<<  -- 2 --  Maria Nockin    ACCOMPLISHED STAGECRAFT

The star of this performance was coloratura tenor Lawrence Brownlee whose vocal flexibility is an absolute marvel. For him the often omitted aria 'Cessa di piú resistere' was put back into the last act. Most tenors find singing difficult florid music when they are most assuredly tired next to impossible, but Brownlee tossed the aria off with seeming ease. Next year he makes his Metropolitan Opera début and we can only hope he will still choose to come back to the Southwest once in a while.

English baritone Christopher Maltman, who has sung Figaro at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, was a gregarious man-about-town, strong of voice and light on his feet. He embodied the characteristics that have made the Spanish barber such a well loved character for more than 200 years.

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