Brautigam Press Excerpts

Schaunard in La Boheme with Cleveland Opera

Father Capulet in Romeo and Juliet with

Opera Grand Rapids

"Brautigam’s cavernous baritone was superb, rich, expressive, flexible and perfectly in tune."

Germont in La Traviata with Chautauqua Opera

Elijah with Calvin Oratorio Society

Sergeant of Police in Pirates of Penzance with Cleveland Opera

Concert and Oratorio Soloist

Professional Performance Press Review Samples

Brautigam deserves his own fiery chariot to take him to heaven after his performance in the title role as Elijah.  

Jennifer Lund, Grand Rapids Press

Brautigam used his large voice skillfully, singing with great expression and fine French diction. . . Brautigam’s full-blooded style suited the unease and lurking violence of Ravel’s artfully primitivist settings, singing with power and aggressive intensity.

Larry Johnson, Chicago Tribune

Keith Brautigam’s impassioned rendition of Leoncavallo’s Prologue provided the evening’s most moving musical testimony. 

Nancy Raabe, Milwaukee Sentinel

Twin centerpieces of the production are skillfully sung and affectingly acted portraits of Violetta and the elder Germont. ...Brautigam scored a splendid success...he had the Verdian legato lyric line nicely in hand and blended expertly with his colleagues.  That Violetta-Germont duet in the second act ...was musically genuinely moving.

Robert Finn, Guest Reviewer for Chautauqua Daily

Past President - Music Critics Association- Four-time Winner of ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award

Baritone Keith Brautigam brought tenderness and whimsy to Ravel’s "Don Quichotte a Dulcinee." In the final song, Brautigam played the tipsy knight errant to perfection. 

Donald Rosenberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Brautigam projects an ardor that injects his voice with heightened pliancy and diction. 

Herman Trotter, The Buffalo News

Brautigam’s superb singing provided much of the drama of the performance.  An expressive singer, Brautigam delivered lines in such a way that the emotion still would carry through even if he were singing in another language.  Most of the solo parts are scored quite high in the baritone's range, but Brautigam masterfully carried off long sections of enforced high notes while giving a stirring interpretation to his lines.

Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk, Grand Rapids Press

It is virtually impossible to sit through a concert of music by Leroy Anderson without a great big smile on your face.  Soprano...and Brautigam brought nuanced refinement and telling characterization to these first-rate numbers.

Donald Rosenberg, The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Brautigam’s cavernous baritone was superb, rich, expressive, flexible and perfectly in tune.

Mark Stryker, South Bend Tribune

A marvelously versatile singer . . . the clear, telling quality of his outstanding voice was a pleasure to hear.

Richard DeVinney Grand Rapids Press

Additional Unsolicited Comments in Reflection of Performances

I am in the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.  We were awestruck by your performance this afternoon.  You brought the beauty, grace and bravura that we had been pining for all week and you did it with matchless aplomb and courage.  What an inspiration for us all!  Bravo! 

Regarding last minute (same day) replacement as baritone soloist for 

Carmina Burana with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus

I just want to thank you for your Elijah performance last night.  You made me feel like I was listening to the real Elijah.  It was such a convincing, at the same time, moving performance that I felt God's love and grace reassured in my mind.  I needed it.

                                                          Regarding performance of Elijah with Calvin Oratorio Society

Allow me to express my most sincere compliments for that performance!  It was one of the most professional overall I have ever heard in that house.  You didn't just sing the notes, although that was exemplary, too, but you assumed the authority of the part very successfully indeed.  Congratulations!

Regarding performance of Elijah with Calvin Oratorio Society

One of the things I like best about your singing is how you change tone colors, almost with each syllable you sing!  You bring such depth of meaning and expression, and a broad palette of colors to your performance.  You brought the humility in the Hostias, and the depth of life's journey underneath the plea of Libera Me that was deeply moving. 

Regarding performance of the Faure Requiem with Grand Rapids Symphony 

Contact Information for Dr. Keith Brautigam

Email: kdbridegroom@outlook.com

Call: 615-598-5081