Barihunks

Craig Verm Could Confuse Butterfly

2009-07-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

We find it fascinating that barihunk Craig Verm is being cast as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at the Festival de Belle-Ile in Brittany. If we were Cio-Cio San we'd dump Pinkerton and run off with the American Consul Sharpless. Why put up with a two-timing jerk if this Sharpless walked in?

Verm returns to the United States for a run of La Boheme at the Austin Lyric Opera with fellow barihunk Liam Moran and Jonathan Beyer, who probably deserves to be on this site. For more information, visit http://www.austinlyricopera.org/web/productions_laboheme.asp.

For more hunky pictures of Craig Verm and some background on the singer, view our previous posts here: http://barihunks.blogspot.com/search?q=verm

Ramin Karimloo's Racy Testicular Cancer Ad

2009-07-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

Ramin Karimloo: Baritone?

2009-07-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

We will never pass up the opportunity to post the picture of shirtless barihunk, even if we're quibbling with some relevant fact. First, the headline of the Toronto Globe & Mail article refers to Ramin Karimloo as a baritone. We went onto his site and it was a 3-0 vote that he's a tenor. But for the moment. let's trust his agent and the Canadian press. (Listen for yourself at: http://www.raminkarimloo.net/home.html.

Then there is the small matter of this site being dedicated to opera singers. The closet Karimloo has gotten to an opera performance is a few gigs on stage singing Gilbert & Sullivan. He is currently Andrew Lloyd Webber's handpicked choice to star in his follow up to Phantom of the Opera - Love Never Dies.

We decided that we could quibble all we wanted about the facts, but at the end of the day we decided to post these delicious pictures. Barihunks readers can decide on their own if he's an operatic baritone. One thing I'm sure we can all agree on, he's one of the hottest men on stage today!

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Allen Boxer: Not Just a Pretty Face

2009-07-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Some of our readers with sharp eyes noticed that Michael Rice's picture was changed from a boring head shot to a saucy pool picture. A reader was nice enough to send it along and it greatly enhanced the post.

Two days later, along comes this picture of Allen Boxer as Collatinus in Aldeburgh in 2008. Benjamin Britten would have been pleased! Hopefully, we have a little friendly competition going on at Castleton and our mailbox will be filled with sexier pictures than the one's posted. If he is "wearing" the same costume at Castleton, then The Rape of Lucretia is clearly the hottest ticket in opera for July.

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Barihunk Feast at Castleton Festival in Virginia

2009-07-03T21:51:00.001-07:00

Matthew Worth (above)

Paul LaRosa (above)

Allen Boxer (above)

Adrian Kramer (above)

Michael Rice (above)

If you want an unbelievable barihunk feast for the eyes, head to Virginia for Lorin Maazel's Castleton Festival. Whenever, there is a lot of Benjamin Britten on the program, you can pretty well be guaranteed that there will be some eye candy and Castleton has gone all out.

Recent performancees of "The Rape of Lucretia" have kept this site busy, as opera companies are realizing that casting barihunks in this opera makes the rape scene all the more powerful. We predict that Matthew Worth will become known as the greatest Tarquinius to ever grace the stage. He'll be reprising the role that he performed here a few years ago when he caught the attention of opera houses across the globe. Worth has already become a favorite on this site, frequently getting more hits than better known barihunks.

The hunky Paul LaRosa also returns to this opera after honing his skills at the Merola Opera Program and at Julliard. He'll be playing Junius. We've seen La Rosa onstage and off and we can attest to his raw sexuality. Check out his shirtless picture if you don't believe us!

Collatinus will be played by Allen Boxer, a bass-baritone from Cincinnati. He is also returning in the same role. Apparently the mantra at Castleton is, "Why mess with a good thing?"

Adrian Kramer is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and is also making his return to the festival as Sid in "Albert Herring." He has already performed the barihunk role of Papageno and we're hoping that there are plenty more to come. Check out his MySpace page where you can hear some amazing sound clips. This guy has quite a future.

Even John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" is getting in the barihunk act. Mr. Peachum will be played by Michael Rice, a recent graduate of the master degree program at the Manhattan School of Music who has previously worked with Maestro Maazel

For more information visit: http://www.chateauville.org/event/program/castleton_festival_the_rape_of_lucretia_6

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Happy 4th: Celebrating American Barihunks

2009-07-03T21:14:00.001-07:00

We can't think of a better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to celebrate our country's abundance of Barihunks. Here are some of our favorite baritones from the good old United States of America. These guys will make the fireworks go off!

