SUMMARY

Virtuoso vocal technique that strives for perfection, an ideal of sound characterised by complete balance, homogeneity, a mobility of phrases and constructions, and an approach that treats the human voice as an instrument. This was, in the strictest sense, what bel canto was, a concept that for posterity also came to identify an operatic style of the time whose pivotal figures consisted of the trio of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. This concert offers a representative sample of their works: a selection of the bestknown and most popular pieces of their oeuvres and of the bel canto style, but also focusing on works worth discovering, such as Donizetti’s opera L’Ange de Nisida, which only received its first performance a few years ago, in 2018.

The star of the evening is Lawrence Brownlee, who celebrated his 50th birthday last year, along with the 20th anniversary of the launch of his professional career and his operatic debut. Today, the American singer is respected around the world as one of the most dedicated and celebrated interpreters of the tenor heroes of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti, thanks to a voice that soars all the way up to high F, accompanied by an impeccable sense of style, an elegant presence as a performer and – last but not least – a wonderful sense of humour. Joining Brownlee on the stage tonight will be two highly talented young singers. The Russian soprano Lidia Fridman recently jumped in stellarly as the title character in the production of Lucrezia Borgia presented in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall and has already portrayed Norma in a number of Italian opera houses, as well as in Brussels. The South Korean baritone Gyungmin Gwon, in addition to taking first place at a singing competition held in Moscow in 2022, also won the Müpa Budapest special award.

The Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, which regularly participates in Müpa Budapest’s bel canto opera productions, is popular not only in its home city of Pécs, but also in the Hungarian capital, thanks to its innovative concert series, and has been conquering European concert halls in recent years. Wielding the baton tonight will be the young German conductor Nikolas Nägele, who is already in high demand as a conductor of works by Rossini. Between 2017 and 2019, Nägele worked as the Kapellmeister of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, appearing in the latter year at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. In 2021, he also made it to Müpa Budapest as the music director of an excellent Rossini gala that could only be broadcast online.