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Bryan Hymel - Heroique - French Opera Arias (2015)

Posted By: peotuvave

Date: 22 Sep 2015 16:39:01

This recital, Héroïque, is tenor Bryan Hymel’s first studio recording for Warner Classics. Its imaginatively conceived programme showcases him in repertoire that he has made his own on stages such as the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden and the Bavarian State Opera: opera in French that demands a thrilling heroism in both voice and style – and a top register of outstanding brilliance, since the album offers a grand total of 19 top C’s.

In the space of just a few years, the American tenor Bryan Hymel has become closely identified with the kind of repertoire that is showcased in this recital, his first recording for Warner Classics: opera in French that demands a thrilling heroism in both voice and style. The imaginatively conceived programme showcases his prowess in arias to French texts by Verdi and Rossini, by Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Gounod and Massenet, and by three composers whose works are rarely heard today: Reyer, Bruneau and Rabaud.

On stage, Hymel has gone from Don José in Carmen to Enée in Berlioz’s Les Troyens, the title role in Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable, Henri in Verdi’s Les Vêpres siciliennes and Arnold in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell.

Hymel’s active repertoire is by no means limited to roles in French – at the Met, he has recently sung Rodolfo in La bohème, while his Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka led the Financial Times to describe his “lustre and visceral abandon” as “worth travelling continents to hear.” His interpretations of the Prince, Enée and Robert le Diable at London’s Royal Opera House led to his 2013 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera – the Oliviers are the UK’s most prestigious awards in the worlds of theatre, opera, and dance; it complemented another high-profile prize he won in 2013, the Beverly Sills Artist Award, which recognises achievement at the Metropolitan Opera.

As an alumnus of Philadelphia’s Academy of the Vocal Arts, well-known for nurturing exceptional operatic talent, Bryan Hymel was already a rising name when he sang Enée at London’s Royal Opera House in 2012. He had performed the role in Amsterdam in 2010, but in London he was replacing no less a star than Jonas Kaufmann, who had cancelled his entire run of performances. Hymel’s success in Les Troyens at Covent Garden led to another triumph six months later – this time at the Met. It was his debut at the USA’s most iconic opera house and – in an act of true operatic heroism – he was stepping in at the last minute for another major tenor, Marcello Giordani.

Composer: Gioachino Rossini, Hector Berlioz, Giuseppe Verdi, Charles Gounod, …
Performer: Bryan Hymel
Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume
Orchestra/Ensemble: Prague Philharmonia

Reviews: This is a major release by a major tenor with the type of voice we rarely get to hear. Most recently the now-retired Ben Heppner was the go-to tenor in some of this repertoire, with a grand, substantial sound and fine diction, but he was not a high note expert, as is the New Orleans-born Bryan Hymel.

Beginning with Arnold’s last-act scene from Guillaume Tell, with its pile of high Cs, the CD gets off to a thrilling start, with every note in place and the excitement at a very high level. Hymel can sing a fine nuanced line as well; much of Vasco de Gama’s “O Paradis” is sung gently, making its rarely performed, agitated cabaletta even more exciting, including an interpolated high D-flat at its close. Arrigo’s aria from Les Vepres Siciliennes is handled with a smooth, entirely Verdian legato, with the text intelligible and thought through, while the aria’s final allegro has passion, and again, a spectacular D-flat. Hymel has sung Aeneas in Berlioz’s opera on stage to great acclaim, and while he may lack Jon Vickers’ wild-eyed expressivity and his ability to croon the middle section as if in a dream, it’s a stunning performance nonetheless.

Faust’s invocation of Nature from Berlioz’s Damnation is heartfully, beautifully sung, with a legato to die for, and here Emmanuel Villaume’s leadership and the playing of the Prague Philharmonia reaches its peak. The opening recit and Gaston’s aria from Verdi’s Jérusalem (a re-working of I Lombardi…), better known to us as “Oh, madre mia…La mia letizia infondere”, are sung with utmost tenderness. I must admit to ignorance of both Alfred Bruneau and his opera L’attaque de Moulin, but the aria recorded here, a farewell to the character’s youth, the forest he recalls, and his love Francoise, is a handsome piece, well sung, as is the equally unknown (to me) adieu to a garden by Henri Rabaud.

There may be a couple of issues with this release that could spoil one’s fondness for it. Hymel is recorded very closely, and with tenors whose voices are produced in what is known as “the mask” (i.e: it’s not a chesty or throaty sound–think Alfredo Kraus, or even Pavarotti), although it produces a clean, direct line from the front of the face, the sound can come across as more steely or nasal than it actually is. There’s certainly some truth to both designations, but it is exaggerated here by the microphone placement. A couple of the high notes sound somewhat squeezed as well, but overall, as I stated above, this is a remarkable voice, and this CD is a mighty debut recital, with the content as varied as the singing. Bravo!

Tracklisting:

1.1 Guillaume Tell, Act 4: "Ne m'abandonne point… Asile héréditaire… Amis, amis secondez ma vengeance" (Arnold)
1.2 La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, Pt. 4: "Nature immense" (Fausto)
1.3 Jérusalem, Act 2: "L'Emir auprès de lui ma'ppelle… Je veux encore entendre ta Voix" (Gaston)
1.4 Les vêpres siciliennes, Act 4: "O jour de peine et de souffrance" (Henri)
1.5 Les Troyens, Act 5: "Inutiles regrets" (Énée)
1.6 La reine de Saba, Act 2: "Faiblesse de la race humaine, Inspirez-moi, race" (Adoniram)
1.7 L'Africaine, Act 4: "Pays merveilleux… O Paradis… Conduisez-moi vers ce navire" (Vasco de Gama)
1.8 Hérodiade, Act 4: "Ne pouvant réprimer les élans de la foi" (Jean)
1.9 Sigurd, Act 2: "Le bruit des chants s' étend…" (Sigurd)
1.10 L'attaque du moulin, Act 2: "Le jour tombe, Adieu, forêt profonde" (Dominique)
1.11 Rolande et le mauvais garcon, Act 4: "Chante vieux jardin ta chanson de cigale" (Gaspard)

EAC

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 15. April 2015, 17:44

Bryan Hymel & Emmanuel Villaume / Héroïque - French Opera Arias

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