Biography
Lawrence Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer on the world’s top stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry. Captivating audiences and critics around the globe, he has been hailed as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (The New York Times), “one of the world’s leading bel canto stars” (The Guardian), and “one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today” (NPR).
Brownlee begins his 23-24 season with Opera Rara at London’s Wigmore Hall in September for a recording of Donizetti’s rarely-performed song repertoire alongside pianist Carlo Rizzi, before joining the 2023 George Enescu International Festival to perform the Fioravanti Selections from La foresta d’Hermanstad. Following this, Brownlee will join tenor Levy Sekgapane for a duo recital at the Grand Théâtre Genève. At the end of September 2023, Brownlee returns to the Wiener Staatsoper to perform as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia ahead of his role as Tonio in the Lyric Opera of Chicago production of La Fille Du Regiment in November. In December, Brownlee joins the Wiener Konzerthaus for their 2023 Christmas in Vienna Gala before reuniting with longtime friend, collaborator, and fellow Rossini expert Michael Spyres for KAPOS – World Opera Stars’ “Game of Tenors: Brownlee & Spyres Battle of the High C’s”. Brownlee kicks off 2024 with recital engagements at the Dallas Opera and the La Jolla Music Society, in addition to bringing his acclaimed Rising program to San Francisco Performances in February 2024 and to the Concertgebouw in June 2024. In May of 2024, Brownlee will make his anticipated return to the Teatro alla Scala as Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. Brownlee’s season ends with the return of his Don Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Bayerischen Staatsoper.
Read moreReviews
“Brownlee and Spyres follow in the distinguished footsteps of American Rossini tenors such as Bruce Ford, Chris Merritt, Rockwell Blake and Gregory Kunde. Their voices contrast very well. Brownlee’s tenor fits the Giovanni David mould, light and flexible with glistening brilliance in his upper register.”
“With his sweet tone, fastidious pitch, and poetic phrasing, Brownlee made familiar fare sound intriguingly fresh, banishing, for a moment, the ghosts of Caruso and Pavarotti.”
“He sang with agility, elegance and Rossinian style, tossing off high notes and roulades…this was a winning performance for an increasingly important artist.”
More Reviews
“With his sweet tone, fastidious pitch, and poetic phrasing, Brownlee made familiar fare sound intriguingly fresh, banishing, for a moment, the ghosts of Caruso and Pavarotti. “
“He sang with agility, elegance and Rossinian style, tossing off high notes and roulades…this was a winning performance for an increasingly important artist.”
“Mr. Brownlee won a deserved ovation for his beautifully vocalized and expressive singing of a concert aria, “Misero! o sogno… Aura che intorni spiri,” and a melting account of “Un’ aura amorosa” from Così Fan Tutte.”
“And there’s no better Rossini tenor today than Brownlee. The musical filigree that Almaviva has to maneuver through is so difficult to bring off without sounding winded that HGO added his final aria to “happy marriage” that’s usually cut in performance because nobody else but Brownlee can sing it. He sailed through it with sweet, powerful joy.”
“And tenor Lawrence Brownlee, all too rarely showcased on record, will have done his reputation no end of good with this finely, sensitively modulated showing.”
“Lawrence Brownlee, stylish and sweet-toned, is similarly untroubled by the high D flat in his aria’s precipitate dying fall.”
“While the judges deliberated, the tenor Lawrence Brownlee, fresh from his successful run in the Met’s production of Rossini’s Armida and a Met National Council Auditions winner 10 years ago, sang splendid accounts of Nadir’s confession of love from Bizet’s Pearl Fishers and the showstopper ‘Ah! mes amis’ from Donizetti’s Fille du Régiment, complete with ringing, effortless high Cs.”
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Contact
Matthew A. Horner - General Management
[email protected]
+1 212 994 3514
Devere Burnett - Artist Manager
[email protected]
+1 917 740 3470