CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Performance
Thursday, March 28, 2013 | 7:30 PM
Lawrence Brownlee
Martin Katz
Seating
Chart
Being singled out as “the highlight of the evening” (The New York Times) for several of his recent opera performances, Lawrence Brownlee is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after singers on the scene today. He brings his impeccable coloratura and effortless technical agility to the recital stage for his New York recital debut, performing songs by Verdi, Poulenc, Marx, Ginastera, and Ben Moore, as well as traditional Spirituals.
Performers
- Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor
New York Recital Debut
- Martin Katz, Piano
Program
- VERDI "Ad una stella"
- VERDI "Lo spazzacamino"
- VERDI "Il tramonto"
- VERDI "Brindisi"
- POULENC "Montparnasse"
- POULENC "Voyage à Paris" from Banalités
- POULENC "C" from Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon
- POULENC "Reine des mouettes" from Métamorphoses
- POULENC "Bleuet"
- MARX "Nocturne"
- MARX "Selige Nacht"
- MARX "Die Elfe"
- MARX "Christbaum"
- MARX "Hat Dich die Liebe berührt"
- GINASTERA Cinco canciones populares argentinas
- BEN MOORE "The Cloak, the Boat, and the Shoes"
- BEN MOORE "This heart that flutters"
- BEN MOORE "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"
- BEN MOORE "I would in that sweet bosom be"
- TRAD. "Evry time I feel de Spirit" (arr. Damien Sneed)
- TRAD. "Balm in Gilead" (arr. Damien Sneed)
- TRAD. "All night, all day" (arr. Damien Sneed)
- TRAD. "Deep River" (arr. Damien Sneed)
- TRAD. "Come by here, good Lord" (arr. Damien Sneed)
Encores:- SCHUBERT "Der Jüngling an der Quelle," D. 300
- MOZART "Il mio tesoro" from Don Giovanni
Bios
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Lawrence Brownlee
The most in-demand American tenor in the bel canto repertoire, Lawrence Brownlee continues
to stupefy audiences with the power and agility of his instrument.
Mr. Brownlee began his 2012-2013 season with a solo recital at Wigmore Hall in London. The
season also includes debuts at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in a production of Il
barbiere di Siviglia and at Santa Fe Opera La donna del lago.
Additionally, Mr. Brownlee performs at Houston Grand Opera in L'italiana in Algeri
and Le comte Ory with Cecilia Bartoli at the Theater an der Wien. The season ends
with engagements in La fille du régiment and L'elisir d'amore at the
Hamburg State Opera. Last season, Mr. Brownlee's performed the role of Tonio in La
fille du régiment at the Metropolitan Opera, where he is rapidly becoming a house
favorite.
Mr. Brownlee has been featured in nearly every major theater in the world and enjoys a
relationship with many premier conductors and symphony orchestras. His memorable
engagements have included La Cenerentola in Milan, Houston, Philadelphia, and
at the Met; L'italiana in Algeri in Milan; Armida at the Met;
and La fille du régiment in Hamburg, Cincinnati, and at the Met. In the
orchestral arena, he has been heard in Bach's Magnificat in Cincinnati;
Messiah in Houston, San Francisco, Detroit, Baltimore, and Indianapolis;
Israel in Egypt in Cleveland; Mozart's Mass in C Minor in Chicago and
Baltimore; Carmina Burana with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood;
and highlights from Porgy and Bess with the New York Philharmonic (including
a Live From Lincoln Center telecast). Mr. Brownlee has performed recitals at the Kennedy
Center and Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, as well as in Tokyo, London, and locations
throughout the United States under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation.
Mr. Brownlee was named Seattle Opera's 2008 Artist of the Year, received the Opera Company
of Philadelphia's 2007 Alter Award for Artistic Excellence, and was the winner of both the
2006 Marian Anderson and Richard Tucker awards-a feat never before achieved by any artist
in the same year.
More Info
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Martin Katz
Martin Katz's 40-year career has taken him to five continents, collaborating with the
world's most celebrated singers in recital and recording. Marilyn Horne, Frederica von
Stade, Kathleen Battle, David Daniels, Karita Mattila, and José Carreras are among his
regular partners, and he has recorded for the RCA, CBS, BMG, EMI, and Decca labels.
Mr. Katz is also active as a conductor and editor. He has led opera productions for San
Francisco's Merola Opera Program, the BBC, and Tokyo's NHK, as well as innumerable
performances in Ann Arbor, where he is Artur Schnabel Collegiate Professor of Collaborative
Piano at the University of Michigan. His editions of Baroque and bel canto operas have been
performed in Houston, Ottawa, and at the Metropolitan Opera. At the University of Michigan
for more than two decades, he has chaired the program in collaborative piano and coached
vocal repertoire for singers and pianists alike.
Now an author, Mr. Katz's first book, The Complete Collaborator, has been
published by Oxford University Press.
More Info
Audio
Verdi's "Brindisi"
Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor | Martin Katz, Piano
EMI Classics
At a Glance
Lawrence Brownlee has chosen a program of music by composers who, with the exception of Francis Poulenc, are rarely encountered on vocal recitals. Yes, we know Giuseppe Verdi well, but how often do we have the opportunity to hear his songs? Even though 19th-century Italy was not very partial to song literature, Verdi wrote songs throughout his career, and their intimate scale and gentle emotions make them very different from his operatic arias.
Joseph Marx was one of the leading figures in Austrian music during the first half of the 20th century, but today he has been almost forgotten as a composer. His beautiful, finely crafted lieder, however, deserve to be remembered, and Mr. Brownlee introduces us to five of them. Alberto Ginastera is better known for his orchestral music, but his vivid Cinco canciones populares argentinas show his passion for the gaucho culture of his native land.
In the early 20th century, Poulenc proved the great French mélodie tradition was still alive and well. Wonderfully sensitive to the nuances of words, he preferred the poets of his own time, such as Guillaume Apollinaire. More recently, Ben Moore has become a special favorite of American singers. He has composed many songs in a traditional classical style, setting verse by great poets of the past, especially those from his own Celtic background.
And finally, Mr. Brownlee concludes his recital with five of the best-loved African American spirituals.
Program Notes