Timothy McDevitt (L), Michael Kelly (C) and Douglas Williams (R)
The barihunk hotness continues at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where they just wrapped up "Prima Donna" with Randal Turner. The latest production is Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts with three barihunks!!! The Mark Morris Dance Group production of Four Saints in Three Acts will feature barihunks Michael Kelly as St. Ignatius, Tim McDevitt as St. Plan, and Doug Williams as Compere. The opera will be paired with the world premiere of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy.
There are only three performances between March 1-3 and there is limited ticket availability. Visit the BAM website for tickets.
Video from the 2006 production of Four Saints in Three Acts:
Barihunks hosted a luncheon for eight of the hottest singers in New York at Candle 79 today. From left to right are Michael Rice, Jonathan Estabrooks, Randal Turner, Christopher Temporelli, Michael Kelly, Malcolm Merriweather, Ricardo Rivera and Donovan Singletary.
Randal Turner had closed a successful run in Rufus Wainwright's the night before. His "mad scene" in Act 1 was a tour de force performance that will be long-remembered by opera aficionados. The Zurich-based singer will return to the U.S. in May to perform Mendelsohn's "Elijah" with the Spring Choral Festival in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Barihunks hamming it up before the group photo
Michael Rice has given up singing to work at an executive recruiting firm, support his wife Jennifer Rivera's skyrocketing career and devote time to his OperaNow! podcast. He taped some audio at the Barihunks luncheon for his next podcast, so make sure to tune in.
Jonathan Estabrooks is currently filming Schaunard in Puccini's La boheme. We'll have more details closer to the release date. Make sure to check out his vlog, "A Singer's Life." He also taped some footage at the luncheon so check him out on YouTube.
Christopher Temporelli & Donovan Singletary
Christopher Temporelli, who just wrapped up a run as the Judge in Philip Glass's Orphée with Virginia Opera, now heads to Korea for a recording project. Keep an eye out for additional release news on this site.
Michael Kelly just wrapped up another recital at Trinity Wall Street. We'll provide you with the stream as soon as it's available. You can watch his December 2010 recital HERE.
Malcolm Merriweather keeps a busy schedule around New York as a baritone, choirmaster, teacher and conductor with the New York Choral Society.
In March, Ricardo Rivera will perform in the Semi-Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In May, he will perform the title role in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" with the Mannes Opera and Orchestra.
From May 19-June 1, Donovan Singletary will perform Figaro in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" at the Ft. Worth Opera Festival. In March and April, he can be seen as the Murderer in Verdi's "Macbeth" opposite barihunks Thomas Hampson and Gunther Groissböck.
We have no idea who created this, but we have to admit were quite amused (and grateful for the inclusion!).
We love the web for a number of reasons, but mainly because it can expose millions of people to opera who otherwise would never hear a note of it. Many young artists have done an amazing job of promoting their careers online, while some superstars are virtually invisible (i.e. - Teddy Tahu Rhodes).
Enjoy Michael Kelly's 2010 concert from Trinity Wall Street:
We first fell in love with barihunk Michael Kelly after seeing his live webstream from Trinity Wall Street in 2010. If you missed it, you're in luck, as we're reposting it above. He also will be back on the web on Thursday, February 23 at 1 PM EST. He'll be joined by soprano Laura Strickling in a concert of music by Tom Cipullo. The program will be announced when the webstream begins. Click HERE on February 23rd to enjoy the concert.
There are four amazing concerts coming up in New York City that all feature barihunks.
Michael Kelly
On January 28th, Michael Kelly is part of the Cosmopolis concert at Merkin Concert Hall. The chamber concert includes works by four composers from across the globe written for strings, winds, piano and baritone. Kelly will perform Mohammed Fairouz's song cycle "Furia" written for baritone, string quartet and wind quartet. The program also includes works by Ned Rorem, Kaija Saariaho and Toru Takemitsu.
Click HERE for tickets and additional information.
Randal Turner (top) & Michael Weyandt (bottom
)
On February 2, operamission will present and evening of music by Francis Poulenc at the Gershwin Hotel. The concert includes about a dozen performers including barihunks Michael Weyandt, Randal Turner and Ross Benoliel. Randal Turner will be opening in Rufus Wainwright's opera "Prima Donna" at New York City on February 19th. Click HERE for tickets.
Chris Herbert
For all of you lovers out there, New York Polyphony will be performing "A Renaissance Valentine" on February 12 at Columbia University's Miller Theater. The program, which also ventures beyond the Renaissance, includes music by Lassus, Dowland and Purcell. Barihunk Christopher Herbert is part of the ensemble and this group is not be missed. If you haven't seen them yet, grab two tickets and take your favorite valentine.
