Ft. Opera Star Michael Mayes Featured in 360 West

Michael Mayes in 360 West magazine

When we recently featured Michael Mayes and his self-described transformation from Bari-Chunk to Bari-Hunk, it almost doubled our internet traffic for a week. Michael Mayes is one of our favorite people in opera. His Texapolitan Opera podcast is one of the most entertaining sites in all of classical music. He's also known as a great colleague, who works hard and is supportive of others. He's also become a fan favorite at the Ft. Worth Opera Festival, where he will return this season to sing Kinesias in Mark Adamo's comedy Lysistrata.

We've been unabashed in our support of the Ft. Worth Opera Festival, which we believe is a mandatory stop on any opera lover's list of festivals. This year they're also performing Jake Heggie's Three Decembers, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and Puccini's Tosca. We encourage you to check out their website and learn more about this company.

Mayes is one of the feature stories in the May 2012 issue of 360 West magazine, where he talks about the special place that the Festival holds in his heart. It's an absolute must read and can be accessed HERE beginning on page 104.

Ted Federle sings Kinesias' aria from Adamo's "Lysistrata"in the 2007 non-professional premiere of the opera at the Seagle Music Colony:

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Fort Worth Opera's Plethora of Pulchritude

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It's not often that we feature Tosca and it's not that we don't love the opera. It's just that Scarpia hasn't been the quintessential barihunk role. Fort Worth Opera performed Tosca with the dashing Michael Chioldi in 2005, which brought a whole different tension to the rape scene. For a moment, one wondered, "Well, maybe Scarpia wouldn't be such a bad hook-up." Of course, then Puccini's music said otherwise. Fort Worth is bringing Chioldi back to reprise his successful portrayal of the evil police chief.

But who really caught our eye was Angelotti, who will be sung by the gifted young baritone Tom Forde, who we first discovered as a Santa Fe Apprentice Young Artist and who we featured in our charity calendar. Forde has taken his fitness routine as serious as his singing...and it shows. Forde, who has always had a great face for the stage - expressive, with big features - now has the body to match.

We are kind of wondering if Tosca will dump Mario and run off with Angelotti.

Donovan Singletary

Forde, will have a little of barihunk competition at the Fort Worth Opera Festival, as Donovan Singletary is returning to take on Figaro in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" opposite fellow barihunk Jonathan Beyer, who is singing Count Almaviva. Singletary, a rising vocal talent who excelled in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in New York, also happens to have one of the greatest bodies in opera.

We hate to rewrite Mozart, but if we were the Countess, we'd turn the tables on the philandering Count and run off into the garden with Figaro.

Seth Mease Carico (L) & Michael Mayes (R)

If you haven't hadn't enough beefcake after Tosca and Figaro, make sure to grab a ticket for Mark Adamo's comic, yet racy Lysistrata. Another singer who has recently hit the gym, Michael Mayes, will be performing Kinesias. His new abs went viral on the internet when we posted his picture performing in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking" at the Tulsa Opera.

Patrons who last saw Seth Mease Carico in Fort Worth's "Before Night Falls" may not recognize the singer, who has a body and new look that makes him look more like Adam Levine than Leonard Warren. Carico and Mayes are both great singers AND actors, which makes us think that Lysistrata could be the surprise hit of the festival. Few opera companies perform non-standard repertory as well as Fort Worth. Last season, Philip Glass' "Hydrogen Jukebox" played to enthusiastic, sold out houses. In fact, we named it our "Best Opera of 2011" in our annual year end feature.

Matt Worth

Last on the agenda, is Jake Heggie's amazingly moving opera "Three Decembers," which will feature one of our favorite singers, Matthew Worth.

Worth sang the role of Charlie with the Chicago Opera Theater in 2010 to great critical acclaim. Mark Thomas Ketterson wrote in Opera News, "Matthew Worth's warmly youthful baritone is intrinsically appealing, and he shaded Charlie's music with intelligence and great sensitivity."

Jake Heggie talks about his opera: 

The Fort Worth Opera Festival should be a stop on any opera lover's travel calendar. This year's festival runs from May 12-June 3 and tickets can be purchased online.

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Three Barihunks Photographed Together at Santa Fe Opera Reception in NY

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.

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Mezzo Kate Jackman's "Top 10 Worst Opera Villains"

At Barihunks, we find baritones to be sexy and seductive, like Douglas Williams. Could a face like this be a villain?

The beautiful, funny and gifted mezzo-soprano Kate Jackman penned a list of the "Top 10 Worst Opera Villains" for the wonderful blog Operagasm. Of course any list about villains will invariably include some baritones, as many composers consider it the perfect voice for devils, killers, rapists and evil husbands. In fact, six of her ten villains are baritones or basses. (For the record, we think the baritone voice is sexy, sultry, seductive and virile).

Falk Struckmann as Kaspar in Vienna

Her baritone and bass villains include Kaspar from Der Freischutz, of whom she writes:

I get it. You don’t want to go to hell. Understandable.

But tricking some poor, love-sick sap into shooting his beloved Agathe, just so you can get three more miserable years on Earth seems excessive. And how did that plan work out for you? She’s alive, everyone else is happy, and you are burning in a fiery pit for all eternity. Good game.

Barihunk Kyle Ketelsen as Nick Shadow in London

 Nick Shadow from The Rake's Progress:

The Shadow Master. The Puppeteer. You pull the strings of poor, feckless Tom.  You give him money, loose women, a bearded wife (that’s right, BEARDED), and a magic bread maker, and in doing so make him penniless, loveless, hopeless, and eventually lifeless (as in DEAD). You evoke ruin, disaster, and shame from the second you appear until the instant you sink back into the depths of Hades. You, sir, are a scoundrel.

