Opera "Elmer Gantry" wins two Grammy Awards

Keith Phares & Jenny Rivera in Elmer Gantry

The recording of the Milwaukee-based Florentine Opera Company's production of Robert Aldridge's "Elmer Gantry" won two of the three Grammy Awards for which it was nominated.

Composer Robert Aldridge won for "Best Contemporary Classical Composition" for the opera, while the Naxos recording won for classical music's "Best Engineered Album." The recording also was also nominated for "Classical Producer of the Year." The recording features barihunk Keith Phares, who has virtually owned the role. He has performed the work at Montclair State University, Nashville Opera and Florentine Opera.

Keith Phares & Jenny Rivera sing the love duet from Elmer Gantry:

Here is the complete list of classical music Grammy Award winners:

Choral Performance: “Light & Gold,” Eric Whitacre
Classical Contemporary Composition: “Elmer Gantry,” Robert Aldridge & Herschel Garfein
Producer of the Year, Classical: Judith Sherman
Orchestral Performance: “Brahms: Symphony No. 4,” Gustavo Dudamel
Opera Recording: “Adams: Doctor Atomic,” Alan Gilbert, conductor
Best Small Ensemble Performance: Mackey: Lonely Motel - Music From Slide
Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Schwantner: Concerto For Percussion & Orchestra Nashville Symphony.
Best Classical Vocal Solo: Diva Divo - Joyce DiDonato

Met Audition Winner Update: Anthony Reed in Recital; Ricardo Rivera Advances

Aaron Rogers & Anthony Reed

With the Green Packers out of the playoffs and not heading back to the Super Bowl, the good folks of Wisconsin are looking for things to do other than shovel snow. We'd suggest trading one A.R. for another, meaning QB Aaron Rogers for bass-barihunk Anthony Reed.

On Wednesday, January 25th at 7:30 PM, Reed will be performing in a concert sponsored by the Florentine Opera. Reed will be joined by soprano Lindsay Sessing and tenor Kevin Newell. All three singers were winners in the 2011 Metropolitan Opera/Wisconsin District Auditions.  The concert will be at St. John's on the Lake, 1840 N. Prospect Avenue in Milwaukee. Call (414) 291-5700 for additional information.

Unlike a football game, we can pretty much guarantee that this will be a winner. The young bass has been impressing judges and honed his skills at the Seagle Music Colony.

Anthony Reed sings Mozart's "O Isis und Osiris" from the Magic Flute:

Anthony Reed and four other singers will now advance to the Midwest Regional Auditions to be held Feb. 4, 2012, at the Ordway Center Main Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Ricardo Rivera

A reader who attended the Metropolitan Opera National Council/Eastern Region Auditions alerted us to barihunk Ricardo Rivera who won 1st Place that day and will now advance to the National Semi-Finals on the Metropolitan Opera Stage in March.

Rivera has been cleaning up in competitions, having previously won 1st Place and the Audience Prize in the 2011 NY Lyric Opera Competition, 4th Place in the 2011 Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, Encouragement Awards from the 2011 Gerda Lissner, 2011 Licia Albanese-Puccini, 2011 MONC, 2010 Opera Index, and 2010 Career Bridges Competitions, and was a recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant in 2009.

On January 29th, he'll perform Orsini in Wagner's "Rienzi" with the Opera Orchestra of NY at Avery Fisher Hall. Click HERE for tickets and additional cast information. On February 15th, he'll be the baritone Soloist in Sophia Gubaidulina's "Perception" with the Pacifica Quartet and eighth blackbird in Chicago." Click HERE for additional information.

Barihunks would like to wish both singers the best of luck!

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Dan Richardson: The Forgotten Barihunk?

Dan Richardson

Sometimes barihunks inadvertently sneak past us even when they're right in our face. In November 2010, we posted about Gabriel Preisser and made a brief mention of Dan Richardson. A reader suggested that he should be featured on Barihunks and we concurred, but for no apparent reason we never did.

Here he is again with the gifted young barihunk Gabriel Preisser singing the famous duet from Bellini's "I Puritani." [Originally posted November 2010]



The Iowa-native recently joined the young artist program at the Florentine Opera Studio [Note to Florentine Opera Studio: You should list the names of your participants].

This past spring, he made his main stage debut with Opera Omaha as Prince Yamadori and the Imperial Commissioner in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Other recent roles include Méphistophélès in Faust with Opera Lousiane, Antonio and Figaro (cover) in Le nozze di Figaro with the Des Moines Metro Opera, and Angelotti in Tosca with the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. He has also performed with the Sarasota Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he performed the role of Don Bartolo for their “Opera in the Neighborhoods” production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

An excerpt of Dan Richardson singing "Il rival salvar tu dei" from Bellini's "I Puritani":



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Craig Verm's (Sexy) Aeneas Receives Critical Praise

Greer Davis as Venus and Craig Verm as Adonis Florentine Opera (Photo by Kathy Wittman, Ball Square Films)

We recently posted about two production of "Dido & Aeneas" featuring buff barihunks Craig Verm and Zachary Gordin. Although we'll have to wait a week for Gordin's half-naked portrayal at West Bay Opera in Palo Alto, the reviews are in for Craig Verm. He was praised not only for his singing (which is still paramount), but his "sex appeal." Here's what the Third Coast Digest in Milwaukee had to say:

Craig Verm’s potent, lush baritone suits Adonis and Aeneas. Florescu and Verm conceived Adonis as essentially comic (until the poor fellow dies). Rivard and Meyers put him in a Fabio wig and beefcake outfit. Verm (who’s pretty buff) leaned into Davis’ fetching Venus with great and persistent ardor. Her deflections make for nifty comedy, even as the chemistry between them adds sex appeal (and one more thing to love about this show).

You can read the entire review by Tom Strini HERE.

Craig Verm's sexy and well-sung Aeneas

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