HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Celebrating our favorite scenes with food and wine

We figured that since it's Thanksgiving (in the U.S.), and most people are sitting down for a big sumptuous feast, that it was a great opportunity to look at some of the best scenes in opera involving food. Giuseppe Verdi was known for using food as a plot device in many of his operas, which makes sense as eating and drinking is such a key part of everyday life and certainly can help define a character.

A number of operas and operettas feature drinking songs as part of their plot, including Bizet's Carmen, Berliozs La Damnation de Faust, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Verdi's La traviata, Smetena's The Bartered Bride, Verdi's Otello, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Rombergs The Student Prince and, of course, Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus.

Here are look at some of our favorite operas features food and drink (and it's by no means an exhaustive list!)

The performance that inspired Barihunks: Mariusz Kwiecien in SF Opera's Don Giovanni

The creation of the Barihunks blog was inspired after seeing Mariusz Kwiecien shirtless on a dinner table at the San Francisco Opera in Mozart's Don Giovanni. The cast also included fellow barihunk Luca Pisaroni as Masetto and hunkentenor Charles Castronovo as Don Ottavio. A true FEAST for the eyes. Don Giovanni appears to have an appetite for everything sumptuous and tasty in life: wine, women and food. Leporello even gets in the action, as he pours out a fine Marzemino wine from northern Italy for Don Giovanni, then nibbles at a piece of pheasant ("Versa il vino! Eccellente Marzimino!").

In Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring the children sing with glee in Act 2 about the May Day feast:  "Jelly!...Pink blancmange!...Seedy cake! Seedy cake! (with icing on)...Treacle tart!...  Sausagey rolls!...Trifle in a great big bowl!...Chicken and ham!...Cheesy straws!...Marzipan!" Asked to make a speech, Albert is tongue-tied and becomes an object of pity at the feast in his honor, but after draining his lemonade glass (satirically underlined with a Tristan chord, alluding to the love potion in that opera) and having a fit of hiccups he manages a few "hip-hip, hurrahs."

Simon Keenlyside sings Hamlet's Drinking Song:

In Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet the title character sings the famous drinking song Ò vin dissipe la tristesse. In the scene, Hamlet meets up with a troupe of actors who will perform a play for the court. With them, he sings a drinking song in which he calls for wine and laughter to dispel his sadness.

One of the most famous drinking songs is Esacamillo's Votre toast from Bizet's Carmen.  In the scene, the toréador enters a tavern and sings an ode to bullfighting, the roaring crowds and the glory that comes with victory. 

In Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore the townspeople turn out for a prenuptial feast in anticipation of Adina and Belcore's wedding. In the scene, Dulcamara, who is selling the love elixir (which is actually wine) sings, “Weddings are all very nice. But what I like best about them is the pleasant sight of the banquet.”

Duncan Rock and Corinne Winters in ENO's La bohème (© Tristram Kenton)

Is there a more lavish and musically satisfying scene involving food and drink that Act 2 of Puccini’s La bohème set in the Cafe Momus in Paris? In the scene, Schaunard calls for Rhine wine, roast venison, custard and dressed lobster for his fellow Bohemians at the Café Momus. The scene is rich with Parisian street food: oranges, dates, hot chestnuts, nougat, whipped cream, candies, fruit tarts, coconut milk, carrots, trout and plums from Tours.

In Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel the title characters almost become the feast,
as the witch tries to fatten them up to become the meal itself.

James Maddelena as Richard Nixon

In more modern times, the most famous dinner scene is probably at the end of Act 1 of John Adams' Nixon in China.  In the scene, President Nixon sings, “The world watches and listens, we must seize the hour”  as he toasts his host Prime Minister Chou En-Lai before a banquet. According to the Nixon Foundationm the official menu included “spongy bamboo shoots and egg-white consommé, shark’s fin in three shreds, fried and stewed prawns, mushrooms and mustard green and steamed chicken with coconut, almond junket, pastries, fruits.”

As mentioned early, no composer featured food and drink more prominently than Giuseppe Verdi. Few people have never heard the famous duet with chorus Libiamo ne' lieti calici from La traviata. The lively song in Act 1 encourages the drinking of wine or other alcoholic beverages, which make "kisses warmer."

One can hardly think of food without thinking of Falstaff, who is one of the great operatic eaters and drinkers. His bill at the Garter Inn, as he recounts at the opera’s opening, is for 6 chickens, 3 turkeys, 2 pheasants, 1 anchovy and 30 bottles of sherry.

 Thomas Hampson and Paoletta Marrocu in the banquet scene in Macbeth:

In Act 2 of Macbeth, Verdi calls for a “sumptuously prepared feast” for the banquet scene in which Banquo’s ghost appears to the title character. Lady Macbeth sings a drinking song before this dramatic moment, in which she encourages the guests to drink as much as possible. Not a bad idea considering what happens next!

