Blake studiò musica inizialmente alla State University di New York (Fredonia) e successivamente alla Catholic University of America. Lasciata la Catholic University, prestò servizio per tre anni nella Marina degli Stati Uniti come membro del coro maschile dei Sea Chanters e successivamente come solista della Banda della Marina degli Stati Uniti. In quel periodo, egli continuò lo studio del canto con Renata Carisio Booth, da sempre sua insegnante.

Debuttò nel mondo dell'opera nel 1976 al Kennedy Center di Washington, D.C. come Lindoro ne L'italiana in Algeri di Gioachino Rossini, e fece la sua prima apparizione al Metropolitan Opera di New York nel 1981 nel medesimo ruolo, a fianco di Marilyn Horne nella parte di Isabella. Diventò ben presto uno dei capofila della cosiddetta "Rossini-renaissance",[1] cantando regolarmente al Rossini Opera Festival di Pesaro fin dal 1983. Fece il suo debutto al Teatro alla Scala nel 1992 nel ruolo di Giacomo ne La donna del lago. Fu la prima produzione scaligera dell'opera da 150 anni a quella parte, allestita per festeggiare il bicentenario della nascita di Rossini.

Alcuni critici hanno espresso riserve riguardo al timbro piuttosto aspro del tenore statunitense, ma le due ottave e mezzo di estensione, la vorticosa coloratura e la strabordante personalità [2] ne hanno fatto un apprezzatissimo interprete non solo delle parti tenorili rossiniane - in particolare quelle scritte per il tenore contraltino Giovanni David - (della cui recente florida rinascita Blake deve considersi forse l'attore principale), ma anche di alcuni personaggi del teatro musicale di Mozart, Donizetti, Händel e Bellini.

Il repertorio di Blake conta più di 40 opere, incluse rarità come la Zelmira di Rossini, la Zaide di Mozart, Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo di Donizetti.

Dal 2001 si dedica con impegno all'insegnamento del canto e ha tenuto dei master class presso l'Associazione Lirica Concertistica Italiana di Milano, il Conservatoire de Paris, l'Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia di Roma, la Duke University del North Carolina, la State University di New York, la Hamburgische Staatsoper e ai corsi per giovani artisti del Lyric Opera di Chicago.

Il 27 dicembre 1992 il Presidente Scalfaro l'ha insignito dell'onorificenza di Ufficiale dell'Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana.

Le sue ultime apparizioni sul palcoscenico sono state come Giacomo V ne La donna del lago di Rossini (Lisbona, 2005) e come Libenskof ne Il viaggio a Reims di Rossini (Montecarlo, 2005).

Repertorio operistico

Gualtiero Il pirata Bellini
Elvino La sonnambula Bellini
Arturo Talbo I Puritani Bellini
Georges La dame blanche Boieldieu
Gerard Lakmé Delibes
Seide  Alina, Regina di Golconda  Donizetti
Lord Riccardo Percy     Anna Bolena Donizetti
Fernando  Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo Donizetti
Fernando Marin Faliero  Donizetti
Tonio La Fille du régiment Donizetti
Ernesto Don Pasquale  Donizetti
Orphée  Orphée et Eurydice Gluck
Renaud  Armide  Gluck
Jupiter   Semele Handel
Adriano Il crociato in Egitto Meyerbeer
Mitridate  Mitridate, re di Ponto Mozart
Don Anchise La finta giardiniera Mozart
Idomeneo   Idomeneo  Mozart
Don Ottavio  Don Giovanni  Mozart
Ferrando  Così fan tutte Mozart
Ferdinando Il Flaminio Pergolesi
Conte Alberto  L'occasione fa il ladro Rossini
Lindoro L'Italiana in Algeri  Rossini
Don Narciso  Il Turco in Italia  Rossini
Norfolk Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra Rossini
Conte d'Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia Rossini
Rodrigo Otello Rossini
Don Ramiro La Cenerentola Rossini
Rinaldo  Armida Rossini
Selimo Adina  Rossini
Oreste Ermione Rossini
Giacomo V   La donna del lago Rossini
Ilo Zelmira Rossini
Idreno  Semiramide Rossini
Conte di Libenskof   Il viaggio a Reims Rossini
Ory Le Comte Ory  Rossini
Duca di Mantova Rigoletto Verdi
 
Premi e riconoscimenti

Richard Tucker Award 1978
Cavaliere Ufficiale, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana 1992
Diapason d'Or de l'Aneé 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

Discografia

Opere

Boieldieu - La Dame blanche (CD Angel/EMI)
Donizetti - Alina, regina di Golconda (CD Nuova Era)
Donizetti - Marin Faliero (DVD Hardy Classic)
Mozart - Mitridate Re di Ponto (DVD Euro Arts)
Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia Direttore: Ralf Weikert (VHS Deutsche Grammophon)
Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia Direttore: Bruno Campanella RAI
Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia, Direttore: Bruno Campanella (CD Nuova Era)
Rossini - La donna del lago, Direttore: Riccardo Muti (CD Philips)
Rossini - La donna del lago, Direttore: Riccardo Muti (DVD La Scala Collection)
Rossini - La donna del lago, Direttore: Claudio Scimone (CD Ponto)
Rossini - Elisabetta Regina d'Inghilterra (DVD Hardy Classic)

