Tenor Michael SpyresOpera Rara’s Artist Ambassador Michael Spyres was born and raised in the Ozarks and grew up in an extremely musical family. Mr. Spyres is one of the most sought-after Tenors of his generation with 10 DVDs and 30 CDs to his name and has performed more roles than any active tenor with an astounding 83 roles in 78 separate operas. Michael has been celebrated in the world’s most prestigious international opera houses, festivals, and concert halls and is acclaimed in the widest range of repertoire. His unique career has taken him into every genre from Baroque to Classical to the 20th century, while firmly establishing himself as an expert within the Bel Canto repertoire and French Grand Opera.
In this incredible 2022/2023 season Michael will star twice on the Metropolitan Opera stage as he returns to NYC with the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo as well as Pollione in Bellini’s Norma. Michael also sees his return to the Opéra National de Paris, as Don Jose in Bizet’s Carmen. To begin the new year, Michael tours Hamburg and Cologne as Pollione in Bellini’s Norma with Maestro Riccardo Minasi, followed by his return to the MET as Pollione. In the spring he performs, tours, and records for the first time in history with the winning Erato Warner team, all versions of Carmen led by Maestro John Nelson, and the Orchestra Philharmonique de Strasbourg starring Joyce DiDonato in the title role of Carmen. The final opera of the year sees his debut as Jupiter in Handel’s Semele with his return to the festival of the Bayerische Staatsoper Munchen.
In addition to the opera stage, this season will see a very active concert schedule beginning with his debut at both the NYC Armory series and the Kennedy Center of Washington D. C. alongside his piano virtuoso partner, Mathieu Pordoy as they present a romantic music recital of Beethoven, Berlioz, and Liszt. Michael performs again with M. Pordoy in the festival Les Volques of Nimes where they will present a recital of Schumann’s Dichterliebe as well as Schumann’s Op.74 duets along with his wife Tara Stafford-Spyres. Also in December Michael will sing a recital of duets with his wife entitled Noel en Italie with Maestro Jeremie Rohrer at the Grand Theatre de Provence. The beginning of 2023 will see Michael along with his colleague Lawrence Brownlee as they share the stage in Les Grands Voix in their return to Théatre Champs Elysée. The spring of 2023 will see his debut in his home state with the Saint Louis Symphony under the baton of Maestro Stephane Deneuve as Faust in Berlioz’s Damnation de Faust, followed by his hometown debut with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra along with his wife, sister, and brother as they share an evening of musicals and opera. To conclude the concert season, Michael’s latest solo album Contra-Tenor recorded with Erato Warner Records and the famed Pomo d’Oro baroque ensemble, will be released with a subsequent tour in Montpellier, London, Antwerp, and Berlin.
The previous 2021/2022 season saw Michael’s solo album debut, BariTenor, for Warners/Erato with the Strasbourg Philharmonie under the baton of Marko Letonja as well as his return to the stage in an incredibly wide range of repertoire from Lieder to BelCanto and Wagner to French Grand Opera and Verismo. The exciting season saw his return as Florestan in Fidelio with Raphael Pichon and Pygmalion at Opera Comique de Paris, his role debut as Wagner’s Tristan in a concert version of Act 2 with Opera de Lyon, his role debut as Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with the OLOpera, his return as Romeo to the Houston Grand Opera, as well as his anticipated debut in the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo in Baden-Baden. In addition to the opera stage he made his recital debut with Mathieu Pordoy in Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, Theatre du Capital Toulouse, Festival Les Volques, as well as two separate recitals in Paris. On the concert stage Michael starred with the Ravello Festival, Opera Philadelphia, Strasbourg Philharmonie, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Gran Theatre de Liceu, Theater an der Wien, and Theatre des Champs Elysees,
Since 2015 Michael has had the honor to be the only International Opera Star who is not just a performer but also an impresario. Mr. Spyres has been the Artistic Director of his hometown opera company, the Ozarks Lyric Opera and has been involved in every aspect of the renaissance of his regional company. In addition to being the active Artistic Director he has translated libretti and actively teaches masterclasses while guiding young artists careers. The last years have seen him produce numerous events as well as 7 operas and numerous gala concerts. For the 2019/2020 season Michael wrote/produced the 40th anniversary gala as well as an original pastiche on the life of Handel. The 2021/2022 season saw his return to the OLOpera’s main stage after 10 years to star in his original vaudeville pastiche coupled with his role debut as Canio in his original concept of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.
Michael has worked with some of the world’s most renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Mark Elder, Valery Gergiev, Emmannuelle Haim, Sir Andrew Davis, Fabio Luisi, Michele Mariotti, Alberto Zedda, and John Nelson. In his meteoric rise Michael has quickly established himself as one of the greatest singers of his generation and has already sung at many of the world’s most prestigious Opera houses and festivals worldwide such as Teatro San Carlo, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Aix en Provence Festival, Opera National de Bordeaux, Opera Comique, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Nederlands National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berliner Festspiele, Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Chicago Lyric Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, ABAO Bilbao Opera, Teatro Real de Madrid, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Salzburger Festspiele.
In addition to his operatic career, Mr. Spyres is equally accomplished within the concert world and has given concerts and recitals in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Prague, Pesaro, Bologna, Napoli, Sao Paulo, A Coruna, Tokyo, Cape Town, Shanghai, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Munich, Lyon, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
For Opera Rara he has recorded Donizetti’s Les Martyrs and Le Duc d’Albe as well as his debut solo recital album Espoir.
Realeases featuring Michael Spyres
