Michael Spyres (born 1979) is an American operatic tenor. He has a wide vocal range and can also sing baritone roles; he calls himself a "baritenor". He has sung at major international opera houses, including Milan's La Scala, London's Royal Opera, and New York's Metropolitan Opera, and his repertoire includes Handel, Mozart, bel canto, grand opera, and Wagner.
Life and career Michael Spyres was born in Mansfield, Missouri, and studied singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria. He won acclaim and international recognition for his performance in the title role of Rossini's Otello at the Rossini in Wildbad festival in Germany in 2008. He made his debut at La Scala in Milan, in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims in 2009 and appeared the same year in the demanding leading role of Raoul in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots at Bard SummerScape in New York. Since then, his career has taken him to the Royal Opera House in London, in the title role of Mozart's Mitridate, re di Ponto under Christophe Rousset, to the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and La Monnaie in Brussels, as Arnold in Rossini's Guillaume Tell, a role he also sang at the Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center in 2014, in a production conducted by Nayden Todorov, to Opéra National de Bordeaux for the title role in Berlioz's La damnation de Faust under Paul Daniel, and to the Liceu in Barcelona, in the title role of Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann under Stéphane Denève. He also performed the title role in a new production of Adam's Le postillon de Lonjumeau at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 2019, conducted by Sébastien Rouland.
In 2020 Spyres made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, as Faust in a concert performance of La Damnation de Faust. Subsequently he sang there the title role in Mozart's Idomeneo in 2022 and Pollione in Bellini's Norma in 2023 with Sonya Yoncheva as Norma."Michael Spyres", Met Opera Archives Database. He made his role debut as Tristan in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan on March 9, 2026. The cast included Lise Davidsen as Isolde, Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, Tomasz Konieczny as Kurwenal with the Met's music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting.CID: 387915, Met Opera Archives Database. The performance of March 21, 2026, was telecast to theatres as part of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series.Tristan und Isolde, March 21, 2026, Met Opera Archives Database.
His many recordings include Berlioz's Les Troyens (as Énée) and his Requiem, the song cycle Les nuits d'été, La damnation de Faust, Rossini's Otello, Guillaume Tell and Le siège de Corinthe for Naxos Records, Les Huguenots for American Symphony Orchestra and the solo albums Espoir (2017) for Opera Rara, Baritenor (2021) for Erato, In the Shadows (2024) with Les Talens Lyriques conducted by Christophe Rousset.
Spyres is the artistic director of Ozarks Lyric Opera (formerly Springfield Regional Opera) in Springfield, Missouri.
Recordings Audio recordings of complete operas 2007: Rossini, La gazzetta, Marco Cristarella Orestano (Don Pomponio Storion), Judith Gauthier (Lisetta), Giulio Mastrototaro (Filippo), Vincenzo Bruzzaniti (Don Anselmo), Rossella Bevacqua (Doralice), Michael Spyres (Alberto), Maria Soulis (Madama La Rose), Filippo Polinelli (Monsù Traversen) & Ugo Mahieux (harpsichord). San Pietro a Majella Chorus, Naples; Czech Chamber Soloists, Brno; Christopher Franklin, conductor. Recorded live, July 14, 19 and 22, 2007, Kurhaus, Bad Wildbad, Germany; 19th Rossini in Wildbad Festival. CD: Naxos.2007 La gazzetta .Richard Lawrence, Review of Rossini, La gazzetta, 2007: "A lesser-known Neapolitan comedy from Rossini's period of astonishing creativity", Gramophone, January 2011, p. 93 [Gives the year of recording as 2009, likely an error.] 