LA TRAVIATA, CAPE TOWN OPERA, 2011
“Colin Lee was a deeply moving Alfredo, torn between immature emotions and loyalties. Lee has a beautiful tenor voice and paid close attention to details of articulation and phrasing.”
The Cape Times , 13 October 2011
“The Capetonian Colin Lee, who is based in London and who has sung bel canto roles from Covent Garden to the Metropolitan, impressed with his even tone and intuitive singing. He sings beautifully long legato phrases, as in the duet “Un di felice”, and, though the voice is light and lyric, he is not afraid of the dramatic sections, as in “De’ miei bollenti spiriti… Oh mio rimorso!”.
Die Burger, 13 October 2011
RECITAL, CAPE TOWN, SEPTEMBER 2011
“How then can one best describe the remarkable singing of this young man now at the height of his vocal powers? It is that kind of singing which goes straight to the heart imbued as it is with a quality which not only somehow seems to suspend time but also convinces the listener that, at that particular moment, there is no other way in which the music could possibly be sung. Perhaps also because he is brave enough to bare his deepest emotions to a hall full of strangers and, in allowing himself to be vulnerable, becomes a consummate communicator. There was so much that was memorable in the programme that to single out any song for special mention would require more space than the hapless reviewer is allowed. But for sheer beauty of line and musical control, especially in such seamless legato singing, I found his interpretation of Duparc’s fragile-setting of Phidylé achingly beautiful.”
The Cape Times, 20 September 2011
DON PASQUALE, OPERA HOLLAND PARK, 2011
“Colin Lee is luxury casting for Ernesto. He is one of an extraordinary wealth of tenori di grazia who now populate the world’s opera stages with an assurance which would not have been thought possible even twenty years ago. He offers purity of tone but also drives the music onwards with an excitingly muscular vigour and his top notes are fearlessly produced. He had begun the second verse of his cabaletta softly but ended it with a high D flat in full voice. Dramatically he was always on the ball, nicely balancing boyish playfulness with adult calculation.”
www.ClassicalSource.com, 7 June 2011
“Ernesto sings most sweetly in the voice of Colin Lee: a soft-grained tenor whose serenade positively melted into the moonlight at Holland Park.”
The Times, 8 June 2011
“Only the magnificent Colin Lee tames the acoustic, but then again he is one of the leading bel canto tenors on the circuit so that’s not a surprise. Lee’s Act Two lament, ‘Cercherò lontana’, is the evening’s highlight by a street.”
WhatsOnStage.com, 8 June 2011
“[Colin Lee’s] singing of Ernesto was the musical highlight of the evening. He lavished plangent tone and superb breath control on “Povero Ernesto” and “Com’e gentil” and sang the cabaletta to the former with real slancio crowned with a stonking top D Flat. He also made more of the wimpy character than usual – all in all a distinguished performance.”
Opera Britannia, 10 June 2011
PLATÉE, DE NEDERLANDSE OPERA, 2011
“Belcanto-tenor Colin Lee creeps convincingly into the skin of Platée. His exaggerated feminine acting works well and he excelled artistically in the very high lying role.”
www.operamagazine.nl, 6 April 2011
“Colin Lee shone in his technically difficult role….”
De Pers, 6 April 2011
“The singers were cheered, and foremost, the demanding travesty-role of Platée, brilliantly sung and played by the South African tenor Colin Lee”
De Volkskrant, 6 April 2011
ERMIONE, OPERA RARA RECORDING, 2010
“Colin Lee sings Orestes. Lee is often the back-up to the renowned Florez in the high tessitura of Rossini performances at the major addresses, perhaps getting to sing at the end of the run after opening night and the headlines. Well, that is changing pretty fast with his now being carded as Tonio for the whole of La Fille du Régiment at Covent Garden in 2012. He has already featured alongside Florez in the recent La Donna del Lago in Paris as well as singing the role of Arturo in the Metropolitan Opera’s relay of Lucia di Lammermoor, now available on DVD. As well as having the necessary vocal flexibility, he fields more body of vocal tone than his Peruvian coequal. This enables him to invest significant characterisation in his interpretation without distortion of his singing or vocal line. This quality is particularly appropriate and appreciated in the act one duet with Ermione.”
Musical Criticism, November 2010
LA DONNA DEL LAGO, OPERA DE PARIS, GARNIER, 2010
“As Elena’s intended husband, Rodrigo, Colin Lee has the unenviable task of going up against Mr. Flórez but brings it off brilliantly. A high point comes in an extended number in Act 2 — perhaps the opera’s finest piece — when the two tenors repeatedly trade high C’s.”
New York Times, June 2010
“South African Colin Lee, vied with Florez for the pingiest tenorissimo notes. It was a rare chance for Lee – who is used to filling in for Florez on his nights off at Convent Garden – to pit his considerable talents against the star’s. He, too, is a Rossini tenor to be reckoned with.”
Sunday Times, July 2010
LA FILLE DU REGIMENT, ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, 2010
“The important issue for the audience at the particular performance was whether this revival would survive without Juan Diego Flórez the star tenor Tonio, who was succeeded by Colin Lee. Never having heard Flórez sing ‘Ah! mes amis’ with the infamous nine high Cs, I cannot make a direct comparison but I doubt that he could surpass Mr Lee. He received a prolonged ovation for this defining moment at the end of Act I, when he hit the top notes solidly without the slightest hint of strain. I was also grateful that he was not a typically French-sounding tenor with a slender, reedy tone: he has a much more resonant, full-bodied sound and he sang winningly – and most affectingly – throughout the evening while acting a suitably gauche, but heroic, Tonio.”
Musical Criticism, May 2010
ERMIONE, OPERA RARA, ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, 2009
“But it was Colin Lee as Oreste who stole the show with some brilliant pyrotechnics: I’m not sure that Juan Diego Florez could have fired them off better.”
Daily Telegraph, April 2009
“Colin Lee’s Oreste was the best, encompassing both force and sensitive singing up in the tenor’s stratosphere.”
Financial Times, March 2009
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