Constantine Orbelian was the first American to become music director of an ensemble in Russia, appointed to the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in 1991.
Performer Biography
John Osborn, the tenor on this album, is an American singer who won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at age twenty-one and the 1996 Operalia Voice Competition.
Composer Biography
Gilbert Duprez, a French tenor and voice teacher, was a pivotal figure in the development of Romantic-era opera and vocal technique in the early 19th century.
Recording & Production
The Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, featured on this recording, performs about fifty concerts annually and has collaborated with artists like The Scorpions and Electric Light Orchestra.
Compositional Technique
Gilbert Duprez developed the then-novel technique of singing high notes, including high C's, in full, ringing 'chest voice,' which became a universal practice for operatic tenors.
Performer Biography
Constantine Orbelian, the conductor, is a Grammy-nominated American pianist-conductor born to Russian and Armenian emigré parents, who made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony at age eleven.
Historical Context
Before Duprez's technique, the prevailing tenore altino style involved singing top-end notes in an amplified falsetto, resulting in a delicate, unheroic head-voice sound.
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