Sean Michael Plumb, Simon Shibambu and Johannes Kammler
Three barihunks have made it to the finals of the Operalia competition in Lisbon, Portugal. South Afrian bass Simon Shibambu, American baritone Sean Michael Plumb and German baritone Johannes Kammler are among the final 12 singers who will compete on September 2nd.
In a bit of shocker, not a single soprano made it to finals. Readers of Barihunks may recall the "Baritone Blackout" in 2014 when not a single baritone made it to the finals despite some amazing low voice talent in the competition.
Bass Simon Shibambu graduated from the Royal College of Music, and in 2017 entered his second season as a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He next appears at the English National Opera in Richard Strauss' Salome, which opens on September 28.
Johannes Kammler is a former Samling Artist and Britten-Pears Young Artist and a member of the Opera Studio at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. He next appears in Trier in the title role of Mendelssohn's Elias on October 3. He then heads to the Canadian Opera Company to sing Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte.
Johannes Kammler sings Pierrot's Lied:
Sean Michael Plumb was graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music and made his national television debut in the HBO documentary “Renée Fleming: A YoungArts MasterClass.” He is currently a member of the Bayerische Staatsoper ensemble. He next appears as Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Kentucky Opera opening on September 21.
The other finalists are the brilliant American mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey, Russian tenor Migran Agadzhanyan, Candian mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, Canadian/Italian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, Portuguese tenor Luis Gomes, Chinese tenor Long Long, Belarus tenor Pavel Petrov, Swiss/French mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti and Russian tenor Arseny Yakovlev.
The competition's five Zarzuela finalists are mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, tenor Luis Gomes, tenor Pavel Petrov, Brazilian mezzo-soprano Josy Santos and Colombian/American soprano Vanessa Vasquez.
The September 2nd finals will be streamed on Medici.TV and Facebook.
Justin Hopkins(photo on right: Ellen Appel, Ft Worth Opera)
The sexy, shirtless photo of Justin Hopkins that we posted on Facebook yesterday drew a lot of praise, as well as comments about his glorious voice. For those who would like to experience this amazing talent live, he has some upcoming performances on both sides of The Pond.
On September 15 and 16, he'll be joining the Dayton Opera for their season opening performances of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. He'll be joined by soprano Kasia Borowiec, mezzo-soprano Noragh Devlin and tenor John Pickle. Tickets and additional program information is available online.
He then heads to Opera Vlaanderen, where he'll sing Lord Krishna and Parsi Rustomji in Philip Glass' Satygraha in an all-star cast headed by the fearless tenor Peter Tantsits, the lush voiced mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis, Rihab Chaieb, Denzil Delaere and Tineke Van Ingelgem. This will be Hopkins' debut with the Belgian company. Performances run from November 18-December 2. Tickets and additional information is available online.
He then returns to his native shore, for a Holiday Pops concert with the Grand Rapids Symphony on December 6, 7, 8 and 9. The concert includes Hopkins singing holiday standards along with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. Tickets are available online.
Regular readers may recall our posts about Finnish barihunk Waltteri Torikka being named "Sexiest Man in Finland" and for winning MTV's singing competition Tähdet, Tähdet (Stars, Stars) with his hip swinging rendition of Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca.
He is currently slated to appear in the world premiere of Iiro Rantala and Minna Lindgren's Sanatorio Express, a comic opera about today’s neuroses and relationships. The opera plays on the spirit of 19th century comic opera, including catchy melodies, plot twists, and troubled, if not complicated, romantic relationships. The opera deals with more modern issues of weight loss, peacefulness/mindfulness, social media, as well as the timeless issues of deception and addiction.
Waltteri Torikka sings Don Giovanni's serenade:
Torikka plays Sports Addict, the husband of the female lead, who has fallen in love with Meditation Addict while at a sanatorium where she's trying to lose a few extra pounds.
The opera opens on September 27 and runs through January 11. Tickets and additional information is available online.
Check out Aussie barihunk Sam Roberts-Smith singing on Perth's mix94.5’s The Big Breakfast with Clairsy, Matt & Kymba morning show. He joins comedian/host Matt Dyktynski on his Hits From Ya Hood for a revised rendition of Puccini's "Nessun dorma," which has both revised lyrics and transposed down a bit!
Leonard Bernstein was an American composer, conductor,
and pianist. His special gift of bridging the gap between the concert hall
and the world of Broadway made him one of the most glamorous and popular musical
figures of his day.
As a composer Bernstein was a controversial figure.
His large works, including the symphonies
Jeremiah
(1943),
Age of Anxiety
(1949), and
Kaddish
(1963), are not considered masterpieces. Yet
they are skillfully shaped and show his sensitivity to small changes of
musical variety. He received more praise for his Broadway musicals. The
vivid
On the Town
(1944) and
Wonderful Town
(1952) were followed by
Candide
(1956), which, though not a box-office success, is considered by many
to be Bernstein's most original score.
