Ludwig Mittelhammer wins Hugo Wolf Song Competition

September 28, 2014, 5:21 pm

≫ Next: "Certified Barihunk" Ryan Kuster takes on Don Giovanni

≪ Previous: Pictures from Lyric Opera of Chicago's Don Giovanni

Ludwig Mittelhammer

Barihunks continue to dominate vocal competitions worldwide, as Ludwig Mittelhammer took first prize in the International Hugo Wolf Song Competition in Stuttgart yesterday. Joined by Jonathan Ware at the piano, the 26-year-old German performed Krenek's Motiv and Auf und Ab, Schubert's Ganymed, An den Mond, Erlkönig, Wolf's An eine Äolsharfe, Der Tambour and Storchenbotschaft.

Ludwig Mittelhammer performs Wolf's Fußreise and Benedeit die sel'ge Mutter and Schubert's Auf der Bruck in Round 1:

Ludwig Mittelhammer and Jonathan Ware in the final round of the Wolf Competition:

Mittelhammer was a boy soprano soloist with the famous Tölzer Boys Choir and became a member of the Bavarian Singakademie when his voice changed. He studied with Hartmut Elbert and was twice awarded with the “Bundespreis” at the Jugend-Musiziert Competition in the category ‘Duo-Kunstlied’ in 2007 and the ‘Gesang Solo’ in 2008.

Since 2009, he has studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich and at the Bayerische Theaterakademie. In 2011, he joined the Extra Choir of the Bavarian Broadcasting Cooperation, as well as taking master classes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg.

In 2010, he made his debut as Marco in Puccini‘s Gianni Schicchi at the German-French Forum Young Arts in Bayreuth. In 2013, he performed his first Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in Ulm and Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte in Bad Reichenhall. Earlier this year, he performed Demetrios in Oberteithner’s Aphrodite in Munich.

Mittelhammer was awarded the Special Prize for the best interpretation of a Goethe-Lied by Wolfgang Rihm at the 2014 Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin.

In 2013, the baritone made his debuts with Bochumer Symphoniker, at the International Festival Heidelberger Frühling and with Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, Ludwig Mittelhammer will go on tour with Concerto Köln singing Christus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

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"Certified Barihunk" Ryan Kuster takes on Don Giovanni

October 4, 2014, 6:37 am

≫ Next: Operatic Angels in America premieres in Poland

≪ Previous: Ludwig Mittelhammer wins Hugo Wolf Song Competition

Opera Memphis' Facebook page and Ryan Kuster as Don Giovanni at Wolftrap

We love that Opera Memphis is referring to Ryan Kuster as a "certified Barihunk" on their Facebook page. Having seen the young American baritone in a number of roles, we can certainly verify the certification.

Kuster, who has performed all three baritone roles in Mozart's Don Giovanni, is currently singing the title role at Opera Memphis in a production directed by Ned Canty. He recently made his symphonic début with the Los Angeles Philharmonic singing the role of Masetto in their highly acclaimed production of the opera, directed by Christopher Alden.

Opera Memphis is presenting performances on October 9 and 11 at the Germantown Performing Arts. Tickets are available online. (Unfortunately, the website does not list the remainder of the cast).

We're also looking forward to the company's Midtown Opera Festival in April 2015. The 11-day opera festival will include Tim Cipullo's Glory Denied, Poulenc's Mamelles de Tirésias and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.

After Don Giovanni, Kuster dons his matadors outfit for performances as Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen at Opera Grand Rapids and the Knoxville Opera.

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Operatic Angels in America premieres in Poland

October 4, 2014, 8:13 am

≫ Next: Introducing Italian Barihunk® Mattia Olivieri

≪ Previous: "Certified Barihunk" Ryan Kuster takes on Don Giovanni

Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk and David Adam Moore

Barihunks David Adam Moore and Craig Verm created a sensation in 2008 at the Fort Worth Opera in Péter Eötvös'Angels in America as Prior Walter and Joe Pitt respectively. David Adam Moore is back singing the piece with Opera Wrocławsa with Maurice Lenard as Joe Pitt. Moore has also performed the piece with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra to great acclaim. This is the opera's first production in Poland.

The opera will be back in the U.S. from February 19-22 at the Boston University Theatre with a different cast.

