We’re happy to share the news that the first two volumes of our Donizetti Song Project cycle have received reviews from critics across Europe including Spain, France, Germany and Poland, as well as of course in the UK including coverage on BBC Radio 3’s Record Review and being picked as one of Presto Music’s Top 100 Recordings of the Year. Volume 1 was also nominated for a 2024 International Classical Music Award.
Sample a selection of the reviews below and head over to this page here to find out how you can purchase the two albums featuring tenor Lawrence Brownlee, baritone Nicola Alaimo and our Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi at the piano: https://opera-rara.com/product-category/default-category/donizetti-songs-project
Lawrence Brownlee’s voice is sweet and pure, and he phrases like a true connoisseur of bel canto. His diction is excellent… Both singers are sensitive to the texts, some of which are in French and German… Carlo Rizzi’s pianism is a boon to both singers. He knows how to shape this music, where to indulge the singer and where to lead. American Record Guide
With a velvet tone, refined legato, ease in high notes, depth in low notes, nuanced dynamics, and varied colours and characterizations, Nicola Alaimo shines in this new album…. Carlo Rizzi, setting aside the baton, serves as an ideal partner for the two singers, breathing with them and adorning their voices with delicate shades. The editorial work is remarkable. Diapason
This is a project of considerable musicological significance that gains further credibility from its exceptionally high-performance level… Lawrence Brownlee displays an excellent command of the Italian language and a voice that is both agile and expansive in the upper range… Rizzi’s qualities as an accompanist are even more evident in the second volume. Alaimo, with a resonant voice, brings the sung words to life effectively, not only in Italian and the delightful Sicilian dialect but also in French and even in German. Musica
Listening to these songs highlights the fallacy of claiming that German art song – and German music in general -was inherently superior to its Italian counterpart. This cliché is akin to the still-widespread belief among German music enthusiasts that Italian and especially French operas are more superficial than German ones… The fact that 80 minutes of songs never feel monotonous is largely due to Carlo Rizzi’s accompaniment, which perfectly captures the mood of each piece. More importantly, Rizzi, an experienced opera conductor, demonstrates a deep love for vocal music and the Italian repertoire, skillfully guiding the singers while allowing them freedom. Opus Klassiek
Nicola Alaimo, often seen on stage, is here in a more intimate setting with these chamber pieces. In all the tracks, he balances weight and intimacy, delivering a voice capable of filling the Teatro Massimo in Palermo – the largest theatre in Italy – while skilfully adapting to the inward, reflective nature of these rare works. Il Trillo Parlante
Alaimo demonstrates excellent voice control, strong text projection, and fine nuance. Carlo Rizzi is again at the piano, and together they deliver heartfelt performances, further enriched with harp tones inspired by Donizetti and played by Daniel de Fry. Opera Rara’s Donizetti Song Project deserves praise for its interesting and beautiful presentation. The anticipation for the next instalment is high. Luister
The opening track of Volume 1 is a charmer, and Brownlee nails it, his flexibility demonstrating why he’s a go-to for Rossini heroes… Carlo Rizzi, Opera Rara’s Artistic Director, is the ideal accompanist, playing with imagination while always letting the voice take centre stage… Whatever the mood, Brownlee’s is a voice to sit back and enjoy… In Volume 2, Alaimo is always acute to the sensitivities of the material… An auspicious start, then, that should introduce audiences to an endlessly attractive yet mostly forgotten world of 19th-century Italian song. Limelight, Editor’s Choice
The first two albums are now available, from tenor Lawrence Brownlee and baritone Nicola Alaimo, both sympathetically accompanied at the piano by Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi… Brownlee, an ideal ‘Donizetti tenor’, brings immense warmth of tone and charm to his performance, and is ardent and affecting where the material demands… This is Donizetti the Romantic [in Vol. 2], glancing over the Alps to his northern-European contemporaries, and Alaimo coaxes every drop of Gothic drama from this music. Neither of these albums sounds quite like Donizetti as we are used to hearing him, and to understand the complexity of the man you will want to hear both. BBC Music Magazine
Lawrence Brownlee showcases a fluid Italian diction and legato singing style, supported by Carlo Rizzi’s varied and attentive accompaniment… Nicola Alaimo’s presence adds great depth with his tasteful phrasing and resonant voice, delivering both quality and variety. Opéra Actual
It is notable that Lawrence Brownlee, nurtured on Rossini’s music, kicks things off with an album recorded in the studio in September 2023. The American tenor, at nearly 52 and still in excellent vocal form, embodies the ideal bridge from late bel canto to Donizetti’s neo-belcantist romanticism, which both cultivates and departs from that legacy. Armed with a precise technique, Brownlee successfully meets the challenge. Opéra magazine
Brownlee is adept at high notes, maintaining a consistent colour even in the upper register. He skillfully differentiates the more lively, rhythmic songs from the more intimate ones… This recording project offers an excellent opportunity to evaluate the evolution of the art of the composer from Bergamo… It is a collection to be listened to over and over again. Carlo Rizzi, essential to this project, accompanies each piece with style, turning every track into a little gem. Il Trillo Parlante
Combined with his unshakable vocal accuracy and diction, Brownlee’s performances are indeed satisfying… Alaimo is a highly engaged storyteller… when it’s all finished, I imagine some potentially great anthologies being drawn from the eight volumes. Gramophone
This is an essential edition. The collection allows us to follow the evolution of the composer, from his youthful works set to Italian texts of brief length, to those of his more mature phase, in French and even German, where the structure shows greater complexity… The interpretation of the tenor pieces is performed by Lawrence Brownlee, who displays his beautiful and brilliant light-lyric tone, with carefully crafted phrasing and impeccable musicality. Nicola Alaimo, for his part, envelops his singing with the use of his rich mid-range, bringing the necessary character to the declamations and showing a notable sensitivity in modulating his delivery. Carlo Rizzi perfectly understands his role, accompanying with restraint so that the soloists can fully showcase Donizetti’s writing. Scherzo
In this selection of tenor songs, Lawrence Brownlee can fully utilize his vital singing skills, creative abilities and the radiant height of his voice to maximum effect… In the first track (Al campo della gloria) of the second disc of baritone songs, Nicola Alaimo sings with energetic verve, and in the second (Ov’è la voce magica), with lyrical cantilena… both recordings whet the appetite for the continuation of this cycle. Opera Lounge
Opera Rara has won the award for outstanding classical record label of the year which is a just reward for its unstinting devotion to rare repertoire, especially the music of Donizetti… Both singers excel and show their versatility in songs that in the 1830s, when Donizetti’s Italian operatic career was at its height, focus on archetypally Romantic figures – the world of Walter Scott’s novels and Byron’s poetry is never far away. In the next decade, when resident in Paris and Vienna, the sources become more modern and the harmonies more daring. Both volumes are full of surprises even for those who know Donizetti’s operas well. Opera Rara’s presentation is, as always, exemplary. Midlands Classical Music Reviews
