March 1

Military maneuvers:

Words to the wise:

If you're going to sin,

you must sin thoroughly and with conviction.

Barihunks!

I swear it never fails. The instant I accept a booking for a concert appearance, I learn of a performance by an artist I’ve been longing to hear, whose concert is on the same day and time as my own. Drives me crazy.

Such was the case in mid-January, when German baritone Benjamin Appl* (above, and in quilted leather, below) – the hot new rising star in the world of Lieder singing – gave his Washington DC premiere performance at the Phillips Collection’s oak paneled Music Room. Not only was I aware of the buzz surrounding this singer’s abilities, I had seen the photos and lingered and languished over the YouTube videos. Again and again. World class musicianship paired with a massive dose of pulchritude, a combination hard to resist.
   *pronounced AH-pull

But I digress. Back to the concert. Mr. Appl’s accompanist for the entire 2-week American tour was James Baillieu (below), a South African native based in London. He, too, is blessed with good looks, youth and impeccable credentials. 

I’m a collaborative pianist myself and, obviously, a lover of male beauty as well, so you can imagine my angst when the subsequent Washington Post review was a major rave. And I had been unable to attend. Curses!

Here Mr. Appl sings J. S. Bach's famous aria*, BIST DU BEI MIR, featured on his recent CD (above). Ja, ich bin bei dir, Ben!

Text translation:

If you are with me, I will gladly go to my death and eternal rest. Ah, what a pleasant end for me, if your dear hands would be the last I’ll see, closing my faithful eyes.

*After years of false attribution to Bach, it had been discovered that this aria actually comes from an opera by Gottfried Heinrich Stolzel, a contemporary of Bach. It appeared in a musical notebook used by Bach's wife, so at most this could be an arrangement by Bach, not an original composition.

Last October another hunky German baritone, Holger Falk (below), gave his Washington premiere at the Phillips Collection. Again, at 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon. Again, I was otherwise booked. I had to content myself with the Internet photos of Herr Falk performing opera in tank tops, shirtless and/or in just a tight pair of boxer shorts (I kid you not). Inspiration of a prurient sort.

Modern day opera performances featuring semi-clad (or, in some instances, entirely nude) male singers sell bucket loads of tickets (opera audiences are disproportionately populated by straight females and gay men). Well, sexy baritones and those who lust after them have a website that objectifies male classical vocalists. In a good way:

http://barihunks.blogspot.com

Check it out.