New "opera" uses mashup of porn soundtrack... Barihunks It was bound to happen, a porno opera. Of course, it it had to be in either the Netherlands or Germany. I guess Germany figured it had featured enough soft-porn Regie productions, so the "honor" goes to the Netherlands. Operadagen Rotterdam 2013 will be presenting the world premiere of Pornographia on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1.  The opera, which is being described as a mix of performance art and opera is the first part of a series of three about contemporary sociocultural trends in society. The other two will be Megalomania and Nostalgia.     The "score" of the opera will be the full soundtrack of a gay porn movie with fragments inspired by twentieth century music classics. The opera is about a small society of three figures whose mundane life is intervened by the entrance of a handsome young man. The need to satisfy their feelings of lust drives them crazy and eventually leads them to destruct what they crave for.   The May 31st performance will be preceeded by a panel discussion about the pornofication of the contemporary artistic discourse in the Netherlands. Pornographia is being described as a new experimental operatic performance about our collective need for immediate gratification of our desires. Pornographia Director Sjaron Minailo says he is using pornography as a metaphor for a culture in which the desires of the consumer are the only engine of production; A culture in which the desire for realism results in the opposite: the pornographic illustration of sexuality consumes the sexuality itself. Admission is € 10 and tickets are available online. 8 hours ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

Nmon Ford takes on Ernest Bloch's Macbeth Barihunks Nmon Ford When one thinks of the operatic version of Macbeth, one immediately thinks of Giuseppe Verdi. However, the  Swiss-American composer Ernest Bloch wrote a highly dramatic version in 1906, which has only been performed once in the U.S., at the Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1973. The opera is about to double the number of U.S. performances it has received, with performances at the Long Beach Opera from June 15-23, 2013 and again at the Chicago Opera Theater from September 13-21, 2014. The Long Beach performances will feature Panamanian-American barihunk Nmon Ford in the title role and Suzan Hanson as his scheming wife Lady Macbeth. Adding to the dramatic effect will be the location of the performance, which will be in a vast industrial space at the Port of Los Angeles. The Chicago Opera Theater has not confirmed casting. The great Inge Borkh sings Bloch's Macbeth: Bloch’s opera reveals the influence  of Wagner's music dramas and Claude Debussy's symbolist opera "Pelleas et Melisande."  Bloch's probing and dramatic score powerfully illuminates the central couple, and deeply examines the temptation of promised power and its influence over our actions. but it did not receive its first performance until November 30, 1910 by the Opéra-Comique Paris. After the premiere production, the opera was staged in 1938 in Naples, but was then banned on orders of the Fascist government. Subsequently, the opera was produced in Rome in 1953, and in Trieste.  11 hours ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

BREAKING NEWS: Aussie Morgan Pearse select... Barihunks Morgan Pearse Aussie barihunk Morgan Pearse, who created quite an internet sensation with our last post, was just named one of five artists to be represented by the prestigious Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT) in the United Kingdom. Over 100 applicants competed in the preliminary and semi-final rounds, and only five artists were selected for representation. Pearse was the only singer selected.  Set up in 1984, YCAT provides a unique stepping stone for exceptional young artists who have the potential for international performing careers. The group introduces these artists at home and abroad. The organization provides artists with a secure management base and works with event promoters in the United Kingdom and abroad in securing performance opportunities. Soprano Elizabeth Watts and the Sacconi Quartet were previous musicians selected for the honor. Pearse is the Royal College of Music’s inaugural Joan Sutherland Scholar studying with Russell Smythe. He was recently awarded top prize in the Singers Section of the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition. 1 day ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

