Bryan Hymel has dazzling natural facility in the upper reaches of his bright tenor voice; seldom is a listener conscious that he is negotiating a taxing section. It's not surprising to learn that he's always had a high vocal range, even back when he was growing up in New Orleans. "My first voice teacher had me doing little competitions and festivals," Hymel remembers. "In sixth grade, I did 'Let the Bright Seraphim'! It was just there." He admittedly hasn't quite unlocked all the mysteries at the high end, though. In I Puritani, for example, "D-natural sits in a weird place where I can sing over it and under it, but D-natural doesn't fit."

In the past two seasons alone, Hymel has hauled home top prizes in the Giulio Gari, Loren L. Zachary, Licia Albanese–Puccini Foundation and Gerda Lissner Foundation Competitions. Now he's increasingly in demand for some of the most taxing, high-lying roles around, and there's talk of some Meyerbeer down the road. "Jesus," I mutter when he tells me that he's going to be singing Énée in Les Troyens in Amsterdam next spring. "That's what everybody says," he responds. "The repertoire thing has always been an issue. I sang Cavaradossi in Bordeaux — a small theater — and people are like, 'Oh, that's heavy!' But because of where it lies, it's easier for me than some other roles. The Prince in Rusalka feels like the heaviest role I've ever sung, and no one bats an eye."

He doesn't hesitate to describe his arrival in 2005 at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts, where he met his teacher Bill Schuman, as the most significant event of his career. "It's hard and rigorous, and they don't pamper you. Once I showed up to sing for [faculty member] Danielle Orlando with only one copy of 'Recondita armonia.' She quizzed me back and forth on marcato notes, everything else, and I knew by the end of that session never to come in with just one copy of anything."

Last spring, Hymel sang Arturo in I Puritani at Greek National Opera, an assignment that has led to consideration of some higher and bigger roles (Il Pirata, Robert le Diable). In January, he does his first Don José in Carmen at Canadian Opera Company. "At the end of the day," Hymel observes, "it's about singing. You can have great dramatic skills and be the best mover anyone's ever seen, but if the voice isn't a certain caliber, you've got a problem. They don't like to hear that in Europe so much."

BRIAN KELLOW

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