David Pershall makes San Francisco debut with Barihunk Quintet in Andrea Chénier

David Pershall

American barihunk David Pershall will make his belated San Francisco Opera debut on September 9th as Roucher in Giordano's Andrea Chénier. Pershall returns to San Francisco, where is was a 2008 participant in the Merola Opera program, which has had a long association with the company. While at Merola, Pershall sang Dr. Malatesta in Act 2 of Donizetti's Don Pasquale for the Schwabacher Summer Concert, Zurga in scenes from Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles and Falke in scenes from Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus for their Grand Finale Concert.

Pershall will be joined by a barihunk quintet, which is unusual for one of the verismo standards of the repertory. Joining him are Edward Nelson as Pietro Fléville, Brad Walker as Dumas, Anthony Reed as Schmidt and Anders Fröhlich as the Major-Domo. Performances run from September 9-30 and Maddelena will be sung by Anna Pirozzi, Chenier by Younghoon Lee and Gerard by George Gagnidze. Tickets are available online.

Edward Nelson, Anders Fröhlich, Anthony Reed and Brad Walker (l-r)

Pershall has recently appeared at the Vienna State Opera as Figaro in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore in Donizetti's L’Elisir d’Amore, Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Sebastian in Adès' The Tempest. He has performed Figaro in an abridged, English version of Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Metropolitan Opera and also appeared there in the roles of Schaunard in La Bohème and Lord Cecil in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda.

Pershall also has a close partnership with the Beethoven Easter Festival and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra with whom he participated in three live performance albums, featuring  performances as Don Pedro in Donizetti's Maria Padilla, Manfredo in Montemezzi's L’Amore dei Tre Re, and Orestes in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride.

He has won many prestigious vocal competitions, most recently the top prize in the annual George London Competition.

Introducing Argentinian Bass-Barihunk Mariano Gladic

Mariano Gladic after Don Juan (left) in Buenos Aires

Bass-Barihunk Mariano Gladic just wrapped up a three performance run of composer Santiago Villalba's new opera Don Juan, which is based on a play by Leopoldo Marechal. The piece was commissioned by the Teatro Colón Experimentation Center & Higher Institute of Arts and performed in their small theater.

A reader in Argentina, who attended the performance and suggested Mariano Gladic for the site. He was born in Mar del Plata on the Atlantic coast of Argentina, where he started his musical studies at the conservatory. He continued his studies in Buenos Aires, where he got immersed in acting, working with Héctor Bidonde, Helena Tritek, and Rubén Szuchmacher. He was a member of the company Futuro Anterior directed by Silvio Lang. Gladic has extensive experience as an actor and performed in the International Acting Festival in Havana, receiving a nomination for the A.C.E. awards and the Teatro del Mundo awards. 

Mariano Gladic

Gladic was a member of Periferia Vocal and Orfeon de Buenos Aires. His opera roles include Handel’s Ariodante, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Così fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, Rigoletto, and La bohème. He was one of the winners of the 8th Concurso Alejandro Cordero at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón.

You can listen to Gladic Juan Carlos Cobián's classic 1936 tango "Nostalgias" at the Americas Society by clicking HERE.

Jarvis Dams chosen for The Kiri Programme

Baritone Jarvis Dams

Belgian-Kiwi barihunk Jarvis Dams is one of six singers chosen to take part in The Kiri Programme, which is a young artist development program under the auspices of the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation. The singers were chosen for thier potential to progress to successful international careers after participating in the one-year program. In addition to singing, they will learn key business skills and communication tips to further their career.

Originally from Belgium, Jarvis has lived in New Zealand for 16 years and now resides in Hamilton. He holds a Master of Music with First Class Honours from The University of Waikato. He completed a vocal apprenticeship program at Astoria Music Festival in Oregon and was a recipient of the University of Waikato Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship. Jarvis placed third in the 2015 New Zealand Aria competition and in 2016 he was selected as both a semifinalist in the Lexus song quest and as a finalist in the IFAC Australian Singing Competition in Sydney.

He will be joined by soprano Eliza Boom, tenor Felipe Manu, soprano Katherine McIndoe, soprano Madison Nonoa and soprano Natahsa Wilson. 

The first of five training modules begins at the end of August, with the singers gathering in Auckland under the direction of program head Kathryn Harries, who is Director of the National Opera Studio in London. Harries was a senior judge for the Lexus Song Quest in New Zealand in 2014.

