French barihunks in Vichy's Magic Flute

Nicholas Courjal (left) and Benoît Arnould (right)

Opera de Vichy will be presenting Mozart's Die Zauberflöte on September 19 and 21 with Nicholas Courjal as Sarastro and Benoît Arnould as Papageno. The cast also includes the charming Tamino of Shawn Mathey, the thrilling coloratura soprano Burcu Uyar as the Queen of the Night, Camille Poul as Papagena and Raffaela Milanesi as Pamina. The Orchestre d’Auvergne will be conducted by Roberto Fores-Veses.

After this run, the French bass-barihunk Nicholas Courjal will appear in Rossini's Moise et Pharaon at Opera de Marseilles from November 8-16. In 2015, fans of  Courjal will get to see him outside of France, as he appears in Ravel's L’enfant et les sortilèges on February 12 at Festival Hall in London and then at the Royal Opera House from June 17-29 in Rossini's Guillaume Tell.

Benoît Arnould sings Fauré's Libera me domine:

Benoît Arnould, who is new to this site, graduated from the Conservatory in Metz and also received a Licence in Musicology from Sorbonne University.  In a short time, he has become recognized for his interpretations of baroque music and Mozart. He has performed Charpentier’s Médee,  Ascalaphe in Lully’s Proserpine, Christ in Bach’s Passions, Mozart’s Masses, Anténor in Rameau’s Dardanus and Requiem, and Lucifer in Handel's La Resurrezione. He has also recorded Les Grands Motets by Desmarest, Lully’s Proserpine and Missa Assumpta Est Maria de Charpentier, Cavalli’s Ormindo, Jesu Christi by Schütz, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri  and Weckman’s Cantatas.

Shirtless video of Dominik Köninger singing and dancing in Orpheus

Dominik Köninger

We've been huge fans of German barihunk Dominik Köninger ever since he wowed the judges at the 2011 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition. We always knew that he could sing, but now with this new video of him as Orpheus in Komische Oper's controversial Monterverdi Trilogy, we've learned he can dance, too! Check him out singing and dancing in Act 2 and then giving a tour de force shirtless performance in Act 5.

Dominik Köninger

The production is by Barrie Kosky, who took the world by storm with his innovative production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Komische Oper, which was recently performed at the Los Angeles Opera and is now headed to the Minnesota Opera. There has seldom been a production where a singer was asked to sing, dance and perform this much and Köninger pulls it off brilliantly. It's evident from these videos why in the last few years he's become one of the most talked about and heralded young singers in the business.

Köninger starred in the marathon musical interpretation of Monteverdi's trilogy by the Uzbek composer Elena Kats-Chernin which was performed in a single day, running from 11a.m. until 11p.m. The trilogy included Orpheus, Odysseus and Poppea and feautured 200 artists on stage. The production definitely wasn't for purists as Kat-Chermin integrated jazz, klezmer, tango, and ragtime into the score.

Dominik Köninger sings a riveting rendition of "Machtvolle Gottheit" from Orpheus:

Köninger can currently be seen at the Komische Opera as Pantalone in Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges, which runs through February 19th. He then returns to his popular potrayal of Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, which he's alternating with Tom Erik Lie through May 4.

Jesse Blumberg stunning as Ulysses

Jesse Blumberg in Opera Omnia's The Return of Ulysses

We were very excited when we learned that the innovative young opera company Opera Omnia had hired Jesse Blumberg for their production of Claudio Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses. He's become a favorite of ours, as well a favorite of composers like Ricky Ian Gordon and a number of leading opera companies. A thoughtful singer with great dramatic instincts and a beautiful voice, he's also a true barihunk in every sense of the word. For this role he had to sing shirtless for almost the entire first act and we heard that he stuck to a pretty strict workout regime. Of course, we had to get a picture to share with our readers.

The New York Times wrote of his performance, "And the vocal performances were in general excellent. Jesse Blumberg was compelling as Ulysses, throwing himself into the role physically as well as vocally."

Blumberg can next be seen on October 4th in the premiere of Paul Richards' Biennale with fellow barihunk Christopher Burchett in Philadelphia. Later that month he can be heard performing music of Emmanuel Chabrier with the Mirror Visions Ensemble in New York and Philadelphia. We're most excited about a performance in April next year with the Minnesota Opera when he'll be performing Papageno in the brilliant production of Mozart's The Magic Flute created by director Barrie Kosky and the British theatre group 1927. We saw this in Berlin and it is brilliant. Add it to your opera travel calendar today. More information is available online.

