Three Baritones concert at Opera Orlando

August 25, 2016, 8:58 am

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Brian James Myer, Nathan Stark and Gabriel Preisser (L-R)(Photo: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel)

On August 28th, Opera Orlando's annual "Opera in the Park" will feature a "The Three Baritones" concert starring Brian James Myer, Nathan Stark and Gabriel Preisser.

We introduced Myer to readers back in December, when he joined the 2016 Chautauqua Opera Young Artists after he had performed the title role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Florida Grand Opera. The multi-talented young artist was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he studied piano, flute, cello, guitar, and voice. He's also a published composer of choral music. Myer will be returning to Opera San Jose this season to perform in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Kevin Puts'Silent Night and Puccini's La bohème.

Gabriel Presser has been a regular on our site since 2010 and we've featured him in singing competitions, starring in the world premiere of Kevin Puts' award-winning opera Silent Night, in webcasts and his new role as the impresario of Opera Orlando.

Gabriel Preisser sings Largo al factotum:

Nathan Stark has appeared on our site, but has never been featured. It was Stark's idea to assemble the three singers for the concert. The California native, who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, is making a number of company debuts this season, including at Tulsa Opera as Colline in La bohème, Hawaii Opera Theatre as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and at Fort Worth Opera in The Gravedigger in Buried Alive and Montressor in Embedded.

The concert starts at 2 PM at the University Club of Winter Park in Orlando. Tickets are available online. Opera Orlando's season kicks off on November 18 and 20 with Donizetti's Don Pasquale, followed by Giancarlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors for the Christmas holiday and wrapping up with Mozart's Don Giovanni with Preisser in the title role.

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Morgan Pearse wins Cesti Baroque Opera Competition

August 26, 2016, 9:44 pm

≫ Next: Introducing British Barihunk Dan Shelvey

≪ Previous: Three Baritones concert at Opera Orlando

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Morgan Pearse

Barihunk Morgan Pearse ‏won the 7th Annual International Cesti Voice Competition for Baroque Opera in Innsbruck, Austria. 

The competition was named after Italian composer Pietro Antonio Cesti, who turned Innsbruck into a center for the Italian opera north of the Alps in the mid-17th century. Young singers from all over the world competed for prizes, as well as the chance to perform in a baroque opera at the Innsbruck Festival next season.

For a limited time you can watch the competition online. Pearse appears around the 49:00 mark.

Pearse will next appear singing in Haydn's Creation with the Russian National Orchestra at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow on September 18th.

Introducing British Barihunk Dan Shelvey

August 28, 2016, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Malachy Frame wins Northern Ireland Opera Voice Competition

≪ Previous: Morgan Pearse wins Cesti Baroque Opera Competition

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Daniel Alfred Shelvey

Liverpool native Dan Shelvey was nominated by a reader on Facebook to be in our "Barihunks in Bed" calendar and we couldn't agree more. He is currently studying opera course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD) where he is supported by the GSMD, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and Musicians Benevolent.  Before attending the GSMD, Shelvey graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with a first-class degree.

He is winner of the Richard Van Allan prize 2015, the Robin Kay 2013 Memorial Prize for Opera and the 2012 Frederick Cox Award for Singing, and was awarded second place in the Elizabeth Harwood Memorial Prize for Singers 2013.

Soprano Renée Fleming leads a masterclass with Daniel Shelvey:

A 2014 Glyndebourne Jerwood Young Artist, Dan has performed Flora’s Servant in Verdi's La traviata, covered Morales in Bizet's Carmen for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and will perform the role of the Marchese d’Obigny in their 2017 production of La traviata.  Other roles include Junius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia  at the GSMD, Ulisse in Monteverdi's  Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Sid in Britten's Albert Herring, Boris in Shostakovich's Paradise Moscow at the Royal Northern College of Music, and Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas for Silk Opera.

