We recently posted about the much anticipated concert in Heidelberg, Germany featuring Luca Pisaroni and Thomas Hampson. As regular readers will know, not only are these two men some of the most popular barihunks in the world, but they are a father-in-law/son-in-law tandem. They also happen to be two of the greatest singers in the world today.
Luca Pisaroni (L) & Thomas Hampson (R)
For those of you who missed the broadcast, here are the duets from the concerts. We've also added Luca Pisaroni singing "Sorgete... Duce di tanti eroi" from Rossini's Mamoetto II, which he will be singing at the Santa Fe Opera this summer. A performance that is not to be missed. You can watch the entire concert at teresa59's YouTube site.
Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni - Il rival salvar... Suoni la tromba (I puritani)
Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni - Restate (Don Carlo)
Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni - Cheti, cheti immantinente (Don Pasquale)
Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni - Uldino...Tardo per gl'anni (Attila)
Luca Pisaroni - Sorgete... Duce di tanti eroi (Mamoetto II)
British barihunk Leigh Melrose has never received the attention that he deserves on this site. We featured a video of him singing a selection from Britten's "Billy Budd" at the end of a feature on Alexander Tsymbalyuk. He certainly can't be ignored anymore, as Melrose has landed a key role at English National Opera in Mieczysław Weinberg’s 1968 opera The Passenger.
The opera was banned in the Soviet Union and was first premiered last year at the Bregenz Festival. Weinberg, a Soviet composer of Jewish-Polish heritage who died in 1996, never saw a performance of this lost masterpiece in his lifetime.
The opera revolves around an encounter between two women – one a former Auschwitz guard and the other a former prisoner. Melrose plays Tadeusz, a camp inmate and violinist who defies the Commandant byordered by performing some meloncholy music by Bach rather than a frolicking waltz. Needless to say, things don't end well for Tadeusz.
We continue to find the performances at ENO as some of the most innovative and interesting in all of opera right now. We loved Nic Muhly's "Two Boys" and look forward to seeing The Passenger. The opera runs from September 19-October 25. Additional cast and performance information is available HERE. If you're looking for more traditional operatic fare, ENO will be performing the highly acclaimed Jonathan Miller production of Donizetti's "The Elixir of Love" at the same time.
You can read an entire feature on Leigh Melrose and The Passenger in the Islington Tribune by clicking HERE.