Tenor Gyula Rab and baritones David Adam Moore and Maurice Lenhard

Lenhard, a native of Gelnhausen, Germany, is new to this site. He studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik and the Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main. He originally studied piano and was good enough to take top prizes at the Gründauer Kultursommers and the Willy-Bissing Klavierwettbewerbs Hanau competitions. Like Moore, he is a proponent of contemporary music and performed in the 2013 premiere of the chamber opera Out at SEA with the Péter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation and the Ulysses Network in Budapest.

You can catch Moore again in the United States at the Utah Opera in March when he takes on Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.

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Introducing Italian Barihunk® Mattia Olivieri

October 4, 2014, 11:06 am

≫ Next: Brandon Cedel discusses barihunks on WQXR

≪ Previous: Operatic Angels in America premieres in Poland

Mattia Olivieri: Don Giovanni (left), rehearsing Belcore (right)

Italian barihunk Mattia Olivieri will be starring as Nardo in Mozart's La finta giardiniera at Glyndebourne from October 5-23. The production then goes on tour to Woking, Canterbury, Norwich, Milton Keynes, Plymouth, Dublin & Stoke-on-Trent.

Mozart wrote La finta giardiniera when he was just 18 years old for the Salvatortheater in Munich. Mozart based the opera on Goldoni's play Pamela nubile and it was only his second comic opera. The story follows seven characters in search of love, involving disguise, and recognition of both identities and emotions - trying to discover what is real and what is finta (fake). You can listen to an earlier performance of the opera on BBC 3 starring Gyula Orendt as Nardo and the amazing tenor Joel Prieto as Count Belfiore. It will be available until October 22.

Mattia Olivieri as Ping at the Arena di Verona:

30-year-old Mattia Olivieri was born in Sassuolo, Italy and studied at the G.B. Martini Music Conservatory in Bologna and at the G.B. Pergolesi Music Conservatory in Fermo. He made his operatic debut in 2008 as the Imperial Commissioner in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Fiorello in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Tuscan Lyric Festival. He also toured Italy as Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte as part of a nationwide opera education project.

In 2012, he sang Dulcamara in Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore at the Sarzana Opera Festival and Don Prudenzio in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims with the Rossini Academy in Pesaro. This year he's sung the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni in Palermo and Ping in Puccini's Turandot at the Arena di Verona.

After the tour of La finta giardiniera, he sings more Mozart as he takes on Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte in Nice. In August 2015, he makes his debut at La Scala in Milan as Schaunard in Puccini's La boheme followed by Belcore in Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore.

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Brandon Cedel discusses barihunks on WQXR

October 7, 2014, 6:49 pm

≫ Next: Xavier Rivera to make two debuts

≪ Previous: Introducing Italian Barihunk® Mattia Olivieri

Brandon Cedel in a lovely tee shirt

Barihunk Brandon Cedel, whose career is on the steady ascent, joined some operatic royalty on WQXR's show with Naomi Lewin. The AVA graduate and winner of the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions joined legendary soprano Renata Scotto, superstar tenor Michael Fabiano and fellow Richard Tucker Grant award winner Jennifer Johnson Cano for a discussion and selection of music.

Watch the video HERE. At 16:30 you can hear him discuss being in the 2012 Barihunks Charity Calendar.

He'll be performing at the Metropolitan Opera in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk opening on November 10 and Verdi's Don Carlos next March. In the Summer of 2015, he heads to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis where he will be performing in Handel's rarely produced Richard the Lionhearted. Fans on the West Coast can catch him with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas on January 9 and 10.

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Xavier Rivera to make two debuts

October 8, 2014, 8:54 pm

≫ Next: Bearded Barihunk Beauties on opposite coasts

≪ Previous: Brandon Cedel discusses barihunks on WQXR

Xavier Rivera

Budding talent Xavier Rivera, who will make a return appearance in our 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar, is slated to make his role debut as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème. The 24-year-old singer, who is currently based in San Francisco, will return to his native country for two performances of the piece with the Teatro de la Opera de Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Kamal Khan and the cast features soprano Anaís Mejías as Mimi, José Daniel Mojica as Rodolfo, Elizabeth Rodríguez as Musetta, César Menendez as Marcello and César Torruela as Colline. Performances are on November 13 and 15.

Before heading to Puerto Rico, he'll make his official West Coast debut in Mozart's Requiem with the Oakland Youth Orchestra in Walnut Creek, California. He'll be joined by soprano Shawnette Sulker, mezzo Lisa Chavez and tenor Gabriel Liboiron-Cohen. Omid Zoufonoun, the Youth Orchestra’s new Principal Conductor will be making his debut in this concert in a program that includes Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Bruch's Violin Concerto with Jessica Cao. Tickets are just $15 and are available online.