2008: Rossini, Otello, Michael Spyres (Otello), Jessica Pratt (Desdemona), Ugo Guagliardo (Elmiro Balberigo), Giorgio Trucco (Iago), Géraldine Chauvet (Emilia), Filippo Adami (Rodrigo), Sean Spyres (Doge), Hugo Colin (Lucio), Leonardo Cortellazzi (Gondoliere). Virtuosi Brunensis & Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir, Cluj, Antonino Fogliani, conductor. Recorded live, Kursaal, Bad Wildbad, Germany, July 12, 17 and 19, 2008, 20th Rossini in Wildbad Festival. CD: Naxos.Richard Osborne, Review of Rossini, Otello, 2008: "Jessica Pratt is stunning but not all of the cast are up to her high standard", Gramophone, August 2010, pp. 85–86.2008 Otello . 2009: Meyerbeer, Les Huguenots, Michael Spyres (Raoul de Nagis), Andrew Schroeder (Count de Nevers), Peter Volpe (Marcel), Erin Morley (Marguerite de Valois), Alexandra Deshorties (Valentine), Marie Lenormand (Urbain), John Marcus Bindel (Count de Saint-Bris). American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, conductor. Recorded live, July 2009, Bard SummerScape. Digital audio: American Symphony Orchestra.Eric Myers, Review of July 31, 2009, Bard SummerScape performance of Les Huguenots, Opera, November 2009, pp. 1363–1364. Digital audio available at PrestoMusic, Apple Music, Amazon , among others. 2010: Rossini, Le siège de Corinthe, Lorenzo Regazzo (Mahomet II), Majella Cullagh (Pamyra), Marc Sala (Cléomène), Michael Spyres (Néoclès), Matthieu Lécroart (Hiéros), Gustavo Quaresma Ramos (Adraste), Marco Filippo Romano (Omar) & Silvia Beltrami (Ismène). Camerata Bach Choir, Poznań; Virtuosi Brunensis; Jean-Luc Tingaud (conductor). Recorded live, July 18, 20, 23, 2010, 22nd Rossini in Wildbad Festival, Trinkhalle, Bad Wildbad, Germany. CD: Naxos.2010 Le siège de Corinthe CD Booklet; Back cover, naxosmusiclibrary.com. . . 2011: Mazzoni, Antigono, Michael Spyres (Antigono), Geraldine McGreevy (Berenice), Pamela Lucciarini (Demetrio), Ana Quintans (Ismene), Maria Hinojosa Montenegro (Clearco), Martin Oro (Alessandro). Divino Sospiro (instrumental ensemble), Enrico Onofri, conductor. Recorded live, June 21 and 22, 2011, Grande Auditorium, Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon, Portugal. CD: Dynamic.Joseph Newsome (February 1, 2014), "CD REVIEW: Antonio Mazzoni – ANTIGONO (M. Spyres, G. McGreevy, P. Lucciarini, A. Quintans, M. Hinojosa Montenegro, M. Oro; Dynamic CDS 7686/1-3)", Voix des Arts. 2013: Rossini, Guillaume Tell, Andrew Foster-Williams (Tell), Alessandra Volpe (Hedwige), Judith Howarth (Mathilde), Michael Spyres (Arnold), Tara Stafford (Jemmy), Giulio Pelligra (Rodolphe), Artavazd Sargsyan (Ruodi), Nahuel Di Pierro (Walther Fürst/Melchthal), Raffaele Facciolà (Gesler), Marco Filippo Romano (Leuthold). Camerata Bach Choir, Poznań; Virtuosi Brunensis; Antonino Fogliani, conductor. Recorded live, July 13, 16, 18, 21, 2013, Trinkhalle, Bad Wildbad, Germany, 25th Rossini in Wildbad Festival. CD: Naxos.2013 Guillaume Tell . (See related video below.) 2014: Donizetti, Les Martyrs, Michael Spyres (Polyeucte), Joyce El-Khoury (Pauline), David Kempster (Sévère), Brindley Sherratt (Félix), Clive Bayley (Callisthènes), Wynne Evans (Néarque). Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Mark Elder, conductor. Recorded October/November 2014, St. Clement's Church, London. CD: Opera Rara.2014 Les Martyrs . 2015: Hérold, Le pré aux clercs, Marie-Ève Munger (Isabelle de Montal), Marie Lenormand (Marguerite de Navarre), Jeanne Crousaud (Nicette), Michael Spyres (Mergy), Éric Huchet (Cantarelli), Christian Helmer (Girot). Coro e Orquestra Gulbenkian, Paul McCreesh, conductor. Studio recording (based on a stage production at the Opéra-Comique): April 7 and 8, 2015, Grande Auditorio of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. CD: Palazetto Bru Zane/Ediciones Singulares.2015 Le pré aux clercs .Mark Pullinger, Review of 2015 Le pre aux clercs, Gramophone, January 2017, p. 86. 2015: Donizetti, Le duc d'Albe, Michael Spyres (Henri de Bruges), Angela Meade (Hélène d'Egmont), Laurent Naouri (Le Duc d'Albe), David Stout (Sandoval). Opera Rara Chorus, Hallé Orchestra, Mark Elder, conductor. Studio recording: June 2015, Hallé St. Peter's, Ancoats, Manchester. CD: Opera Rara.2015 Le duc d'Albe . 