{"id":60386,"date":"2019-07-14T15:42:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-14T19:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/?p=60386"},"modified":"2019-07-15T07:15:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T11:15:04","slug":"60386","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/montreal\/2019\/07\/14\/60386\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW | Tenor Spyres flies high at Lanaudi\u00e8re despite the downpour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Le t\u00e9nor am\u00e9ricain Michael Spyres a charm\u00e9 le public malgr\u00e9 les orages hier soir au Festival de Lanaudi\u00e8re. (Cr\u00e9dit : Pure Perception)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JOLIETTE \u2013 Hats off to Lanaudi\u00e8re. What other festival in North America could attract a four-figure crowd to an out-of-town venue with a tenor known mostly in Europe singing repertoire that rarely cracked the operatic top 40?<\/p>\n

Oh, yes. In a thunderstorm. Such is the loyalty of the Lanaudi\u00e8re fanbase \u2013 as long as vocalists as gifted as Michael Spyres remain part of the schedule.<\/p>\n

The program Saturday at the Amphith\u00e9\u00e2tre Fernand-Lindsay was billed as an evening of\u00a0bel canto<\/em>, a term that comprises warm cantilena, stentorian calls to arms and high-altitude acrobatics, not necessary in that order. I cannot recall another recital by a tenor as amply adorned with high notes.<\/p>\n

Not that this was all the stocky American had to offer. Even the flourishes on the first word of Rossini\u2019s \u201cVieni fra queste braccia,\u201d a little-known number from\u00a0La gazza ladra<\/em>, suggested a knack for carrying a tune. Tone also was appropriately nuanced. After mellifluously spinning out \u201c\u00d4 blonde C\u00e9r\u00e8s,\u201d an aria from Berlioz\u2019s\u00a0Les Troyens\u00a0<\/em>requiring an effortless high C, Spyres added just the right measure of metal to the same composer\u2019s \u201cNature immense\u201d from\u00a0La damnation de Faust<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A little formal in stage manner before intermission, Spyres loosened up in the second half, comporting himself with amusing nonchalance in \u201cMes amis \u00e9coutez l\u2019histoire\u201d from Adolphe Adam\u2019s\u00a0Le postillon de Lonjumeau<\/em>, as if he knew nothing of the fearsome high D that lay in waiting. This note came off well, as did many others. If the Cs at the end of Act IV, Scene I of\u00a0William Tell<\/em>\u00a0sounded close to the red line, this added to the heroic force of the sequence. Sometimes the act of fending off an orchestra and chorus generates its own brand of excitement.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere balances were just under the suave baton of\u00a0Corrado Rovaris, the Italian-born music director of Opera Philadelphia. The\u00a0Orchestre du Festival, numbering about 50,\u00a0played three instrumental pieces, including Rossini\u2019s celebrated\u00a0William Tell\u00a0<\/em>Overture. Warm cellos, songful woodwinds and steely brass had their usual invigorating effect. It was a treat to hear Ambroise Thomas\u2019s Overture to\u00a0Raymond<\/em>, a colourful potpourri possibly written with Rossini\u2019s masterpiece in mind.<\/p>\n

The Choeur du Festival as prepared by Francis Choini\u00e8re produced hearty shouts of \u201cVengeance\u201d in the\u00a0Tell<\/em>\u00a0excerpt. The women sounded full-bodied in a chorus from Donizetti\u2019s\u00a0Anna Bolena<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Le Choeur, pr\u00e9par\u00e9 par Francis Choini\u00e8re, et l’Orchestre du Festival \u00e9taient sous la direction du chef italien Corrado Rovaris. (Cr\u00e9dit : Pure Perception)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But back to Spyres. By the time he finished Don Ramiro\u2019s aria from Rossini\u2019s\u00a0La Cenerentola<\/em>, deep in the second half, we had probably heard enough high Cs. The time was ripe for a more terrestrial number like the \u201cKleinzach\u201d aria from Offenbach\u2019s\u00a0Les Contes d\u2019Hoffmann<\/em>, which was full of fun as the tenor performed it.<\/p>\n

Spyres brought along a guest, soprano Tara Stafford, who happens to be his wife. They created the chemistry one might expect in duets from Bellini\u2019s\u00a0La Sonnambula<\/em>\u00a0and the Borodin-saturated Broadway show\u00a0Kismet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The encores were \u201cDein ist mein ganzes Herz\u201d from Leh\u00e1r\u2019s\u00a0Das Land des L\u00e4chelns\u00a0<\/em>and \u201cAh! mes amis, quel jour de f\u00eate\u201d from Donizetti\u2019s\u00a0La fille du r\u00e9giment<\/em>. The tenor crossed himself in jest before the latter number, which is noted for its multiple high Cs. No supernatural intervention was needed.<\/p>\n

The concert, dedicated by artistic director Renaud Loranger to the memory of its founder P\u00e8re Fernand Lindsay to mark the tenth anniversary of his passing, made a good impression despite the audio backdrop of rainfall and the occasional intervention of thunderclaps. The opera-loving Lanaudi\u00e8re crowd was enthusiastic from the start. It takes more than a little rain to dampen these spirits.<\/p>\n

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LIRE AUSSI :<\/h2>\n

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IN MEMORIAM | Le grand Joseph Rouleau est d\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n