Shelvey has sung as a soloist in many of the UK’s leading concert venues including the Royal Festival Hall, Colston Hall and the Bridgewater Hall.  Recent solo concert highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Hallé and at the Royal Festival Hall for the BBC, an Oxford Lieder Festival recital, and a recital for the Glyndebourne Jerwood Young Artist recital series at Brighton Pavilion.

Malachy Frame wins Northern Ireland Opera Voice Competition

August 28, 2016, 3:38 pm

≫ Next: Andrea Mastroni releases filmed version of Erlkönig

≪ Previous: Introducing British Barihunk Dan Shelvey

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Malachy Frame with is Festival of Voice award

Belfast-born barihunk Malachy Frame has won the Northern Ireland Opera’s Festival of Voice competition.

Frame is completing a Masters at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He previously studied at the University of Cambridge, where he read Music at Gonville and Caius College and held the Caius Fund 2011 Choral Scholarship.

Recent solo engagements have included Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, Vaughan-Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols and Five Mystical Songs, Duruflé and Fauré’s Requiem masses, Orff’s Carmina burana, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, Schumann’s Dichterliebe, and the role of Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

Frame recently performed in the world premiere of Gareth Wood’s Rivers of Light, a song cycle for baritone and four harps and the UK premiere of Mischa Tangian’s I carry your heart with me.

Andrea Mastroni releases filmed version of Erlkönig

August 29, 2016, 6:36 am

≫ Next: Hadleigh Adams Takes on Three 20th Century Masters

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Andrea Mastroni

Bass-barihunk Andrea Mastroni has released a filmed version of Franz Schubert's Erlkönig directed by Nicola Garzetti.

Erlkönig, known as Erl-King or Elf-King in English, was written by Schubert in 1815 when he was just 18. It is considered by many to be one of his greatest songs from the 600 settings that he composed. It is based on a 1782 poem of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

The text is a supernatural tale that was common in the Romantic era, and has its roots in a Scandinavian folktale. Goethe’s poem tells the story of a boy riding home on horseback in his father’s arms. He is frightened when he is courted by the Erl-King, a powerful and creepy supernatural being. The boy’s father, however, cannot see or hear the creature and tells the boy that his imagination is playing tricks on him. The boy grows increasingly terrified by what he hears from the Erl-King, but his father tells him that the things he thinks he sees and hears are only the sights and sounds of nature on a dark and stormy night. When the Erl-King eventually seizes the boy, the father spurs on his horse, but when he arrives home his son is dead.

Mastroni will be appearing at the Metropolitan Opera as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto on January 20, 26, 30 and February 4. He'll be joined by Željko Lučić in the title role, Olga Peretyatko as Gilda, Stephen Costello as the Duke of Mantua and Oksana Volkova as  Maddelena. Tickets are available online.

Hadleigh Adams Takes on Three 20th Century Masters

August 30, 2016, 5:02 pm

≫ Next: Gianluca Margheri to make role debut as Mozart's Figaro

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Hadleigh Adams

Barihunk Hadleigh Adams is returning to Australia, where he was a Gertrude Johnson Scholar at The Opera Studio in 2009. He'll be singing Sam in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti alongside Sophie Yelland, another Opera Studio graduate. The musical, which follows the day in the life of a desperately unhappy married couple, will be performed in a chamber version for seven players. Tickets are available online.

He then returns to his home base in the San Francisco Bay area for two performances. On October 9th, he'll join conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London for their U.S. tour for Stravinsky's Oedipus rex with Michelle deYoung. Also on the program will be the composer's Symphony of Psalms. Performances will be at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. Tickets are available online.

He then heads down the road to join conductor Michael Morgan and the Oakland Symphony for their season opening performance of Gustav Mahler’s Rückert Lieder on October 14th. Also on the program will be the Delphi Trio performing Paul Juon’s Episodes Concertantes, Op. 45, Clark Suprynowicz’s Red States, Blue States and Edward Elgar’s In the South. Tickets are available online.

