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  • A. Poggia Turra: Apologies if already posted: On 21 June at 20:15 CEST, Arte (not Arte LiveWeb) will show a tape... 3:12 AM
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Opera pump

Happy birthday to baritone Zachary Gordin, cover boy for this year’s Barihunk Wall Calendar.

The bald mezzo-soprano

She’s been a showgirl, a bubble dancer, a drag king, and of course a maimed statue.

But now, thrill to Cecilia Bartoli in her greatest role of all time: Father Merrin in The Exorcist!

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Regie, bangles and beads

Smartly done, cher diseur de bons mots: Monsieur Hoffmann rightly guessed last week’s puzzler to be Don Giovanni. The production by Doris Dörrie is currently playing the Staatsoper Hamburg.

Elsewhere, the Regie never stops, as you will see after the jump. Read more »

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Jacques, strapping

Meet Jacques Snyman of South Africa, former rugby player, current fitness model and anti-bullying activist, and possible future opera star.

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The wild Juan

And now, ladies and gentlemen, Christopher Maltman (among others) in Kasper Holten‘s Juan.

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Tête de Bo

Those of you escaping the summer heat this afternoon may want to gather ’round for a performance of Don Giovanni (featuring recent convert to the shaved-noggin lifestyle Bo Skovhus) live from the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, beginning at 3:30 New York time.

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Buzzworthy

Mean, moody, magnificent Mariusz Kwiecien gets the Regie treatment (including a buzzcut!) for a new Don Giovanni in Munich.

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tales told

This just in from the Met’s press office: “In the Met’s new staging of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Joseph Calleja will sing the title role, replacing Rolando Villazón, and Alan Held will sing the roles of the four villains, replacing René Pape.” The press release goes on to explain that Villazón plans to undergo throat surgery and will return to the stage in 2010. Pape has decided not to add the four villains (Lindorf, Coppélius, Dappertutto, and Dr. Miracle) to his repertory.

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