Benjamin Covey performing in tribute to po... Barihunks Benjamin Covey Canadian barihunk Benjamin Covey will be performing in a concert celebrating the life and poetry of Scottish poet Robert Burns. The first half of the concert will explore Burns' world through word and song. He'll be joined by soprano Virginia Hatfield in performing "Comin' thru the rye," "Ye Banks and Braes," "Sweet Afton," "My love is like a red, red rose" and "Auld Lang Syne." The second half of the program will feature music from the Broadway musical Brigadoon.  Songs include "The Heather on the Hill," "Almost like being in Love," "Waitin' for my Dearie" and "Go Home to Bonnie Jean." The concert is on Friday, June 7th at 7:30PM at the Church of the Redeemer in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, or to purchase tickets by phone, call 416-755-7158. A Graduate of the University of Toronto and an Alumni of Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Development Program,  Covey debuted as Morales/Dancaire in Carmen with Manitoba Opera. He graduated from San Francisco’s prestigious Merola Opera Program in 2010, where he sang Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore.  1 day ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

Raves for Crossley-Mercer and Maltman in s... Barihunks Malin Christensson and Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Los Angeles (Lawrence K. Ho, Los Angeles Times) We posted about the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Mozart -Da Ponte Trilogy awhile back. If you missed getting tickets for Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, you missed some serious eye-candy, with three barihunks who have been on this site. Leading the way was the sexy Figaro of Edwin Crossley-Mercer.   The LA Times wrote, "Baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer was a distant, angry, virile yet, as Alaïa dressed him, metrosexual Figaro." After seeing the pictures, we would have added "smoking hot" to the list of superlatives. Also in the cast is Christopher Maltman as the Count. The LA Times wrote, "Maltman [wore] tight whites that only a powerful man could get away with, but Maltman is a magnetic baritone scarily uncowed. When outwitted, he still holds all the power, and he sang that way." In the small role of Antonio is Barihunk calendar model Brandon Cedel. Dorothea Röschmann and Christopher Maltman (Genaro Molina) There are still two performances remaining on May 23 and May 25. Conducting wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel is leading the orchestra. Visit their website for tickets. If you want to catch Crossley-Mercer in the United States, you may want to catch one of these performances. When he wraps up on May 25th, he heads back to Europe for a series of concerts and operas in France and Germany. He kicks of on June 9th at the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch Partenkirchen before heading to the Théâtre des Champs Élysées on June 20th for Fauré's Pénélope. There are no other U.S. performances listed on his schedule. If you want to catch Brandon Cedel, he'll be appearing at the Wolf Trap Opera beginning on June 21st in Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims. That production also includes barihunks Aaron Sorensen, Norman Garrett and Steven LaBrie. Additional information is available online.  3 days ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

Nathan Wyatt as Bobby Kennedy in new opera Barihunks Nathan Wyatt as Bobby Kennedy and Caitlin Vincent as Jackie Kennedy (Photo: Britt Olsen-Ecker) Nathan Wyatt is new to this site and we discovered him singing the role of Robert Kennedy in the world premiere of Joshua Bornfield's Camelot Requiem. The North Carolina native has been involved with a number of world premieres lately including, Jake Heggie’s “Epilogue: Under the Blessing of your Psyche Wings,” as part of the Opera America Songbook, and William Bolcom’s “Gettysburg, July 1, 1863,” a commission by SongFest. Camelot Requiem was commissioned by Baltimore’s Figaro Project in honor of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The opera tells the story of Jackie Kennedy and the small group who surrounded her immediately after the President’s death in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Caitlin Vincent's libretto is drawn from the written history of the event, as well as the traditional requiem mass. Nathan Wyatt sings William Bolcom’s “Gettysburg, July 1, 1863” North Carolina native Nathan Wyatt is a recent graduate of the Peabody Conservatory. He was awarded a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellowship for the summer of 2013. In September, Wyatt was one of two invited soloists, along with soprano Elizabeth Futral, to perform new works in the official opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Opera America National Opera Center in New York. Nathan Wyatt He received first place honors in the Maryland/DC chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and was a finalist in the Sylvia Green Competition in 2010.  Recent opera roles include Alexander Kerensky in the world premiere of Joshua Bornfield’s Strong like Bull, Le Directeur and Le Gendarme in Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Lescaut in Manon, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, and The Forester in The Adventures of Sharp-Ears the Vixen.   In the fall of 2011, Mr. Wyatt made is Carnegie Hall debut under the direction of Marin Alsop in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s production of Arthur Honneger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher. 4 days ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

