As part of receiving this year's Marian Anderson Award from the Kennedy Center, tenor Lawrence Brownlee gave a recital in the Terrace Theater Sunday afternoon. The award recognizes a young singer who has already distinguished himself as a multifaceted performer, and many reviewers, myself included, have been impressed with his strong tenor, a vocal type that is as rare in its best form as it is important, in opera particularly. Brownlee's program on Sunday mostly showcased his many strengths, especially in Italian opera arias. This is a voice that strikes a broad swath of sound, with power and high notes, which are used with reserve and intelligence.

The audience, largely the singer's family and friends filling two-thirds of the seats, gave its greatest acclamation for "Languir per una bella" from Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri. (He was a member of the Wolf Trap Opera program a few years ago.) In this and the other major arias, Brownlee displayed an admirable accuracy of intonation, solid breath support that ensures long phrases, stunning agility in melismatic passages, and the ability to understand the texts he sings and create appropriate characters. On the latter point, he may tread too far towards over-emoting, although that impression may vary from listener to listener. Brownlee's comic timing was well placed in "Ah! mes amis" from Donizetti's La fille du régiment, as he noisily swigged some water before starting (the aria has an infamous string of high C's) and glanced at his pianist after holding a note much longer than indicated in the score. The high C's in that aria were quite impressive, although the first two or three were a little rough before Brownlee hit his stride.

The singer was ably accompanied by legendary "associate pianist" Martin Katz, who is definitely not a shrinking violet like many accompanists, always deferring demurely to their vocal colleagues. Katz used a heavy hand, sometimes on the edge of covering Brownlee's voice, but I was happy to hear a sound that was more orchestral in the accompaniments reduced from orchestral originals, and Katz's technical skill was certainly impressive. As for diction, while Brownlee's Italian and French sounded comfortable to my ears, German is not his strength. Even so, a set of Schubert Lieder — chosen, I assume, for their common theme of water, with poems about boats, lakes, rivers — had pleasant enough moments, as in the sparkling spring depicted in "Der Jüngling an der Quelle."

During the second half, Brownlee explained the selection of songs as a sort of retrospective on his admittedly young singing career. That is why we heard Torelli's "Tu lo sai," an exceedingly simple Italian song that happens to have been the first piece of classical music that Brownlee sang, and three of the schmaltzy songs that inspired him from the Three Tenors concerts. I would have gladly done without those selections (and the single encore, Franz Lehar's "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz") if it had meant the chance to hear a few more American pieces like Marc Blitzstein's "Stay in My Arms" or "Lonely House" from Kurt Weill's Street Scene, both of which were sung and played with heart and refinement. All in all, with a few reservations, this was an afternoon of fine singing.