0 13491 34355 9 DELOS DE 3455 LAWRENCE BROWNLEEE • VIRTUOSO ROSSINIARIAS DELOS DE 3455 LAWRENCE LAWRENCE BROWNLEE BROWNLEEE • VIRTUOSO ROSSINIARIAS DELOS DE 3455 LAWRENCE VIRTUOSO ROSSINI ARIAS “bel canto at its best” -Shirley Apthorp, Financial Times 1. LA GAZZA LADRA: Vieni fra questa braccia (5:12) 2. LE COMTE ORY: Que les destins prospères (5:15) 3. L’OCCASIONE FA IL LADRO: D’ogni più sacro impegno (5:06) 4. OTELLO: Che ascolto! (6:56) 5. SEMIRAMIDE: Ah dov’è, dov’è il cimento (7:43) 6. IL TURCO IN ITALIA: Tu seconda ail mio desegno (6:20) 7. LA DONNA DEL LAGO: O fiamma soave (8:41) 8. ZELMIRA: Terra amica (9:13) “With his sweet tone, fastidious pitch, and poetic LAWRENCE BROWNLEE, tenor phrasing, Brownlee made…familiar fare sound CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN, conductor intriguingly fresh, banishing, for a moment, the ghosts of Caruso and Pavarotti.” KAUNAS CITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA -Alex Ross, The New Yorker Total Playing Time: 54:32 © 2013 Delos Productions, Inc., ORIGINAL DIGITAL ORIGINAL DIGITAL P.O. Box 343, Sonoma, CA 95476-9998 DE 3455 (800) 364-0645 • (707) 996-3844 [email protected] www.delosmusic.com LAWRENCE BROWNLEE VIRTUOSO ROSSINI ARIAS 1. La gazza ladra: Vieni fra questa braccia (5:12) 2. Le Comte Ory: Que les destins prospères (5:15) 3. L’occasione fa il ladro: D’ogni più sacro impegno (5:06) 4. Otello: Che ascolto! (6:56) 5. Semiramide: Ah dov’è, dov’è il cimento (7:43) 6. Il Turco In Italia: Tu seconda ail mio desegno (6:20) 7. La donna del lago: O fiamma soave (8:41) 8. Zelmira: Terra amica (9:13) CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN, conductor KAUNAS CITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Total Playing Time: 54:32 2 This album of spectacular cavatinas and heart Ninetta, who is soon to be ac- arias by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) cused of the crime. from tenor extraordinaire Lawrence Brownlee – his first-ever aria collection Vieni fra questa braccia… with orchestra – is long overdue. It not mi balza il corn el sen! only captures one of the most unique D’un vero amor, mio ben, and exciting Bel Canto tenor voices of quest ‘ è il linguaggio. our time at its glorious peak, but it also offers a choice selection of thrilling vo- Anche al nemico in faccia cal blockbusters that you may well nev- m’eri presente ognor: er have heard, drawn as they are from tu m’inspiravi allor several of the old master’s most rarely forza, oraggio e valor. performed operas. Ma quell piacer che adesso, Best-known for its witty and scintillat- o mia Ninetta, io provo, ing overture, the otherwise unfairly ne- è cosi dolce e nuovo glected La gazza ladra (The Thieving che no si può spiegar. Magpie) was composed in great haste in 1817 for Milan’s La Scala. It’s a classic Come to my embrace… example of “melodramma semiseria,” my heart leaps in my breast! a then-popular category of opera that My darling, I speak told a serious story, but with comic el- true love’s language. ements. Here, the sober tale – based on a true story – revolves around a young Even in the face of my enemy, servant girl condemned to die for the my thoughts were ever of you: theft of a silver spoon that had in fact It was you who inspired in me been purloined by a magpie. With his strength, courage and valor Act I cavatina “Vieni fra questa brac- cia,” the young soldier Gianetto, upon But the pleasure his return from war, greets his sweet- that I now feel, Ninetta, 3 is so sweet, so new Que les destins prospères, that I cannot explain it! accueillent vos prières! La paix du ciel, mes frères, Le Comte Ory (Count Ory – 1828) is, by na- soit toujours avec vous! ture, a comic opera – though it was writ- ten in the more formal structure and style May the reconciling fates of a serious opera. Recycling some of the graciously receive your prayers! earlier music from his Il Viaggio a Reims, it May the peace of heaven, my brothers, tells the twelfth-century story of the op- be always with you! portunistic rascal Count Ory, who – with Widows or maidens, most of the court’s men away on Crusade in your cruel suffering, – seeks romantic adventure among the Come to me, my pretty ones: women left behind. In Act I, disguised as To oblige is so appealing! a hermit, he enters the castle grounds and I reunite families, – in his opening cavatina, “Que les des- and even grant husbands tins prospères” – promises sage advice to young maidens. to lonely women, widows and young girls Come, everybody, come. alike, in how to find husbands. L’occasione