Seattle Opera announces new season with barihunk-laden Consul, Rigoletto

Donovan Singletary and Steven LaBrie

The Seattle Opera announced its 2013-14 season which includes two operas not generally thought of as barihunk operas, Menotti's The Consul and Verdi's Rigoletto.

The Consul includes three of the hottest singers on the scene, led by Seattle resident Michael Todd Simpson in the major role of John Sorel. Also in the cast are Steven LaBrie as the Police Agent and Joseph Lattanzi as Assan. LaBrie is making his Seattle Opera debut. Performances run from February 22nd to March 7, 2014. The Consul won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950.

Marco Vratogna

This year is the big 200th anniversary of Verdi's birth, so we're getting an ample supply of the Italian's operas. Usually it's Attila that features two barihunks and rarely is it Rigoletto. Seattle has cast the amazing Marco Vratogna as the hunchbacked jester and this is a portrayal that is not to be missed. We caught him at the San Francisco Opera and it was one nothing short of a masterful performance both vocally and dramatically. In the smaller, but important role of the Count Monterone is fitness guru Donovan Singletary. Gilda and the Duke will be performed by Davinia Rodríguez and Francesco Demuro respectively. The opera is being transported to 1930s Italy and performances run from January 11-25, 2014.

Michael Todd Simpson and Joseph Lattanzi

Speaking of anniversary seasons, the Seattle Opera seems to be marking a bunch of them this season, including their 50th anniversary, their 10th year at McCaw Hall and general director Speight Jenkins'  30th year leading the company.

Other operas for the upcoming season include Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment from October 19-November 2, 2013 with tenor Lawrence Brownlee and Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman from May 3-17, 2014 with tenor William Burden and the brilliant mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey. Visit the Seattle Opera website for additional information and don't miss their upcoming Ring Cycle featuring Greer Grimsley as Wotan.

Paul Thompson in West Edge Opera's L'incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi

Paul Thompson

West Edge Opera (formerly Berkeley Opera) is performing Claudio Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea in a new edition created by Mark Streshinsky and Gilbert Martinez. Performances will be on February 1, 2 and 3 and tickets are available online.

Seneca, a philosopher and Nero's tutor, will be played by Paul Thompson. The young bass studied with the Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute and the American Institute of Musical Studies. He has performed a number of roles on the West Coast, including Dr. Grenvil in Verdi's La Traviata with Opera San Jose, the title character in Donizetti's Don Pasquale with Nevada Opera Theater and Sarastro in Mozart's Magic Flute at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Michael Schopper sings "Solitudine amata" from L'Incoronazione di Poppea:

Poppea is one of the earliest operas ever written. But even in 1642 when it was written, sensuality ruled the day. Emperor Nero can’t get his mind off the beautiful Poppea. He thinks about her more than he thinks about his country. He certainly thinks about her more than he thinks about the Empress.

Nero is Christine Brandes, Poppea is Emma McNairy and Ottone is the rising countertenor sensation Ryan Belongie.

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.

Canadian Opera's sexy Collines open new season

Hot Collines: Tom Corbeil and Christian Van Horn

The Canadian Opera Company in Toronto has announced their 2013-14 season, which is leading the way with a barihunk filled production of Puccini's La boheme. We often get asked if we post basses and bass-baritones, as well. We post all of the low male voices and actually love when we see roles like Colline filled with sexy bass-baritones. After all, the guys in La boheme are bunch of young, Parisian artists, so we expect them to look the part.

Phillip Addis

The Canadian Opera Company hasn't disappointed us in this regard, rotating Christian Van Horn and Tom Corbeil as Colline. Both singers have been regulars on this site. They've also cast Phillip Addis and Joshua Hopkins as the Marcellos, so barihunk fans should get their tickets now. Performances will run from October 3-30, 2012. Tickets are available online.

Tom Corbeil, who recently wrapped up a tour of the Addams Family: The Broadway Musical, returns to his operatic roots in a big way, as he'll also be singing Swallow in Benjamin Britten's masterpiece Peter Grimes. Tenor Ben Heppner will sing the title role and soprano Ileana Montalbetti will take on Ellen Orford. Peformances run from October 5-26, 2013.

Robert Gleadow

Other operas this season include Robert Gleadow as Guglielmo in Mozarts Cosi fan tutte (Jan 18-Feb 21), Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (Feb 2-22), Handel's Hercules (April 5-30), Donizetti's Roberto Deveraux (April 25- May 21) and Massenet's Don Quichotte (May 9-24).

Matthew Worth to premiere "Doubt" as Father Flynn

Matthew Worth strikes his Father Flynn pose
2012 (c) Aleutian Calabay for Minnesota Opera

The Minnesota Opera is presenting the world premiere of Douglas J. Cuomo’s opera Doubt, which opens on January 26th and runs through February 3rd. The libretto was written by playwright John Patrick Shanley, who based it on his Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The opera was commissioned by Minnesota Opera in collaboration with the Cincinnati Opera and the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. The opera is part of the opera company’s New Works Initiative, a landmark program designed to invigorate the operatic repertoire with an infusion of contemporary works.

