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Concerts – STABAT MATER – Madison Symphony
“Soprano Celena Shafer, mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chavez, tenor Lawrence Brownlee and bass Arthur Woodley assisted in telling the tale, providing strong voices that ranged above the instruments as needed, underscoring as required the emotions of the composition . Rossini applied the full orchestral palette, perhaps in a less florid way than other composers handling similar works. The vocalists brought sufficient emotion to their roles.”
“Brownlee's bright tenor shone during ‘Cujus animam gementem’."
Michael Muckian, The Capital Times, March 9, 2008
“The soloists were first-rate. Lawrence Brownlee's bright and buoyant tenor voice hit that high C in the operatic ‘Cujus animam gementem,’ music that confirms the conflict between words and music.”
John Aehl, Wisconsin State Journal, March 8, 2008
Recital – Tuesday Musical Association – Akron, OH
“The song [Lehar’s ‘Dein ist mein ganzes Herz’] added operetta to the span of opera, art song and African-American spirituals that the Youngstown native had covered so persuasively, with the marvelous partnering of pianist Martin Katz. This young tenor came prepared to show a complete package, and he succeeded with a Tuesday Musical recital of breadth, depth and vocal fireworks.
After hearing Brownlee on disc and reading about his successes in the bel canto repertoire at La Scala in Milan or at the Metropolitan Opera, I was primed for the two showstoppers on either side of the intermission. Brownlee delivered with both.
‘Cessa di più resistere’ is an aria for Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville that's often cut because it's so demanding. What an exciting vehicle for Brownlee's nimble, flexible technique. The tenor popped out the florid writing with impeccable accuracy and an improbable sense of ease.
Likewise, Tonio's aria ‘Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête!’ from Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment is not for vocal sissies. Taking a slightly deliberate pace, Brownlee used his ringing head voice to smoothly connect lines and then knock out the repeated high C's with take-no-prisoners command.
It wasn't only the pyrotechnics and the sheer beauty of Brownlee's voice that made the recital such a pleasure, although they went a long way. Brownlee's diction was also wonderfully clear whether singing a set of French songs by Duparc or the Italian operatic fare.
Clearly, this performer cares about communicating. The ornamentation in Rossini or Donizetti can be the equivalent of triple axels: awe-inspiring but empty if the performer doesn't know how to make the decoration part of some larger expression. Brownlee put all the tricks at the service of the music's story line.
During the second half, Brownlee introduced each piece with a touching anecdote or tribute to someone who had inspired him. Most moving of all was his performance of the spiritual ‘Oh Freedom’. Brownlee dedicated his performance to the African-American tenor George Shirley, who paved a way through racial bigotry. Brownlee sang the lyrics, ‘Before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave,’ with noble, heroic beauty.
Singing from his roots, and not losing touch with his Youngstown upbringing, Brownlee is an all-American success story.”
Elaine Guregian, Akron Beacon Journal, February 14, 2008
Concerts – STABAT MATER (Rossini) – Santa Cecilia/Rome
“The 4 vocal soloists were all splendid…”
Mya Tannenbaum, Corriere della sera, October 15, 2007
“…intense performances by Bell, Ganassi, Brownlee and Yang.”
Anna Cepollardo, La Repubblica, October 15, 2007
“Among the excellent soloists were Emma Bell (soprano) and Sonia Ganassi (mezzo), plus a special bravo to Lawrence Brownlee (tenor)…”
Riccardo Cenci, Italia, October 16, 2007
Concert – Sacramento Philharmonic
“Brownlee is a singer of uncommon talent…(he) proved from the outset that the superlatives used to describe his career are well deserved. He gave a rich and bright rendering of Rossini's ‘Languir per una bella’ from The Italian Girl in Algiers and sang with stunning agility on Bizet's ‘Je crois entendre’ from The Pearl Fishers. His tenor in both arias was never reaching, always supple, and every high note was delivered with poise, accuracy and elegance. Brownlee owns the higher registers, and hearing him move from low to high notes is a singular experience.
Brownlee's take on the slower ‘Terra amica’ from Rossini's Zelmira was also finely crafted, this time with deep faculty for expression.
Pure mastery defined Brownlee's singing of the vivid ‘A te o cara’ from Bellini's I puritani. The high point clearly was Brownlee's singing of Donizetti's ‘Ah! Mes amis’ from The Daughter of the Regiment. Brownlee nailed the tricky high-C notes demanded, with each of them a bewitching stage moment that many will remember for quite some time.”
