Iurii Samoilov, Ana María Martínez, Kristina Mkhitaryan, Nicole Car, Barbara Hannigan Lead new CD/DVD Releases
By Francisco SalazarWelcome back as we explore the latest CD and DVD releases from around the opera world.
This week audiences will get new opera recordings including one very famed contemporary Mexican work and two classic works. There are also some solo albums and choral works to look forward to.
Eugene Onegin
EuroArts releases a recording of the Teatro Real’s recent staging of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” featuring Ukrainian baritone Iurii Samoilov as Eugene Onegin, Russian soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan as Tatiana Larina, and Ukrainian tenor Bogdan Volkov as Lensky, with conductor Gustavo Gimeno leading the Teatro Real Orchestra.
Of the production OperaWire said, “Ukrainian baritone Iurii Samoilov delivers a convincing portrayal of Eugene Onegin” while “Russian soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan shines as Tatiana Larina.”
Florencia en el Amazonas
Houston Grand Opera releases a recording of composer Daniel Catán and librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain’s acclaimed work. The recording is conducted by HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summer sand stars celebrated soprano Ana María Martínez, Alicia Gianni, Joshua Guerrero, Norman Garrett, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Thomas Glass, and David Pittsinger.
The Farther Shore
Navona Records features bass Matthew Treviño and pianist Scott Gendel in a diverse program of contemporary American songs and arias. The album centers on music by both well-established and emerging contemporary American composers and embraces the bass voice’s long-standing archetypes while also pushing beyond them to reveal new expressive possibilities.
An American Dream?
Alpha classics releases Barbara Hannigan’s new album with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. The album includes music by Copland, Gershwin, Rodgers, and Hannigan.
In a statement the soprano and conductor said, “I grew up in awe of America, but now my feelings are mainly nostalgic. With this repertoire, I want to express my admiration for the incredible creativity and tenacity of composers who shaped a musical language that was truly their own.”
El Tiempo Latine
San Francisco-based Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) will release its new album featuring nine fabulous Latine composers: 2026 Pulitzer Prize winner Gabriela Lena Frank, Tania León, Claudia Montero, Gabriela Ortiz, José Bragato, Carla Lucero, Angélica Negrón, inti figgis-vizueta, and Brennan Stokes. Guest artists on the album are violinist Lylia Guion and coloratura soprano Chelsea Hollow.
Allison Loggins-Hull: Patchwork
Avie Records releases “Patchwork,” a collection of six chamber works written by composer and flutist Allison Loggins-Hull. Described as “a virtuoso player with a profound and deeply moving compositional voice” (Strings Magazine), Loggins-Hull performs and conducts her chamber works with members of The Cleveland Orchestra, following her recent three-year term as the Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow.The album also features soprano Laquita Mitchell accompanied by viola, piano, and Loggins-Hull on flute.
Hold Fast to Dreams
Avie Music presents a new contribution to the vocal music of Florence Price, bringing together 34 art songs for voice and piano. Performed by British tenor Ted Black and German pianist Sascha El Mouissi, the program focuses on Price’s art songs, a substantial body of work that remains largely unpublished and underrepresented on disc.
Bach: Mass in B Minor
Hyperion releases this new recording featuring Stephen Layton and the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge. They are joined by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and soloists Helen Charlston, Katherine Watson, Iestyn Davies, Gwilym Bowen and Neal Davies.
Songs of New York
David Chesky’s “Songs of New York” will be released. The new songs feature Isabella Maria Lorca and the orchestra of the 21st Century.
In a statement, Chesky said, “This music is a reflection of a city I have spent my life in and love. I have walked every inch of Central Park, biked nearly every street from Lower Manhattan to the Bronx, and kayaked along the Hudson. This work, like my 1990 New York Chorinhos for solo piano, is an homage to a city that inspires and sustains me.”
Canto De Todes
US-based anti-disciplinary artist Dorian Wood releases an album of chamber classical, folk, torch song, and experimental music.
Music Like Water
MUSIC LIKE WATER from American composer Katherine Saxon presents a setting of Jane Hirshfield’s poem of the same name for double chorus. Inspired by water’s persistence and strength, the work features delicate individual lines and duets that transform into lush harmonies, mirroring the way streams combine into powerful torrents. Saxon’s compositional voice draws on 20th-century Russian, French, and American influences as well as the vocal traditions of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
AND DEATH SHALL HAVE NO DOMINION
Composer Garth Baxter unites two renowned Czech ensembles to give voice to a powerful meditation on mortality and transcendence on “And Death Shall have no Dominion” from Navona Records. Featuring the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava and Kühn Choir of Prague, the piece draws its inspiration from a Dylan Thomas poem by the same name that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the face of death. Baxter’s score moves between calm reflection and radiant affirmation, supporting poetic imagery with expansive musical expression.
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe
Opera Piccolo records three cut songs from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Iolanthe.” The songs, in full score, were found by Marc Shepherd bound in the back of a copyist’s manuscript which was misfiled at the British Library. The score was in the possession of the D’Oyly Carte organization until their archive was acquired by the British Library in 2015.
The first song is a quartet while the second is a solo. The third song immediately follows the solo.
Richard Strauss: Elektra
Iréne Theorin, Jennifer Holloway, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Nikolai Schukoff, and Iain Paterson lead Chandos recording of Strauyss’ masterpiece. The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir are recorded by Edward Gardner.
The new album was recored in live in Bergen in December 2023 in Surround Sound and released on Hybrid SACD.
Hans Thomalla: Dark Fall
Hans Thomalla’s “Dark Fall” is conceived as the second part of a theatrical “Diptych of Desire” and stars Ellen Estelle Kruger, Curtis Uwe Eikötter, Ilse Lila Chrisp, and Owen Thomas Berau. The Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim is conducted by Alan Pierson.
Clémence de Grandval: Mazeppa
Palazzetto Bru Zane releases the five-act opera by Clémence de Grandval. The new recording stars Tassis Christoyannis, Nicole Car, Julien Dran, Ante Jerkunica, and Paweł Trojak. The Münchner Rundfunkorchester is conducted by Mihhail Gerts.
In an interview with OperaWire, Artistic Director of Palazzetto Bru Zane, Alexandre Dratwicki said, “Clémence de Grandval is such an exciting composer. “Mazeppa” isn’t absolutely modern, but it’s on the level of Gounod and Massenet. While working on ‘Mazeppa,’ we quickly realised it would make a great staged recording. Shortly after, we went to Munich – partners there were already looking for works by women composers, and so we put “Mazeppa” forward. We ended up doing the concerts and recording it there, with a staged production in Dortmund as well. I know other opera houses are now considering the work too.”
Georges Bizet: Carmen
Adèle Charvet, Julien Behr, Florie Valiquette, Alexandre Duhamel, Gwendoline Blondeel, Ambroisine Bré, Matthieu Walendzik, Attila Varga-Tóth, and Nicolas Certenais lead a new recording of “Carmen” performed on historical instruments and recorded live at the Opéra Royal de Versailles. The Orchestre & Choeur de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles is conducted by Hervé Niquet.
Domenico Cimarosa: L’Italiana in Londra
Naxos releases a new recording of Cimarosa’s opera with Angela Vallone, Bianca Tognocchi, Theo Lebow, Iurii Samoilov, and Gordon Bintner. The Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester is recorded by Leo Hussain.