2017: Berlioz, Les Troyens, Joyce DiDonato (Didon), Michael Spyres (Énée), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Cassandre), Stéphane Degout (Chorèbe), Hanna Hipp (Anna), Nicolas Courjal (Narbal), Philippe Sly (Panthée), Marianne Crebassa (Ascagne), Cyrille Dubois (Iopas), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Hylas/Hélénus). Opéra National du Rhin Chorus; Baden State Opera Chorus; Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, John Nelson, conductor. Recorded live, April 15, 17, and 18, 2017, Salle Érasme, Strasbourg. CD: Erato. Includes bonus DVD with highlights from the concert on April 15."Gramophone Recording of the Month: Mark Pullinger is bowled over by an epic new recording of Berlioz's Les Troyens, caught live in Strasbourg with a luxury cast under the direction of John Nelson", Gramophone, December 2017, pp. 56–57. Awarded Gramophones 2018 Recording of the Year."Gramophone Awards 2018", Gramophone, December 2018, p. 30. 2019: Berlioz, La Damnation de Faust, Michael Spyres- Faust, Joyce DiDonato- Marguerite, Nicolas Courjal- Méphistophélès, Alexandre Duhamel- Brander, Les Petits Chanteurs de Strasbourg, Maîtrise de l'Opéra National du Rhin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, conducted by John Nelson. Recorded live, April 25 and 26, Salle Érasme, Strasbourg. CD: Erato. Includes DVD with highlights of the April 25 concert.Mark Pullinger, Review of 2019 La damnation de Faust, Gramophone, December 2019, p. 102. 2020: Mozart, Mitridate, re di Ponto, Michael Spyres (Mitridate), Julie Fuchs (Aspasia), Sabine Devieilhe (Ismène), Elsa Dreisig (Sifare), Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian (Farnace), Adriana Bignagni Lesca (Arbate), Cyrille Dubois (Marzio). Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski, conductor. Studio recording: 19–23 November, 2020, SR1, Philharmonie de Paris. CD: Erato.Richard Lawrence, Review of 2020 Mitridate studio audio recording conducted by Marc Minkowski, Gramophone, January 2022, pp. 85–86.2020 Mitridate, re di Ponto Booklet, naxosmusiclibrary.com. 2021: Handel, Theodora, Lisette Oropesa (Theodora), Joyce DiDonato (Irene), Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian (Didymus), Michael Spyres (Septimius), John Chest (Valens). Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor. Recorded, November 26-29, 2021, Alfried Krupp Saal, Philharmonie Essen. CD: Erato.2021 Theodora .
Video recordings of complete operas 2013: Rossini, Guillaume Tell, Andrew Foster-Williams (Tell), Alessandra Volpe (Hedwige), Judith Howarth (Mathilde), Michael Spyres (Arnold), Tara Stafford (Jemmy), Giulio Pelligra (Rodolphe), Artavazd Sargsyan (Ruodi), Nahuel Di Pierro (Walther Fürst/Melchthal), Raffaele Facciolà (Gesler), Marco Filippo Romano (Leuthold). Camerata Bach Choir, Poznań; Virtuosi Brunensis; Antonino Fogliani, conductor. DVD: Bongiovanni.2013 Guillaume Tell . (See related audio above.) 2015: Mayr, Medea in Corinto, Michael Spyres (Giasone), Davinia Rodriguez (Medea), Roberto Lorenzi (Creonte), Mihaela Marcu (Creusa), Paolo Cauteruccio (Evandro), Marco Stefani (Tideo), Nozomi Kato (Ismene), Enea Scala (Egeo). Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia; Corul Filarmonicii de Stat Transilvania; Fabio Luisi, conductor; Benedetto Sicca, stage director. Recorded live, July-August, 2015, Festival della Valle d'Itria, Palazzo Ducale, Martina Franca, Italy. DVD: Dynamic2015 Medea in Corinto . 2016: Mozart, Mitridate, re di Ponto, Michael Spyres (Mitridate), Patricia Petibon (Aspasia), Myrtò Papatanasiu (Sifare), Christophe Dumaux (Farnace), Sabine Devieilhe (Ismene), Cyrille Dubois (Marzio), Jaël Azzaretti (Arbate). Le Concert d’Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm, conductor; , stage director. Recorded live, February 20, 2016, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Blu-ray/DVD: Erato.Richard Lawrence, Review of 2016 Mitridate video conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm, Gramophone, July 2017, p. 86.