Jose Carbo and Sean Pendry with real Barber of Seville owner Michael Romeo (Photo: Manuela Cifra)
We're all about cross promoting opera, as long it exposes new people to the art form and it maintains a reasonable degree of integrity. One of our favorite cross promotions that we've seen lately is Opera Australia joining forces with the owner of a local hair salon aptly named the "Barber of Seville." We'll let you figure out which opera the company is performing.
Michael Romeo is the owner of the salon in Richmond, Australia and the photo op with the singing barber, Jose Carbo, was great publicity for his new salon in Moonee Ponds, Australia. We also love his slogan, "Come get chopped at the Barber of Seville." If he ever opens a salon called "Sweeney Todd," he can keep his tagline.
Michael Romeo's fun banner for his operatically inspired hair salon
The Opera Australia production of Rossini's opera is moving the action forward to the Roaring 20's with some amazing costumes and fun "Keystone Kops" action scenes. We last saw Carbo as the Barber at the Seattle Opera where he was sharing the role with fellow barihunk David Adam Moore and making his belated U.S. debut. Carbo, who is of Italian and Spanish heritage, was raised in Australia since childhood, so this performance is a return to his "hometown stage."
Jose Carbo and Maria Bayo sing "Dunque io son" from the Barber of Seville in Madrid:
The opera also features barihunk Sam Dundas, who we recently showcased in some sexy, shirtless shots when he was performing Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. He'll be singing three small roles in the Barber: Fiorello, Ambrogio and the notary. [You don't want to miss those photos!].
There are six performances from May 4-17. Visit the Opera Australia website for additional information and production photos.
Dmitri Vargin studied choral direction in his native city Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and singing at the State Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg, with William Workman. In Hamburg he had the chance to participate in master classes with artists such as Kurt Moll and Franz Grundheber. He also appeared in numerous productions performing Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, Marcello in La Bohème, Pappacoda in Eine Nacht in Venedig, and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's dream.
During his last year at the Academy, he appeared as a guest at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf performing Silvio in I Pagliacci and has been invited to join the company. At the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, he has sung Marcello in La Bohème, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream and in the new productions - Achilla in Giulio Cesare, Valentin in Faust, Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande, Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore, and the title part in Eugene Onegin.
He also appeared at the Erfurt Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, at the Hamburgische Staatsoper as Tusenbach in Tri Sestri by Peter Eötvös, and performed Mahler's 8th Symphony with Maestro Lorin Maazel.
Following his debut at Bolshoi Theatre Moscow as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, he has been re-invited to perform Marcello in La Bohème and Lopakhin in Fenelon's The Cherry Orchard. He also made his South American debut performing the title part in Eugene Onegin (Montevideo).
Upcoming engagements include both Brétigny in Manon and Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte (Düsseldorf), and Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos (Glyndebourne Festival), among others. Dmitri Vargin has been granted by the DAAD and awarded with German Federal Cultural Prize (2004), the Masefield Scholarship by the Alfred Töpfer Foundation (2005), and he has been actively involved, with the Yehudi Menuhin "Live Music Now" program, in projects bringing music to people unable to attend regular concerts.
There are only two weeks left to order your 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. All proceeds will go to benefit the Portland Opera Studio and the Seagle Music Colony, two of the best young artist training programs in America. You can help out dozens of young artists by purchasing your calendar today. ClickHERE and have your calendar before the new year.
We'd like to wish Randal Turner a very special birthday.
We've met some amazing talents and incredible singers since starting Barihunks and Randal Turner counts among our favorites. He is one of many talented singers who we discovered singing in Europe who had yet to appear in the United States. Like Luca Grassi who made his belated U.S. debut at the Dallas Opera tonight, the American-born Turner didn't appear on stage in the U.S. until 2010 when he was cast as the title character in Don Giovanni at the Michigan Opera Theater.
Turner followed his critical success in Detroit with his West Coast recital debut in San Francisco, which has been recorded and is for sale on this site. He was recently engaged by the Washington National Opera to cover Placido Domingo in Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride and will be making his debut at the New York City Opera in February 2012 in Rufus Wainwright's "Prima Donna." Turner was also named the world's sexiest Don Giovanni in a reader poll on this site, beating out international superstars like Simon Keenlyside and Mariusz Kwiecien.
Ads heralding Randal Turner's US Debut in Detroit
The legendary conductor Loren Maazel is now taking Randal Turner to China to make his Asian debut as the title character in Rossini's Barber of Seville. The performance is a co-production between the Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts and Maazel's Castleton Festival. Performances run from November 24-27.
Teatro La Fenice in Venice is performing Rossini's comic masterpiece "Il barbiere di Siviglia" with a cast full of Italian barihunks. La Fenice is rotating casts and almost all of the low voice roles are filled by barihunks, including those that we don't generally associate with sexy singers, like Don Basilio and Bartolo. Figaro is being sung by Giorgio Caoduro, who has appeared frequently on this site, and Christian Senn will perform in the alternate cast. Don Basilio will be shared by Mirco Palazzi and Luca Dall'Amico, while Omar Montanari will be one of the Bartolos.
