The holiday season is upon us and that means many great new offerings are coming out. This week will feature the realse of a solo album debut, a new DVD from the Metropolitan Opera, a lieder album, and a Christmas album. Here are our essential recordings to buy this week.

A Te, O Cara

Stephen Costello makes his solo album debut with “A Te, O Cara,” a collection of bel canto arias by Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi. The album, recorded with Lithuania’s Kaunas City Symphony and Grammy-nominated conductor Constantine Orbelian, will be released by Delos.

The recording includes arias by “La Fille du Régiment, “I Puritani,” “Don Pasquale,” “Don Sebastiano,” “Anna Bolena,” “Lucia di Lammermoor,” and “L’Elisir d’Amore.”

Frage

Christian Gerhaher releases his latest recording of all of Schumann’s songs with his album Frage (Question). The new CD  represents the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream; he describes it as, “probably the most important project of my entire life.”

Sony releases the album, which also includes pianist Gerold Huber. The album is part of a ten CD project that will be completed by 2020.

Norma

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and soprano Sondra Radvanovsky headline Sir David McVicar’s evocative production that opened the Met’s 2017–18 season. The new production garnered rave reviews with OperaWire noting it was a “Triumph.” Erato releases the production, which also stars Joseph Calleja.

Feliz Navidad

Rolando Villazón celebrates the holidays with a new album dedicated to Christmas. The new album showcases the tenor performing famous Christmas classics in each of his five languages, including “White Christmas,” “O Tannenbaum,” “Tu scendi dalle stelle,” “Petit Papa Noël” and “Los peces en el río.” It also includes duets with German singer-songwriter Sasha and French pop star Julie Zenatti. Deutsche Grammophon releases the album.