David Adam Moore (above)

Tom Forde (above)

Tom Corbeil (above)

Kyle Ketelsen (above)

Randal Turner (above)

Rod Gilfry (above)

Nathan Gunn (above)

Michael Todd Simpson (above)

Chris Herbert (above)

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Nathan Gunn in Pearl Fishers

2009-06-29T21:39:00.001-07:00

Here is your chance to enjoy three minutes of a shirtless Nathan Gunn and a nice shot of him from the rear. This video shows why he has remained one of our three most popular barihunks since the site was started.

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Matthew Treviño: Devilishly Hot

2009-06-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things about running this site is showing the world that there is opera outside of New York. There is a wealth of talent working in "second tier" opera companies and often the performances are much more gratifying. Singers like Matthew Treviño bring an intensity and presence to the stage that may get lost in Renee Fleming's long shadow on the stage of The Met.

This devilishly good looking bass has charmed audiences in cities like Ft. Worth, Sacramento, Kansas City, Dallas, Detroit and Santa Barbara. As you can see from the photo on the bottom, Matthew Treviño can even make Colline in La Boheme look sexy. Of course, we prefer him as a soldier in Salome exposing some skin. We won't even make a joke about him playing Dick Deadeye in Kansas City!

Like many barihunks, he got his major break with the Fort Worth Opera, which has become ground zero for barihunkiness. Treviño went on to hone his skills at the prestigious Merola Opera Program where he first caught our eye.

The Texas native graduated from Baylor University and was a finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Foundation Competition, Dallas Opera Guild Competition, Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Voice Competition, Shreveport Opera’s Singer of the Year Competition, and was the recipient of the Thomas Stewart Award for Vocal Excellence at Baylor University.

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Quirijn de Lang Caught With His Shirt On

2009-06-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

We've featured Quirijn de Lang on this site three time before, but this is the first time with his shirt on! He's still sexy as the fully clothed Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola at Garsington Opera. The opera also features barihunk Joshua Bloom as Alidoro, so this production is a true feast for the eyes. For some reason pictures of Bloom are really difficult to find (is anyone at Askonas Holt listening?).

There are still two peformances left: http://www.garsingtonopera.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=32. If you want to see our previous post of de Lang, click here: http://barihunks.blogspot.com/search?q=quirijn.

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Mario Caria Makes U.S. Mainstage Debut in Cincinnati

2009-06-27T05:52:00.000-07:00

You have to give the Cincinnati Opera some credit. First, their recent Le Nozze di Figaro featured Barihunks favorite Teddy Tahu Rhodes, then they follow it up with American mainstage debut of Mario Caria. Caria, by the way, also made his U.S. debut at the Cincinnati May Festival. Maybe it's Cincinnati's famous chili, but whatever is bringing the barihunks to this quaint river town, keep 'em coming!

For more information visit: http://www.cincinnatiopera.org/content.jsp?articleId=719

The 32-year-old Sardinian has studied with famed soprano Mirella Freni and has won a series of prestigious vocal awards, including the audience prize at the 2007 Operalia competition. It's easy to see why he'd be an audience favorite, with his smoky Mediterranean good looks and perfect Verdian baritone.

His next U.S. appearance will be with the Washington National Opera portraying Figaro in Rossini's classic comedy: http://www.dc-opera.org/performances/barber.asp

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Michael Leibundgut Shows Some Skin

2009-06-25T05:16:00.001-07:00

[Center photo: Regine Koerner, Munich]

We featured Michael Leibundgut back in May, but we didn't have any pictures at the time showing off his gorgeous body. Thanks to one tenacious reader in Der Schweiz, you can see more of what makes this teutonic beauty a barihunk. It looks like Michael is spending as much time at the gym as with his scores (and we're not complaining!).

The center photo features him in Aureliano Catteno's "La Philosophie Dans de Labyrinthe" from Munich. Apparently, Leibundgut was a hit. Here's the review from MusicWeb Live: "Michael Leibundgut, was particularly impressive as the Minotaur. Besides singing unaccompanied, he encompassed a vocal range from deep bass to falsetto, yet established a powerful presence in each register."

You can read more about him at: http://barihunks.blogspot.com/2009/05/emerging-barihunk-michael-leibundgut.html

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Kwiecien Off The Stage

2009-06-23T05:07:00.001-07:00

The King Roger photos show us that Mariusz Kwiecien is one studly barihunk on stage. But he's quite a hunk off-stage, as well. Here are some random photos taken by fans of the Polish baritone either backstage or at a cocktail party.

