Listen to the "Three Barihunks" from Montreal; Barihunks Sly and Brancy take 1st & 3rd

Sidney Outlaw, Philippe Sly and John Brancy

As a follow up to our post on Sunday about the Concours vocal competition in Montreal, we'd like to let readers know that the performances by the three barihunks who advanced to the finals are now available online. In fact, Sidney Outlaw, Philippe Sly and John Brancy perform one after another, providing an amazing opportunity to compare these three amazing artists.

We admit to being biased towards lower voices, but these three men are truly some of the best opera singers emerging on the scene today. The depth of their artistry and the quality of their voices is remarkable, especially considering that the youngest, Phillippe Sly and John Brancy, are just 23!

The winners will be officially revealed on Friday, but we've heard that Sly took away the top prize, shortly after having won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The three top singers will appear in the Winners’ Gala Concert this Friday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Maison symphonique de Montréal. Under the direction of Alain Trudel, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will accompany the winners. Tickets are available at 514 842-2112. The winners are:

FIRST PRIZE – $30,000

PHILIPPE SLY, BASS-BARITONE, CANADA

Added to the First Prize is the Career development programme, valued at $20,000.

SECOND PRIZE – $15,000

OLGA KINDLER, SOPRANO, SWITZERLAND

THIRD PRIZE – $10,000

JOHN BRANCY, BARITONE, UNITED STATES

For the finals, John Brancy kicked it off with Wagner's "O su mein holder Abendstern" from Tannhäuser,  Tchaikovsky's "Postoite na odno mgnovenye!" from Pique Dame, Mendelssohn's "Es ist genug" from Elijah and Rossini's "Largo al factotum" from the Barber of Seville. Phillipe Sly then follows with Stravinsky's "Come, master" from the Rake's Progress, Handel's "Invida sorte avara" from Ariodante, Mozart's "Hai già vinta la causa!" from Marriage of Figaro and Bach's "Mache dich, mein Herze, rein" fo from the St. Matthew Passion. Sidney Outlaw finishes up this amazing run of baritone music with Mendelssohn's "Draw near ye people....Lord God of Abraham" from Eljah, Handel's "Sibilar gli angui d'Aletto" from Rinaldo, Korngold's Tanzlied from Die tote stadt and Verdi's "Death of Rodrigo" from Don Carlo.  

Click here to listen to the performance. The barihunk run starts at about the 27 minute mark and is worth the listen.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Marie Claire Italia features Sexiest Men in Opera

Clockwise from left: David Fray, Erwin Schrott, Mirco, Mirco Palazzi, Stephen Costello, Noah Stewart & Jonas Kaufmann

Marie Claire Italia has a feature out on the sexiest men in opera, which includes barihunks Erwin Schrott and Mirco Palazzi, as well as tenors Noah Stewart, Stephen Costello and Jonas Kaufmann. (Astute readers of the site might have noticed that those three tenors have snuck into some of our posts and video features.)

They even threw in David Fray, who they seemingly just couldn't resist. As an aside, we had a conversation with a world renowned conductor recently who said that he's noticed that violinists and pianists who he's working with look increasingly like models from European fashion magazines.

Marie Claire makes the case that we've been pleading for years, which is that opera has to compete with Hollywood for audiences. They also mention the increased popularity of high-definition broadcasts of opera where audiences want singers who are believable and nice to look at on the big screen. You can read the entire article online. The article manages to throw in a little humor, as well, saying Schrott's only shortcoming is that he's unavailable because he's married to the equally stunning soprano Anna Netrebko.

Mirco Palazzi and some hot pool boys in Rossini's "Il viaggio a Reims":

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com