Erwin Schrott makes debut as Selim at Rossini Festival

Erwin Schrott

Barihunk Erwin Schrott made his debut as Selim in Rossini's Il turco in Italia at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro. The production, which includes the all-star cast of Olga Peretyatko, Nicola Alaimo, Rene Barbera, Pietro Spagnoli, runs through August 18th. 

Rossini and his librettist Romani based Il turco in Italia on an earlier libretto with the same title written by poet Caterino Mazzolà (the librettist for Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito). The plot owes much to the Italian tradition of commedia dell’arte, particularly character types, such as the cuckolded husband and the flirtatious young woman. The character of the poet Prosdocimo encourages us to treat the drama with a certain irony.

Olga Peretyatko and Erwin Schrott in Il turco in Italia

The opera all but disappeared from the repertory during the latter part of the 19th century, as Rossini fell out of fashion. It came back to public attention in October 1950, when Luchino Visconti staged a production for Maria Callas, who was keen to play a comic role. The production was so successful that the opera’s popularity grew rapidly.

Schrott's next stage appearances will be later this year in Munich, where he sings the title role in Boito's Mefistofele and Dulcamara in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. He returns to the Metropolitan Opera in April 2017 to sing Leporello alongside fellow barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien in Mozart's Don Giovanni. 

Teddy Tahu Rhodes to head Sweeney Todd cast in New Zealand

Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Antoinette Halloran in Sweeney Todd

Kiwi barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes will star in the new co-production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd between New Zealand Opera and Melbourne's Victorian Opera. The production comes to New Zealand following a successful run in Melbourne in July, 2015. It will be performed at The Civic in Auckland  from September 17-24, the St James Theatre in Wellington from September 30 – October 5, and at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch from October 12-15. Tickets are available online. 

Joining Teddy Tahu Rhodes in the cast is Australian soprano Antoinette Halloran as Mrs Lovett,   Phillip Rhodes as Judge Terpin and Amelia Berry . Two of the singers are also alums of San Francisco's Merola Opera Program, which has featured a number of New Zealanders in their training program, including barihunk Hadleigh Adams, soprano Amina Edris and tenor brothers Pene Pati and Amatai Peti. Tenor James Benjamin Rodgers will sing Anthony Hope and baritone James Ioelu will sing Jonas Fogg.

Set in 19th century England, Sweeney Todd follows a murderous barber who, in order to take revenge on a corrupt judge who banished him, conspires with a local baker who is in desperate need of fresh meat for pies. 

Following his run in Sweeney Todd, Rhodes will be part of a Royal Caribbean opera cruise taking in Sydney, Mare Island and Noumea. He'll be joined by legendary soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, David Hobson, Cheryl Barker, Peter Coleman-Wright and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Bookings are available online.

Barihunk John Brancy launches personal vlog

John Brancy backstage at Oper Frankfurt (right)

American barihunk John Brancy, who just wrapped up a run as Morales/Dancairo in Oper Frankfurt's production of Bizet's Carmen, has now created a Vlog. His first episode launched on July 26 and takes him through a full day of preparing for a performance, including backstage scenes.

His second Vlog takes him to Bavaria, where he prepares for a voice lesson with his teacher the great soprano Edith Wiens and then grabbing some Turkish grub.

Reader Submission: Barihunk Michael Floriano

Michael Floriano

A reader suggested Rochester, NY native Michael Floriano, who is a 2016 Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Studio Artist at the Central City Opera. He is currently singing Joe in composer John Musto and librettist Mark Campbell's "Later the Same Evening," which has one remaining performance on August 5th in the Gilman Studio. He is also appearing in a number of supporting roles in The Ballad of Baby Doe and Tosca, as well as in Central City Opera’s Short Works scenes program.

The opera "Later the Same Evening" was inspired by Edward Hopper’s classic American paintings, revealing the hope, longing and love of characters in five Hopper paintings as they step out of their frames and come to life one night in 1932 New York. Tickets are available online.

Floriano was a 1st place winner in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Young Artist’s Voice Competition, as well as a 2013 finalist in the S. Livingston Mather vocal competition in Cleveland. He is starting his Masters degree in Voice Performance at the University of Michigan in the fall after graduating from the Oberlin Conservatory. You can hear him sing "Donne Mie la fate a Tanti" from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte by clicking here.

He has recently performed Taquinius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia at Oberlin Opera Theatre, Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Oberlin in Italy and Anthony in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd with the Janiec Opera Company.