Introducing Theo Hoffman

Theo Hoffman (Photo by Liv Hoffman)

We originally noticed native New Yorker Theo Hoffman when someone pointed him out as a member of the 2013 Gerdine Young Artists at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Next season, the young singer will be returning to the riverfront city to cover Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and performing in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites.

He is currently working on in his undergraduate studies at Juilliard with the great baritone Sanford Sylvan. He will be performing Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze do Figaro at Julliard in November and then perform a recital in Spring 2014. We will provide readers additional information closer to the performance dates.

"Tu se' morta" from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Charles Ives' "Tom Sails Away"

Last season,  Hoffman made his Juilliard Opera debut as Lunardo in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Le donne curiose. This summer, he covered Major General Stanley in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance and Tomeš  in Smetana's The Kiss for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

In 2013, as a  SongFest Stern Fellow, he performed John Musto’s The Brief Light at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he also performed Ravel’s famous Don Quichotte a Dulcinée with famed accompanist Martin Katz.. He appeared in recital as part of Juilliard’s Songbook series, Schubert & Co, as well as at the Bruno Walter Auditorium in Lincoln Center, the Chautauqua Institution, the Eastman School of Music, and Juilliard Pre-College.

Dominik Köninger in innovative Magic Flute in Berlin

Dominik Köninger in pictures form the Komische Oper

We've become such huge fans of Dominik Köninger since he won the 2011 Wigmore Hall Song Competition. We we thrilled to see that he's Papageno in the new highly innovative production of Die Zauberflöte at the Komische Oper in Berlin.

The innovative Barrie Kosky production is in collaboration with the amazing British theater group “1927," whose humorous shows have thrilled audiences all over the world with their interaction between film animation and live-performing actors. The production is a mix of silent movies, Weimar era cabaret, David Lynch and Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Performances will run into February and tickets and additional performance information is available online.

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Nathan Gunn returns to San Francisco as Papageno

Barihunk Nathan Gunn & Hunkentenor Alek Shrader

Nathan Gunn is back at the San Francisco in what is arguably one of his greatest roles, Papageno in Mozart's "The Magic Flute." Despite the fact that we're a site clearly dedicated to baritones, we often get asked why we don't feature tenors. So for all of you hunkentenor lovers, you'll be thrilled to know that Alek Shrader has been cast as Tamino.

Much of the chatter in San Francisco opera circles has been that the popular David Hockney production has been scrapped for a new production by visual artist Jun Kaneko. By all accounts, it's going to be every bit as spectacular and visually stunning.

SF Opera's "Magic Flute" by visual artist Jun Kaneko

Performances run from tonight through July 8th and tickets can be purchased on the San Francisco Opera website. The company is also presenting Verdi's "Attila" and John Adams' "Nixon in China." The Magic Flute will be sung in English.

Make sure to read our post about Nathan Gunn's upcoming performance in Mark Adamo's "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene," which is sure to generate a lot of interest in the opera world, as well as press attention. 

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Move Over Tony Romo, Papageno Is In The House

Patrick Carfizzi as Papageno

The Dallas Cowboys were a pretty mediocre 8-8 last year, causing many fans to grumble that a better team needed to be assembled at Cowboys Stadium. That has happened, as the Dallas Opera has put together a winning team for the April 28 live simulcast of Mozart's The Magic Flute starring the always entertaining Patrick Carfizzi as Papageno. Devotees of low voices will also be treated to the resonant low notes of Raymond Aceto as Sarastro.

The opera will be simulcast on the massive high-definition video-screens at Cowboys Stadium beginning at 7:30 PM with doors opening at 6 PM. Over 30,000 tickets have been requested, leaving about 1,500 for the performance. You can reserve your tickets by clicking HERE.

The show will be seen on four viewing screens (the largest is 72 feet tall and 160 feet wide) above the stadium's playing field. The opera also stars soprano Ava Pine as Pamina, L'ubica Vargicova as the Queen of the Night, Angela Mannino as Papageno and tenor Shawn Mathey as Tamino. Listen to Raymond Aceto below (don't miss this voice!).

If you'd rather see the opera at the Winspear Opera House, it opens on Friday, April 20 and runs through May 6. Visit the Dallas Opera website for tickets and additional information. 

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Should Fellow Singers be Afraid of Günther Groissböck?

Scary? He looks so sweet

Our post about barihunks Thomas Hampson and Günther Groissböck generated a lot of traffic and interest. Much of it seemed focused on Austrian bass-barihunk Günther Groissböck. Our favorite was a comment from another barihunk, Kyle Ketelsen, who commented about performing Leporello opposite Groissböck's Commendatore on Facebook. Ketelsen said that  Groissböck always "scared the shit outta me" around the 3:35 mark of the following scene from he infamous Don Giovanni production by Calixto Bieito at the Liceu in Barcelona is 2008. We can see why!!!

