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We could not hide our pleasure listening to this extraordinary vocal battle between tenors Lawrence Brownlee and Michael Spyres. The problem with performing Rossini’s operas today arises mostly from a difficulty in finding enough tenors. Up to four are required for the works from his Neapolitan period.
The agile and tender timbre of Lawrence Brownlee responds to the more sombre and baritone voice of Michael Spyres in the duos and ensembles (with mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught and Xabier Anduaga, the third tenor in this album) taken from the seven operas and opera serias composed between 1815 and 1826: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Riccardo e Zoraide, La donna del lago, Elisabetta Regina d’Inghilterra, Othello, Le Siege de Corinthe and Armida. Fans of excess and pyrotechnics will be pleased as high notes are thrown out with confidence and casual force under the glistening direction of Corrado Rovaris as he heads the well-named I Virtuosi Italiani. “Friends and Foes” (“Amici e Rivali”) is the album’s title, but the two are very much friends, specialists in Rossinian singing reunited here for our great pleasure. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Cesare Sterbini, Poet - Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Francesco Maria Berio di Salsa, Poet
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Francesco Maria Berio di Salsa, Poet - Xabier Anduaga, Tenor Vocals, FeaturedArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Francesco Maria Berio di Salsa, Poet
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Francesco Maria Berio di Salsa, Poet
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Andrea Leone Tottola, Poet - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Tara Erraught, Mezzo-soprano Vocals, FeaturedArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Andrea Leone Tottola, Poet - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Tara Erraught, Mezzo-soprano Vocals, FeaturedArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Giovanni Schmidt, Poet - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Francesco Maria Berio di Salsa, Poet - Xabier Anduaga, Tenor Vocals
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Francesco Maria Berio di Salsa, Poet
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Francesco Maria Berio di Salsa, Poet - Tara Erraught, Mezzo-soprano Vocals, FeaturedArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Luigi Balocchi, Poet - Alexandre Soumet, Poet - Michael Spyres, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Luigi Balocchi, Poet - Alexandre Soumet, Poet - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Luigi Balocchi, Poet - Alexandre Soumet, Poet - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Tara Erraught, Mezzo-soprano Vocals, FeaturedArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Gioacchino Rossini, Composer - Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Giovanni Schmidt, Poet - I Virtuosi Italiani, Orchestra, MainArtist - Michael Spyres, Tenor Vocals, MainArtist - Corrado Rovaris, Conductor, MainArtist - Xabier Anduaga, Tenor Vocals, FeaturedArtist
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
Album Description
We could not hide our pleasure listening to this extraordinary vocal battle between tenors Lawrence Brownlee and Michael Spyres. The problem with performing Rossini’s operas today arises mostly from a difficulty in finding enough tenors. Up to four are required for the works from his Neapolitan period.
The agile and tender timbre of Lawrence Brownlee responds to the more sombre and baritone voice of Michael Spyres in the duos and ensembles (with mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught and Xabier Anduaga, the third tenor in this album) taken from the seven operas and opera serias composed between 1815 and 1826: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Riccardo e Zoraide, La donna del lago, Elisabetta Regina d’Inghilterra, Othello, Le Siege de Corinthe and Armida. Fans of excess and pyrotechnics will be pleased as high notes are thrown out with confidence and casual force under the glistening direction of Corrado Rovaris as he heads the well-named I Virtuosi Italiani. “Friends and Foes” (“Amici e Rivali”) is the album’s title, but the two are very much friends, specialists in Rossinian singing reunited here for our great pleasure. © François Hudry/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 15 track(s)
- Total length: 01:18:42
- Main artists: Corrado Rovaris Michael Spyres Lawrence Brownlee I Virtuosi Italiani
- Composer: Gioachino Rossini
- Label: Warner Classics
- Genre: Classical
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24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo
A Warner Classics/Erato release, © 2020 Parlophone Records Limited A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2020 Parlophone Records Limited
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