Edward Ortiz, Sacramento Bee, April 3, 2007
Recital – Tuesday Musical Concert Series (Omaha, NE)
“The repertoire selected for Tuesday's program…highlighted different aspects of Brownlee's versatile tenor.”
“…an opportunity to hear his warm, fluid tone dancing around the higher register for the first time.”
“…we heard him weave through soft, syrupy melodies and navigate complicated breathing techniques with ease.”
“The selections of the program where he truly excelled, however, were the works by Rossini.
There is a reason for this. Brownlee, who recently made his debut with the Houston Grand Opera, has at a young age already established a worldwide reputation as a Rossini tenor. He is particularly good at performing the complex, melodic phrases for which the 19th century Italian composer was known.
Not only can Brownlee hit the notes in the higher register, he can sustain them for long passages.”
Ashley Hassebroek, [Omaha] World-Herald, February 28, 2007
Recital – Moravian College (Bethlehem, PA)
For me, what makes a musical experience truly memorable is not necessarily compelling music performed beautifully, even superbly, although there was plenty of that at Wednesday night's recital at Moravian College by young tenor Lawrence Brownlee.
I thoroughly enjoyed his rendition of a Mozart concert aria ‘Misero! O Sogno, O Son Desto,’' and his set of Schubert songs was sensitively performed. There were two audience-wowing arias from Brownlee's core repertoire as a bel canto singer: Rossini's ‘Languir per una bella’ from The Italian Girl in Algiers and that standard tenor chestnut ‘Ah! Mes amis’ from Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment. Brownlee executed the acrobatic Rossini with delightful precision and verve, and nailed the high notes in the Donizetti perfectly. Even in something much less extroverted, as the Bizet aria ‘Je crois entendre encore’ from The Pearl Fishers, Brownlee's quite masculine tenor was an effective context for Bizet's floating phrases.
But what really made this concert memorable was the set of songs at the end, all in one way or another personally significant to Brownlee. They ranged from Torelli, to some Neapolitan favorites, to others, such as Blitzstein and Weill, that verged on cabaret music, to even ‘Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair.’ The Marc Blitzstein song, ‘Stay in My Arms,’ in particular, was so affecting and effectively sung that I'm taking it as my evening's surprise gift from the singer.
The morning after the concert, Brownlee conducted a master class with four advanced Moravian College students. In the process of giving them advice — how to prepare for a high note, how to breathe, how to link the verbal phrases to the musical phrases, how to tell a story — he in effect laid bare the basis for his moving performance the previous evening.
Philip A. Metzger, The Morning Call [Allentown, PA], February 24, 2007
Concert – MESSIAH - San Francisco Symphony
“With an attractive roster of soloists on the bill, including up-and-coming tenor Lawrence Brownlee and two singers making their San Francisco Symphony debuts, the 2006 edition of Messiah at Davies Hall promised some star quality sheen. The principals did indeed offer their sparkling moments at Thursday's opening night performance of the cherished Handel oratorio.”
“Brownlee, who won plaudits for his Stern Grove concert here last summer and will make his Metropolitan Opera debut in the spring, had his work cut out for him at outset Thursday. Glover's tempo turned his trip through ‘Ev'ry valley shall be exalted’ into a wind sprint. Later on, in a persuasive account of a section that's often cut in performances and recordings, Brownlee found the fullness of Christ's sorrows in a long recitative and dramatically poised aria (‘But thou didst not leave his soul in Hell’).”
Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle, December 23, 2006
Concert – MESSIAH - Houston Symphony
“Tenor Lawrence Brownlee was the only one able to zip through legato melodies and careen around rapid 16th-note passages with no stress. Overall he was an (appropriately) earnest and fervent singer with characterful sound and impressive technique.”
[Conductor Jane] Glover and the chorus took charge in Part Two and never relinquished the quest for drama and, ultimately, exultation. They succeeded – and that, plus Brownlee’s solos was the highlight of the 2006 presentation.”
Charles Ward, Houston Chronicle, December 15, 2006
Marian Anderson Award Recital – Kennedy Center – Washington, DC
“Last Sunday’s 2006 Marian Anderson Award Recital in the Terrace Theater was another part of the Kennedy Center’s Prelude Festival, getting us ready for the season proper. Past Marian Anderson Awards have gone to Sylvia McNair, Denyce Graves, Nancy Maultsby, Michelle DeYoung, Nathan Gunn, and Eric Owens. This year’s winner and recitalist will fit into this list of luminaries seamlessly: Lawrence Brownlee’s talent and promise are enormous, and if you haven’t encountered him on one of the great operatic stages so far, you might this season, at the MET or the Semperoper in Dresden.