Gianluca Margheri to make role debut as Mozart's Figaro

September 1, 2016, 6:12 am

≫ Next: Barihunk Quartet in Schwarzenberg's Schubertiade

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Gianluca Margheri

Über-barihunk Gianluca Margheri will be making his role debut as the title character in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in St. Gallen. He opens on September 17, with additional performances on October 2, 5, 29 and November 1, 6, 8 and 25. Regular readers may recall that he created an internet sensation with his shirtless portrayal as Mozart's Don Giovanni, which we've covered extensively at Barihunks. You can listen to Margheri sing "Deh vieni alla finestra"here.

Director Nicole Claudia Weber has set the action in the mid-19th century with a society that still wears corsest, and where the erotic remains a means to an end. The opening night cast will include Nikolay Borchev as Count Almaviva, Cristina Pasaroiu as the Countess, Christina Landshamer as Susanna, Theresa Holzhauser as Cherubino and Kismara Pessatti as Marcellina. The alternate cast will feature Tomislav Lucic as Figaro. Tickets are available online. 

Hunkentenor Enea Scala (we couldn't resist!)

In between his October performances, Margheri will head to the Teatro Lirico from October 14-23 to perform Count Asdrubale in Rossini's La Pietra del Paragone. He'll be joined in the cast by hunkentenor Enea Scala as the cavalier Giocondo. You can hear Enea Scala singing Rossini here.

Barihunk Quartet in Schwarzenberg's Schubertiade

September 2, 2016, 6:28 am

≫ Next: Introducing Québecois barihunk Dominique Côté

≪ Previous: Gianluca Margheri to make role debut as Mozart's Figaro

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Michael Nagy and BenjaminAppl(Top row, l-r), Tarez Nazmi, Andrè Schuen (Bottom row l-r)

This year's Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, Austria features some of the leading barihunks in the world, including Michael Nagy, Benjamin Appl, Tareq Nazmi and Andrè Schuen.

On September 4th, Michael Nagy will join soprano Annette Dasch, mezzo Michael Schuster, tenor Paul Schweinester and pianist Gerold Huber for an evening of music by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. Nagy will perform Schubert songs and Brahms'Four Duets for Alto and Baritone, op. 28.

On September 5th, Benjamin Appl will join soprano Sophie Rennert and pianist Graham Johnson for lieder and duets by Robert and Clara Schumann. Included on the program is Robert Schumann's Liebesfrühling, op. 37 and Myrthen, op. 25.

Benjamin Appl sings Schubert's Im Abendrot:

On September 6th Tareq Nazmi and pianist Gerold Huber will perform an evening of music by Schubert, Jacques Ibert (Chansons de Don Quichotte) and Robert Schumann (Lieder nach Gedichten von Hans Christian Andersen). Among the Schubert pieces will be Erlkönig and Prometheus.

On September 9th, Andrè Schuen  and Gerold Huber will join forces for Schumann's Zwölf Gedichte, op. 35 and Sechs Gedichte von Nikolaus Lenau and Requiem.

Other singers at this year's festival include countertenor Andreas Scholl, tenor Piotr Beczala, tenor Mauro Peter, tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, soprano Soile Isokoski, mezzo Elisabeth Kulman, and mezzo Magdalena Kožená. Tickets and additional information is available online.

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Introducing Québecois barihunk Dominique Côté

September 3, 2016, 6:56 am

≫ Next: Nathan Gunn to kick of New York Pops season

≪ Previous: Barihunk Quartet in Schwarzenberg's Schubertiade

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Dominique Côté

Québec barihunk Dominique Côté is new to the site. We were intrigued by him when we learned that in addition to singing he runs in triathlons to stay in shape. In June 2017, he'll particiapte in his first Ironman 70.3. The race consists of a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, a 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and a 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run. Each distance of the swim, bike, and run segments is half the distance of that segment in an Ironman triathlon.

