Rockwell Blake

Rockwell Blake

Rockwell Blake (born January 10, 1951) is an American operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award. Born and raised in Plattsburgh, NY, Blake was the son of a mink farmer. After graduating from high school in Peru, he studied music first at the State University of New York at Fredonia and then at The Catholic University of America. On leaving Catholic University, he served for three years in the United States Navy 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. 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 only stage appearance at La Scala 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 di 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 classes 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 at Plattsburgh, 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). Source: Article "Rockwell Blake" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

  • Title: Rockwell Blake
  • Popularity: 0.001
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1951-01-10
  • Place of Birth: Plattsburgh, New York, USA
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Rockwell Blake Movies

  • 1985
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    Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra

    Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra

    1 1985 HD

    The Teatro Regio di Torino from Italy stars in this 1985 performance of Rossini's classic opera. Leading the all-star cast are Lella Cuberi, Daniela...

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  • 1992
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    La Donna del Lago

    La Donna del Lago

    1 1992 HD

    Based on a narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott and set against the backdrop of feudal Scotland, "La Donna del Lago" is one of Gioacchini Rossini's...

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  • 1988
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    The Met - Il Barbiere di Siviglia

    The Met - Il Barbiere di Siviglia

    1 1988 HD

    With its hilarious hijinks and vocal virtuosity, Rossini’s madcap comedy always proves a delightful treat. For this 1988 telecast, the Met...

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  • 2002
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    Marin Faliero

    Marin Faliero

    1 2002 HD

    Rare production of the opera which immediately preceded Lucia di Lammermoor in Donizetti’s oeuvre. This performance was taped live at the...

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  • 1987
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    Le monde est à vous

    Le monde est à vous

    1 1987 HD

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