Earlier this year, Rivera sang the Requiem with the Orquestra Sinfònica de Puerto Rico in a cast that also featured José Daniel Mojica, who will join him in the La bohème performances.

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Bearded Barihunk Beauties on opposite coasts

October 9, 2014, 8:51 am

≫ Next: Ryan McKinny making his New York recital debut

≪ Previous: Xavier Rivera to make two debuts

Jenna Siladie & Jarrett Ott(Photo by Richard Termine)

Beards are clearly one of the hottest trends in the world right now, especially amongst so-called hipsters. They're so popular that the Retail Times maintains that the biggest drop in retail sales this year is for personal grooming products, particularly razors. The trend has clearly hit the opera stage, where some pretty epic beards are hitting the stage this month.

The Gotham Chamber Opera has given barihunk a beard to compete with Washington Nationals player Jayson Werth's crumb catcher. The innovative company is returning to the music of Bohuslav Martinů, which they performed to sold out shows in 2003 with their double-bill of Les larmes du couteau and Hlas lesa. This time they're back with another double-bill featuring Alexandre bis and Comedy on the Bridge.

The plot of Alexandre bisactually revolves around a beard, as a man decides to test his wife’s fidelity by shaving off his beard and posing as his own cousin from Texas. Comedy on the Bridge tells the story of two rival principalities separated by a river.

Peformances will be on October 14, 16, 17 and 18 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in New York City. Tickets are available online. Also in the cast is Joseph Beutel, who has appeared regularly on this site

Philippe Sly as Ormonte

On the opposite coast, the San Francisco Opera has added a giant soup saver to the baby face of barihunk Philippe Sly in Handel's Partenope. The young Canadian, who practically stole the show in last season's Cosi fan tutte, will be singing the role of Ormonte, captain of Partenope's guard.

The opera opens on October 15 and runs through November 2. Tickets and additional cast information are available online. During the month of December, Sly will return to his native country to perform in Handel's Messiah withthe Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

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Ryan McKinny making his New York recital debut

October 9, 2014, 9:29 pm

≫ Next: Christopher Bolduc makes role debut as Marcello in Germany

≪ Previous: Bearded Barihunk Beauties on opposite coasts

Ryan McKinny

Bass-Barihunk Ryan McKinny will join soprano Amanda Majeski in kicking off the 2014-15 season of the George London Foundation for Singers with a joint recital at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. The recital will be McKinny's New York recital debut. The two singers are both past winners of the George London Award.

McKinny will sing three selections from Schubert's Schwanengesang, Die Frist ist um from Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer, and Se vuol ballare from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Together they will perform If I Loved You from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel.

The performance is on Sunday, November 9, 2014, at 4:30 PM, with pianist Ken Noda. Additional information is available online.

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Christopher Bolduc makes role debut as Marcello in Germany

October 11, 2014, 8:55 am

≫ Next: Introducing German Barihunk Ludwig Obst

≪ Previous: Ryan McKinny making his New York recital debut

Christopher Bolduc as Marcello in Wiesbaden

American barihunk Christopher Bolduc made his role debut as Marcello in Puccini's La boheme on Friday night at the Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden, Germany. Icelandic director Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, who is the new general director at the opera company, set the piece in a world of nostalgic fairy book charm, complete with a carousel.

Bolduc, who has impressed European audiences with performances at Oper Köln, Glyndebourne and Theater Basel is now on the permanent roster of the the opera in Wiesbaden where he's also wrapping up a run in Strauss'Die Frau ohne Schatten today. He'll reprise his performance in that opera in May 2015. In between, he'll be singing Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and the King's Herald in Wagner's Lohengrin. American audiences will remember Bolduc from his stunning portrayal of Jake in Nico Muhly’s Two Boys in his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2013.

The current cast performs through October 30th with Matias Tosi taking over the role of Marcell beginning on November 14th. Tickets and additional cast information are available online.