As a singer, he'll appear in two operas in Opera Lafayette's upcoming seasons. He'll perform Pizarro in composer Pierre Gaveaux's Léonore, ou l'amour conjugal on February 19 in Washington D.C. and February 23 at the Gerald Lynch Theater in New York. He'll be joined in the cast by fellow barihunk and Quebecois Thomas Lavoie, who we introduced to readers last summer. The opera is part of the company's Leonore Project, which will feature Beethoven's Fidelio next season, which is based on the same story. Côté will perform in that production, as well.

Côté has won several top prizes at vocal competitions, including the Concours International de chant de Canari, the operetta award at the Concours International de chant de Marmande, and the grand prize from the Voice Festival of McGill University.

Dominique Côté and Marianne Lambert sing Massenet's Marine:

He trained as an actor at L’école de théâtre de St-Hyacinthe and then as a singer with Lucette Tremblay in Montreal, and completed his training at the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal in 2010. Côté recently starred in the Georges Feydeau play Feu la mère de Madame at the Theatre Lac Brome, sang the role of Frédéric in Léo Delibes'Lakmé at l’Opéra de Montréal and Dr. Falke in Johann Strauss'La Chauve-Souris (Die Fledermaus) for le Grand Théâtre Genève.

As an actor, Côté has also appeared as Renaud on the Radio-Canada show Virginie, Eric Gaudry on Jean-Duceppe for Télé-Québec and as Étienne Bernard on Emma on the TVA network. Children will also recognize his voice from the many cartoon characters he has played including the Lion in Le Lion d’Oz. 

Nathan Gunn to kick of New York Pops season

September 11, 2016, 4:24 pm

≫ Next: Ed Parks reprises Mercutio; Premieres as Steve Jobs

≪ Previous: Introducing Québecois barihunk Dominique Côté

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Nathan Gunn (Photo: Joshua Spencer)

The New York Pops will kick off its 34th season at Carnegie Hall on October 14th with Nathan Gunn in a celebration of music by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. He will join Broadway stars Colin Donnell and Laura Osnes in selections from My Fair Lady, Camelot, Brigadoon, Gigi, and Paint Your Wagon. Tickets are available online.

Nathan Gunn sings C'est Moi from Camelot:

On October 20th, he'll join the Jupiter Quartet along with his wife, accompanist Julie Gunn, for a concert at the Foellinger Great Hall in Urbana, Illinois. The program includes Mark Adamo's Aristotle (set to text by US Poet Laureate Billy Collins), Walt Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," Jennifer Higdon's "Dooryard Bloom," Joan Tower's "In Memory," as well as music by Roger Quilter, Samuel Barber and Douglas Moore. Tickets are available online.

From December 12-21, Gunn returns to the operatic stage to perform the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Theater an der Wien in Austria. His Masetto will be fellow barihunk Tareq Nazmi. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Ed Parks reprises Mercutio; Premieres as Steve Jobs

September 12, 2016, 10:39 am

≫ Next: Barihunk duo alternating Raimondo at Opera San José

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Ed Parks

Ed Parks, who sang a successful Mercutio in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Atlanta Opera last season, will reprise the role halfway across the globe later this month. He'll be joining tenor Jean- François Borras and soprano Nino Machaidze at the Opera de Monte Carlo at the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman for three performances on September 29 and 30, and October 1. Tickets are available online.

Next season, he'll be singing a very different role, as he performs the title role in the world premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at The Santa Fe Opera from July 22 July to August 25, 2017. He'll be joined by Sasha Cooke as Laurene Powell Jobs, Wei Wu as Kôbun Chino Otogawa and Garrett Sorenson as Woz. The opera will be directed by Kevin Newbury with sets by Victoria Tzykun.

