Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world.

This week, audiences will get to hear a world premiere recording of a new opera. There are also three solo albums including one historic recording and one from a great diva of our time. Here is a look!

Jacqueline

Pentatone releases the new opera “Jacqueline,” a powerful work that dives into the real-life struggle between famed cellist Jacqueline du Pré and the multiple sclerosis that ravaged her body, mind, and talent.

The story is brought to life by celebrated American soprano Marnie Breckenridge as Jacqueline and former du Pré protégé and world-renowned cellist Matt Haimovitz, playing the role of her constant companion: her cello. Composer Luna Pearl Woolf and Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Royce Vavrekwrote the work which is told in four movements – I. Star Birth; II. Super Nova; III. Meteorite; IV. Impact.

Haimovitz said, “As a young boy, I was fully immersed in Jacqueline du Pré’s story the moment I heard her recording of the Elgar Cello Concerto. I had the good fortune to spend many hours with Jackie in her final years, her life severely limited by MS. In Luna Pearl Woolf and Royce Vavrek’s opera, Jacqueline, we celebrate her super powers and mourn her tragic story. Ultimately, we embrace the raw expression of a single voice to overcome all in its way, passing the inner flame on to future generations.”

Cornelie Falcon

Aleksandra Kurzak releases her latest album on Aparte Music. The new album will showcase the soprano alongside the Morphing Chamber Orchestra conducted by Bassem Akiki. The album will be an homage to Falcon’s repertoire and will include music by Mozart, Rossini, Weber, Beethoven, Spontini, Halévy, and Meyerbeer.

Winterreise

Orchid Classics releases soprano and pianist Rachel Fenlon’s debut album “Winterreise.”

Fenlon sings and accompanies herself in Schubert’s masterpiece, the first ever to interpret the work as both singer and pianist on recording.

Full Circle: Reflections on My Journey

PENTATONE releases baritone Lester Lynch’s latest album, a highly personal collection of songs from Schubert, Brahms, and Mussorgsky. He is joined by Kevin Korth on the piano.

In a statement Lynch said, “With ‘Full Circle,’ I embark on a journey through the timeless melodies of Brahms, Mussorgsky, and Schubert, celebrating the rich diversity of their repertoire and bringing their profound harmonies into a new era. As a baritone with over three decades on the stage, this album is a tribute to the varied and enduring beauty of these masterpieces. This project marks a personal full circle for me—beginning with Schubert’s songs in high school, where I first discovered the joy and complexity of his music as an accompanist at the piano.”

As We Are

Bright Shiny Things releases “As We Are,” the debut album from the Poiesis Quartet (violinists Sarah Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby), winners of a 2024 Concert Artists Guild Award, and Grand Prize winners of the 2023 Fischoff Award. The album also features renowned mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby.

Two world premiere recordings are showcased on the album including Richard Stout’s “Songs of Correspondence,” a cycle of 11 songs on texts taken from the letters of Willa Cather, and Clint Needham’s String Quartet No. 1, “Shades of Green,” inspired by natural cycles and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

Winter Light

Joanna Forbes L’Estrange’s first album on Signum Classics, “Winter Light” is an album of works celebrating the season of Winter, as well as Christmas and Advent.

The album is 19 tracks and the theme that links them all is light triumphing over darkness, good overcoming evil and, ultimately,
love conquering all.

Jephtha

Reference Recordings is set to release Handel’s final masterpiece “Jephtha.” Recorded live in September 2022, the work is conducted by Dame Jane Glover, and performed by Chicago-based Music of the Baroque Chorus & Orchestra. Soloists include David Portillo, Lauren Snouffer, Clara Osowski, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Neal Davies, and Katelyn Lee.

Cloud Anthem

Three-time GRAMMY Award-winning new-music choir, The Crossing releases its first standalone single as part of The Crossing Votes: 2024, a pre-election project. The new work, “Cloud Anthem,” by Michael Gilbertson, draws its title from Richard Blanco’s 2019 poem of anticipation and hope on which it is based.

“Cloud Anthem” is released by New Focus Recordings.

In a statement, Conductor Donald Nally said, “Our new single is a work of anticipation and possibilities. A work, we hope, says, ‘Vote.’ In it, we do not attempt to solve our country’s many problems; instead, we intentionally leave behind cynicism to live in a world of voices, textures, and words that some may hear as an invitation.”