Two of today's most brilliant tenors, Michael Spyres and Lawrence Brownlee, celebrate the art of the trailblazing star singers of Rossini's time. Amici e Rivali - 'Friends and Rivals' - comprises arias, duets, and trios from seven of the composer's operas, written between 1815 and 1826: the most famous comic opera of them all, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and six serious dramatic works Otello, Armida, La donna del Lago, Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra, Le Siège de Corinthe, and, the rarest title here, Ricciardo e Zoraide.
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REVIEWS:
Lawrence Brownlee and Michael Spyres’s new album of duelling-tenor pieces, “Amici e Rivali,” is aRead more nice reminder of the sparks that fly when two first-rate voices meet in the playground of a Rossini opera.
– The New Yorker (Oussama Zahr)
This is impressive: two superb Rossinians in music written for the virtuoso tenors David and Nozzari in the composer’s nine Neapolitan operas from the 1810s. Brownlee has a brighter tone than Spyres, who sings Figaro in the Barber of Seville duet, but the latter shines in the darker French Rossini.
La donna del lago: Qual pena in me giŕ destaby Gioachino Rossini Performer:
Lawrence Brownlee (Tenor),
Michael Spyres (Tenor)
Conductor:
Corrado Rovaris
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Virtuosi Italiani
Period: Romantic Written: 1819; Italy
2.
Armida: In quale aspetto imbelleby Gioachino Rossini Performer:
Michael Spyres (Tenor),
Lawrence Brownlee (Tenor),
Xabier Anduaga (Tenor)
Conductor:
Corrado Rovaris
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Virtuosi Italiani
Period: Romantic Written: 1817; Italy
3.
Ricciardo e Zoraide: S'ella m' č ognor fedele...Qual sarŕ mai la gioiaby Gioachino Rossini Performer:
Michael Spyres (Tenor),
Lawrence Brownlee (Tenor),
Xabier Anduaga (Tenor)
Conductor:
Corrado Rovaris
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Virtuosi Italiani
Period: Romantic Written: 1818; Italy
4.
Ricciardo e Zoraide: Donala a questo coreby Gioachino Rossini Performer:
Michael Spyres (Tenor),
Lawrence Brownlee (Tenor)
Conductor:
Corrado Rovaris
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Virtuosi Italiani
Period: Romantic Written: 1818; Italy
5.
Otello: Non m'inganno, al mio rivaleby Gioachino Rossini Performer:
Michael Spyres (Tenor),
Lawrence Brownlee (Tenor)
Conductor:
Corrado Rovaris
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Virtuosi Italiani
Period: Romantic Written: 1816; Italy
6.
Otello: Ah, vieni, nel tuo sanguiby Gioachino Rossini Performer:
Michael Spyres (Tenor),
Lawrence Brownlee (Tenor),
Xabier Anduaga (Tenor)
Conductor:
Corrado Rovaris
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Virtuosi Italiani
Period: Romantic Written: 1816; Italy
7.
Il barbiere di Siviglia: All' idea di qual metalloby Gioachino Rossini Performer:
Michael Spyres (Tenor),
Lawrence Brownlee (Tenor)
Conductor:
Corrado Rovaris
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Virtuosi Italiani
Period: Romantic Written: 1816; Italy
8.
L'assedio di Corinto: Excerpt(s)by Gioachino Rossini Performer:
Lawrence Brownlee (Tenor),
Michael Spyres (Tenor),
Tara Erraught (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor:
Corrado Rovaris
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Virtuosi Italiani
Period: Romantic Written: 1826; Italy Notes: "Grand Dieu, Faut-Il Qu'un Peuple" (Néoclès)
"Cher Cléomène" (Cléomène, Néoclès)
"Céleste Providence" (Cléomène, Néoclès, Pamyra)
