New York's operamission is continuing its ongoing series of presenting all 39 of Handel's complete operas with Rinaldo on June 14 and 16 at Merkin Concert Hall. Conductor Jennifer Peterson will lead a full baroque orchestra from the harpsichord in a concert performance of the opera, which is based on Torquato Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata.
Barihunk Franco Pomponi will sing Argante and hunken-countertenor Randall Scotting will sing the title role of Rinaldo. They'll be joined by soprano Christine Arand as the Queen Armida, soprano Malia Bendi Merad as Almirena and countertenors Nicholas Tamagna as Goffredo and Andrew Rader as Eustazio.
Franco Pomponi sings Hamlet's drinking song (at the 2:00 mark):
Pomponi will be singing Prospero in Thomas Adès' The Tempest at the Hungarian State Opera from May 19-June 1. After he's done performing Rinaldo, Scotting will continue to work out at the gym in preparation for his first bodybuilding competition (and providing further proof that we need a Hunken-Countertenor site).
Tickets for Rinaldo are $55 and $75 ($45 for students and seniors) and are available online.
John Paul Huckle poses in the beautiful Teatro di San Carlo
Umberto Giodano's Fedora is often dubbed his "other" opera (referrring to hit Andrea Chenier) or it's remembered for the Loris's Act 2 aria Amor ti vieta, which has become a favorite of tenors worldwide.
The
opera has hung around because the story, based a play by Victorien
Sardou, packs some emotional punch. After all, he was the author of the
play that became Tosca,
which Puccini later made into his successful opera.
A number of great sopranos have taken on the title role, including Magda Olivero (who recently died at age 104) and Maria Callas, who performed it at La Scala (where is that recording?). More recently Mirella Freni Angela Gheorghiu, Renata Scotto, Daniela Dessì, Eva Marton, Virginia Zeani and Katia Ricciarelli have sung the role. You'd be hard pressed to find a tenor who hasn't performed Amor ti vieta at some point in his career, and great recordings (both live and studio) exist from Franco Corelli, Mario Del Monaco, Beniamino Gigli, Jussi Bjorling,
Placido Domingo, Roberto Alagna, Giuseppe di Stefano, Nicolai Gedda, Tito Schipa, Jose Carreras, Roland Villazon, Jonas Kaufmann and
Luciano Pavarotti.
Renata Scotto and Placido Domingo perform Fedora:
The Teatro di San Carlo in Naples will present the opera from May 3-11 with an all-star cast headed by Fiorenza Cedolins in the title role and Giuseppe Filianoti as Count Loris. Bass-barihunk John Paul Huckle will take on the dual assignment of Cirillo and the doctor Boroff. Tickets and cast information is available online.
The Teatro di San Carlo will also be presenting a double-bill of Granados' Goyescas and Puccini's Suor Angelica from May 28-June 28 with barihunk César San Martin as Paquiro in the first half of the program. Tickets and cast information is available online.
César San Martin appears in Goyescas
The story of the Giordano opera revolves around Fedora Romazoff, a Russian princess engaged to wed Count Vladimir, who is shot before the opera starts. Fedora sets out to avenge his death and she extracts a
confession from Count Loris, who is enamored with her. She denounces Loris in a letter before realizing that he shot Vladimir not for political reasons, but
because Vladimir was having an affair with his lover Wanda. As could only happen in verismo opera, Fedora then tells Loris that she loves him and they run off to Switzerland together. While there, Loris finds out that his brother
died in jail after being accused of
complicity in Vladimir's death, which prompts his mother to drop dead. Loris realizes that the "mystery woman" who had
denounced him and killed both his brother and his mother was Fedora. He then flies into a fit of rage. Overcome with guilt and
grief, Fedora drinks poison from a hollow crucifix hanging around her neck. As she dies, Loris forgives her, but it is too late, and
she dies in his arms as the song of a shepherd boy is heard from the
Alpine foothills.
Dancers surround Somnus (Aubrey Allicock), god of sleep
Regular readers will remember that our "Barihunks Best of 2014" featured Opera Omaha for the "Hottest Cast in Opera" for their production of Handel's Agrippina. The cast was led by two of the sexiest barihunks in the business, Hadleigh Adams as the emperor Claudio and Doug Williams as Pallante.