To anyone who has heard Mr. Brownlee before – perhaps at Wolf Trap or in the Washington Concert Opera’s Tancredi last April – so much was clear even before the recital began. The concert itself, an eclectic mix of Schubert, Mozart, American songbook items, Rossini, and Donizetti, only cemented that impression.”
Jens F. Laurson, ionarts.org, September 13, 2006
“The [Marian Anderson] Award recognizes a young singer who has already distinguished himself as a multifaceted performer, and many reviewers, myself included, have been impressed with his [Brownlee’s] strong tenor, a vocal type that is as rare in its best form as it is important, in opera particularly.”
“This is a voice that strikes a broad swath of sound, with power and high notes, which are used with reserve and intelligence.”
“Brownlee displayed an admirable accuracy of intonation, solid breath support that ensures long phrases, stunning agility in melismatic passages, and the ability to understand the texts he sings and create appropriate characters.”
“Brownlee's comic timing was well placed in ‘Ah! mes amis’ from Donizetti's La fille du régiment, as he noisily swigged some water before starting (the aria has an infamous string of high C's) and glanced at his pianist after holding a note much longer than indicated in the score. The high C's in that aria were quite impressive…”
Charles Downey, DCist, September 12, 2006
Concert with Stephanie Blythe – San Francisco Opera at Stern Grove – San Francisco, CA
“Still, for many of the approximately 7,000 souls lolling and picnicking under the congenial midsummer sun, the appearances of Lawrence Brownlee were the ones that made them stow the potato salad and listen with the keenest pleasure. On the brink of a major career, he is, without doubt, the most impressive addition to the American tenor roster in many years. With a Metropolitan Opera debut in a new production of Il barbiere di Siviglia set for winter, this may very well be Brownlee's year, and this alfresco preview of a star in the ascendant attested to the prominence of the bel canto repertoire among American opera companies.
Brownlee, on the evidence here, can add courage to his many virtues. What else can you say about a tenor who launches his contribution to the afternoon with Lindoro's wistful ‘Languir per una bella’ from Rossini's L’italiana in Algeri, stops the show with Tonio's ‘Ah, mes amis!’ from Donizetti's La fille du régiment (yes, the scene with nine high C's) and returns, unbloodied and unbowed, with ‘Cessa di più resistere,’ Almaviva's impossibly treacherous and rarely heard wind-up number from Barbiere?
Any age would welcome Brownlee's virile elegance and pinpoint technique. Lindoro's solo heralded a plangent tone without the slightest hint of nasality, a fast vibrato and a more than passable trill. Brownlee nailed all those C's in the Donizetti with disarming ease and informed them with matchless exuberance. Almaviva's aria may be a killer (Rossini recycled it for La Cenerentola), but in Brownlee's rendering, one noted the tenderness in transitional passages and a lovely application of portamento. Good news: The tenor will return to the area for the Symphony's performances of Messiah in December.
At the end of the concert, Blythe and Brownlee joined forces for the Tancredi-Argirio duet, ‘Ah, se de' mali miei,’ communicated with a white heat that justified an encore of the cabaletta.”
Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Chronicle, August 1, 2006
“Blythe’s counterpart, Lawrence Brownlee, a 2006 Richard Tucker Award winner, made a stirring debut in San Francisco. He is already well-known on the opera circuit as a coming star, and now we know why. His high tenor voice is comfortable in the stratospheric reaches of Rossini’s music and is impressively large. He will be at home on big stages like the Met. His technique is beyond reproach and he handles Rossini’s long lines sensitively. If he didn’t warm the heart, he certainly stunned the senses. He has room to grow, expressively, but don’t let that stop you from catching his next performance.
Brownlee provided a selection of fiendishly difficult Rossini, beginning with ‘Languir per una bella’ from L’Italiana in Algeri, a showpiece that rocked the audience back on its heels. Listening to the penetrating tone of the high notes and the absolute evenness of the runs and ornamentation was enough to establish the singer’s credentials.”
“Brownlee’s coup was ‘Cessa di più resistere,’ an aria that Rossini cut from Barbiere di Siviglia’s final scene. …[H]e managed it in style, sending the audience into a tizzy.”
