Rockwell Blake
Encyclopedia
Rockwell Blake is an American opera
tic tenor
, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award.
as a member of the Sea Chanters male chorus and later as a soloist with the US Navy Band. During that time, he continued his voice training with Renata Carisio Booth, who had been his teacher since his school days in Plattsburgh.
He made his solo opera
debut in 1976 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as Lindoro in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri
, and made his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera House
in 1981 in the same role, with Marilyn Horne
as his Isabella. He went on to become one of the leading Rossini singers of his generation, singing regularly at the Rossini Opera Festival
in Pesaro since his debut there in 1983. He made his La Scala
debut in 1992 as Giacomo in La donna del lago
. It was La Scala's first production of the opera in 150 years and was staged to mark the bicentenary of Rossini's birth.
Although several critics have expressed reservations about the intrinsic slightly harsh timbre of his voice, his two-and-a-half octave range and mastery of florid vocal technique and coloratura
, have made him a successful interpreter not only of Rossini's tenore contraltino roles (in whose recent revival he has been a chief protagonist), but also of operas by Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini
and Handel
. Within that repertoire, Blake has sung in over 40 operas, including relative rarities such as Rossini's Zelmira, Mozart's' Zaide
, Donizetti's Il Furioso all'Isola San Domingo, Haydn's L'Infedelta Delusa and Boieldieu's La Dame blanche
. Blake has also been active in the orchestral and oratorio
tenor repertoire, performing in works by Bach
, Beethoven, Berlioz, Britten, Handel
, Haydn, Mendelssohn
, Mozart, Rossini, Saint-Saëns
, and Stravinsky.
Since 2001 he has increasingly devoted himself to teaching and has given master class
es at the Associazione Lirica Concertistica Italiana in Milan, the Conservatoire Nationale de Paris, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Duke University in North Carolina, the State University of New York, the Hamburg Staatsoper, and the Chicago Lyric Opera young artists program.
His last appearances on the opera stage were as Uberto in Rossini's La donna del lago
(Lisbon, 2005) and as Libenskoff in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims
(Montecarlo, 2005)
Recitals
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award.
Biography
Blake studied music first at the State University of New York (Fredonia) and then at the Catholic University of America. On leaving Catholic University, he served for three years in the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as a member of the Sea Chanters male chorus and later as a soloist with the US Navy Band. During that time, he continued his voice training with Renata Carisio Booth, who had been his teacher since his school days in Plattsburgh.
He made his solo opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
debut in 1976 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as Lindoro in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
, and made his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in 1981 in the same role, with Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....
as his Isabella. He went on to become one of the leading Rossini singers of his generation, singing regularly at the Rossini Opera Festival
Rossini Opera Festival
The Rossini Opera Festival is an opera festival held in August of each year in Pesaro, Italy, the birthplace of the opera composer Gioachino Rossini....
in Pesaro since his debut there in 1983. He made his La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
debut in 1992 as Giacomo in La donna del lago
La donna del lago
La donna del lago is an opera by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on The Lady of the Lake, a poem by Sir Walter Scott.This opera was the first to be based on Scott's romantic works...
. It was La Scala's first production of the opera in 150 years and was staged to mark the bicentenary of Rossini's birth.
Although several critics have expressed reservations about the intrinsic slightly harsh timbre of his voice, his two-and-a-half octave range and mastery of florid vocal technique and coloratura
Coloratura
Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
, have made him a successful interpreter not only of Rossini's tenore contraltino roles (in whose recent revival he has been a chief protagonist), but also of operas by Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
and Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
. Within that repertoire, Blake has sung in over 40 operas, including relative rarities such as Rossini's Zelmira, Mozart's' Zaide
Zaide
Zaide is an unfinished opera, K. 344, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780. Emperor Joseph II, in 1778, was in the process of setting up an opera company for the purpose of performing German opera. One condition required of the composer to join this company was that he should write a...
, Donizetti's Il Furioso all'Isola San Domingo, Haydn's L'Infedelta Delusa and Boieldieu's La Dame blanche
François-Adrien Boïeldieu
François-Adrien Boieldieu was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart".-Biography:...
. Blake has also been active in the orchestral and oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
tenor repertoire, performing in works by Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
, Beethoven, Berlioz, Britten, Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
, Haydn, Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
, Mozart, Rossini, Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
, and Stravinsky.
Since 2001 he has increasingly devoted himself to teaching and has given master class
Master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....
es at the Associazione Lirica Concertistica Italiana in Milan, the Conservatoire Nationale de Paris, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Duke University in North Carolina, the State University of New York, the Hamburg Staatsoper, and the Chicago Lyric Opera young artists program.
His last appearances on the opera stage were as Uberto in Rossini's La donna del lago
La donna del lago
La donna del lago is an opera by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on The Lady of the Lake, a poem by Sir Walter Scott.This opera was the first to be based on Scott's romantic works...
(Lisbon, 2005) and as Libenskoff in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims
Il viaggio a Reims
Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro is an operatic dramma giocoso, originally performed in three acts, by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Balocchi, based in part on Corinne, ou L'Italie by Mme de Staël.Rossini's last opera in the Italian language Il viaggio a...
(Montecarlo, 2005)
Prizes and distinctions
- Richard Tucker Award 1978
- Cavaliere Ufficiale, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana 1994
- Diapason d'Or de l'Anné 1994
- Honorary Degree - Doctor of Music, State University of New York
- Victoire de la Musique 1997
- Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres de la République Française 2000
- Grand Prix du Palmares des Palmares 2004
Discography
Operas- Boieldieu - La Dame blanche, Conductor Marc MinkowskiMarc MinkowskiMarc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology...
(CD Angel/EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) - Donizetti - Alina, Regina di Golconda, Conductor Antonello Allemandi (CD Nuova Era)
- Donizetti - Marin Faliero, Conductor Ottavio DantoneOttavio DantoneOttavio Dantone is an Italian conductor and keyboardist particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has been the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna since 1996.-Career:...
(DVD Hardy Classic) - Mozart - Mitridate Re di Ponto, Conductor Theodor GuschlbauerTheodor GuschlbauerTheodor Guschlbauer is an Austrian conductor.-External links:*...
(DVD Euro Arts) - Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia, Conductor: Bruno CampanellaBruno CampanellaBruno Campanella is an Italian conductor and a distinguished interpreter of the Italian Opera.He studied composition under Nino Rota and Luigi Dallapiccola. He had Hans Swarowsky and Thomas Schippers as instructors in conducting....
(CD Nuova Era) - Rossini - La Donna del Lago, Conductor: Riccardo MutiRiccardo MutiRiccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
(CD PhilipsPhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
) - Rossini - La Donna del Lago, Conductor: Riccardo Muti (DVD La Scala Collection)
- Rossini - La Donna del Lago, Conductor: Claudio ScimoneClaudio ScimoneClaudio Scimone is an Italian conductor.He was born in Padua, Italy and studied conducting with Dmitri Mitropoulos and Franco Ferrara. He has established an international reputation as a conductor, as well as a composer. He has revived many baroque and renaissance works...
(CD Ponto) - Rossini - Elisabetta Regina d'Inghilterra, Conductor Gabriele Ferro (DVD Hardy Classic)
Recitals
- Airs d'Opéras Français (CD EMI)
- The Rossini Tenor (CD Arabesque)
- Encore Rossini (CD Arabesque Recordings)
- The Mozart Tenor (CD Arabesque Recordings)
- Rossini Melodies (CD EMI)
External links
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoJrvpDbjTY&feature=youtu.be Rockwell Blake in La Cenerentola (1980).