Lightning, they say, never strikes in the same place twice. If that's the case, then somebody please explain the scorch marks streaked across Strasbourg's Palais de la Musique et des Congrès. Two years ago, it saw a world class line-up give world class performances of Berlioz' epic opera Les Troyens. Now, its Énée and Didon – Michael Spyres and Joyce DiDonato – were reunited under John Nelson as Faust and Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust, that not-quite-opera which Berlioz described as a légende dramatique. It lived up to that dramatique billing completely in an account that practically self-combusted.
The golden tonsils of Michael Spyres are perfectly suited for Berlioz. Dressed in stylish frock coat and flamboyant cuffs, he cuts a dandyish figure, a confident presence but one also completely lost in the moment. Without a score and standing throughout, Spyres submits wholly to the music, often caught in a reverie as Nelson spun magic from the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg. He has a sturdy baritonal base to his voice, but it's his upper register which really thrills, ringing like a bell but also capable of heady voix mixte in his duet with DiDonato's Marguerite. He delivered a gloriously heartfelt “Nature immense”. Spyres' tenor was pushed to its limits – that's Berlioz for you – and he tired a little in the closing stages, but that didn't prevent a terrifying scream of “Horreur!” as his Faust plunged into the chasm.
French bass Nicolas Courjal (Narbal in Troyens) played Faust's nemesis, a suave, sneering Méphistophélès in a blue velvet smoking jacket. It's a voice that doesn't really bloom at the top, which is challenging in a work that really needs a bass-baritone to do full justice to the devil's divine lullaby “Voici des roses”. His performance was full of expression though, a persuasive, insinuating Mephisto, often wearing a wry smile. His sardonic serenade was done with panache, “Devant la maison” fabulously sung accompanied with wicked precision by pizzicato strings.