 Ed Parks sings Avant de quitter ces lieux from Faust 

The opera is composed by Mason Bates with a libretto by Mark Campbell. It examines the life of Apple founder Steve Jobs, an innovator who simplified communication with sleek devices, but who paradoxically learned that  complex human relationships require more than one button to work. The opera starts at a moment in Jobs’ life  when he must face his own mortality and circles back to the events and people in his past that shaped and  inspired him: his father Paul, Zen Buddhism, his relationship with a woman whose child he initially disowned,  his quick rise and fall as mogul, and – most importantly – his wife Laurene, who showed him the power of love  and connection.    

In between, Parks is singing Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen with Nashville Opera and Marcello in Puccini's La bohème at the Minnesota Opera.

Barihunk duo alternating Raimondo at Opera San José

September 13, 2016, 6:20 pm

≫ Next: Introducing Barihunk Evan Bravo; Joining Santa Barbara Young Artist Program

≪ Previous: Ed Parks reprises Mercutio; Premieres as Steve Jobs

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Colin Ramsey (left) and Kian Freitas (right)

Bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey, who has been featured regularly on this site, will relinquish the final performance of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera San José to Kian Freitas, who is new to this site. Ramsey will perform the role on September 18 and 23, while Freitas will perform on closing night, September 25. The cast also includes Sylvia Lee as Lucia and Kirk Dougherty as Edgardo. Additional information and tickets are available online.

Other roles Freitas has performed include Ferrando in Il Trovatore with Opera Forza, Angelotti in Tosca at the Martha Cardona Opera Theater, Schaunard in La bohème, both Figaro and Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Escamillo in Carmen at NY Opera Exchange, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, as well as Raimondo with the NY Opera Exchange. He created the role of Stefano in the world premiere of La Tempesta, an operatic adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest presented in Italy.

He is also covering the role of the British Major in the West Coast premiere of Kevin Puts's Silent Night for Opera San José. On January 28th, he'll join the South Dakota Symphony as  Leporello in their semi-staged performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Freitas was a participant in the 2015-16 Venture Opera Young Artist Program.

Colin Ramsey will perform Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville with Opera San José beginning on November 12. He then sings Father Palmer in Silent Night with the company, which runs from February 11-26, 2017.

Introducing Barihunk Evan Bravo; Joining Santa Barbara Young Artist Program

September 14, 2016, 5:55 am

≫ Next: Benjamin Appl wins Gramophone Magazine's "Young Artist of the Year" award

≪ Previous: Barihunk duo alternating Raimondo at Opera San José

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Evan Bravos

Barihunk Evan Bravos was recommended to us by one of our Southern California readers, who pointed out that the Greek-American singer will be performing in two upcoming free concerts.

Bravos recently joined the Mosher Studio Artists at Opera Santa Barbara along with soprano Elizabeth Kelsay, mezzo-soprano Molly Clementz, baritone Evan Bravos, and pianists/coaches Christopher Turbessi and Catherine Miller. The artists will be featured in two concerts, the first on October 10 at Shepard Hall at the Santa Maria Public Library and the second on October 12 at the Solvang Public Library. Both performances will begin at noon and are free to the public.

Bravos is a St. Charles, Illinois native, who was a 2015-2016 Emerging Artist at Virginia Opera, where he performed in A Trickster Trilogy, the company’s fall Education Tour. In the previous season, he was an Apprentice Artist at the Central City Opera, where he recieved an Apprentice Artist Award. He was also the recipient of an Encouragement Award in the 2014 Metropolitan National Council auditions.

During his time as a Mosher Studio Artist, Bravos will sing Dancairo and cover Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, sing Harashta in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen and Rabonier in Puccini's La Rondine).You can listen to him at his website.

Other recent performances include Count Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro with Central City Opera, Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville with Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Martin in Bernstein's Candide at the Aspen Music Festival.

