Earlier this month, Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD landed in London, with Lawrence receiving rave reviews and appearing on all of the major TV, Radio and newspaper outlets! See below for a sampling of the press coverage, and join us in congratulating our intrepid tenor extraordinaire!
"Brownlee gives a performance of remarkable vocal and dramatic integrity in a taxing central role that rarely takes him from the stage during the opera’s unbroken 90-minute span, and his singing has wonderful colour and ease."
"Tenor Lawrence Brownlee, outstanding as Parker, captures the emotional extremes of a musical genius pushing at artistic and social boundaries."
"You would be hard-pressed to find a new opera sung with more verve or virtuosity. Lawrence Brownlee’s performance in the title role is particularly striking. He is on stage almost throughout; and the stratospherically challenging vocal line written for him often emulates Parker’s own mercurially jagged alto-sax playing."
"...Lawrence Brownlee – the Rossini tenor who was the work’s inspiration – doesn’t play his sax, his charismatic vocalism holds everything together with magnificent authority."
"Brownlee sustains long, ecstatic vocal lines, the shapes of which cannily link jazz to bel canto..."
Backtrack – Review ★★★★
" Lawrence Brownlee, Schnyder alludes, was part of the inspiration for the opera itself, and it’s not hard to see why: scatting and improvising with as much ease as he soared over the sonorous lyrical lines, Brownlee, normally known for his Rossini roles, was on outstanding form."
BBC London, Robert Elms show - Interview with Lawrence Brownlee
BBC Front Row - Interview with Lawrence Brownlee
BBC Radio 3 Music Matters – Interview with Daniel Schnyder, Bridgette A. Wimberly and Lawrence Brownlee
Evening Standard – Comment piece
The Sunday Times - Feature
