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
, 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
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.
proceeds forward in time, alternating well-known works (
Beethoven
Fidelio, Op. 72
,
Bellini
Norma
) with those less so (an early Italian-language
Meyerbeer
Il crociato in Egitto
Heinrich Marschner
Hans Heiling, Op. 80
). By the time he gets to the 20-year-old
Die Feen
and then
Rienzi
, the results seem almost predetermined.
Weber
, often considered
'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
, 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