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Introducing German Barihunk Ludwig Obst

October 11, 2014, 9:17 am

≫ Next: Concert to feature hunkentenor Maxim Mironov and barihunk Vittorio Prato

≪ Previous: Christopher Bolduc makes role debut as Marcello in Germany

Ludwig Obst

We'd like to introduce our readers to the Munich-born German barihunk Ludwig Obst, who began his musical training with Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden as a member of the renowned Tölzer Boys Choir from 1998-2004. During this time he also was heard for the first time as an operatic soloist singing Sang Miles in Benjamin Britten's The Turn Of The Screw at the Komische Oper in Berlin.

Since 2010, he has studied Voice at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, working first with fellow barihunk Hanno Müller-Brachmann and since 2011 with Bernd Riedel. During his studies, he has studied song repertoire and interpretation with Wolfram Rieger and Thomas Quasthoff, as well as participating in masterclasses with Christine Schäfer and Rudolf Piernay. He sang several operatic roles at the Hochschule, including Papageno Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Dr.Falke in Johann Strauss'Die Fledermaus.

Ludwig Obst in La Serva Padrona vs. Fuga (photo: Musica Sequenza)

As a soloist he performs frequently with the Lautten Compagney Berlin, directed by Wolfgang Katschner, and the choirs Sing-Akademie zu Berlin and Staats- und Domchor Berlin. In 2013 he debuted at the Theater Bonn (with the dance-oratorio Maria XXX by Heike Henning), as well as at the Festival de Torroella de Montgrì in Catalonia and at the Trigonale Festival for Ancient music in Austria. He also sang the lead role in Musica Sequenza’s production, Opera del Futuro I (La Serva Padrona vs. Fuga) under the direction of Burak Özdemir in Radialsystem Berlin. In 2014 he appeared in Halle’s prestigious Handel Festival as Isacio in Händel’s Riccardo Primo, conducted by Wolfgang Katschner.

Ludwig Obst singing Mozart as a member of the Tölzer Boys Choir:

He appears regularly in recital with the pianist Paul Heller, most recently in recitals of Schubert’s Winterreise, Schumann’s Heine-Liederkreis op.24 and settings of Hölderlin poems.

Ludwig Obst is supported by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, a scholarship program of the German government. In addition to being a gifted singer, he is a composer who had one of his pieces performed by the Tölzer Boys Choir in July 2007.

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Concert to feature hunkentenor Maxim Mironov and barihunk Vittorio Prato

October 11, 2014, 10:08 am

≫ Next: Watch Richard Rittelmann live from Budapest

≪ Previous: Introducing German Barihunk Ludwig Obst

Vittorio Prato and Maxim Mironov

Two of the sexiest men in opera are collaborating for "D'amor sospiro" (I breathe for love) on November 27th, at the Grand Hall in St.Petersburg. Hunkentenor Maxim Mironov and barihunk Vittorio Prato will be joined by soprano Eleanor Lyons for an evening of arias and duets accompanied by the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra.

Prato's solo pieces will include "Hai già vinta la causa" from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore's aria "Come Paride vezzoso" from Donizetti's L'elisir d’amore, and Enrico's aria "Cruda, funesta smania" from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The two men will join forces to sing Figaro and Count Almaviva's duet "All'idea di quel metallo" from the opera Il barbiere di Siviglia, as well as Nemorino and Belcore's duet "La donna è un animale" from the opera L'elisir d’amore. Prato will team up with Lyons to perform Norina and Malatesta's duet "Pronta io son" from Donizetti's Don Pasquale.

Tickets are available online.

Vittorio Prato will be featured in this year's 2015 Viva, Italia! Barihunks Charity Calendar, which will be on sale shortly.

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Watch Richard Rittelmann live from Budapest

October 11, 2014, 2:37 pm

≫ Next: Barihunk André Courville wins Giargiari Bel Canto Competition

≪ Previous: Concert to feature hunkentenor Maxim Mironov and barihunk Vittorio Prato

Richard Alexandre Rittelmann

Richard Alexandre Rittelmann, who will appear in this year's Viva, Italia! Barihunks Charity Calendar, is reprising his stunning performance in Harrison Birdwhistle's Punch & Judy at the Armel Opera Festival in Budapest.

This year's festival is alternating at three locations, with performances of Sándor Márai's Embers, Mozart's Mitridate, a comtemporary production of Beaumarchais'Figaro, and the one-act play Parody, the winner play of the first composer-competition of Armel Festival.

With Punch & Judy, Harrison Birtwistle and his librettist Stephen Pruslin created a stylized tragedy full of grotesque moments, the music of which is just as capable of portraying a monstrous being as it is of portraying love. Their work opens up a positively other-worldly realm, full of fairground illusions and insane twists.