Matthew Worth on playing Father Flynn in Doubt:

The premiere of Doubt will feature Matthew Worth as Father Flynn, who is accused of inappropriate behavior with a young African-American student. Soprano Christine Brewer will sing the role of the school principal Sister Aloysius, who makes the accusations and sets the drama in motion at the Bronx-based Roman Catholic in 1964. The young, idealistic Sister James will be played by Adriana Zabala and the boy's mother by mezzo Denyce Graves. Other than a chorus and a children's chorus, these are the only vocal roles. The opera will be conducted by Christopher Franklin and directed by Kevin Newbury. Tickets are available online.

Matthew Worth on Mozart and modern American opera:

Matthew Worth returns to the Minnesota Opera after a successful run as Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte in the 2011-12 season. After Doubt he'll return to the role of Guglielmo on March 15th with the Boston Lyric Opera. On April 4th and 6th, he returns to Opera Memphis to partake in the Midtown Opera Festival in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia. This is his third world premiere, as he created the role of William Shrike in Lowell Liebermann's Miss Lonelyhearts with the Juilliard Opera and the Coachman in Stephen Hartke's The Greater Good at Glimmerglass Opera, which was recorded for Naxos.

Matthew Worth talks about the music of Doubt:

The play Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, won both the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play. In 2008, Shanley wrote and directed the motion picture adaptation of Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Adapted Screenplay nod for Shanley. 

Matthew Worth talks about some other projects:

Cast Change: Jeremy Carpenter replaces Peter Coleman-Wright in ROH's Gloriana

Jeremy Carpenter

Australian baritone Peter Coleman-Wright has withdrawn from singing the role of Sir Robert Cecil for all performances of Britten's Gloriana. The role will now be sung by British baritone Jeremy Carpenter, marking his debut with The Royal Opera.

Jeremy Carpenter studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London under the tutelage of Ellis Keeler, Rudolf Piernay and David Pollard. He began the 2010/2011 season singing the role of Gérard in Andrea Chénier at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm with tremendous critical acclaim, followed by Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with the Angers Nantes Opéra. The last season included Escamillo in Carmen at the Royal Swedish Opera, followed by the same role at the Malmö Opera. During the current season he has returned to the Royal Swedish Opera for Carmen and sang Talpa in concert performances of Puccini's Il tabarro with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Harding. During the current spring he appears as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at Grand Théâtre de Genève followed by Sir Robert Cecil in Britten's Gloriana at the ROH Covent Garden.

Tickets for Richard Jones’s new production of Gloriana went on sale last week and are available online. The production stars soprano Susan Bullock and tenor Toby Spence. Performances run from June 20th– July 6th.

Commemorating Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910-January 23, 1981)

Samuel Barber and Thomas Hampson

The great composer Samuel Barber died on this day in 1981 and we figured it was appropriate to commemorate him. After all, he gave us some of the most beautiful music ever written for baritone (as well as other voices).

Samuel Barber's music, masterfully crafted and built on romantic structures and sensibilities, is at once lyrical, rhythmically complex, and harmonically rich. He was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania and died on January 23, 1981. Barber wrote his first piece at age 7 and attempted his first opera at age 10. At the age of 14 he entered the Curtis Institute, where he studied voice, piano, and composition. Later, he studied conducting with Fritz Reiner.

Giorgio Tozzi sings "For ev'ry love there is a last farewell" from Vanessa:

Samuel Barber wrote numerous songs set to some of the world's greatest poets, including James Joyce, Matthew Arnold, Rainer Maria Rilke, A.E. Housman, James Agee and James Stephens. Some of Barber’s greatest music stemmed from these poetic inspirations, including the Hermit Songs, Knoxville: Summer of 1915, the three powerful James Joyce settings and Rilke's texts for Mélodies passagères. His writing is lyrical with expressive and nuanced shadings and a keen connection to the text. Songs like "Sure on this shining night" have become standards on song recital programs.

Thomas Hampson sings "Un cygne" from Mélodies passagères: 

At Curtis, Barber met Gian Carlo Menotti with whom he would form a lifelong personal and professional relationship. Menotti supplied libretti for Barber's operas Vanessa (for which Barber won the Pulitzer) and A Hand of Bridge. Barber's music was championed by a remarkable range of renowned artists, musicians, and conductors including Vladimir Horowitz, John Browning, Martha Graham, Arturo Toscanini, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Jennie Tourel, Thomas Hampson, Gerald Finley and Eleanor Steber. His Antony and Cleopatra was commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966.

Gerald Finley sings "St. Ida's Vision":

Barber was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the American Prix de Rome, two Pulitzers, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His intensely lyrical Adagio for Strings has become one of the most recognizable and beloved compositions, both in concerts and films ("Platoon," "The Elephant Man," "El Norte," "Lorenzo's Oil").

 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sing "Dover Beach":

For more information about Samuel Barber's songs, visit Thomas Hampson's Hampsong site dedicated to promoting the art of the American song.

Perhaps his greatest piece is Knoxville: Summer of 1915, which was written for Eleanor Steber and performed here by Leontyne Price.