In Verdi’s lesser known early opera Un giorno di regno, the composer uses appetite as a dramatic device to create tension, as people await for a banquet that never takes place.

Enjoy a FEAST FOR THE EYES with your very own 2017 BARIHUNKS IN BED calendar. Now on sale!!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: GIUSEPPE VERDI'S BICENTENARY (October 10, 1813 - January 27, 1901)

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born in Roncole in the former duchy of Parma, he first studied music in the neighboring town of Busseto. Then, upon being rejected in 1832, because of his age, by the Milan Conservatory, he became a pupil of the Milanese composer Vincenzo Lavigna. He returned to Busseto in 1833 as conductor of the Philharmonic Society.

Thomas Hampson and Samuel Ramey sings "Provero che degno" from Un giorno di regno:

At the age of 25 Verdi again went to Milan. His first opera, Oberto, was produced at La Scala with some success in 1839. His next work, the comic opera Un giorno di regno (King for a Day, 1840), was a failure, and Verdi, lamenting also the recent deaths of his wife and two children, decided to give up composing. After more than a year, however, the director of La Scala succeeded in inducing him to write Nabucco (1842). The opera created a sensation; its subject matter dealt with the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, and the Italian public regarded it as a symbol of the struggle against Austrian rule in northern Italy. I Lombardi (1843) and Ernani (1844), both great successes, followed, but of the next ten productions only Macbeth (1847) and Luisa Miller (1849) have survived in the permanent operatic repertory. Verdi's three following works, Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1853), and La Traviata (1853), brought him international fame and remain among the most popular of all operas.

 Christian Van Horn Banco's sings "Come dal ciel precipita" from Macbeth:

Operas written in the middle of Verdi's career, including Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, 1859), La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny, 1862), and Don Carlo (1867), exhibit a greater mastery of musical characterization and a greater emphasis on the role of the orchestra than his earlier works. Aïda (1871), also of this period and probably Verdi's most popular opera, was commissioned by the khedive of Egypt to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal; it was first performed in Cairo. Three years later, Verdi composed his most important non-operatic work, the Requiem Mass in memory of the Italian novelist Alessandro Manzoni. Verdi's other non-operatic compositions include the dramatic cantata Inno delle nazioni (Hymn of the Nations, 1862) and the String Quartet in E minor (1873).

Jonas Kaufmann & Dmitri Hvorostovsky sing "Solenne in quest'ora" from La forza del destino:

In his 70s, Verdi produced the supreme expression of his genius, Otello (1887), composed to a libretto skillfully adapted by the Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito from the Shakespearean tragedy Othello. This was followed by Verdi's last opera, Falstaff (1893), also adapted by Boito from Shakespeare, and generally considered one of the greatest of all comic operas.

In general, Verdi's works are most noted for their emotional intensity, tuneful melodies, and dramatic characterizations. He transformed the Italian opera, with its traditional set pieces, old-fashioned librettos, and emphasis on vocal displays, into a unified musical and dramatic entity. His operas are among those most frequently produced in the world today.

Alex Lawrence debuting at Glimmerglass; Debuts new website

Alex Lawrence backstage in Zürich in Carmen and from his new website homepage

Our features on Wes Mason and John Brancy have prompted readers to point us to other new websites from barihunks around the world. The latest is Alex Lawrence, who is currently a member of the ensemble at Opernhaus Zürich. In 2011, Lawrence completed his studies at Philadelphia’s prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts and went on to appear at the Lucerne Festival, Theater Basel, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Tanglewood. He made his European professional debut this past year in the in Berg’s Wozzeck.

On May 23, he'll be appearing as Sam in Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti at Opernhaus Zürich. Later this summer, he'll make his major role debut at the Glimmerglass Festival as Cavaliere Belfiore who becomes king for the day in Verdi's Un Giorno di Regno. Performances will run from July 21-August 24 and the cast also includes two other singers who have appeared on this site, Jason Hardy as Baron Kelbar and Andrew Wilkowske as La Rocca. Glimmerglass is run by director Francesca Zambello, who is credited with coining the phrase "barihunk," so this casting comes as no surprise.

Alex Lawrence sings "Fin ch' han dal vino" from Don Giovanni

Other performances at Glimmerglass this season include über-barihunk Nathan Gunn as Lancelot in Camelot and Ryan McKinny as the title character in Wagner's Flying Dutchman in a cast that includes Jay Hunter Morris as Erik and the amazing Melody Moore as Senta. Check out the Glimmerglass website for additional information.

Make sure to check out Alex Lawrence's new website where you can follow his career, enjoy production photos and view videos. You can also follow him on Twitter @LawrenceBariton.