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More Mariusz Kwiecien From King Roger

2009-06-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

Who said that King Roger isn't an interesting opera? One couldn't help but be totally mesmerized by Mariusz Kwiecien during the entire broadcast yesterday from the Bastille. Also, now everyone knows why he's called the Hot Pole (see center photo - or should we say "box' 3?).

One other thing needs to be said about Mariusz Kwiecien on a serious note. He's undoubtedly a great singer and he's unquestionably a barihunk. But Kwiecien is probably the best actor in all of opera. One of the motivations for creating this site was having seen Kwiecien in arguably the greatest portrayal of Don Giovanni ever at the San Francisco Opera. He dominated the stage with sexual energy and he had the type of edginess that makes one understand how women fall in love with rakes, murderers and societal bad boys.

King Roger is a notoriously difficult opera to pull off dramatically. The joke amongst music critics is that it's best enjoyed on CD, where one can lather in it's luxurious melodies. Kwiecien brings out so much of the character's inner self that it actually elevates the opera.

With all of that said, enjoy the pictures, which is why this site exists.

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Mariusz Kwiecien Brings Some Sexual Energy to King Roger

2009-06-19T19:25:00.001-07:00

The Paris Opera is performing Karol Szymanowski's rarely performed opera King Roger (or Le Roi Roger in France). King Roger's lack of performance stems from the fact that the opera is much more interesting musically than it is dramatically. In fact, the music is exquisite. The Paris Opera has created a visually stunning version of the opera and having the Hot Pole run around his briefs boxer shorts would make Pfitzner's Palestrina interesting.

You can watch this performance live on Saturday, June 19th at 11 AM P.S.T at http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Le_Roi_Roger_de_Karol_Szymanowski_a_l_Opera_Bastille/

You can find a synopsis of the opera here: http://www-umi.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2008/7/16/20080716_1_1900/

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Random David Adam Moore Pictures

2009-06-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

As David Adam Moore wraps up his run as his run at La Scala, we thought that people on the East Coast would want to know that he's heading to Glimmerglass to perform in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. He'll be performing in the Jonathan Miller production from August 2-23 and you can get more information here: http://www.glimmerglass.org/season/opera4.html. We have a feeling that this is a production that's not to be missed.

For those of you on the West Coast, you can see Dido and Aeneas with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with soprano Susan Graham and baritone William Berger (for you red head lovers). Click here for information: http://philharmonia.org/nov09.html.

We decided to post some random pictures of DAM for your pleasure. From top to bottom: Pearl Fishers in Seattle, Billy Budd in Israel, at a Gotham Chamber Opera fund raiser, and Demetrius at La Scala.

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Daniel Okulitch Pix From La Scala

2009-06-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the long awaited pictures of Barihunks favorite Daniel Okulitch from the amazing production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at La Scala. We already posted pictures of über-hunk David Adam Moore, who portrayed Demetrius barefoot, in a sexy tee and his shorts. Unfortunately, Daniel Okulitch was given a few layers of gold lamme.

Okulitch will be headed to New York where he will be making his New York City Opera debut in Don Giovanni.

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Kyle Ketelsen Heats Up Carmen

2009-06-18T07:10:00.001-07:00

[Photo courtesy of De Nederlandse Opera]
Those of us in San Francisco were already familiar with Kyle Ketelsen's sexy, hot Escamillo in Carmen. He portrayed the role here in 2006 and completely stole the show. He is reprising the role at De Nederlandse Opera and apparently he has gotten even hotter with time. Or perhaps it's that sexy torreador outfit that costuming made for him. He certainly fills out those pants nicely.

This production was directed by the brilliant Robert Carsen, who also directed the sexy version of A Midsummer Night's Dream at La Scala featured in a recent post (and more pix coming!).

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Giovanni Furlanetto in Mozart

2009-06-17T05:02:00.001-07:00

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Giovanni Furlanetto is new to Barihunks and came recommended to us by another singer who said "no one is sexier on stage." Well, from the clip of him singing in Le Nozze di Figaro, we'd say that there is a pretty good case to be made. He also looks awfully good in a tee shirt. Teddy Tahu Rhodes may have some competition.

His skills on stage may actually come from the career he had before opera, when he performed as a professional circus and theater actor. [Tenor Rolando Villazon was also trained as a clown].