Barihunk Marco Vratogna as Iago with Carlo Ventre as Otello in Frankfurt

Iago from Otello:

Much like the same-named, cartoon parrot in Disney’s Aladdin, you perch on Otello’s shoulder and spew deceit.

I get that you hate Otello and want him to suffer, but was it really worth going through this whole elaborate plan? Couldn’t you just off the guy and be done with it? And, honestly, what did Desdemona ever do to you? Why does she have to be collateral damage? You had to know that you were not going to walk away from this without facing the consequences.

But you didn’t care, did you? You are just a hateful little worm, aren’t you?

Stephen Costello as Faust) with barihunk Greer Grimsley asMéphistophélès in San Diego

Mephistopheles from Faust:

ATTENTION TENORS: OMG DO NOT ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE DEVIL!


Really, just don’t even talk to him. It’s not worth it and you will regret it in the long haul.

Take the story of Faust as a cautionary tale: He’s old; he has a lot of regrets. Suddenly, Mephistopheles appears and promises to make him young and virile in exchange for his soul. Stupid Faust agrees, and four acts later he is being dragged down into perdition.

Mephistopheles is just about as bad and scary as they come. Watch the Church Scene in the middle of the night and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Lado Ataneli as Barnaba and Violeta Urmana as Gioconda in the stunning Pizzi production

Barnaba from La Gioconda:

Gentlemen, take note. When a lady tells you she is not interested in your advances, you should:
a) Move on. Fish in the sea blah blah blah

OR

b) Attempt to woo her with the standard flattery, flowers, dinner, etc. She may eventually develop romantic feelings for you.

When a lady tells you she is not interested, you should NOT:

a) Denounce her blind, elderly mother as a witch in front of the entire town.

b) Drown said elderly mother in the Venetian canals.

Your lady will not love you for it and may just stab herself in the gut to get away from you.

And her #1 evil villain is, of course, Scarpia (who we have actually found to be quite sexy in some productions, which adds a whole different element to the seduction scene):

María José Siri as Tosca and Claudio Sgura as Scarpia at the Savonlinna Festival

Scarpia from Tosca  Congratulations, Scarpia. You are the nastiest of the nasty characters in Opera.

Nobody likes you. Everyone was happy to see you die.  

Why?  

Well, let’s recap: You arrested a painter and had him tortured where his lover, a singer, could hear his screams. You then attempted to seduce the singer, like she’d be in any kind of mood for nookie when her lover is being tortured in the next room… and she could hear

his screams. You made her promise to give herself to you in exchange for his life, and then had him executed anyway.  

Seriously, dude. If anyone deserved to get stabbed in the chest by a vengeful soprano, it’s you.

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Barihunk Role Announcements; Happy Birthday, Vincenzo Bellini

We've learned that Dmitri Hvorostovsky aka "The Siberian Hunky," will be singing Iago at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2015/16 season. We'll have more on this as the date approaches.

Since today is Vincenzo Bellini's birthday, here is Hvorostovsky singing a jaw-droppingly beautiful version of "Ah, per sempre io ti perdei" from "I Puritani."



The other big news regarding roles comes out of Santa Fe. Thomas Hampson and Mariusz Kwiecien will be bringing roles to the U.S. that that received critical acclaim in Europe. Hampson will be singing Scarpia in Puccini's "Tosca" and Kwiecien will be performing his sizzling hot portrayal of King Roger in Karol Szymanoski's opera of the same name. Visit the Santa Fe Opera website for additional cast and performance information.

Here is Hampson singing the Te Deum from Tosca in Zurich:



You can watch an entire performance of King Roger with "The Hot Pole" on YouTube. Here is the Part 1 of 10:



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Don't forget to order your 2012 Barihunks calendar. Click HERE to order. All proceeds go to support young artists and young artist programs. It's a great gift and an easy way to support our next generation of baritones. You can read more about our calendar at this previous post.

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Reader Submission: Luke Scott

Sexy Scarpia: Luke Scott

We've always liked the idea of a Scarpia that is so hot that the audience might for a moment think that Tosca would surrender her body and selfishly send Mario to the firing squad an act early. With Luke Scott as Scarpia in the current Connecticut Lyric Opera production of Puccini's "Tosca" we could certainly image that scenario.

Luke Scott is another one of our reader submissions that we asked you to submit and what a find. He received his Bachelor and Graduate degrees in voice performance from The Hartt School of Music and went on to train at the Chautauqua Institution, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Martina Arroyo Foundation, and Voice Experience Foundation.

He has sung Mozart’s Count In "Le Nozze di Figaro" at the Dicapo Theater, Peter in Humperdinck's "Hansel und Gretel" with Opera Theater of Connecticut, the title role in Puccini's "Gianni Schicci" with Connecticut Lyric Opera and even crossed over to play Daddy Warbucks in Annie and Emile de Becce in South Pacific.

There are three performance of Tosca remaining with the Connecticut Lyric Opera on May 15, 20 and 21. Please check their website for addition cast information, performance times and venues.

Good guys we love: Chris Herbert & Erwin Schrott

We also have a soft spot for baritones who do good in the world like Chris Herbert and his work with "Sing for Hope" and Erwin Schrott and his humanitarian relief concerts. Luke Scott is another one of those wonderful singers who gives back to the community. He is a member of the Archipelago Project, an international ensemble performing music and educating about the arts around the world.

We've been asked to also wish Luke a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! (May 8th for those who are curious).

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