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann and barihunks Rene Pape and Boaz Daniel
Lastly, we want readers to know about a live broadcast this week of Verdi's "Don Carlo." The performance originally included Mariusz Kwiecien as Rodrigo, but he withdrew due to ongoing issues with his back that he injured during a Met rehearsal of Don Giovanni. The "Hot Pole" will be replaced by Boaz Daniel. Even without Kwiecien, this production still had quite a bit of eye candy, including tenor heartthrob Jonas Kaufman and barihunk Rene Pape.
The performance begins at 5 PM German time (11 AM EST/8 AM PST). Click HERE for the broadcast.
For you legions of Mariusz Kwiecien fans, there are two videos of the Hot Pole on Polish television. One of the clips includes extensive performance footage and backstage shots. Even if you don't understand a lick of Polish, these are worth watching. (WARNING: We had a hard time getting the videos to work. Click on the STOP button and then hit PLAY). You can watch both videos at Dzień Dobry TVN. Kwiecien is currently in Poland singing Halka and Don Giovanni.
La Scala
A few of our readers have written in to inform us that the Don Giovanni from La Scala that we posted about yesterday will be broadcast today on Italian radio at RAI 3. The broadcast begins at 6 PM Milan time (Noon EST/9 AM PST).
Doppelgängers? Franz Liszt and Michael Kelly
The gifted young barihunk Michael Kelly will be joining sopranos Victoria Browers and Mary Mackenzie tonight at the WMP Concert Hall in New York City for a night of music by Franz Liszt. We couldn't help but notice a bit of a similarity between the striking composer and the equally eye-catching Michael Kelly. Liszt songs include "Was Liebe sei?," "Freudvoll und Leidvoll," "Die Lorelei", and"Die Fischerstochter, " as well as music by Debussy, Wolf and Rachmaninoff. Visit the SongFusion website for additional information.
Jérôme Varnier
French barihunk Jérôme Varnier will be performing a recital on Thursday night at the Temple Saint Marcel in Paris, France. The program includes lieder by Mozart, Schubert, Ravel, Ibert as well as Argentinian music from de Ginastera, Buchardo and Aguirre. Visit the Musicatem website for additional information.
We have to give a shout out to one of our favorite low voices, Matthew Treviño, who received rave reviews for his performance as Sarastro. The role seldom gets singled out in a review, but Treviño majestic bass caught the attention of Terence Blain in the Irish Theater Magazine:
"But it was Texan bass Matthew Treviño who truly galvanised attention: his Sarastro was magnetically sung and acted, an eerily hermetic presence with an insinuatingly malevolent agenda (he manhandles Pamina creepily during one aria). Sarastro’s part goes very low musically, but Treviño’s bottom Fs were unpinched and beautifully supported, his sonorous, burnished tone and clear enunciation a source of constant pleasure."
You can see Treviño in our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. Copies are still available HERE. But now before they're either all gone or January 1, 2012 has rolled in. You won't want to miss one day of this sexy calendar.
Barihunks Michael Kelly & Douglas Williams (L); Douglas Williams behind tenor Aaron Sheehan (R) - photos by Kathy Wittman
If you like your barihunks like your redwood trees, which is tall and awe-inspiring, then head to the Boston Early Music Festival. The group is performing Charpentier's glorious Orphée with three statuesque barihunks, Michael Kelly at 6'2", Douglas Williams at 6'4" and Olivier Laquerre at 6'7". [By the way, we featured two post on who might be the world's tallest barihunk, which you can read HERE and HERE].
The opera tells the famous story of Orphée who decends into the underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice using his musical charms. La Couronne de Fleurs, based on a text by Molière, depicts a musical contest in tribute to Louis XIV as shepherds vie for a crown of flowers from the goddess Flora for the most beautiful and eloquent aria.
There will be two performances of the opera at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston on Saturday evening, November 26th and Sunday afternoon, November 27th. The Boston Early Music Festival not only features singers who are easy on the eyes, but they produce some of the most wonderful baroque opera to listen to in the world. You can click HERE to watch one of our favorite singers, Jesse Blumberg, perform Polifierno in Agostino Steffani’s opera, Niobe, Regina di Tebe.