Benjamin Appl wins Gramophone Magazine's "Young Artist of the Year" award

September 16, 2016, 10:24 am

≫ Next: Kyle Ketelsen's featured on cover of OPERA

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Barihunk Benjamin Appl has won Gramophone Magazine's coveted "Young Artist of the Year" award. James Jolly of Gramophone wrote the following in his nomination for Appl's award:

For the past few years, British music-lovers have been aware of a major new singing talent in their midst, Benjamin Appl. Listeners to BBC Radio 3 have had a particularly privileged ring-side seat as this young German baritone was a New Generation Artist for the class of 2014-16; but he’s an increasingly visible figure on the concert scene, and once seen – tall, blond, handsome and with a commanding stage presence – he’s not easily forgotten. The last private pupil of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (there’s a YouTube clip of the two baritones, nearly a half century apart in age, working on Lieder together), Appl has been named an ECHO Rising Star and, earlier this year, he signed a contract with Sony Classical, the first fruits of which will appear early next year.

Benjamin Appl accepting his Grammophone award (Photo: Benjamin Ealovega)

Appl has appeared on a number of recordings, often alongside other singers – in the Mendelssohn song series with the pianist Malcolm Martineau for Champs Hill or in songs by Schumann alongside Ann Murray for Linn (‘With clear, incisive diction, he characterises vividly in the narrative “Ballade des Harfners” and catches both the Lear-like weariness of soul and the accusatory bitterness of “Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt”, wrote Richard Wigmore in March last year). But 2016 saw the appearance of his first two solo recordings.

Champs Hill’s May release, entitled ‘Stunden, Tage, Ewigkeiten’, linked Schumann’s song-cycle Dichterliebe with other songs to words by Heine. As Richard Fairman wrote, ‘Appl has a baritone voice with its own character and a natural appreciation of the essentials of singing Lieder’. Barely a month passed before his next disc, a Wigmore Hall Live recording – with Graham Johnson at the piano (Appl has worked with just about every major accompanist on the British scene) – of Lieder by Schubert. Hugo Shirley, who reviewed it, felt a marked advance even on that first disc: ‘His instinctive feel for these songs is immediately striking and manifests itself in the sort of artlessness that distinguishes the finest Lieder singers: a lack of tension, an easy relationship with the poetry, a confidence in the words and Schubert’s melodies to communicate with nothing but the gentlest helping interpretative hand.’

This young singer has huge potential and we look forward to following the exciting journey that lies ahead. As Richard Fairman concluded, in his May review: ‘Sample his debut solo disc and you will hear the current front-runner in the next generation of Lieder singers.’

Kyle Ketelsen's featured on cover of OPERA

September 16, 2016, 10:55 am

≫ Next: Alessio Arduini returns to Royal Opera House; Così fan tutte will be broadcast

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American bass-barihunk Kyle Ketelsen is the cover boy on the October 2016 edition of OPERA magazine.

The article points out that Ketelsen has sung all four low-voiced roles in Mozart's Don Giovanni, but that Leporello has become his signature role. We've also called Ketelsen the "definitive Leporello" in previous posts. The magazine article quotes three famous Giovanni's on singing the title role next to Ketelsen's Leporello. Here's what they had to say:

Russel Braun said, "...there are so many ways in which he identifies with Leporello; his kind of patience, very useful onstage, gives strength to the character."

Rod Gilfy stated, "Kyle's Leporello was boyish, sprightly, troubled, playful; very modern...He's a rock-solid, handsome, athletic bass-baritone who sings beautifully; he could sing a myriad lyric bass and bass-baritone roles."

Kyle Ketelsen talks about singing Leporello:

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Finally, Simon Keenlyside added, "Kyle's voice is one of the most beautiful bass-baritone sounds around; he wields the instrument with consummate legato and artistry to match. On stage he is everything a colleague could want...When I know I have Kyle alongside me as Leporello, I know I will be in safe hands. Any Giovanni with a great Leporello alongside him will be so much more than he could ever have been on his own."

Kyle Ketelsen can next be seen at the Opernhaus Zürich in Gounod's Faust, which runs from September 20-October 7. The all-star cast includes Charles Castronovo in the title role, Anita Hartig as Marguerite, Lilly Jørstad as Siebel and Kyle Ketelsen as Méphistophélès.

