Vivaldi Opera. Catone In Utica

With Contra-Tenor, Michael Spyres challenges perceptions of the tenor in the Baroque era, often seen as the age of the castrato. In the company of Il Pomo d’Oro and conductor Francesco Corti, he explores the period from the late 17th century to the 1770s, tracing the course of opera in both the French and Italian styles. The 15 arias range from Lully to early Mozart by way of Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, Gluck and composers such as Hasse, Galuppi and Latilla (represented by world premiere recordings), and Mazzoni and Sarro (represented by first studio recordings). Spyres’ exceptional credentials for this virtuoso repertoire have been summed up by Gramophone magazine: a “superb artist whose voice [is] perfectly equalised over more than two-and-a-half octaves,” notable for “exceptional artistry, formidable technique and seemingly limitless understanding of style.”