He first came to the attention of the opera world when he won the 1988 Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition in Philadelphia. He has since performed on almost every major stage in Italy, throughout Europe as well as the Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Opera, Baltimore Opera, Opéra de Montréal and Philadelphia Opera.

Over the last two decades he has become known as a speialist in Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti. We've also added a wonderful clip of him singing some Tosti songs that shouldn't be missed. Clearly, this guy has everything that we love at Barihunks: he can sing, he looks great and he can act.

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"Teddy Bare" in a Tee

2009-06-14T11:21:00.001-07:00

[Pictures from the Ft. Worth Opera - the sexiest opera company in America!]

We go forever without a post of Teddy Tahu Rhodes, and now we have two in as many days. Here is Teddy Bare at a Ft. Worth Opera event with his new bride Isabel Leonard. Teddy is showing some nice biceps and a bit of his tattoo if you look r-e-a-l c-l-o-s-e.

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FINALLY! Pix of David Adam Moore from La Scala

2009-06-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to one of our loyal readers for providing the long-awaited pictures of David Adam Moore from the Robert Carsen/Matthew Bourne production of Britten's "Midsummer Night's Dream" at La Scala. These pictures affirm our suspicion that Moore would be the hottest Demetrius to ever grace the stage.

We're still looking for pictures of Daniel Okulitch as Theseus. Anyone?

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La Cieca's Hunkenscoop

2009-06-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

The divine La Cieca at www.parterre.com was the original inspiration for this site, so we're always happy when she discovers new barihunkinal talent. Her latest scoop, or hunkenscoop, is Holger Falk, who is certainly worthy of this site.

Read La Cieca's entire post, complete with photos at http://parterre.com/?p=4031.

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Teddy Tahu Rhodes in Cincinnati

2009-06-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

This may be the longest period of time that we've gone without a post of Teddy Tahu Rhodes. We never did find any juicy pictures of his Billy Budd in Santa Fe, but we're encouraged by the fact that he has plenty of barihunk roles on his schedule. He is performing Escamillo at The Met and in Munich, as well as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Sydney Opera.

The pictures from Cincinnati show him with a full head of blonde hair that makes his philandering all the more believable. Tonight is the last performance. Go to www.cincinnatiopera.org for ticket information.

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Liam Moran sings "How strange she is tonight" - Karenin's Aria

2009-06-12T07:54:00.001-07:00

Hair or no hair? He's pretty sexy either way, but how do you prefer emerging barihunk Liam Moran?

Moran is currently a resident artist with the Pittsburgh Opera where he made his debut last season as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly.

He has performed in some Barihunk opera already, including Zuniga in Carmen and the Speaker in Die Zauberflote. We can't wait to see him as Escamillo or Papageno (if it isn't too light for his voice). The former Merola student was also a prize winner of the Florida Grand Opera Competition and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions/New England region. Moran completed his studies at McGill University in Montreal and the Yale School of Music.

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2 Barihunks and a Hunkentenor

2009-06-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

[Photos by Ed Hille]

Barihunks waited eagerly for the production of Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia" to open at the Opera Company of Philadelphia. We even promoted it over a year ago when we first heard that Nathan Gunn would play the role of Tarquinius, a favorite at this site. Our excitement and anticipation increased when we learned that the role of Collatinus would be played by emerging barihunk Ben Wager. To top things off, the critical role of the Male Chorus was being played by the hunky William Burden, meaning that the Gunn/Burden partnership was returning that created one of the original barihunk/hunkentenor partnerships when they performed Pearl Fishers together topless.

We have to confess that we were a little disappointed when Phillie took much of the sexiness out of their portrayals dressing them like they were headed to Siberia in winter. We prefer our Rape of Lucretia like this: http://barihunks.blogspot.com/2009/04/some-more-matthew-worthshowing-some.html.

Nonetheless, we can't complain with two barihunks and a hunkentenor on the same stage. Even the Philadelphia Inquirer took note:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20090604_Looking_as_good_as_they_sound.html

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Magnifique: Olivier LaQuerre

2009-06-07T18:30:00.001-07:00

[Photos by Bruce Zinger]

You can't miss Canadian barihunk Olivier Laquerre, who stands at 6' 7" as well as being stunningly gorgeous. So far, his career has been centered in Canada where he has performed with the Opera de Quebec, Opera Atelier, numerous orchestras and the CBC.

He has already performed a number of barihunk roles, including Escamillo, Achilla, Papageno, Thaos, and Monteverdi's Ottone and Pluto. He is next scheduled to perform Dido and Aeneas with the Classical Music Consort in Toronto.

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