West Side Story
(1957) received international praise. Bernstein's music, with
its strong contrasts of violence and tenderness, determines the feeling
of the show and contributes to its special place in the history of
American musical theater.
Sir Thomas Allen sings "Dear Boy" from Candide:
In works that could be dubbed operas, his most notable roles for low male voice are the philosopher Dr. Pangloss in Candide who sings "Dear Boy" and Sam in Trouble in Tahiti who sings "There's a Law." Perhaps his most popular and frequently recorded work for baritone is "Simple Song" from Mass.
His role as an educator, in seminars at Brandeis University
(1952–1957) and in teaching duties at Tanglewood are legendary
and still watched by students today. He found an even larger audience
through television, where
his animation and distinguished simplicity had an immediate
appeal. Two
books of essays,
Joy of Music
(1959) and
Infinite Variety of Music
(1966), were direct products of television presentations.
Sebastià Peris sings "There's a Law" from Trouble in Tahiti:
Bernstein had his greatest impact as a conductor. His appearances
overseas—with or without the New York Philharmonic—brought about an
excitement approaching frenzy. These responses were due in part to
Bernstein's energy and emotion. It is generally agreed that his
readings of twentieth-century American scores showed a dedication and
authority rarely approached by other conductors of his time. His
performances and recordings also ushered in a revival of interest in the
music of Gustav Mahler.
There was some surprise when, in 1967, Bernstein resigned
as music director of the Philharmonic. But it was in keeping with his
nature and the diversity of his activities that he sought new channels
of expression. After leaving the Philharmonic Bernstein traveled
extensively, serving as guest conductor for many of the major symphonies
of the world, including the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin
Philharmonic. He became something of a fixture in those cities in the
last few decades of his life.
Theo Hoffman's amazing rendition of "Simple Song":
Bernstein also became caught up in the cultural
upheaval of the late 1960s. He angered many when he claimed all music,
other than pop, seemed old-fashioned. Politically, too, he drew
criticism. When his wife hosted a fund-raiser for the Black Panthers in 1970, charges of
anti-Semitism were leveled against Bernstein
himself. Press reports caused severe damage to his reputation. Bernstein
also brought criticism with his stance against the Vietnam War. His activism ultimately led J.
Edgar Hoover and the FBI to monitor his activities and associations.
Thomas Hampson sings "Lucky to be Me" from On the Town:
In 1971
Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers
premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. It was, according
to biographer Humphrey Burton, "the closest [Bernstein] ever came
to achieving a synthesis between Broadway and the
concert hall." The huge cast performed songs in styles ranging
from
rock to blues to gospel.
Mass
debuted on Broadway later that year.
He died in New York City, on
October 14, 1990, of a heart attack brought on by emphysema and other complications.
Tenor Piotr Beczala had to cancel his August 25th Schubertiade Schwarzenberg recital due to laryngitis. Barihunk Benjamin Appl has been tapped to replace him and will perform a program of Schubert, Schumann and Grieg. Accompanist Helmut Deutsch, who was scheduled to play piano for Beczala, will perform with Appl. Tickets are available online.
Appl has other upcoming recitals on September 9th in Köln and on September 21 in Bad Kohlgrub. He then heads to Tokyo to perform Orff's Carmina Burana with soprano Olga Peretyatko and countertenor Max Emanuel Cenčić.
On September 7th, Appl will release his solo album of Bach with Concerto Köln for Sony Classical. The album includes music from the St. Matthew Passion, as well as lesser known pieces selected by Appl.
Davide Luciano's shirtless Figaro in The Rossini Opera Festival's "TheBarber of Seville" pretty much stole the show for every reason imaginable. During his crowd-pleasing "Largo al factotum" he not only hit all the right comic and musical notes, but strutted around wearing only a pair of tight black pants. The crowd at the August 22nd closing performance at Pesaro's Adriatic Arena showered their approval with a nine minute round of wild applause at the curtain call. Later in the show he accompanied the Count Almaviva's "Se il mio nome" on guitar.
Davide Luciano as Figaro(Image: Pesaro Rossini Festival)
Since word spread pretty quickly in operatic circles about Davide Luciano's performance, we figured that we'd share a few images from the production.
Davide Luciano as Figaro(Image: Pesaro Rossini Festival)
Davide Luciano as Figaro(Image: Pesaro Rossini Festival)
If you missed Luciano's performance of the Barber, you'll have a number of chances to catch him in the next year. He'll sing it at the at the Dutch National Opera opening on November 10, then at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on December 30 and January 2, and finally at the Semperoper Dresden opening March 9, 2019.