Opera Omaha is bringing back the director of Agrippina, James Darrah and his creative team Chromatic, to take on another Handel opera, Semele. Barihunk Aubrey Allicock will sing the role of Somnus, the god of sleep. He'll be joined by countertenor Ray Chenez as Athamas, soprano Mary Feminear as Semele, mezzo Peabody Southwell as Juno, tenor William Ferguson as Jupiter and soprano Liz Lang as Iris. Early music specialist Stephen Stubbs will also return to conduct Semele.
Samuel Ramey sings "More Sweet is That Name" from Semele:
Performances at the Orpheum Theater will be on April 8 and 10 and tickets are available online. There will be a pre-performance talk 40 minutes before each performance in the Grand Lobby, where James Darrah will share insights into this new production.
Handel’s Semele is a darkly comic mythological story of a mortal woman’s tryst with a
dangerous god. It's the tale of two worlds, the immortal and the mortal. Swept off to a celestial love nest by the besotted Jupiter, the still-discontented princess is easily manipulated by the jealous Juno into demanding more, and is destroyed. The opera includes some of Handel's most popular arias, including Semele's "Endless pleasure, endless love." Jupiter's "Where'er you walk" and the most egotistical aria in all of opera, Semele's "Myself I shall adore."
Countertenor Ray Chenez & Barihunk Aubrey Allicock
Opera Omaha, which began in 1958 as the Omaha Civic Opera Society, is
the only professional opera company in Nebraska, It became a fully
professional opera company by 1970 and is known for highlighting gifted
young singers from the area as well as nationwide. The company is known
for both its innovation and educational outreach programs. They had
produced eight world premieres and four American premieres.
Last week, we posted about the sexy production of Handel’s Agrippina from the Theater an der Wien featuring barihunk Damian Pass as Pallante and hunken-countertenor Jake Arditti as Nerone.
The production was live streamed on Sonostream, but is now available on YouTube or right here on Barihunks.
The new production from director Robert Carsen casts a satirical eye on Ancient Rome, with political and sexual machination as Agrippina schemes to place her son, Nerone (Nero), on the throne and the seductive Poppea juggles with three lovers. Handel, who many musicologists presume was gay, would undoubtedly have LOVED this production.
Damian Pass strips down in Agrippina
In addition to enough supernumerary beefcake to fill an issue of Men's Fitness, the cast also includes the stunning Danielle de Niese as Poppea, Patricia Bardon in the title role, Fillippo Mineccia as Ottone, Mika Kares as Claudio, Tom Verney as Narciso and Christoph Seidl as Lesbo.
We figured that it was worthwhile to share some of the pictures from the production.
Damian Pass, Patricia Bardon and the Men of Agrippina
In 1707-1708, Agrippina gave the young Handel his big chance to establish his reputation as an opera composer in Italy. The commission came from the famous Teatro San Giovanni Crisostomo in Venice, which was funded by the influential Grimani family. The Venetians were extremely demanding when it came to music, but Handel succeeded in creating a wise, gripping and entertaining opera on the basis of the humorous libretto about lust for power and sexual desires in Ancient Rome. The success was overwhelming.
Hadleigh Adams at SF Opera's Lab Pop-Up Opera in San Francisco
For years, opera companies have been trying innovative ways to attract younger audiences to the artform. The San Francisco Opera may have figured out the formula, as their Pop-Up concert at The Chapel, an old mortuary converted into a 1914 nightclub, drew a packed audience of 500 rowdy attendees to the heart of San Francisco's hip Mission District.
Hadleigh Adams sings "Come un'ape ne'giorni d'aprile" from La Cenerentola:
Barihunk Hadleigh Adams was the perfect emcee, eliciting shouts from men
and women to take off his shirt (which he didn't do!). He was joined by
fellow barihunks Anthony Reed and Brad Walker, tenor Pene Pati, mezzo
Laura Krumm and soprano Amina Edris. All are alums of the prestigious
Merola Opera Program, who went on to become Adler Fellows with the San
Francisco Opera. They were joined by Ronny Michael Greenberg at the
piano, who recently accompanied barihunk Marco Vassalli for his U.S.
debut recital.