Richard Alexandre Rittelmann

To this day, the opera has retained its polarizing effect. Just a few minutes into the action, Punch brutally murders his own child and Judy—and as the plot progresses, he ends up killing almost everyone else he encounters. Only Pretty Polly, whom he practically worships, is allowed by him to live. But eventually, Punch is overcome by horrible nightmares and the music begins to change in character.

The Festival runs until October 17th, which will culminate with an Awards Ceremony where the best production, best performer and the audience-awarded production will be announced. The winning opera will once again be staged at the opera festival in Avignon on June 3, 2015.

If you can't attend the Festival, you're in luck, as Punch & Judy will be streamed on the German-French cultural channel, Arte Concert on October 14 at 10 AM PST/1 PM EST/7 PM in Budapest. Click HERE to watch the broadcast. The site even has a convenient countdown clock, so you won't miss the show.

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Barihunk André Courville wins Giargiari Bel Canto Competition

October 13, 2014, 8:17 am

≫ Next: Hadleigh Adams to star in Southern Hemisphere premiere of Bajazet

≪ Previous: Watch Richard Rittelmann live from Budapest

Anush Avetisyan (far left) and André Courville

We're still mystified when we post about a singer and someone comments, "But can he sing?" Baritones (including a large percentage of barihunks) have been winning major singing competitions at a rate so high that this era has been dubbed the "Golden Age of Baritones." Composers like Ricky Ian Gordon have publicly marveled at the rich supply of amazing baritones and mezzos, while composer Jake Heggie is now writing most of his male leads for lower voices.

The latest barihunk to walk away with top honors is André Courville, who won the Giargiari Bel Canto Competition at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia last night. He sang Sorge infausta una procelia from Handel's Orlando. Other barihunks in the competition were Jared Bybee, who performed O Carlo, ascolta from Verdi's Don Carlo, and Michael Adams, who performed Ô vin, dissipe la tristesse from Thomas'Hamlet.

The Oreste A. and Arturo Giargiari Bel Canto Competition was founded by Raymond F. Giargiari in memory of his father and brother, both opera fans and AVA devotees. Originally, vocal selections from the "bel canto" repertoire were performed exclusively, but over the years the competition has grown to include Italian, French, German, and English language arias from a variety of periods. Past winners include tenors James Valenti and Stephen Costello, and soprano October Opera News cover girl Angela Meade. AVA Master Vocal Coach Danielle Orlando prepares and accompanies the singers.

The competition concert will be broadcast online today at 4pm EST/1pm PST You can listen and vote for your favorite singer online.

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Hadleigh Adams to star in Southern Hemisphere premiere of Bajazet

October 14, 2014, 6:27 am

≫ Next: Introducing Florian Spiess in Almira's return to Hamburg

≪ Previous: Barihunk André Courville wins Giargiari Bel Canto Competition

Hadleigh Adams in Castor & Pollux(left)

Australia's Pinchgut Opera just announced that they will be presenting the Southern Hemisphere premiere of Vivaldi's Bajazet. Starring in the title role will be barihunk Hadleigh Adams, who is wrapping up his second season as a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow. Adams is returning to Pinchgut after a successful run as Pollux in their production of Rameau's Castor & Pollux in 2012.

Bajazet, a rarely performed operatic tragedy, premiered in Verona in 1735 and is a pastiche of Vivaldi's own arias, as well as those by Johann Adolph Hasse, Geminiano Giacomelli, Nicola Porpora and Riccardo Broschi. The opera is also known as Il Tamerlano and the story was also successfully set to music by Handel.

Vivaldi’s Bajazet, a rarely performed operatic tragedy, premiered in Verona in 1735. An opera of romantic entanglement and love triangles, Bajazet tells the tale of a struggle for power between Bajazet, ruler of the Turks, and Tamerlano, ruler of the Tartars. When Bajazet’s daughter Asteria is threatened with marriage to the invading ruler, she conspires to murder him. The plot thickens after Tamerlano’s former betrothed, Irene, turns up to reveal the scheme, having taken issue with being pushed aside onto Tamerlano’s Greek ally (Andronico) who, unfairly, is also in love with Asteria - See more at: http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/pinchgut-opera-launches-2015-season#sthash.jSqY461i.dpuf

The libretto revolves around romantic entanglements and love triangles and the struggle for power between Bajazet, ruler of the Turks, and Tamerlano, ruler of the Tartars. When Bajazet’s daughter Asteria is threatened with marriage to the invading ruler, she conspires to murder him. The plot thickens after Tamerlano’s former betrothed, Irene, turns up to reveal the scheme, having taken issue with being pushed aside onto Andronico, Tamerlano’s Greek ally, who is also in love with Asteria.

