Tenor Lawrence Brownlee is one of the world’s most in-demand opera singers, and a star of the bel canto repertoire. He’d just returned from Paris before his recital for Matinée Musicale on Sunday, telling the audience in Memorial Hall that he had starred in 10 performances of Bellini’s “I Puritani” with Opéra national de Paris. Just announced, he will star as Arturo again next season in a new production of “I Puritani” at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as in “La Fille du Régiment.”

“Recitals are opportunities to create special moments. They’re not about perfection,” he said, laughing.

There were no signs of jet lag in this performance. One could admire the exciting timbre of his high notes, his control and flexibility through virtuosic cadenzas, and the beauty of his phrasing. It was surprising that he opened with eight of his program’s most demanding songs and arias. Six were by renowned composers of the bel canto style of singing, Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini.

Between numbers, performed with his collaborative pianist (and CCM alumnus) Donald Lee III, he spoke about things such as growing up in Youngstown, OH, where his father was choir director in the church, and his mother the featured singer.

Brownlee opened his all-Italian first half with Verdi’s famous “La donna  è mobile” from “Rigoletto” and “Ad una stella,” (To a star). “Why Verdi?” he posed. It’s because at age 52, he is ready to sing the role of the Duke, he said.

Some of his selections were a bit obscure to the average opera lover. He displayed lots of personality in Donizetti’s “Allegro io son,” from a rarely-performed one-act comic opera named “Rita” — or “Two Men and a Woman,” soaring through a cadenza of leaps and roulades. He charmed in Donizetti’s lighthearted Neapolitan song, “Me voglio fan a casa,” about building a home for his sweetheart by the sea, punctuated by “tra la la la’s.”

Rossini, he said, has taken him to the important theaters of the world, and then sang “La lontananza,” notable for its expressive beauty and long-breathed phrases. He took his inspiration for “D’ogni piu sacro” from tenor Rockwell Blake. It was a showstopping performance, in which he moved his whole body as he navigated its flourishes, earning enthusiastic cheers from the audience.

He was also a terrific storyteller. Bellini’s “La ricordanza” (Recollection) was deeply affecting, and he enunciated each word with warmth. Another showstopper followed — “Nel furor delle tempeste,” a highly dramatic aria which opens Bellini’s opera “Il pirata.” At the piano, Lee summoned some orchestral sonorities of the tempest, which left me wondering why we don’t hear more performances of this opera.

Brownlee has been a pivotal voice in diversity in classical music. For his recent, Grammy-nominated album, “Rising,” he worked with a spectrum of African American composers. He devoted the second half of his program to these songs, and they were both illuminating and revelatory.

Brownlee commissioned five composers: Damien Sneed, Brandon Spencer, Jasmine Barnes, Joel Thompson and Shawn Okpebholo, who set poems ranging from the Harlem Renaissance to song.

He also included works by Jeremiah Evans, Robert Owens and Carlos Simon. (Simon will have a new work on John Morris Russell and the Cincinnati Pops’ Harlem Renaissance program at Music Hall, March 21-23.)

Owens’ song cycle, starting with “Desire,” was beautifully sung, aided by Lee’s lush playing. Each of the four songs conveyed a different character. I was taken by the nostalgia of “Man.” Damien Sneed’s “Beauty That is Never Old” channeled Leonard Bernstein, and was instantly engaging.  I also was impressed by Simon’s “Vocalise” III, which had tricky changes of meter, and Brownlee sung it with vibrant momentum. Each composer was gifted in his or her own way.

For his encore, Brownlee crossed himself and launched in one of the great arias of all time, “Ah! mes amis,” from Donizetti’s “Daughter of the Regiment,” powerfully nailing its nine high C’s — and holding onto the last one at length. More cheers.