Peter Brathwaite chosen as one of four Doc... Barihunks Peter Brathwaite If that model in the Dockers ad looks familiar, it might be because you've seen him on a London opera stage, on the cover an Amore CD or even in the Barihunks calendar. Peter Brathwaite was chosen as a brand ambassador for the pants company Dockers. He was named one of four "Men of Style" in their new campaign.  The Dockers' "Men of Style" campaign showcases some of the most influential men in the world of style and their stories. You can check out Peter Brathwaite's interview on the Dockers website, where he talks about his career, his favorite hangouts and his sense of style. You can also watch his video here: You can next see the Manchester native live at the Brighton Festival where he's singing the role of Billy Bone in the world premiere of Captain Blood's Revenge, a pirate opera, produced by Glyndebourne with music by Lynne Plowman and words by Martin Riley. Performances are on May 24 and 25 and tickets are available online. In June, he heads to the Nationale Reisopera in The Netherlands for Randal Corsen's new opera Katibu di Shon. The Opera “Katibu di Shon,” based on the novel Slave and Master, an “histoire perfumée” by Carel de Haseth, tells the story of Wilmu a slave owner, and slave Luis, two boys growing up together and their feelings for slave Anita. This triangle ends up in a confrontation between the two boys, between slave and master. The premiere will take place at Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg in front of the new King of The Netherlands. 6 days ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

Aaron Sørensen to appear at (le) Poisson R... Barihunks Aaron Sørensen We recently introduced Aaron Sørensen to readers when he was appearing with the Fort Worth Opera Festival. Now New Yorkers are going to get a chance to experience this gifted  and sexy young bass. He'll be appearing at (le) Poisson Rouge in an evening of music including Purcell, Gounod, Britten, Verdi, Mahler, and John Adams. Gotham Chamber Opera and composer-in-residence Missy Mazzoli's band Victoire will be featuring Sorenson along with soprano Angela Fout, mezzo-soprano Abby Fischer and tenor Matthew Tuell in a night of music spanning 350 years. The show is on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm) at 158 Bleecker Street in New York City. Tickets are $15-$25 and are available online. Aaron Sørensen will be returning to the Fort Worth Opera Festival next season as the French General in Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night. 7 days ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

Thomas Hampson named to Gramophone Hall of... Barihunks Thomas Hampson Über-barihunk Thomas Hampson has been named to the Gramophone Hall of Fame, along with fellow singers Montserrat Caballé, Renée Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Leontyne Price, Bryn Terfel and Fritz Wunderlich. The Gramophone Hall of Fame celebrates those performers, producers, engineers and label executives whose contributions to classical music recording, whether through artistic excellence, innovation or imagination, have proved the most influential and inspiring. For a complete list of both the 2013 inductees and a list of everyone previously inducted, please visit the Gramophone website. 7 days ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story

Dmitri Hvorostovsky's busy Verdi schedule;... Barihunks Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Rigoletto (left) Dmitri Hvorostovsky's anticipated reprisal of the title character of Verdi's classic operatic tragedy Rigoletto is happening on Friday, May 17 at the Teatro di San Carlo. Gilda will be sung by Desirée Rancatore and performances run through May 25. Fellow barihunk Christopher Margiera is also in the cast as Marullo. From June 2-12, the "Siberian Hunky" joins the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for concert performances of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera under the baton of music director Antonio Pappano. The concerts also feature Liudmyla Monastryrska and the thrilling Ulrica of Dolora Zajick. On June 19, Dmitri will star in a spectacular open-air concert at Moscow's Red Square. Led by Constantine Orbelian, Hvorostovsky will be joined by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko for the landmark performance. The concert will be televised live on RUTV, with broadcasts scheduled on the Arte network and ZDF. We'll have additional details in a future post. Netrebko, of course, is the wife of barihunk Erwin Schrott. They will be performing together at the Red Ribbon Celebration Concert in Vienna on May 24th. 8 days ago | Comment | Tag | Read Full Story