Hadleigh Adams as the Marquis in San Francisco Opera'sLa traviata (left)

Vivaldi wove into the opera an underlying tale of power struggles and invasion, reflective of the ones going on at the time, when Neopolitan operas were trouncing their local Venetian counterparts in popularity. Music associated with Neapolitan composers is thus cleverly designated to the invaders Tamerlano, Irene and Andronico.

Performances of Vivaldi’s Bajazet will be on July 4, 5, 7 and 8 at City Recital Hall Angel Place in Sydney. Also in the cast is Christopher Lowrey as Tamerlano, Helen Sherman as Irene, Emily Edmonds as Asteria and Russell Harcourt as Andronicus.

Adams has maintained a busy schedule this season while a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, having sung the Marquis in La Traviata, Grand commissioner in Madame Butterfly and Jailer in Tosca. He also performed Gendarme inPoulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias with San Francisco's innovative young company Opera Parallèle.

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Introducing Florian Spiess in Almira's return to Hamburg

October 14, 2014, 4:46 pm

≫ Next: John Brancy featured in Opera News

≪ Previous: Hadleigh Adams to star in Southern Hemisphere premiere of Bajazet

Florian Spiess

Almira was George Frideric Handel's first opera, composed when he was just 19 years old. The opera was first performed in Hamburg in January 1705 where is returns to the Staatsoper on October 21st. Handel arrived in Hamburg in the summer of 1703 and played as a violinist in the theatre at the Gänsemarkt, as well as playing the harpsichord with the orchestra. Much of the music is in the French orchestral style with a mix of Italian and German style arias. The story deals with the universal operatic themes of love, power and jealousy.

Singing the role of Raymondo, King of Mauretania, is the imposing Austrian bass Florian Spiess, who is new to this site. He began singing as a member of the Wiltener Sängerknaben (Wilten Boys' Chorus), before becoming the boy soprano soloist with the Vienna Boys' Choir from 1990-1994.

Florian Spiess

His formal 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.

In 2009, he became a member of the Landestheater Linz where he sang Silvano in Cavallis La Calisto, Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, three roles in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Jupiter in Rameau's Platée. From 2010-2013, he was a member of the Volksoper Wien where he sang in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Puccini's Tosca and Turandot, and Verdi's Rigoletto.

After a season on the roster of the opera at the Volkstheater Rostock, he joined the ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera. His roles have included Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen, the Priest/Badger in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen and the Speaker of the Temple/Second Armoured Man inMozart's Die Zauberflöte.

Future performances include Biterolf in Wagner's Tannhäuser and Colline in Puccini's La Bohème.
Tickets and additional cast information for Almira is available online.

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John Brancy featured in Opera News

October 15, 2014, 4:32 pm

≫ Next: Nathan Gunn performs The Polar Express

≪ Previous: Introducing Florian Spiess in Almira's return to Hamburg

John Brancy is making his debut at Oper Frankfurt this month, singing Sonora in Christof Loy's staging of La Fanciulla del West. It's been a busy season for the baritone from Mullica Hill, New Jersey, who first attracted attention with his clean, bright, unaffected singing when he was an undergraduate at Juilliard. Brancy began 2014 in Gotham Chamber Opera's January production of Charpentier's Descente d'Orphée aux Enfers, then spent February in British Columbia, as Harlequin in Pacific Opera Victoria's Ariadne auf Naxos. Much of March was devoted to recitals, first in a Carnegie Hall "Discovery Day" all-Schubert program with Graham Johnson, then on a three-venue tour with pianist Mario Antonio Marra that took the team from Santa Barbara, California, to Manhattan's National Opera Center. [Continue reading at OPERA NEWS]

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Nathan Gunn performs The Polar Express

October 15, 2014, 4:52 pm

≫ Next: Sergey Khalikulov to star in new children's opera

≪ Previous: John Brancy featured in Opera News

Nathan Gunn

Two of the most famous children’s classics have been turned into a musical extravaganza by composer Rob Kapilow and recorded for posterity. Barihunk Nathan Gunn sings The Polar Express while Isabel Leonard sings Gertrude McFuzz. They are accompanied by the Metamorphosis Chamber Orchestra and members of the Broadway Youth Ensemble.