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Alessio Arduini returns to Royal Opera House; Così fan tutte will be broadcast

September 17, 2016, 8:01 am

≫ Next: Günther Groissböck to make his role debut as Wotan at Bayreuth

≪ Previous: Kyle Ketelsen's featured on cover of OPERA

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Alessio Arduini

Italian barihunk Alessio Arduini, who made his made his Royal Opera debut in 2013 as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème, will return to the company from September 22-October 20 as Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte. His castmates includes Corinne Winters as Fiordiligi, Angela Brower as Dorabella, Daniele Behle as Ferrando, Johannes Martin Kränzle as Don Alfonso and Sabina Puértolas as Despina.

German director Jan Philipp Gloger will make his Royal Opera debut with the new production using librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte’s alternative title for the opera: "The School for Lovers." Tickets are available online. 

 Alessio Arduini sings 'Hai già vinta la causa!' from Le nozze di Figaro:

The November 12th performance of Così fan tutte will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 6.30pm GMT.

After his run at the Royal Opera House, he heads to New York to perform Marcello in Puccini's La bohème.

Günther Groissböck to make his role debut as Wotan at Bayreuth

September 17, 2016, 10:10 am

≫ Next: Rafael FIngerlos tours with Nederlandse Reisoper

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Günther Groissböck

Günther Groissböck, who debuted at Bayreuth in 2011 as Landgrave Hermann in Wagner's Tannhäuser and sang Fasolt in their 2013 Das Rheingold, is coming back for three major roles in coming seasons.

Perhaps the biggest announcement is his role debut as Wotan in their 2020 season. Groissböck says that he has been approached by other houses to sing the epic role. He's been learning the role on long car trips and feels he's reached the right age to sing the fatherly role. He'll be just shy of his 44th birthday in the Summer of 2020. 

Günther Groissböck sings Lohengrin:

 

In 2017, he'll be at Bayreuth to sing Veit Pogner in Barry Kosky’s Die Meistersinger, followed by Gurnemanz in Parsifal in 2018, where he will replace Georg Zeppenfeld.
On September 18th, he wraps up a runs as Heinrich  Vogler in Wagner's Lohengrin at the Vienna State Opera. He then heads to the Bavarian State Opera for Rocco in Beethoven's Fidelio in Calixto Bieito's production, which runs from October 1-6.  

We hear that Bayreuth has signed biceps baritone Günther Groissböck to sing Veit Pogner in Barry Kosky’s new Meistersinger next summer.
He will follow that with Gurnemanz in the 2018 Parsifal, building up to Wotan in the 2020 Ring.
- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/08/bayreuth-books-a-longterm-wotan/#sthash.xCPQgfjj.dpuf

We hear that Bayreuth has signed biceps baritone Günther Groissböck to sing Veit Pogner in Barry Kosky’s new Meistersinger next summer.
He will follow that with Gurnemanz in the 2018 Parsifal, building up to Wotan in the 2020 Ring.
- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/08/bayreuth-books-a-longterm-wotan/#sthash.BWoQVHIr.dpuf

We hear that Bayreuth has signed biceps baritone Günther Groissböck to sing Veit Pogner in Barry Kosky’s new Meistersinger next summer.
He will follow that with Gurnemanz in the 2018 Parsifal, building up to Wotan in the 2020 Ring.
- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/08/bayreuth-books-a-longterm-wotan/#sthash.BWoQVHIr.dpuf

We hear that Bayreuth has signed biceps baritone Günther Groissböck to sing Veit Pogner in Barry Kosky’s new Meistersinger next summer.
He will follow that with Gurnemanz in the 2018 Parsifal, building up to Wotan in the 2020 Ring.
- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2016/08/bayreuth-books-a-longterm-wotan/#sthash.BWoQVHIr.dpuf

Rafael FIngerlos tours with Nederlandse Reisoper

September 19, 2016, 6:06 pm

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Rafael Fingerlos as Harlekin(photo by Marco Borggreve)

Austrian barihunk Rafael Fingerlos is touring as Harlekin with the Nederlandse Reisoper in their production of Richard Strauss’Ariadne auf Naxos. The production is directed by Laurence Dale with stunning costumes by Gary McCann and features Soojin Moon as Ariadne, Jennifer France as Zerbinetta, Martin Momrich as Bacchus and Karin Strobos as the Composer.