Luca Dall'Amico and Giorgio Caoduro
Tickets can be purchased on the La Fenice website, where you can also find additional cast and performance information. We also recommend that you visit Giorgio Caoduro's website, where you can find some wonderful sound clips, including the Barber's famous "Largo al factotum." Here is Mirco Palazzi singing Don Basilio's aria "La calunnia":
Two barihunks are among the honorees for the seventh annual Opera News Awards, which will be presented on Sunday, April 29 at The Plaza in New York City. The awards, pay tribute to artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form. Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Peter Mattei will join sopranos Karita Mattila and Anja Silja, as well as director Peter Sellars as honorees.
The official announcement will appear in the September 2011 issue of Opera News, which is available on August 4 and features barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien on the cover. [We will post the cover tomorrow].
The Opera News Awards were created in 2005. They recognize five individuals each year for distinguished achievement in the field of opera.
Here is Peter Mattei with Juan Diego Florez singing the Act 2 duet from The Barber of Seville:
Here is what Opera News wrote about Mattei and Hvorostovsky in announcing the awards.
Pater Mattei as Billy Budd
From Managing Editor Oussama Zahr regardig Peter Mattei:
"Peter Mattei's lustrous baritone - firm and generously produced, with an appealing softness around the edges - sets him apart today as a marvelous singer. But it's his astonishing ability to inhabit a range of characters - from the frothiest comedy to the bleakest tragedy - that makes him an artist of the highest caliber."
Senior Editor Louise T. Guinther said of Dmitri Hvorostovsky:
"Dmitri Hvorostovsky's charisma, glamour, and vocal prowess are without peer. Equally persuasive on recordings, on the recital stage, and in the opera house, Hvorostovsky is a singer whose artistry speaks to everyone."
Here are winners Karita Mattila and Dmitri Hvorostovsky singing "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni.
If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area don't miss tonight's Schwabacher Summer Concert featuring the latest class of participants. The concert will feature works by great Italian composers, as well as a little Tchaikovsky. The concert will feature scenes from "Don Carlo," "I Capuleti e i Montecchi " "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Rigoletto" and "Eugene Onegin." The scenes concert will be directed by renowned stage director Peter Kazaras, who currently serves as Seattle Opera's Artistic Advisor and Principal Artistic Instructor of the Young Artist Development Program, and was recently appointed Director of Opera and Music Theater at UCLA.
Two Merola participants are of particular interest to us this year, as they have already created a buzz in the opera world for their amazing singing talent and barihunk good looks: Phillipe Sly and Mark Diamond. Both singers have also won major vocal competitions, with Diamond taking first place at the Eleanor McCollum Competition at the Houston Grand Opera and Sly winning the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions Competition.
Mark Diamond
Diamond has already been scooped up by the Houston Grand Opera and he'll be joining their esteemed young artist program after Merola. Houston has engaged him to perform Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Marchese d’Obigny in La Traviata. He will be studying the roles of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, and Rodrigue in Don Carlos. You can hear his sound clips HERE.
Phillipe Sly in performance
We've featured Phillip Sly prominently on this site since he first came to our attention. You can hear his sound clips HERE. A little trivia about Sly: he originally started out as a countertenor (like fellow barihunk Zachary Gordin). Here is Sly singing Schubert's Der Erlkönig, which we've previously posted, but we can't get enough of.
Both singers will appear in the Merola performances of Rossini's "Barber of Seville" this year. Diamond as Figaro and Sly as Bartolo. Performance are on August 4, 5, 6 and 7 and tickets can be purchased HERE. For those who can't make tonight's concert, there will be a FREE version of the concert at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Park on Sunday, July 24th at 2 PM.
Birthday boy: Jordan Shanahan
We'd also like to wish Jordan Shanahan a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today. Shanahan and his wife soprano Luna recently won the Barihunks "Favorite Opera Couple" poll. We've been trying to find a video of the popular couple singing together and we promise to post one when it becomes available.
Lunahan: Jordan Shanhan & Audrey Luna (photo by Greg James)
We've featured many opera couples on this site, from barihunk couples like Zach Altman and Dan Kempson, to superstar couples like Erwin Schrott/Anna Netrebko and Teddy Tahu Rhodes/Isabel Leonard. So let us introduce two fast rising stars who have also tied the knot, Tebaldi International Voice Competition winner Audrey Luna and Jordan Shanahan, who has been featured on this site before.
The original Barihunk couple: Dan Kempson (L) & Zach Altman (R)
The couple is singing Rosina and Figaro in Rossini's "Barber of Seville" in a collaboration between Mississippi Opera and Opera Memphis. They begin in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday, April 9th and then head to Delta State University in Cleveland on Tuesday, April 12th. The production then wraps up in Memphis with performances on April 16 and 17.
You can hear Shanahan sing the famous "Largo al factotum" at his website.
Since all of the star couples have nicknames, we're suggesting "Lunahan" for opera's new love couple.
Our recent post praising the artistry of Simon Keenlyside turned out to be an extremely popular post, so we're posting more of the popular barihunk. Simon-mania must be in the air, as "ColoraturaFan" on YouTube posted this 15 minute tribute, which covers most of his great roles.
Enjoy another healthy dose of Keenlyside:
Next month, Keenlyside will be performing Pelleas et Mellisande in Paris and London, followed by Verdi's Macbeth at Covent Garden and then the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro at Salzburg. His Macbeth opens in theaters around the world in June. Visit the Opus Arte Cinema website for screenings in your area.
