Delos artist Lawrence Brownlee recently performed the role of Charlie Parker in Opera Philadelphia’s production of Yardbird and the critics are raving:
“Once this Charlie, the energetic, bright-voiced tenor Lawrence Brownlee, removes his wet overcoat, he looks dapper in a three-piece-suit and seems elated to be at Birdland…Charlie sometimes sings bursts of bebop, scatting, which Mr. Brownlee deftly handles…In crucial scenes, Mr. Brownlee, a superb bel canto tenor, dispatched runs that suggested jazzy Rossini.” —Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
“…the man of the hour was Brownlee…telling the spiritual story through his art-song vibrato and easy diction. He has a way of cozying up to a lyric in an unassuming way, his amiable presence immaterial to the genre. He is the rare bird – a singer who travels well.” —Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Tenor Lawrence Brownlee, a star of the opera world… was on stage for all but one scene of this 90-minute opera and sang, on Friday, very well from the passages of what we might term bel canto scat all the way through to a gorgeous, sweet falsetto on a few notes in the final scene.” —Ann Midgette, Washington Post
“As conjured up by…the splendid tenor Lawrence Brownlee, Parker…is gloriously alive….Mr. Brownlee commands the stage, his pure, forthright tenor pulsating with the spirit of the man. … Mr. Brownlee’s Charlie breathes music, his escape from the cage of segregation.” —Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal
Buy Lawrence Brownlee: Virtuoso Rossini Arias Now!
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