Spyres of ascension

Michael Spyres’s first-ever Siegmund in Die Walküre, performed for his debut at the Bayreuth Festival, emerged as one of the highlights of this summer’s festival season. Chris’s Cache now steps up with a recording of Michael Spyres in Lohengrin, his other new Wagner opera, as well as with a capture of Spyres in the title role of a 2017 La Clemenza di Tito.

By now, everyone can agree about Spyres’s extraordinary versatility and intensive exploration of many lesser-known works. I believe his remarkable trio of solo CDs on the Erato label—Baritenor, Contra-tenor and In the Shadows—merits inclusion on any list of the greatest recorded classical vocal recitals.

Following Bayreuth, in October Spyres will take on yet another new title role: Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the Houston Grand Opera co-starring Ailyn Pérez, Raehann Bryce-Davis, and Lucas Meachum.

Right after Houston, Spyres continues tackling the German repertoire at the Vienna Staatsoper with a rare revival of Palestrina conducted by Chistian Thielemann, followed in January by his first Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos opposite Anna Netrebko, also in Vienna, where he then performs Florestan in Fidelio. And then Handel beckons once again in April when Spyres and Joyce DiDonato lead a concert tour (with a recording likely to follow) as the tortured parents of Jephtha.

Reports suggest Spyres will be Walther in Bayreuth’s new Meistersinger next summer, and then in March 2026 it’s been suggested that will he will appear as Tristan to Lise Davidsen’s Isolde in the Met’s recently announced new Yuval Sharon production of Wagner’s masterpiece!

It all sounds exhausting!

Wagner: Lohengrin

Elsa: Johanni van Oostrum
Ortrud: Martina Serafin
Lohengrin: Michael Spyres
Telramund: Josef Wagner
Heinrich: Timo Riihonen
Herald: Edwin Fardini

Conductor: Aziz Shokhakimov
Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg
10 March 2024
In-house recording

Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito

Vitellia: Aleksandra Kurzak
Sesto: Stéphanie d”Oustrac
Annio: Angela Brower
Servilia: Valentina Nafornita
Tito: Michael Spyres
Publio: Marko Mimia

Conductor: Dan Ettinger
Palais Garnier, Paris
3 December 2017
In-house recording

Spyres’s Mozart and Wagner can be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward on the audio player above and the resulting mp3 file will appear in your download directory.

Never miss an episode of Chris’s Cache! Subscribe to this podcast via Apple Podcasts or RSS.

Photo: Klara Beck