New Orleans Tenor Bryan Hymel Returns Home To Celebrate

Tenor Bryan Hymel (center) with conductor Emmanuel Villaume (right) during the recording session for Héroîque

"Bryan Hymel returns to New Orleans for a free mini-recital and major label CD-release party at Loyola University on March 1. The superstar tenor and New Orleans native is fresh from similar events in London and Paris where he previewed material from Héroïque, his debut recording for WarnerClassics. Hymel's New Orleans appearance will be the first CD promotional event in North America, with further appearances planned for Philadelphia and New York (where he is a Metropolitan Opera regular). 'I can't wait to sing these French arias in New Orleans -- it's the kind of repertoire that makes me think of the old French Opera House in the Quarter,' Hymel said. 'It fits my voice, and it fits my throat. Maybe it's genetic. It's New Orleans music from the era when the city was the capital of opera in the U.S.' Sadly, the French Opera House went up in flames a century ago..." [Source] Click here for more information about the album Héroïque. Watch Bryan Hymel recording a high note shattering version of 'Amis, amis, secondez ma vengeance,' from Guillaume Tell, and a behind-the-scenes video of the recording session that features his wife, Greek soprano Irini Kyriakidou, after the jump.

New King of the High C's: Bryan Hymel recording his album of French arias in Prague