Il primo dolce affanno, featuring Bruce singing the Liszt
Petrarch Sonnets.

Mercadante's Zaira (excerpts) (ORR 224) with Bruce, Majella Cullagh, Alastair Miles, Garry Magee - on Opera Rara! 'If you love Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti, this will drive you wild with joy.' Robert Levine, Classics Today (10/10 rating)           CHANDOS OPERA IN ENGLISH SERIES: Bruce Ford 2 - a selection of arias and ensembles from opera and oratorio including the tenor version (written by Mozart) of Handel's 'Rejoice' (the Messiah); a surprise 'encore' is the song 'Oh what a beautiful morning!' from Oklahoma! 'A fine tenor shines in a selection of testing arias.....In any language it's a highly recommendable collection.'Andrew Lamb, Gramophone, April 2003                     On the OPERA RARA Label: a compilation with tracks from all six of Meyerbeer's Italian Operas. "The other great delight of the disc is the singing. Meyerbeer's vocal line, like Rossini's, is written for virtuosi, and that, almost without exception, is a description to which the soloists can each lay claim. Eash has to negotiate passage-work of a kind that half a century ago would have made everybody shake their head and say it couldn't be done by 'today's' singers. Bruce Ford, particularly, performs wonders in the revised (Trieste) version of Crociato.." John Steane, Gramophone, February 2003   La Rimembranza - songs, duets, trios and quartets "Many items were written for leading artists........ but I doubt that they performed them better than Jennifer Larmore, Bruce Ford, Majella Cullagh and the others." George Hall, Opera Now, March/April 2003     Pacini - CARLO DI BORGOGNA                                   ORC21           "Once again Opera Rara has come to the rescue, allowing us further material to evaluate the work of one of the most prolific composers of 19th century Italian opera. Totally unsuccessful in its time, the reception of Carlo di Borgogna pushed Pacini into a temporary retirement that lasted five years. This should not lead one to think that Carlo is a dud, far from it. The music is exciting, full of dramatic confrontations, so that the duets are paramount. The singers are all up to the not inconsiderable demands of the work, with special praise for Bruce Ford in the title role and Jennifer Larmore as the wronged damsel. Elizabeth Futral is excellent as the other wronged lady, though the role may be one size to large for her resources. If you are familiar with other operas by Pacini, or if the non-RBDV repertoire of Italian repertory of the first half of the 19th century calls out to your intellectual curiosity, you will not be disappointed.", Joel Kasow, Culturekiosque, July 2002 "Texan Bruce Ford again proves himself a terrific, big-sounding bel canto tenor, able to negotiate both intricate and exclamatory music, and never afraid of heights. As the man everyone seems to be in love with, he's both heroic and ardent.", Robert Levine, Classics Today, July 2002 "With this never before recorded opera, Giovanni Pacini has created a series of extraordinary dramatic situations clothed in some of the most glorious and demanding vocal writing of the 19th century. Not to be missed! "Vitaminic.com, July 2002  Bruce Ford - Serious Rossini Excerpts from: Ricciardo e Zoraide, Armida, Mose in Egitto, Otello and Ugo, Re d'Italia "Here are several little-know arias, duets, trios and ensembles from Rossini's Serious Operas. Bruce Ford, one of the finest Rossini tenors of our time, is splendid throughout, especially in a powerful duet for two tenors from Ricciardo e Zoraide with William Matteuzzi, and an exciting trio from Armida. Highly recommended." - Charles Osborne (five stars), BBC Music Magazine, December 2001 "This is a superior kind of compilation from the bel canto specialist label. It focuses on the American tenor Bruce Ford, who has cornered the market in this repertoire - he was a thrilling Rossini Otello at Covent Garden last year - thanks to his extended vocal compass and dizzying coloratura technique. " - Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, September 19, 2001 "Ford brings great style and virtuosity to everything he sings.." - Charles Osborne, Opera, January 2002
	ROMANTIC HEROES An album of scenes covering nearly fifty years of the 19th century, accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra with David Parry, conductor. Works by Donizettti, Mercadante, Meyerbeer, Pacini, Ricci, and Rossini Reviewer Charles Osborne in BBC Music Magazine (January 1998) says about ROMANTIC HEROES:       "There are CDs of singers that one acquires because of the artist, and others that one acquires because of the repertoire being sung. I mean no disrespect to Bruce Ford, a fine American tenor heard in top form here, when I say that lovers of early 19th century opera would find this disc fascinating whoever (within reason!) the tenor was, for it contains seven items -- six arias and a duet -- from operas which are virtually unknown to modern audiences.       The opening number, a rousing aria from Pacini's CARLO DI BORGOGNA, is despatched vigorously by Ford, who is given fine support here and in two numbers by the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir. Alfredo's aria from Donizetti's opera about Alfred the Great is an engaging piece, and the other items, in particular the aria from Rossini's absurd but entertaining RICCIARDO E ZORAIDE, are all highly enjoyable. Bruce Ford has few equals today in this kind of music, and in a lengthy duet from Donizetti's ROSMONDA D'INGHILTERRA he and the soprano Renee Fleming are both magnificent" Performance ***** Sound **** John Steane in Gramophone, September 1998: "With this special (and specialized) recital following on so soon after his Opera in English record (Chandos, 4/98), Bruce Ford is receiving well-deserved opportunities and attention. Here his skill in florid work commands unqualified admiration, for he achieves the kind of fluency which until comparatively recent times was thought to be a thing of the past among tenors, and he does so without tricks or distortions, maintaining the unity of his voice throughout a range of more than two octaves."

COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY

FOR OPERA RARA

Bruce Ford - Romantic Heroes	ORR202
Bruce Ford -Serious Rossini	ORR218
Meyerbeer, IL CROCIATO IN EGITTO (Adriano )	ORC10
Mayr, MEDEA IN CORINTO (Giasone)	ORC11
Donizetti, ROSMONDA D'INGHILTERRA (Enrico)	ORC13
Alan Blyth, Gramophone, December 1999
April/May 1997 Classical Plus: 'Bruce Ford's Enrico is stunning - he's a real bel canto tenor with potency and range')(Caecilia Prize)
Rossini, RICCIARDO E ZORAIDE (Agorante)	ORC14
Pacini, MARIA REGINA D'INGHILTERRA (Fenimoore)	ORC15
"Bruce Ford's customary elegance is tempered with the occasional outburst, making it difficult to imagine a tenor better equipped today to deal with this music" (Culturekiosque)
Donizetti, MARIA DE RUDENZ (Enrico)	ORC16

 

 

 

 

Donizetti, ZORAIDA DI GRANATA (Almuzir)	ORC17

Joel Kasow, Culturekiosque, August 25, 2000 :'Ford, who grows in stature with each role he assumes, is undoubtedly the most accomplished of the singers.....making us aware of Almuzir's many conflicts of emotion and singing with an eloquence that goes well beyond the conventional, always in excellent, well-articulated Italian'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"the superbly athletic tenor of Bruce Ford has been neglected by the multinational labels, but here he reveals himself as a Rossinian without equal today; his burnished tone ..... is distinctive and his artistry puts more celebrated young tenors in the shade. He is especially moving in the final scene with Elizabeth Futral's radiant Desdemona." - Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times January 16, 2000 (Record of the Week)   "Bruce Ford in the title role once again demonstrates why he is the major Rossini tenor"         - Joel Kasow, Culturekiosque, August 25, 2000

 

       

 

Rossini: OTELLO (Otello)	ORC18
Rossini: OTELLO (excerpts)	ORCS18
Donizetti - LA ROMANZESCA (Fedele)	ORC19
Pacini - CARLO DI BORGOGNA (Carlo)	ORC 21
Rossini - ELISABETTA, REGINA D'INGHILTERRA	ORC 22
Rossini - THREE TENORS	ORR204
The Opera Rara Collection Vol. I	ORR205
Il Salotto Volume 1 - Mercadante 'Les Soirées Italiennes'	ORR206
Il Salotto Volume 2 - La Potenza d'Amore	ORR208
Il Salotto Volume 5 - La Rimembranza	ORR 223
The Opera Rara Collection Vol. II	ORR209
(various composers)BELLA IMMAGIN'	ORR210
NELLY MIRICIOIU - Rossini Gala	ORR211
DONIZETTI DIVAS	ORR213
Renee Flemings sings ROSMONDA D'INGHILTERRA	ORR214
Jane Eaglen sings MEDEA IN CORINTO	ORR215
(various composers) - FERME TES YEUX.....	ORR216
(Various composers) DUETS TO DIE FOR	ORR220
(Various composers) TYRANTS AND LOVERS	ORR221
Meyerbeer - MEYERBEER IN ITALY	ORR 222
Mercadante - ZAIRA	ORR 224

 

 

Sogno Talor...	ORR 225
Meyerbeer - MARGHERITA D'ANJOU	ORC 25
100 Years of Italian Opera, (1820-1830)	ORCH104
Opera: Celebration!	ORO1
Meyerbeer and his World	ORO2

For ARTS

   

 

For CHANDOS

       

 

 

 

James Camner in Opera News:

It's a pleasure to hear these so ardently sung; Ford's voice is beautiful, his technique never less than solid, with impeccable enunciation and style. When called for, as in the Rondo Finale from Barbiere (later reused by Rossini for Cenerentola), the tenor shows spectacular coloratura facility.

 

Kenneth Meltzer in Classical CD Review:

Count Almaviva on the Barber is the fine young American tenor Bruce Ford, who is also the star of this new CD presenting familiar tenor repertoire in English translation. Ford is perhaps best known for his achievements in the high-flying world of Rossini's operas, but here he performs excerpts from a wide range of French, German, Italian and Russian lyric tenor repertoire. The literate and quite musical translations are by several individuals including conductor David Parry who, along with the Philharmonia Orchestra, provide the tenor with sensitive accompaniment throughout.

Bruce Ford posseses an attractive voice, and uses it in a highly musical way. Technically he is above reproach. Not surprisingly, given his eminence in Rossini, the coloratura in Almaviva's final-act aria poses no difficulties for him. He also knows how to vary dynamics for expressive effect -- his soft singing is well-supported and at full volume the voice has a welcome ring. Interpretively he is conscientious and ardent. I highly recommend this CD as a fine sampling of a considerable talent; Ford should be providing satisfying performances for years to come.  

 

Charles Osborne in BBC Music Magazine October 1998:

'Bruce Ford is an exemplary Edgardo, his voice and style ideally suited to Italian bel canto roles'.

Robert Levine in "Stereophile" of November 1998:

'..the reason I'll hold on to this recording and listen to it again is the performance by Texan-born tenor Bruce Ford as Edgardo. It is the most ardent, eloquent, graceful singing of the role I've ever heard'

 

For ASTREE/NAIVE
Mozart , IL SOGNO DI SCIPIONE (Scipio)	E8813

 

 

George Loomis in Opera, June 2001:

     '...Bruce Ford gives an elegant, richly-sung performance as Scipione, that vividly conveys the general's wonder at the astonishing events unfolding around him...'

Stanley Sadie in Gramophone, May 2001:

'...the role of Scipio is particularly appealingly sung by Bruce Ford, with graceful and shapely lines and nicely shaded tone, with a hint of the heroic in the resolute final aria...'

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