Donizetti & Bellini: Allegro io son Lawrence Brownlee

• 1 Rita: Allegro io son 04:03
• 2 La favorita, Act I: Ange si pur 05:00
• 3 Act III: Serenade: Com' è gentil 04:05
• 4 Act II: Aria: Chercherò lontana terra 09:42
• 5 Dom Sébastien, roi de Portugal, Act II: Finale: Seul sur la terre 05:09
• 6 Act I: A te, o cara 06:56
• 7 Act III: Son salvo, alfin son salvo 08:16
• 8 Act I: Quanto è bella, quanto e cara! 02:46
• 9 Act II: Una furtiva lagrima 04:59
• 10 Act II: Pour me rapprocher de Marie 04:05
• 11 Act II: Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête! 07:11
• Total Runtime 01:02:12

Info zu Donizetti & Bellini: Allegro io son

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee – overwhelmingly regarded as the world’s leading bel canto tenor – follows up his previous Grammy-nominated release on Delos (Virtuoso Rossini Arias) with this stirring and eagerly awaited new collection of opera arias by Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini.

Brownlee performs a rich and exciting mix of both tried and true favorites as well as less-often heard pieces. Familiar favorites are from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, La fille du régiment and L’elisir d’amore – as well as Bellini’s I Puritani. Lesser-known works featured are Donizetti’s Rita, La Favorite, and Dom Sébastien.

As with his previous Grammy-nominated Rossini release, Brownlee’s fabulous collaborators are Constantine Orbelian and Lithuania’s Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra – with added support this time from the exceptional Kaunas State Choir. The result is a paragon of astounding virtuosity and deep interpretive feeling that is bound to attract worldwide attention and critical acclaim.

Lawrence Brownlee, tenor
Viktorija Miškūnaitė, soprano
Liudas Mikalauskas, bass
Andrius Apsega, bass
Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra
Kaunas State Choir
Constantine Orbelian, conductor

Lawrence Brownlee
Hailed by the Associated Press as one of “the world’s leading bel canto tenors,” American-born Lawrence Brownlee captivates audiences and critics around the world. His voice, praised by NPR as “an instrument of great beauty and expression…perfectly suited to the early nineteenth century operas of Rossini and Donizetti,” has brought him to the top of opera world, ushering in “a new golden age in high male voices” (The New York Times). His most recent recording of Virtuoso Rossini Arias was nominated for a GRAMMY™ Award, and prompted New Yorker critic Alex Ross to ask “is there a finer Rossini tenor than Lawrence Brownlee?”

One of the most in-demand singers around the world, Brownlee was recently nominated for “Male Singer of the Year” by the International Opera Awards. He has performed with nearly every leading international opera house and festival, as well as major orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Academia di Santa Cecila, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra.

In addition, Brownlee has appeared on the stages of the top opera companies around the globe, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, the Bavarian State Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, The Vienna State Opera, Opera National de Paris, Opernhaus Zürich, the Berlin State Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Théâtre Royale de la Monnaie, and the festivals of Salzburg and Baden Baden. Broadcasts of his operas and concerts – including his 2014 Bastille Day performance in Paris, attended by the French President and Prime Minister - have been enjoyed by millions.

Highlights this upcoming season include an extended run of American performances, beginning with Seattle Opera’s new production of Le Comte Ory (Aug 6-20), followed by Lawrence’s San Francisco Opera debut singing Ernesto in Don Pasquale (Sept 18-Oct 15), and Washington National Opera’s Fille du Régiment (Nov 11-20). He’ll cap the year with a December 6 performance at Carnegie Hall, joining acclaimed producer Ray Chew for an evening of gospel and spirituals. Lawrence returns to the US in 2017 to bring his acclaimed interpretation of Charlie Parker in Yardbird to the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Mar 24-26) and a joint recital with Eric Owens on April 9. He’ll finish his U.S. presence up with a trip to Houston Grand Opera for Mozart’s Abduction From The Seraglio (April 28-May 12).

Brownlee will also return to Europe, following last year’s acclaimed performances with Opera National de Paris and Opernhaus Zürich. He will sing Semiramide at the Bayerische Staastoper (Feb 12-Mar 3), Le Comte Ory at Klangvokal Dortmund (May 28), and another run of Yardbird at English National Opera (June 9-17).

Following up his previous Grammy-nominated release on Delos Records, Virtuoso Rossini Arias, Brownlee will be releasing Bel Canto Arias on Delos this September. The album contains a new collection of opera arias by Bellini and Donizetti with collaboration from Constantine Orbelian leading his Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra and the Kaunas State Choir.

Lastly, Lawrence will also sing the National Anthem for the New York Jets on October 23rd, when they play the Baltimore Ravens (this follows last year’s National Anthem performance for his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers).

His critically acclaimed discography and videography, which includes GRAMMY-nominated Virtuoso Rossini Arias, is a testament to his broad impact across the classical music scene. His opera and concert recordings include Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra, Armida at the Metropolitan Opera, Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Academia di Santa Cecilia, and Carmina Burana with the Berlin Philharmonic. He also released a disc of African-American spirituals entitled Spiritual Sketches with pianist Damien Sneed, which the pair performed at Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series, and which NPR praised as an album of “soulful singing” that “sounds like it’s coming straight from his heart to yours.”

Brownlee is the fourth of six children and first discovered music when he learned to play bass, drums, and piano at his family’s church in Youngstown, Ohio. He was awarded a Masters of Music from Indiana University and went onto win a Grand Prize in the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. Alongside his singing career, Brownlee is an avid salsa dancer and an accomplished photographer, specializing in artist portraits of his on-stage colleagues. A die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers and Ohio State football fan, Brownlee has sung the National Anthem at numerous NFL games. He is a champion for autism awareness through the organization Autism Speaks, and he is a lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity Inc., a historically black fraternity committed to social action and empowerment.

Hailed by the Associated Press as one of “the world’s leading bel canto tenors,” American-born Lawrence Brownlee captivates audiences and critics around the world. His voice, praised by NPR as “an instrument of great beauty and expression…perfectly suited to the early nineteenth century operas of Rossini and Donizetti,” has brought him to the top of opera world, ushering in “a new golden age in high male voices” (The New York Times). His most recent recording of Virtuoso Rossini Arias was nominated for a GRAMMY™ Award, and prompted New Yorker critic Alex Ross to ask “is there a finer Rossini tenor than Lawrence Brownlee?”

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