LAWRENCE BROWNLEE BEL CANTO

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

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LAWRENCE BROWNLEE IN A BEL CANTO CD

Time was when the so-called tenore leggiero or tenore di grazia or, in plain English, light lyric tenor held his own in the Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini repertoire.

In the early 20th century artists like Tito Schipa and Alessandro Bonci had exclusive ownership of the Bel Canto repertoire. That trend continued well into the 1970’s, with light tenors Ernesto Palacios, Luigi Alva, and Cesare Valletti singing whatever Rossini or Bellini was offered them.

These fine singers knew how to stay within the boundaries of their area of specialty. But then the big-voiced boys arrived and suddenly invaded the leggiero turf.

There was Pavarotti taking on The Daughter of the Regiment and Placido Domingo being cast as Nemorino.

Fortunately we have returned to times in which common sense prevails.

Welcome Lawrence Brownlee, a full-blooded Bel Canto tenor with enchanting style, awesome technique and just the right mix of sweetness and squillo in his ample voice to fearlessly conquer everything from the light folderol of Donizetti’s Rita to the stillness, gravity and legato of Bellini’s A te, o cara, over a two-octave plus range.

In the DELOS CD Allegro Io son Brownlee has an exemplary partner in Constantine Orbelian, who leads the Kaunas City Symphony with unflagging attention to his singer’s needs.

The CD comes with a nice booklet with translations of all the arias. We got a winner.

Rafael de Acha

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”