Michael Spyres

American operatic tenor (born 1979) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Spyres (born 1979) is an American operatic tenor. He has a wide vocal range and can also sing baritone roles; he calls himself a "baritenor".[1][2][3] He has sung at major international opera houses, including Milan's La Scala, London's Royal Opera, and New York's Metropolitan Opera, and his repertoire includes Handel, Mozart, bel canto, grand opera, and Wagner.

Biography

Michael Spyres was born in Mansfield, Missouri, US, and studied singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria.[4] He won acclaim and international recognition for his performance in the title role of Rossini's Otello at the Rossini in Wildbad festival in Germany in 2008.[5] He made his debut at La Scala, Milan, in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims in 2009 [4] and appeared the same year in the demanding leading role of Raoul in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots at Bard SummerScape in New York.[6] Since then, his career has taken him to the Royal Opera House, London, in the title role of Mozart's Mitridate, re di Ponto,[4] to the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and La Monnaie, Brussels, as Arnold in Rossini's Guillaume Tell,[7] to Opéra National de Bordeaux for the title role in Berlioz' La damnation de Faust[8] and to the Liceu, Barcelona, in the title role of Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann,[9] among many other engagements both in concerts and staged operas.[10] Spyres won widespread praise for his performance of the role of Vasco da Gama in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine at the Oper Frankfurt in 2018.[11] He sang the title role in a new production of Adam's Le postillon de Lonjumeau at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in March 2019.[12]

In 2020 Spyres made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, as Faust in a concert performance of La damnation de Faust.[13] Subsequently he sang there the title role in Mozart's Idomeneo in 2022 and Pollione in Bellini's Norma in 2023 with Sonya Yoncheva as Norma.[14] He made his role debut as Tristan in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan on March 9, 2026. The cast included Lise Davidsen as Isolde, Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, Tomasz Konieczny as Kurwenal with the Met's music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting.[15] The performance of March 21, 2026, was telecast to theatres as part of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series.[16]

His many recordings include Berlioz's Les Troyens (title role of Énée), Requiem, the song cycle Les nuits d'été, La damnation de Faust, Rossini's Otello, Guillaume Tell and Le siège de Corinthe for Naxos Records, Les Huguenots for American Symphony Orchestra and the solo albums Espoir (2017) for Opera Rara, Baritenor (2021) for Erato,[17] In the Shadows (2024) with Les Talens Lyriques conducted by Christophe Rousset.[18]

Spyres is the artistic director of Ozarks Lyric Opera (formerly Springfield Regional Opera) in Springfield, Missouri.[19]

Recordings

Audio recordings of complete operas

Video recordings of complete operas

Orchestral works

Recitals

Awards and titles

References

External links

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