyside

If there was ever any doubt that sedxy men in opera are finally being recognized for having the same marketing potential as their female counterparts, it was firmly dispelled with the arrival of the new Metropolitan Opera 2012-13. In the past, one could count on Anna Netrebko, Kiri Te Kanawa or Elīna Garanča gracing the cover. Barihunk Simon Keenlyside graces the cover with a full body tattoo and have exposed torso. The British singer, who turns 53 on August 3rd, looks as stunning as singers half his age.

Composer Thomas Adès will conduct and Robert Lepage will direct the Met premiere of this modern masterpiece. Keenlyside will sing the role of Prospero, the banished Duke of Milan who practices his otherworldly arts. The entire cast could be out of Hollywood central casting. It includes Isabel Leonard as Prospero’s daughter, Miranda, Toby Spence as his brother Antonio and Audrey Luna as the spirit Ariel.

The cast also has other barihunk connections, as Leonard is the wife of barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Luna is the wife of barihunk Jordan Shanahan.

If you can't make it to New York City, you can watch the performance in the Met's Live in HD broadcast of Saturday, November 10, 2012.

Kyle Ketelsen to star in Carmen

Other barihunks performing at the Met his Fall include Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Un Ballo in Maschera and Don Carlo, Mariusz Kwiecien in L'Elisir d'Amore, Peter Mattei in Parsifal, Guido Loconsolo in Giolio Cesare, Kyle Ketelsen and Teddy Tahu Rhodes in Carmen, Nathan Gunn in Le Comte Ory, Ildar Abdrazakov and Erwin Schrott in Don Giovanni and John Relyea in Faust.

Visit the Met's website for additional performance and cast information.