Some singers are active in the recital room. A small space invites the ultimate in intimate expression. Audiences can become best friends with a lovestruck Lacanter. Other voices, however, are better suited for opera houses.
Michael Spyres — a baritone, more common in Rossini’s time, a rare type of singer who covered the baritone and tenor ranges with agility — is best described as an opera house vocalist. prize. His heroic, agile sound can boom at the bottom and leap effortlessly into an Italian exclamation point at the top. Park Avenue Armory with Spiers Wednesday night with pianist Mathieu Pordoi.
But for a New Yorker, this was a rare opportunity to hear Spyres in any kind of setting. In Mozart’s “Idomeneo” He gave a concert with tenor Lawrence Brownlee last season, a sensational program based on their album Amici e Rivali, but made his solo recital debut here only this week.
Three sets of songs were offered, in an equal number of languages, showcasing Spyres’ vast vocal range. His approach to performance, which prioritizes beauty over character, suits him well in works like “Idomeneo,” but despite his Olympic prowess on Wednesday, he’s lined up along a mountain ridge. It is not very suitable for songs with a kind of flatness, which is a flat road.
In Beethoven’s pioneering anthology, An die Ferne Geliebte, we hear him struggle to control himself. The piece is quietly personal, but in this piece I felt the power of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio. And when he moved between powerful registers, it was never more comfortable than the ease of his talent for forming long melodic lines. de lune remained in a soft and exquisite falsetto throughout the piece, but in the piece’s opening, “Villanelle,” the transition from forte to piano was accompanied by a gravelly transition. .
Pordoi matched Spieles with a lush and sumptuous performance, spotlighted with Liszt’s solo “L’Idée Fixe,” based on the coveted theme of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. It was a super romantic appetizer before “Tre Sonetti del Petrarca” on the list. In that trio’s songs, bel canto star Spyres was most in his element. His tenor was both riveting and tearing, his high notes unleashed and blossomed in long crescendos.
It was music that the audience begged for an encore, and Spyres quickly provided an encore and shyly raised their finger for another song. He started with Beethoven’s unusual tune, “In questa tomba oscura,” sang in a brooding, slow, flowing, saying, “We can’t leave you on the low.” Thus, the audience-pleasing sonic world of Liszt returns one last time with ‘Enfant, si j’étais roi.’
At one point in the song, his voice rang out so powerfully that, with abrupt pauses, it continued to haunt the room in silence. .
Michael Spyres and Matthew Paudoy
The program repeats on Fridays at Manhattan’s Park Avenue Armory. Armorypark.org.