In the Shadows

by Michael Spyres, Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques

Overview

Partly due to Wagner's megalomaniacal ways, the program here is one that nobody has put together before. The Romantic idea of the solitary genius was nowhere more applicable than Wagner, who rarely acknowledged being influenced by anybody and certainly wouldn't have welcomed comparisons to Italian composers. Yet this survey by tenor Michael Spyres of the "shadows" out of which Wagner emerged makes all kinds of sense. Spyres' program is chronological, and it begins with music from Étienne Nicolas Méhul's Joseph (1807), a work that attained a good deal of popularity in Germany, although it is hardly known today. Spyres proceeds forward in time, alternating well-known works (Beethoven's Fidelio, Op. 72, Bellini's Norma) with those less so (an early Italian-language Meyerbeer, Il crociato in Egitto, Heinrich Marschner's Hans Heiling, Op. 80). By the time he gets to the 20-year-old Wagner's Die Feen and then Rienzi, the results seem almost predetermined. Weber, often considered Wagner's direct ancestor, is here, but he was not the full story, and the real Wagnerian breakthrough, represented by "Mein lieber Schwan" from Lohengrin, somehow seems richer than usual. It is, partly, that Spyres, billed here as a baritenor, is clearly emerging as a major star. He has developed an instantly recognizable style, with a clipped vibrato that can expand expressively, as needed, and it meshes well with the work of conductor Christophe Rousset and his historical instrument ensemble Les Talens Lyriques. As much as any other recording, this one puts the listener in the place of an early-to-mid-19th century opera fan. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	07/12/2024
Label:	Erato
UPC:	5054197879821
Rank:	209437

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Michael Spyres   Primary Artist,Tenor (Vocal)
Christophe Rousset   Primary Artist,Conductor
Les Talens Lyriques   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Le Jeune Choeur de Paris   Choir/Chorus,Featured Artist
Julien Henric   Tenor (Vocal),Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Etienne-Nicolas Mehul   Composer
Germain Delavigne   Librettist
Giovanni Schmidt   Librettist
Ernst Raupach   Librettist
Gaspare Spontini   Composer
Heinrich August Marschner   Composer
Georg Friedrich Treitschke   Librettist
Carl Maria von Weber   Composer
Eduard Devrient   Librettist
Felice Romani   Librettist
Joseph Sonnleithner   Librettist
Gaetano Rossi   Librettist
Richard Wagner   Librettist,Composer
Alexandre Duval   Librettist
Johann Friedrich Kind   Librettist
Daniel-Francois-Esprit Auber   Composer
Eugene Scribe   Librettist
Gioachino Rossini   Composer
Vincenzo Bellini   Composer
Giacomo Meyerbeer   Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven   Composer