Michael Zwiebach, San Francisco Classical Voice, August 2006
Recital – Vocal Arts Society, Washington, DC
“Listening to Lawrence Brownlee sing – as I did with enormous pleasure at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater Thursday night – is a little bit like falling into a time warp. Most of the tenors to whom this spectacularly gifted young Ohioan can profitably be compared flourished the better part of a century ago. And I'm not talking about Enrico Caruso, the first great dramatic tenor, whose influence has never waned and can still be heard in the work of artists as disparate as Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. No, Brownlee summons to mind recordings made by the generation before Caruso – Italian tenors such as Fernando de Lucia and Alessandro Bonci, with their Old World suavity, their dazzling and cultivated vocal agility, their caressing emphasis on unbroken lyrical sweetness. At his best, Brownlee sounds as though he has escaped from the hiss of an old Victrola – a real live coloratura tenor in the all-but-forgotten grand manner.”
Tim Page, Washington Post, January 7, 2006
“If the name Lawrence Brownlee doesn't yet ring a lot of bells among fans of vocal music, it surely will soon.”
“He can produce uncommonly elegant phrasing as easily as he can set off vocal fireworks, a show-stopping combination he delivered in Washington Concert Opera’s 2004 presentation of Rossini’s La donna del lago.
Brownlee, backed by ever-supportive and technically refined pianist Howard Watkins, sparked another hearty round of cheers in a compelling recital for Washington's invaluable Vocal Arts Society Thursday night at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater.”
“The singer’s gifts proved even more compelling in ‘Cessa di più resistere’ – the original, usually omitted finale to Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. It presents the kind of zillion-note coloratura challenge that sopranos face more often than tenors, but Brownlee wasn’t fazed in the slightest. He soared through the music with agility and strength, yet also inflected phrases with remarkable expressive detail.
The tenor’s obvious flair for bel canto opera, along with the innate warmth of the voice, should ensure steady gigs.”
“An atmospheric sampling of English and Spanish songs included the elegant sculpting of sweetly romantic melodies by Roger Quilter and Manuel Valls. And in the concluding group of spirituals, Brownlee tapped into the music universality with an affecting eloquence.”
Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun, January 9, 2006
Concert – STABAT MATER (Rossini) – Lausanne
“Soon the soloists step forward. Heavenly voices indeed! One could really be carried away by the ‘Cujus animam gementem,’ not only one of the most beautiful and spectacular arias in the entire work, but also by the tenor Lawrence Brownlee. Gifted with a natural voice of exceptional brilliance, he uses his instrument with musical intelligence and uncommon dexterity. In a day when Juan Diego Flórez enjoys deserved success, it would seem impossible to find another Rossinian tenor as glittering as the Peruvian. But Lawrence Brownlee proves that it is possible. Knowing how rare these voices are, you almost wish you could save one to listen to when the other shows the first signs of fatigue. But that’s an illusion, and you have to enjoy what’s on hand.”
“The apparent ease with which the American tenor launched the treacherous high notes of ‘Cujus animam gementem’ is disarming.”
Jacques Schmitt, ResMusica.com, February 2006
Concert – Bach MAGNIFICAT – Cincinnati Symphony
“Tenor Lawrence Brownlee handled his florid lines with agility;…”
Janelle Gelfand, The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 24, 2002
Metropolitan Opera National Council
“This year, the audience’s favorite was Lawrence Brownlee, a splendid lyric tenor who gave rousing performances of arias from L'Italiana in Algeri and La Fille du Régiment. The judges concurred with the vox pop, and Brownlee was awarded the Alton E. Peters Prize, established in memory of the longtime president of the Metropolitan Opera Guild as well as chairman of the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Opera.”
Rudolph S. Rauch, Opera News, June 2001
“Among the winners, the audience favorite was clearly Lawrence Brownlee, 28, a bel canto tenor from Ohio with a bright, clear focused voice and an engaging stage personality who won huge ovations for musically crisp, vocally confident accounts of arias by Rossini and Donizetti.”
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, April 3, 2001
2006 Year-end Wrap-up – “Best of the Rest”
“Best debut:- Tenor Lawrence Brownlee, who appeared at S.F. Opera’s Opera in the Park earlier this fall and returned to the city last week to sing in the S.F. Symphony’s performances of Handel’s Messiah. He’s clearly an artist to watch.”
Georgia Rowe, Contra Costa Times, December 28, 2006
“Frisky Young Tenors on Operatic War Horses” – “Arts & Leisure”
“The charismatic example of Mr. Flórez is inspiring a whole new generation of tenors, among them two Americans: Lawrence Brownlee, 35, often tapped for productions when Mr. Flórez moves on…”
“Mr. Brownlee, who won both the Richard Tucker Award and the Marian Anderson Award in 2006, followed Mr. Flórez in the Met “Barbiere” last year, receiving a hero’s welcome.”
Matthew Gurewitsch, The New York Times,” April 20, 2008 |