Recitals

Airs d'Opéras Français (CD EMI)
Encore Rossini (CD Arabesque Recordings)
The Mozart Tenor (CD Arabesque Recordings)
Rossini Melodies (CD EMI)
The Rossini Tenor (CD Arabesque)
Donizetti Scenes & Ouvertures (CD OperaRara)

BIOGRAPHY

Rockwell BLAKE Tenor

“Cavaliere Ufficiale” in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic” for his “outstanding services to Italian music”, “Officier” in the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic” for his outstanding contribution "to culture in France and in the world", Doctor of Music, Honoraris from The State University of New York, Plattsburgh for “his extraordinary contribution to the art of bel-canto”; these are but a few of the many honors bestowed on Rockwell Blake throughout his 35 year career. During those years Mr. Blake was acclaimed for opera, concert and recital performances in all the major theaters of the world. He sang the leading role in over 50 operas from this highly specialized repertoire, including such little-known works as Mozart’s’ Mitridate, Re di Ponto and Zaide, Haydn's L'Infedelta Delusa, Donizetti,s Il Furioso all'Isola San Domingo and Marin Faliero Bellini's Il Pirata, and Meyerbeers’ Il Crociato in Egitto, Les Huguenot’s and Robert le Diable. As the number one exponent of Rossini's tenor roles, Mr. Blake included 17 operas, 10 concert works and numerous songs, of the composer, in his repertoire. Thanks, in part, to his contribution, many “forgotten” operas of Rossini and other composers became staples of the world’s major opera houses. Not only can today’s listeners appreciate Il Barbiere di Siviglia, or Les Huguenots as Rossini and Meyerbeer wrote them, but they can hear, with regularity, Rossini’s lesser known, Neapolitan, Milanese, Venetian and French masterpieces restored to their original splendor.
Trained by Renata Carisio Booth, tenor Rockwell Blake studied music in Plattsburgh, New York, the city where he was born. He began his professional singing career at the age of 23. As the winner of two prestigious George London Awards (1974 & 1975) he was immediately invited by George London to make his solo operatic debut as Lindoro in Rossini’s Italiana in Algeri, a production which opened the 1976-1977 season at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. From the moment of his debut it was apparent that Rockwell Blake could do things that no other tenor around could do. Critics said he displayed “an astonishing exhibition of coloratura singing, the likes of which you just don’t hear anymore” and he was hailed as “the wide-ranging, high-flying, heroic-coloratura tenor phenomenon we have been waiting for since the Ottocento revival began.” With his ironclad technique, extraordinary 2½ octave range and astonishing vocal flexibility Rockwell Blake helped make possible the revival of many forgotten operatic masterpieces by Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer and Rossini. In fact, it was as Almaviva in Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia that the Metropolitan Opera restored, especially for him, the daunting eight-minute tenor aria of the last act, "Cessa di piu resistere", written for the legendary Manuel Garcia, but, due to its’ extreme difficulty, usually absent from productions since the opera's 1816 world premiere.
Ten years prior to his retirement Mr. Blake turned some of his attention to the longneglected
repertoire of early French operas, composed for a kind of tenor voice which
rarely exists today. Most recently he performed the fiendishly difficult role of Raoul in
Meyerbeer’s Grande Opera Les Huguenots. These performances were much anticipated
and critically acclaimed because Mr. Blake restored the role as Meyerbeer wrote it for the
historic tenor Adolphe Nourrit. Mr. Blake has been credited with the revival of this
repertoire and has notably demonstrated this in award winning recordings for the EMI
label. His first recording with EMI, Rockwell Blake, Airs d'Opéras français with the
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo won the prestigious Diapason d'Or de l'Aneé,
distinguishing it as the best operatic release for the year 1994. His recording of
Boieldieu’s La Dame Blanche, won the distinction as the Best French classical recording
of 1997 by Les Victoire de la Musique. Other record awards included that the "Grand
Prix du Disque" of the “Academie Charles Cros”, the “Grand Prix du Palmares des
Palmares”, Frances two top awards in the recording field and Opera International’s
“Timbre Platine”.
Over the past ten years, Mr. Blake has developed a new facet to his career, as a teacher of
young singers. He has happily accepted invitations from As.Li.Co., the Milan based
Italian Opera training center, to teach Masterclasses with the young artists. He has also
taught young singers in Masterclasses at the Conservatoire Nationale de Paris, at Santa
Cecilia in Rome, Duke University of North Carolina, the State University of New York,
the Kansai Foundation for Arts and Culture in Osaka, Japan, the Hamburg Staatsoper the
Chicago Lyric Opera’s young artists program and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola
program. And most recently he has begun to teach an international group of students the
art of singing at his private voice studio.
Biography 2011

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