With The Polar Express Kapilow took fragments from traditional Christmas carols and weaved them into various parts of the score. He also created musical scenes with the book’s illustrations with the hope that you can follow along with book in hand. Pre-orders of the CD are now available on Amazon and will be available on November 1st.

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Sergey Khalikulov to star in new children's opera

October 17, 2014, 12:02 pm

≫ Next: Benjamin Appl sings Schubert at Oxford

≪ Previous: Nathan Gunn performs The Polar Express

Sergey Khalikulov

Sergey Khalikulov, who we recently introduced to readers, will be starring as the Father in the new children's opera My Head is Full of Colors. San Francisco's innovative young company Opera Parallèle will present the work free to the public on Saturday, November 1st at the Koret Auditorium at San Francisco's Main Public Library.

The opera, with music by Chris Pratorius and words by Nicole Paiement, is based on author Catherine Friend’s children’s book. Opera Parallèle has been committed to presenting operas with young performers, with an audience of children and families in mind. Khalikulov will be joined by soprano Carolyn Bacon in the story of a young girl who discovers her own meaning by engaging in the world around her is the kind of self-affirming discovery through artistic engagement.

Seating will be on a first come, first serve basis.

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Benjamin Appl sings Schubert at Oxford

October 18, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Philippe Sly featured in Huffington Post

≪ Previous: Sergey Khalikulov to star in new children's opera

Benjamin Appl(photos by David Jerusalem)

The Oxford Lieder Festival and their celebration of Schubert is underway. Some of the biggest names in music have joined forced to perform the entire collection of his songs including Angelika Kirchschlager, Kate Royal, Jonathan Lemalu, Sir Thomas Allen, Thomas Adès, Imogen Cooper and Dame Felicity Lott.
The three week Schubert Project also features the world-renowned Schubert expert Graham Johnson, who is giving lecture recitals, as well as performing full evening recitals with two of our favorite singers, baritones Christopher Maltman and Wolfgang Holzmair.

Benjamin Appl & Graham Johnson perform Die schöne Müllerin:

Joining these operatic luminaries is the gifted young barihunk Benjamin Appl, whose career we've been following closely. He's performing tonight in Graham Johnson lecture recital exploring the years 1816/1817 with tenors Benjamin Hulett and Robert Murray. He returns on October 25 for another morning lecture recital with Graham Johnson exploring the years 1822-1825 (when illness struck the composer), followed by a performance of Winterreise with Sir Thomas Allen and pianist Joseph Middleton.

Both performances are in the Jacqueline du Pré Building at Oxford University. You check out the entire schedule HERE.

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Philippe Sly featured in Huffington Post

October 18, 2014, 8:34 am

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PHILIPPE SLY(Photo by Adam Scotti)

San Francisco Opera's fourth presentation in the 2014/15 season is Handel's hit from 1730, Partenope. Directed by Christopher Alden, the production debuted in 2008 and is a joint effort with the English National Opera and Opera Australia. In 2009, it won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production. Back in Handel's day, the title character was linked to Parthenope, "Queen of Naples" - a girl named for one of the sirens and with suitors on every side. The opera involves a trio of princes from Corinth, Rhodes, and Cumae - and a caller who arrives unexpectedly, a certain "Eurimene" who is - not like the rest of them, anyway. Alden beams the provocative Partenope and her ensemble to Paris of the 1920's. No longer a queen, Partenope is transformed into the queen bee of an avant garde, intimate and artsy salon. Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly - praised for his stunning performance as Guglielmo in the Company's 2013 production of Cosi fan tutte - portrays Ormonte, no longer the Queen's guard, but a sharp-eyed partisan in Madame's daily eudaemonia.

"The way Christopher has set the production," says Phil, "it makes complete sense for me to be this other kind of insinuating character. What is available to me is quite ominent. Because the text can be quite vague, we can do what we want with it. It's a great use of Handel and shows how versatile his operas really are. Once there are no more boundaries, there is so much that can be done. Within one aria you could have people either frozen or actively participating with other characters who are not singing. The character who is singing could be repeating the same thing over and over again, but going through an entire transformation while singing it."

[Continue reading at Huffington Post]

There are five performance of Handel's Partenope remaining and tickets are available online.

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