Douglas Williams is also part of our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. He's our July feature of "All-American Boys" along with Jonathan Boehr and Christopher Temporelli. You won't want to miss it! Shopping season is officially kicking off tomorrow so order your calendar today by clicking HERE. Please remember that all proceeds are going to benefit young artist programs.
Michael Kelly was supposed to be part of the calendar, but a reprinting error inadvertently left him out. We promise to feature plenty of this gifted young singer in 2012!. You can watch Kelly's recital from the Trinity Wall Street Church, which we featured earlier this year, by clicking HERE.
If you know of a barihunk singing in Handel's Messiah this year, please email us the information at Barihunks@gmail.com.
If you're anywhere near the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, Parliament Hill or the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," then there are recitals near you that you won't want to miss.
We first learned about Gabriel Preisser about a year ago when we received an email from a respected figure in opera who touted him as the next great baritone voice. At the time, Preisser was performing small roles at the Kentucky Opera and heading off to the Pensacola Opera. He has since wowed the judges at the Lirico Concorso Competition and landed at the Minnesota Opera (with what seems like a planeload of barihunks. More on that in a future post). Preisser can be seen Thursday night as part of the Schubert Club's "The Magic of Mozart" series. He will be performing with soprano Angela Mortellaro and accompanist Aaron Breid. Click HERE for additional information.
Michael Kelly
Another singer who has been wowing judges in Michael Kelly, who recently showed off his vocal skills at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition and was the winner of the 2011 "Joy in Singing Award." We also recently featured an entire recital from Michael Kelly on this site, which you can still watch.
If you'd like to see him live, he will be part of the New York Debut Artist Recital series on Monday, October 24th at 8pm in Merkin Hall. Visit their website for additional information. His recital will feature music by Schubert, Poulenc, Vaughan Williams, and William Bolcom, and introduce a new cycle written for him by Ben Moore. Jonathan Ware will be at the piano.
On Thursday, November 3rd, Kelly will appear at the Hungarian Consulate General with soprano Julia Küsswetter to perform music by Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Liszt and Bartok. Additional information can be found at the German Forum website.
Jonathan Estabrooks
On Saturday, October 15 at 7:30 pm Jonathan Estabrooks and his brother Bryan Estabrooks will present a musical journey ranging from opera houses to night clubs. Hosted by Jian Ghomeshi from CBC Radio's Q, this promises to be an entertaining evening. Trust us that anything involving the Estatbrooks Brothers promises to be fun. The performance is at the Shenkman Arts Center in Ottawa. Click HERE for additional information.
Of course, you can always catch Jonathan Estabrooks at "A Singer's Life" on YouTube.
For those of you in London, the great Italian baritone Lucio Gallo is the next performer in the Rosenblatt Recital series on Wednesday, October 12 at 7:30 PM. He'll be bringing sunny Italy to England with an evening of songs and arias by Tosti. Visit the Rosenblatt Recital website for additional information.
Here is Gallo singing Mozart's "Hai gia vinta la causa" from "Le nozze di Figaro":
In December of last year barihunk Michael Kelly performed a recital with accompanist Jessica Chow at the Trinity Wall Street Church in New York. One of our readers alerted us that the entire recital is available on the church's website (and now on Barihunks). Don't miss a chance to watch this captivating and talented young singer!
Kelly has performed with Opernhaus Zurich, Chicago Opera Theatre, Gotham Chamber Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Tanglewood Music Center, and has performed in recital in New York, Houston, Chicago, Switzerland, Germany, France, and Corsica. He holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School.
This evening, Kelly wrapped singing the role of Eric Satie's "Socrates" for the Mark Morris Dance Company at the Rose Theater as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival. You can read the New York Times review HERE. For those of you who missed this recital, he will be performing again at Merkin Hall in New York City on October 24. The 2011 winner of the "Joy In Singing Award," will perform works by Schubert, Poulenc, Vaughan Williams, and Bolcom, and introduce a new cycle written for him by Ben Moore. Jonathan Ware will accompany him at the piano. Click HERE for tickets.
An astute reader and attendee of the Boston Early Music Festival pointed out to us that Jesse Blumberg isn't the only barihunk performing at the festival. Douglas Williams, who has also appeared on this site before, is singing Polyphemus in Handel's "Acis and Galatea."
Michael Kelley
Also appearing in the cast is Michael Kelly as Coridon. If you've needed an excuse to experience baroque opera, what more do you need than Jesse Blumberg, Douglas Williams and Michael Kelly? There are performances on June 18, 26 and 27. Click HERE for additional cast and performance information.
Click HERE to watch Michael Kelly perform Schubert's Winterreise.