The much discussed and debated production also featured barihunk Simon Keenlyside in the title role and we featured it in previous posts. Calixto Bieto is currently making his U.S. debut in a reimagination of Tennessee Williams' play Camino Real at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. Needless to say, he's generating just as much controversy on this side of the Pond.

Günther Groissböck in Die Zauberflote. Nice hair?

We've heard from other singers about Groissböck's dramatic intensity and imposing presence on stage. One soprano wrote us that she was always afraid that he was going to grab her by the hair and throw her down onto the stage. Regular readers and opera buffs may recall that Groissböck also starred in the controversial "Brokeback Onegin" in Munich that featured shirtless dancing cowboys and Groissböck in bed with Lensky.

The Comendatore's entrance and DonGiovanni's descent into hell:

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Teddy Tahu Rhodes Redux & More Barihunk Mozart

Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Don Giovanni

It's not often that we feature a singer two days in a row, but (A) it's a slow news day, and (B) why would we pass up an opportunity to post more pictures and a video of Teddy Tahu Rhodes?

Teddy Tahu Rhodes' return as the title character in Don Giovanni is big news in Australia, where his career was launched as the Don and Joseph de Rocher in "Dead Man Walking."



If you love Mozart then Opera Australia should be your destination in 2012. They are also performing the Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutte. All of the opera include barihunks, including Joshua Bloom, Luke Gabbedy and Sam Dundas.

Luke Gabbedy (L), Sam Dundas (C) & Joshua Bloom (R)

Visit the Opera Australia website for additional cast and performance information.

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New Stefan Hagendorn Clips

Stefan Hagendorn

Two months ago a reader alerted us to German barihunk Stefan Hagendorn and we promptly introduced him to readers. Here are two new YouTube clips, one of extended clips from Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte"recorded at Schloß Oranienstein last month and the other of him singing Graun's "Liebste Kinder" from "Iphigenia in Aulis."





We are still accepting reader submissions for new and existing barihunks who may have escaped our watchful eyes. Send your suggestions to Barihunks@gmail.com.

Also, don't forget to listen to us on the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow podcast. 

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Is that a Magic Flute in your pocket?

The La Scala cast of Magic Flute; Alex Esposito

We recently featured a post about all of the Mozart on Alex Esposito's schedule. We've posted often about his definitive Leporello, but we've never featured a video of his Papageno. Fortunately, it was recorded by RAI 5 from La Scala during its recent run in April 2011.  Esposito's Papagena is Ailish Tynan.

Günther Groissböck

The cast also included barihunk Günther Groissböck as Sarastro. Here he is singing "In diesen heil'gen Hallen." You won't want to miss hearing his beautiful rolling bass. The Austrian bass is currently singing the role at the Vienna State Opera with the Papageno of fellow barihunk Markus Werba.



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Happy Birthday, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

One of our favorite readers and prominent figures in the music world reminded us that today is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthday. In celebration, here are some of the world's most popular barihunks singing music from the world's greatest composer:

MARKUS WERBA - LE NOZZE DI FIGARO: 



RANDAL TURNER- COSI FAN TUTTE




SIMON KEENLYSIDE - DON GIOVANNI



PAUL ARMIN EDELMANN - DIE ZAUBEFLOTE



BONUS: EDDA MOSER SINGING THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (THE GREATEST MOZART VOCAL PERFORMANCE EVER)

Christopher Maltman & Renée Fleming Sing "Lippen Schweigen"

Christopher Maltman & Renee Fleming

Operetta always seems like the most appropriate way to ring in the New Year. We're a week late with this, but it's worth it to hear these two great singers perform "Lippen Schweigen" at such a luxuriously languorous pace.

Maltman will be trading in operetta for plenty of Mozart in 2011. Two of the highlights will be his Papageno under Colin Davis' baton at the Royal Opera House in London. He will be joined by two amazing young singers, Joseph Kaiser as Tamino and Kate Royal as Pamina.

Maltman as Guglielmo in Seattle

In August, he will reprise his famous Guglielmo in Cosi under Marc Minkowski in Salzburg. The cast includes fellow barihunk Bo Skovhus as Don Alfonso and the gifted young tenor Alek Shrader.



Don't forget to vote in our poll to the right and let us know what you like best about Barihunks. You can also contact us with tips, photos, schedules and comments at Barihunks@gmail.com

Guido Loconsolo in La Boheme

Guido Loconsolo

We can't imagine a better way to start the week that with sexy Italian barihunk Guido Loconsolo singing his highly acclaimed portrayal of Marcello in La Boheme. He also has that amazing Italian style that defines fashion at its best.

