John Brownlee

Baritone John Brownlee could very well be most widely known for his involvement in the Glyndebourne Event Mozart productions which began in 1935. Gifted having a durable, if not completely pliant tone of voice, Brownlee demonstrated himself hugely useful at Covent Backyard (where he was presented by fellow Australian Dame Nellie Melba), Glyndebourne, and, eventually, on the Metropolitan Opera where he sang 348 shows over an interval of 21 periods. On the Metropolitan by itself, he performed 33 jobs, a testament to the flexibility that produced him a pleasant member of the business even if not really a definitive one in virtually any specific component. Prompted by Melba, Brownlee still left Australia to review with French baritone Dinh Gilly in Paris. He produced his 1926 stage debut on the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris as Nilakantha in Les pêcheurs de perles, in fact a bass function. That same season, he was asked to Covent Backyard to be a part of Melba’s farewell to the level, performing Marcello to her Mimì in the 3rd and fourth works of La bohème. Regardless of the attention centered on the leading female, Brownlee’s functionality was noticed with satisfaction. In following years, he gained compliment from London critics for his Mercutio, Golaud, Amonasro, Jochanaan, Rigoletto, and Iago. Many comments were produced about the “Italian way” Brownlee could emulate. The particular Ernest Newman defined his Golaud by deeming it “as great a bit of work as we’ve noticed at Covent Backyard this year. His voice is really as musical an body organ as could possibly be wished; and he appears to have furthermore an instinctive feeling of dramatic mindset and a fantastic flavor and restraint.” Nov 1926 noticed Brownlee’s engagement on the Paris Opéra where he produced his debut as Athanaël in Thaïs during Feb of the next year, beginning a link that lasted until 1936. During this time period, Brownlee started widening his carrying out territory, ultimately performing in theaters in Antwerp, Brussels, Monte Carlo, and, in SOUTH USA, at Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Rio de Janeiro. Brownlee’s Glyndebourne years started in 1935 when he made an appearance as Don Alfonso in Così lover tutte as well as the Loudspeaker in Pass away Zauberflöte. In 1936, he came back to portray his manly Don Giovanni as well as the Count number in Le nozze di Figaro. The recordings that have been manufactured from these landmark Mozart productions put into Brownlee’s international status and they possess seldom been from the catalog since their preliminary launch. Brownlee’s Don was explained at that time as good looking and swashbuckling but just a little in short supply of the bad undercurrent that ought to inform the function. On Feb 17, 1937, Brownlee produced his Metropolitan Opera debut as Rigoletto, where his build quality was discovered dried out and undersized for certain requirements of the function. He was chosen not in the best assignments, but instead in even more lyric types where his cut physique and simplicity in stage motion created an even more positive impact. Once Brownlee relocated into a few of his Mozart tasks, his value as an designer was even more generously mentioned. Although he sang at Chicago and SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA and came back to London for the 1949 – 1950 time of year, Brownlee centered his activity mainly round the Metropolitan throughout his singing profession. His cleverness and broad understanding of the traditional music industry resulted in his providing the American Guild of Musical Performers as chief executive from 1953 to 1967 as well as the Manhattan College of Music 1st as a movie director and, later on, as president.