Performances are remaining on September 20 and 22 in Zwolle, 24th in Arnhem, 27th in Maastricht, 29th in Breda and October 1st in Den Haag, 6 and 8 in Amsterdam. Tickets are available online.

Trailer for Ariadne auf Naxos at the Nederlandse Reisoper:

Fingerlos will become a fest ensemble member at the Vienna State Opera beginning with their 2016/17 season. His first role will be Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia on November 12 opposite the Rosina of Isabel Leonard and Almaviva of Pavel Kolgatin. Performances run through December 20.

Barihunk sextet in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" touring Italy

September 20, 2016, 9:58 am

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Dario Shikhmiri, Rocco Cavalluzzi, Federico Benetti and Paolo Ingrasciotta(l-r)

Our heads almost exploded when we saw the cast list for Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona, as it features a record number of six barihunks and bass-barihunks in one production. Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears are undoubtedly smiling down on this production from heaven. The eye candy cast includes  Zachary Altman as Bottom, Nicholas Masters as Quince, Dario Shikhmiri as Starveling, Rocco Cavalluzzi as Snug, Federico Benetti as Theseus and Paolo Ingrasciotta as Demetrius.

Zachary Altman and Nicholas Masters

The final four on that list have not even appeared on Barihunks before. There are only two performances of the show, which runs on October 7 and 9. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Nicholas Masters sings Bottom's aria from A Midsummer Night's Dream:

The production is a co-production with the Teatro Sociale di Como/Aslico, Fondazione Teatro Grande di Brescia and  the Fondazione Teatro Fraschini di Pavia. Most of the cast will perform at the Teatro Municipale Valli di Reggio Emilia on November 18 and 20. There are also performances on November 4 and 6 in Brescia and in Pavia on October 28 and 30, but no cast lists are available or posted. The websites for Zachary Altman and Nicholas Masters show them performing in all of the productions.

Joseph Lattanzi in live stream of The Copper Queen

September 25, 2016, 7:48 am

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Joseph Lattanzi

The Arizona Opera will be live streaming today's sold out performance of composer Clint Borzoni's The Copper Queen, which won the company's Arizona Sparks competition for new works in a runaway. The piece was also featured on the front page of the Arizona Republic's arts section last weekend.

The opera's libretto, written by director John de los Santos and based on a true story, revolves around the ghost of a prostitute haunting a historic hotel in Bisbee, Arizona.

The performance will feature barihunk Joseph Lattanzi as Peter Ackerman, who is fresh of a heralded performance as Hawkins Fuller in Gregory Spears’ gay themed opera Fellow Travelers at Cincinnati Opera. This season at Arizona Opera, Lattanzi will also perform the Gamekeeper in Dvořák's Rusalka, Yamadori in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola.

Clint Borzoni's "Stufen" with barihunk Marco Vassalli:

The opera also features Lacy Sauter as the prostitute Julia Lowell, Alyssa Martin as Addison Moore, barihunk turned hunkentenor Chris Carr as Teddy Billings, Loren Battieste as Sugar Dog and Zachary Owen as Mr Floyd and Daddy Lowell.  You can hear Alyssa Martin sing "Waiting for a Whisper" from the opera on Soundcloud, as well as Sarah Tucker sing "Still Pretty."

The live stream will begin at 3 PM PST/6 PM EST at the company's Facebook page.