For those hoping to see Loconsolo live, he has a couple of Belcore's on his schedule. First at Opera de Lille opposite the hunkentenor Bülent Bezdüz. He then flies off to Berlin where he will reprise the role at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin opposite two more hunky Nemorino's: Pavel Brelik and Leonardo Capalbo.

Hanno Müller-Brachmann

For those of you who will be in Berlin, barihunk Hanno Müller-Brachmann will be featured in two Mozart operas during that time, Cosi fan tutte and The Magic Flute.

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Dmitri Vargin's Upcoming Papageno

Once again, a reader tip has brought a new barihunk to our attention. Dmitri Vargin is a 32-year-old baritone from Uzbekistan who is currently an artist-in-residence at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where he will be performing Papageno in Die Zauberflöte in November. He will also perform in "Cosi fan tutte," "Manon," "Il trittico," and "Billy Budd" with the company. He first came to international attention in 2007 as a participant in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Here he is singing the beautiful duet from Thomas' "Hamlet" with soprano Irina Oknina.



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Mozart's Greatest Opera?

We feature a lot of Mozart on this site, so we were wondering which of his operas is your favorite. You can vote in the poll on the right and you can vote for more than one opera if you can't make up your mind. We've included some of our favorite clips for you to enjoy while you're voting. We've also included four of our favorite barihunks: Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Dmitri Hvorostovsy and Rod Gilfry.

Our Latest Baby Barihunk was Paul Armin Edelmann

No one managed to guess that our latest baby picture was of Austrian barihunk Paul Armin Edelmann. The popular guesses seemed to be Rod Gilfry and Teddy Tahu Rhodes.

Edelmann may be the only singer that we know of who has made Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus sexy. After this video, perhaps we should add it to our list of barihunk roles. He also manages to sing this aria as beautifully as we've heard since Herman Prey three decades ago.



Fans of this site will be pleased to know that Edelmann has an actual barihunk role on his agenda. He's scheduled to sing Papageno in both Beijing and at the St. Margarethen Opera Music Festival.

EDELMANN AS PAPAGENO


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Emerging Barihunk: Nicolas Courjal

Here's a shot of Nicolas Courjal as Masetto looking at fellow barihunk Franco Pomponi in a production of Don Giovanni in Montpellier, where he is currently singing The Speaker in Die Zauberflote opposite Detlef Roth, the brilliant Sandrine Piau and the Queen of the Night as sung by Uran Urtnasan-Cozzoli.

The French-born bass studied at the Conservatory in Renne and established himself at the famed Opera Comique in Paris. Like many basses, he's not given many barihunk roles, getting stuck singing Zuniga instead of Escamillo, and Basilio rather than the Barber. That's why we decided to feature a picture of him offstage, so that Barihunk fans can see him in his full glory and not dressed up looking like Moses.

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Liam Moran sings "How strange she is tonight" - Karenin's Aria

Hair or no hair? He's pretty sexy either way, but how do you prefer emerging barihunk Liam Moran?

Moran is currently a resident artist with the Pittsburgh Opera where he made his debut last season as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly.

He has performed in some Barihunk opera already, including Zuniga in Carmen and the Speaker in Die Zauberflote. We can't wait to see him as Escamillo or Papageno (if it isn't too light for his voice). The former Merola student was also a prize winner of the Florida Grand Opera Competition and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions/New England region. Moran completed his studies at McGill University in Montreal and the Yale School of Music.

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A Cute Magic Flute

[Photos of Nathan Gunn]

Mozart's the Magic Flute is a Barihunks favorite because it frequently features in the role of Papageno a young, attractive, lyric barihunk who can wear a pair of tights or some other adorably revealing outfit. One rarely finds the role of Sarastro cast with a barihunk, but the Los Angeles Opera has cast Günther Groissböck in the role. The Los Angeles Opera will alternate two Papageno's, one a Barihunks legend and the other one rapidly becoming a site favorite: Nathan Gunn and Markus Werba.

To top it off, they have cast two of the most gifted young tenors in the world today in the role of Tamino: Matthew Polenzani and Joseph Kaiser. The latter appears in Kenneth Branagh's new film version of the Magic Flute.

But if that's not enough, the role of the Speaker is played by the brilliant lieder singer Matthias Goerne, who some people feel should be featured on this site.

This is definitely a production worth seeing. For more information visit the Los Angeles Opera at www.losangelesopera.com.

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