The SF Opera Lab explores innovative programming that celebrates the
power of the human voice theatrically in intimate spaces beyond the War
Memorial Opera House. They are also intended to be informal and drinks
are allowed at the performance.
Hadleigh Adams & Laura Krumm sing "Dunque io son" from The Barber of Seville:
The next SF Opera Lab production opens tonight with seven performances
running through APril 10th. Michael Cavanagh will direct Ana Sokolović's
Svadba-Wedding and audience members will be part of the action with
actual champagne served at the wedding. Additional information is
available online.
Hadleigh Adams will be performing Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Cincinnati Opera in June. Anthony Reed can be seen this season at the San Francisco Opera in Jenufa, Andrea Chenier, Aida and Madama Butterfly. Brad Walker will be appearing with the San Francisco Opera this season in Carmen, Andrea Chenier and The Makropulos Case.
Mike Nyby in Togni's Isis and Osiris (Michael Barrett, left; Lucia Nesrallah, right)
Earlier in the week we posted about Canadian barihunk Mike Nyby singing Seth in the world premiere of award-winning composer Peter-Anthony Togni's "Isis and Osiris." The new Canadian opera, concludes the 2016 season of Toronto's Opera in Concert program with performances on April 1st and 3rd.
We now have a couple of photos from the rehearsals, so we wanted to share them with our readers. His character isn't exactly the nicest guy in the world. In the photo on the left he's about to dismember Osiris's body and in the photo on the right he's raping Isis.
Isis and Osiris, Gods of Egypt is based on the major myth of
ancient Egypt, telling their love story in a larger-than-life tale of
sibling jealousy, lust for power, fratricide and the quest for
immortality. Togni collaborated with Toronto poet Sharon Singer on the
piece.
The remainder of the cast includes Lucia Cesaroni as Isis, Michael
Barrett as Osiris, Julie Nesrallah as Nepthys, Stuart Graham as Grand
Vizier Khamet, Leigh-Ann Allen as Sennefer and Christopher Wattam as
Imhotep.
Upcoming performances for Nyby include Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen with the Huronia Symphony and Gounod's St. Cecilia's Mass with the Toronto Korean-Canadian Chorale.
Master of the selfie: Florian Spiess as Bellone (left) and in Fanciulla (right)
We introduced Austrian bass-barihunk Florian Spiess back in 2014 when he was performing in Handel's rarity Almira in Hamburg. He's returning to the 18th century again on Sunday, April 3rd as Bellone in Jean-Philippe Rameau's Les Indes galantes at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. We had to share his backstage selfie that he posted on Facebook and encourage readers to LIKE his fan page, where he frequently shares sexy selfies.
The ballet/opera is having a bit of revival in recent years and this premiere is a co-production with the Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse and the Opera National de Bordeaux. Regular readers will remember our post about a rather risque production at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse that involved a bit of nudity and a shirtless Vittorio Prato. The Munich Opera Festival will present the opera this summer with barihunk Tareq Nazmi as Osman and Goran Juric as Bellone.
The piece will be directed and choreographed by Laura Scozzi who returns to Nürnberg After successful production of Mozart's The Magic Flute and Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims. The opera will be conducted by French baroque specialist Paul Agnew. Tickets are available online.
Florian Spiess sings Colline's aria Vecchia zimarra from La Bohème:
Spiess' vocal training began at the Tyrolean Conservatory where he performed in Guys and Dolls, Into the Woods and as Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He continued his studies at the Vienna Music University including one year on a German-Austrian Richard Wagner Foundation scholarship. He was a member of the ensembles at the Landestheater Linz and Volkstheater Rostock, but joined the Hamburg State Opera during the 2013-14 season. In Hamburg, he has performed Colline in Puccini's La Bohème, Biterolf in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Radames in Verdi's Aida, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen and Raymondo in Handel‘s Almira.
