A young Luca Pisaroni and getting fit for Maometto
One of the greatest opera festivals in the world is getting into full swing with the upcoming world premiere of the new critical performing edition of Rossini's foot-tapping Maometto II. The Venetian love story contains some of the Italian composers greatest music, but has somehow never entered the standard repertory, even in its reworked version Le siège de Corinthe. The last U.S. performance was the 1988 production in San Francisco, which was produced as a showcase for Simone Alaimo and June Anderson.
Pisaroni as Radamisto (Photo by Ken Howard)
Although the two best known arias are sung by the mezzo Calbo (Non temer: d'un basso affetto) and the soprano Anna (Giusto Cielo, in tal periglio), the title role is sung by a bass-baritone and contains some of Rossini's best music for low voice. Perhaps the most touching is the duet between Maometto and Anna, "Anna... tu piangi," which you can hear below.
Santa Fe has brought in one of our favorite singers, Luca Pisaroni, to sing the title role. Pisaroni has been a fan favorite at the Santa Fe Opera since his stunning debut in Handel's Radamisto in 2008.
Pisaroni discusses Maometto II:
Performances of Maometto II will run from July 14-August 16 with the new starting times of 8:00 and 8:30 PM, dropping the later 9 PM start time (for which we are grateful). Pisaroni's Anna will be the hottest new Verdi soprano on the scene, Leah Crocetto. Tickets are available on the company's website.
Samuel Ramey & Cecilia Gasdia from Pesaro in 1985:
On July 21, Pisaroni will also be performing a recital with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. He'll be performing Bach's Cantata No. 82, “Ich Habe Genug," BWV 82. Tickets are available online.
The Three Barihunks? Luca Pisaroni, Mariusz Kwiecien & Thomas Hampson
If you were going to copy the famous Three Tenors format and use superstar barihunks, you couldn't do much better than Luca Pisaroni, Mariusz Kwiecien and Thomas Hampson. The three singers were recently photographed at a party for the Santa Fe Opera in New York City. All three baritones will be performing with the opera company this summer.
Is it just us, our do Pisaroni and Hampson appear to be wearing shirts with matching patterns? Perhaps the family did some shopping in Santa Fe's famous downtown.
Pisaroni will be performing the title role in Rossini's underperformed masterpiece Maometto II, which also features soprano Leah Crocetto, a voice you won't want to miss! Pisaroni's father-in-law Thomas Hampson will be displaying his sinister side as Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca. International sensation Mariusz Kwiecien will be taking on one his favorite roles, King Roger, in the opera of the same name by fellow Pole Karol Szymanowski. The three men are some of the most popular singers on this site and we're thrilled that all be together at one of the greatest music festivals in the world. If you haven't been, book your travel plans today.
The season opens with Tosca and June 29th. Visit the Santa Fe Opera website for additional information.
Ryan Kuster (L), Andrew Garland (C) and Alex Esposito
Today is a miscellaneous Friday for us, which we're going to use to update you on four of our favorite barihunks. They also happen to be three of the most talented singers to be making their mark in the opera world today.
Our favorite redhead, Andrew Garland, recently finished recording "American Portraits" for GPR records, which is due out in 2012. He can next be heard in Handel's "Messiah" with the Boston Baroque on December 9 and 10. Here he is singing "A Reverie" from the song cycle 'Battle Pieces' by Paul Phillips, which is based on poems by Herman Melville. The world premiere was on October 16, 2011 with the Pioneer Valley Symphony in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
We have deservedly dubbed Alex Esposito the greatest Leporello in the world today and it continues to be a major role on his schedule. His work as a Mozart specialist in general has been recognized by the most prestigious opera companies in the world, who keep engaging him for the master's leading roles. He's keeping a busy schedule singing his signature role as Don Giovanni's sidekick with a recent run at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and now taking it to the Vienna Staatsoper, which opens on December 11. He then switches Mozart roles, singing Papageno at La Scala in February and Guglielmo in Toulouse in May 2012. For a change of pace, here he is singing the aria "Accusata di furto" from Gioachino Rossini's "La gazza ladra," which is best known for its overture. The performance is from a gala at the Deutsche Oper Berlinon November 5, 2011.
Fans of Ryan Kuster in San Francisco were treated to this amazing singer at the San Francisco Opera's "The Future is Now: Adler Fellows Gala Concert." The first-year Adler Fellow continues to generate a genuine buzz among opera cognoscenti and he didn't disappoint last night with a rousing and vocally eloquent performance of "Aprite un po' quegli' occhi" from Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." He was then given the unenviable task of singing opposite Leah Crocetto, who many believe will be the next reigning Verdi soprano. The duo sang "Il padre tuo...Tu piniscimi" and literally brought down the house.
And speaking of duos...
If you think the Germans are upset at having to carry the load of the European debt crisis, you should have seen the reaction when the Semperoper Dresden announced that Anna Netrebko and barihunk hubby Erwin Schrott would not be performing in two New Year's Eve Concerts. Opera's most famoust couple were replaced by sopranos Angela Denoke and Ana Maria Labin. The two concerts were sold out, but the ticket office is being besieged with refund requests. The change was made with little fanfare, as Netrebko and Schrott's names mysteriously disappeared from the website overnight.
We're going to announce our first two recipients for a charitable donation from our our 2012 Barihunks calendar in the next few days. We appreciate everyone's enthusiastic support for the calendar, but encourage those who haven't purchased one to do so now, so we can support additional programs. Also, it's not to late to write us at Barihunks@gmail.com and tell us why your young artist program is deserving of a donation from the calendar.
Andrew Patner of the Chicago Sun-Times has highlighted the performance of barihunk Christian Van Horn in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." It's not often that the character of Raimondo gets singled out, but anyone who has seen the towering Van Horn or heard his incredible voice, knows that he has a way of standing out in a crowd. Here is what Patner wrote:
The breakout performance here was from another Lyric alum, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, as the meddling tutor Raimondo who probably thinks that he’s truly helping Lucia. With both the restored Act 2 aria and especially later with the chilling “Dalle stanze ove Lucia,” announcing to the wedding party Lucia’s murder of the man she was forced to marry, Van Horn made good on the promise he showed during his Ryan years. [Read the entire review HERE].
There are seven performances remaining through November 5th. Visit the Lyric Opera of Chicago website for tickets and performance information.
Here is Van Horn performing in "Romeo and Juliet" in Salzburg:
After his run of Lucia's, Van Horn heads west to the San Francisco Opera to sing Timur in the company's stunning David Hockney production of Turandot with another breakout performance, the Liu of soprano Leah Crocetto.
