Is there a finer Rossini tenor than Lawrence Brownlee? Many people would reflexively say "Flórez," but, like David Shengold in Time Out New York, I'm not so sure. Brownlee has a new Rossini disc on Delos, emphasizing less obvious fare: arias from, among other operas, Zelmira, La gazza ladra, L'occasione fa il ladro, and La donna del lago, which he sang magnificently last summer at Santa Fe, opposite Joyce DiDonato.
