Lawrence Brownlee, Michael Spyres, I Virtuosi Italiani & Corrado Rovaris
Biography Lawrence Brownlee, Michael Spyres, I Virtuosi Italiani & Corrado Rovaris
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).
Amidst the challenges of COVID-19, Brownlee has emerged as a pivotal voice in classical music’s shift toward digital programming and the resurgence of conversations around racial justice. In May 2020, he launched “The Sitdown with LB,” a weekly Facebook Live series which explores the experience of being an African-American opera singer. The ongoing series has featured Brownlee in conversation with renowned artists like George Shirley, Denyce Graves, Martina Arroyo, J’Nai Bridges, Angel Blue, and others. Since April 2020 he has also hosted the video series “Coffee and a Song,” in which he invites artist friends to perform interpretations of art-songs from the intimacy of their own homes, and in August he gave a Masterclass conversation-performance as part of National Sawdust’s Digital Discovery Festival. Brownlee also performed at the Metropolitan Opera’s At-Home Gala in April 2020.
Other highlights of Brownlee’s 20-21 season include a virtual concert with the Tallahassee Symphony, a broadcast of Lawrence Brownlee and Friends with Opera Philadelphia, a virtual recital with pianist Myra Huang for the Schubert Club International Artist Series, broadcasts and eventual live performances of his acclaimed solo recital program Cycles of My Being, a duo recital with Michael Spyres, and appearances with the Lincoln Center Song Series, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Opernhaus Zurich, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, New National Theatre Tokyo, and San Francisco Opera. His album Amici e Rivali with Michael Spyres and Maestro Corrado Rovaris, releasing November 13 on Warner Classics & Erato, will be the first ever to exclusively feature Rossini’s tenor duets.
Michael Spyres
was born and raised in the Ozarks and grew up in an extremely musical family. Mr. Spyres is one of the most sought after Tenors of his generation and has been celebrated at many of the most prestigious international opera houses, festivals and concert halls. Accomplished and acclaimed in the widest range of repertoire his career has taken him from the genres of Baroque to Classical to 20th century while firmly establishing himself as an expert within the Bel Canto repertoire as well as within Rossini and French Grand Opera.
The 2019/2020 will see Michael's long awaited debut at the famed MET as he stars in the title role of Berlioz's Damnation de Faust. Mr. Spyres will also be seen in a wide range of repertoire from Lieder to BelCanto and from French Grand Opera to Verismo. The exciting season will see his return as Hoffmann and as Arnold at the Bayerische Staatsoper, debut as Licinius in La Vestale at Theater an der Wien, Gualtiero in Bellini's Pirata at Opéra National de Paris, Faust at the Metropolitan Opera, Faust with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, his role debut as Canio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with the SROpera, his debut in Puerto Rico with Lawrence Brownlee at Culturarte de Puerto Rico, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Wiener Staatsoper, Florestan in Fidelio with the Tonhalle Orchester in Zurich, his recital debut with Mathieu Pordoy in Paris and Theatre du Capital Toulouse , as well as his recital debut in Opera National du Rhin and La Monnaie with Roger Vignoles.
Since 2015 Michael has had the honor to be the only International Opera Star who is not just a performer but also an impresario. Mr. Spyres has been the Artistic Director of his hometown opera company, the Springfield Regional Opera and has been involved in every aspect of the renaissance of his regional company. In addition to being the active Artistic Director he has translated libretti and actively teaches masterclasses while guiding young artists careers. The last years have seen him produce numerous events as well as 4 operas and 4 gala concerts. For the 2019/2020 season Michael wrote/produced the 40th anniversary gala of the SROpera and he has written an original pastiche on the life of Handel which will debut this fall. This season will also see his return to the SROpera's main stage in over 10 years to star in his original vaudeville play coupled with his role debut as Canio in his original concept of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.
Michael has worked with some of the world's most renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Mark Elder, Valery Gergiev, Emmannuelle Haim, Sir Andrew Davis, Evelino Pidò , Fabio Luisi, Michele Mariotti, and Alberto Zedda . In his meteoric rise Michael has quickly established himself as one of the greatest singers of his generation and has already sung at many of the world's most prestigious Opera houses and festivals worldwide such as Teatro San Carlo, Teatro La Scala, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Aix en Provence Festival, Opera National de Bordeaux, Opera Comique, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berliner Festspiele, Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Chicago Lyric Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Nederlands National Opera, ABAO Bilbao Opera, Liceu Opera Barcelona, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Salzburger Festspiele.
In addition to his operatic career Mr. Spyres is equally accomplished within the concert world and has given concerts and recitals in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Prague, Pesaro, Bologna, Napoli, Sao Paulo, A Coruna, Tokyo, Cape Town, Shanghai, Vienna, Dresden, Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Recently Mr. Spyres made his debut at the Vienna State Opera as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola and at the Philadelphia Opera as Edgardo in a new staging of Lucia di Lammermoor. He was also seen as Gualtiero in Bellini's Il pirata at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, as Chapelou in Adam's Le Postillon de Lonjumeau in a new production at the Opéra Comique, and as Pollione in Norma at Opernhaus Zurich. Michael also performed the title roles of Les contes d'Hoffmann at the Bavarian State Opera Munich, Orlando paladino and Pollione in Norma at the Zurich Opera House, Mitridate, re di Ponto in London (Covent Garden), La damnation de Faust and Benvenuto Cellini at the London Proms, and the Berlioz Festival La Côte-Saint-André; Don José in Carmen (role debut) at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris and, Énée in Les Troyens (role debut) at the Salle Érasme Strasbourg (recorded for Warner/Erato) and his role debut as Florestan inBeethoven's Fidelio with the Basel Chamber Orchestra. On the concert platform he recently performed Berlioz's Lélio at the Carnegie Hall, recorded and performed his signature role with Warner/Erato as Faust in Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, made his role debut as the title role in Vincent D'Indy's epic opera Fervaal, and performed recitals at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Opera Bordeaux, Oper Frankfurt, Teatro Carlo Felice of Genoa, and Teatro Colon in A Coruna.
This and future seasons will see his debuts at the Metropolitan Opera New York, Theater an der Wien, Teatro Real Madrid, as well as his return to the Vienna State Opera, Bayerische State Opera, Opéra National of Paris, Théatre Champs Elysée, Opéra Comique, La Monnaie and to his hometown opera the SROpera in Springfield, MO, USA.
Michael Spyres has recorded Berlioz's Requiem (Warner/Erato), Donizetti's Les Martyrs, Le duc d'Albe (Opera Rara), Dvorak’s Stabat Mater (Decca), Herold’s Les Pres aux Clercs (BruZane), Mayr’s Medea in Corinto (Dynamic), Mazzoni's Antigono (Dynamic), Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang (LSO), Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots (ASO), Rossini's Guillaume Tell, La gazzetta, Otello, Le siège de Corinthe (Naxos), and Petite Messe Solennelle (Naive), Schumann's Faust-Szenen (ASO), Verdi's Otello (CSO) Berlioz's Les Troyens (Erato), and his two solo recital albums A Fool For Love (Delos) and Espoir (Opera Rara)
Also available on DVD/Blu-Ray is : Gounod's La Nonne Sanglante (Naxos), Rossini's Ciro in Babilonia and Aureliano in Palmira from Pesaro (Opus Arte), Medea in Corinto from Martina Franca, Guillaume Tell from Bad Wildbad (Dynamic), Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno from Aix en Provence (Warner), Mitridate, Re di Ponto from Theatre des Champs-Eysees and Les Contes d'Hoffmann from Barcelona (Erato).
