“Donizetti & Friends”: Michael Spyres and Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Giulio Zappa, Michael Spyres and Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Giulio Zappa and Michael Spyres

By Dominic Lowe, 11 March 2025

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“like Spyres, her every syllable was carefully phrased in a voice of mescal smokiness”

Reviewed at Cadogan Hall, London on 10 March 2025

Donizetti, L’Aube naït et ta porte est close

Donizetti, Si tu m’as fait à ton image

Donizetti, Oh ne me chasse pas

Berlioz, La Belle Voyageuse

Berlioz, L'Origine de la harpe, Op.2 no.7

Donizetti, La Folle de S.te Hélène

Berlioz, Les Troyens: Nuit d’ivresse

Donizetti, Pas d’autre amour que toi!

Donizetti, La Fiancée du timbalier

Donizetti, Aux filles que l'ennui chagrine

Berlioz, La Mort d'Ophélie, H92

Donizetti, La Dernière Nuit d'un Novice

Bizet, Carmen: C'est toi! C'est moi!

Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Contralto

Michael Spyres, Tenor

Giulio Zappa, Piano

Bel canto brilliance: Mariella Devia at Wigmore Hall

Kevin W Ng, 14th June

Despite an indisposition, Mariella Devia remains a formidable bel canto performer at her much-anticipated Wigmore Hall recital.

****1

Tristan und Isolde at the Met: staging gets in the way of the music

No’a L. bat Miri, 9th March

Michael Spyres shines in his debut as Tristan alongside powerhouse soprano Lise Davidsen as Isolde in Yuval Sharon's new, beguiling production at the Metropolitan Opera.

***11

Lise auf Naxos: Davidsen makes a triumphant return to Ariadne

Mark Pullinger, 28th January

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen returns to Sven-Eric Bechtolf's lean but polished production with an outstanding cast, outstandingly conducted.

****1

A triumph against the odds: Les Troyens at the BBC Proms

Mark Valencia, 3rd September

Dinis Sousa doesn't put a foot wrong as the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir give a performance of startling virtuosity at the end of a European tour.

*****

A reverential Gerontius from Elder and The Hallé

Rohan Shotton, 4th June

Sir Mark Elder opens his mini Elgar festival with a deeply spirtual Dream of Gerontius.

*****

Coloratura fireworks at the Met's Idomeneo

Kevin W Ng, 28th September

A luxuriously-cast revival takes a staid production of Mozart's Idomeneo to new, exciting heights.

****1

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Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.

Novices, husband-hunters and would-be saviours of Napoleon in “Donizetti & Friends”