fa il ladro (Opportunity Que les destins prospères, makes the thief) dates from 1812; it’s accueillent vos prières! one of five early one-act operas (a so- La paix du ciel, mes frères, called burletta per musica or farsa) that soit toujours avec vous! he wrote for a theatre in Venice before Veuves ou demoiselles, he became widely known as an operat- dans vos peines cruelles, ic composer. The work quickly fell into venez a moi, mes belles: obscurity after his death, and remains Obliger est si doux! almost unknown today. This lightheart- L’accorde les familles, ed “farce” presents the unlikely tale of et même aux jeunes filles Count Alberto – who is travelling to je donne des époux. meet the fiancée he has never met. 4 Alberto’s luggage is mistakenly taken strive to overcome me, by another man – who finds the lady’s that high-born contempt portrait among his belongings, and re- which ignites my honor, solves to claim her for his own. In the armed with virtue, confusion that follows, Alberto gives will pale and vanquish voice to his indignation and outrage in audacity so vain. “D’ogni più sacro impegni.” Otello – one of the first of Rossini’s Ne- D’ogni più sacro impegno apolitan operas (1816) – is unusual in sciolta pur sia la fede, that three of the main character roles – amor da voi non chiede Otello, Iago and Rodrigo – are assigned chi amor per voi non ha. to tenors! Rossini took much greater lib- Pera, chi vuol costringere erties with Shakespeare’s classic trage- d’un cor la libertà. dy (like shifting the action from Cyprus to Venice) than Giuseppe Verdi did in Ma se un sopetto indegno his better-known adaptation seven de- di soverchiarmi intende, cades later – but recent performances quel generoso sdegno, of this vigorous and rousing opera have che il mio decoro accende, suggested that the work’s comparative dalla ragione armato, neglect is hardly justified. Rodrigo’s un vano ardir confondere, “Che ascolto!” recitative and aria opens e impallidir farà. act II: in it, he bitterly decries Desdemo- na’s betrayal of his love, and swears that Of all holiest bonds, he knows how to punish his rival, Otello. let faith first be undone. He who has no love for you Che ascolto! Ahime! Che dici! asks you for none. Ah come mai non senti Who wants to confine pietà de’ miei tormenti, the freedom of another’s heart? del mio tradito amor? But should a shameful suspicion Perché pietà, oh Dio, non senti 5 del mio tradito amor? recently murdered husband, King Nino. Ma se costante sei Idreno, a visiting Indian King, is in love nel tuo rigor crudele, with the princess Azema – who, in turn, se sprezzi I prieghi miei, loves another. Towards the end of Act I, saprò con questo braccio he pours out his passion for her in “Ah punire il traditor. dov’ è, dov’ è il cimento.” What am I hearing? Alas! What are you Ah dov’ è, dov’ è il cimento? saying! Già di me maggior mi sento; Ah, why do you not feel tu mi rendi la speranza, pity for my suffering, muovo in me rideste ardir. for my love’s betrayal? D’un rival la rea baldanza Why, oh God, do you have no pity Io già avvampo di punir for my betrayed love? But if you firmly persist E se ancor libero in your cruel harshness, è il tuo bel core; if you ridicule my prayers, di quell che accendemi I shall know, by my own hand, tenero amore how to punish my betrayers. in seno almeno senti pietà; Set in ancient Babylon, Semiramide – più fida un’ anima Rossini’s 1823 opera based on Voltaire’s non troverai: tragedy Semiramis – is his final Italian tu sola l’idolo, opera, as well as his magnificent final cara sarai, tribute to the Baroque traditions of che ognora Idreno highly stylized and decorative singing adorerà. that he had grown up with. The opera’s plot follows the complex course of trai- So where, where then is the contest? torous plotting and palace intrigue as to I already feel myself to be the greater; who will succeed Queen Semiramide’s you give me hope, 6 and arouse new daring in me. prompt him – in act II – to dress in Turkish I am now burning garb himself, after expressing his love- to punish an evil rival’s impudence. lorn rage in the spectacular aria, “Tu sec- onda il mio desegno.” And if your lovely heart is still free, Tu seconda il mio desegno, at least have compassion dolce Amor , da cui mi viene. in your breast Deh!Ricusa a tutti un bene, for the tender love che accordasti solo a me. you awakened in me; Se il mio rival delude! you will never find Se inganno un incostante! a more faithful heart: Per un offeso amante you alone, beloved, vendetta egual non v’ é.