Anna Netrebko, Joyce DiDonato & Emily Albrink Lead New CD/DVD Releases
By Francisco SalazarThis week audiences will get solo recital albums, an opening night performance at La Scala, and Disney classics with one of the great mezzos of her generation.
Shara Nova’s Titration
Grammy Award-winning choir The Crossing, led by Donald Nally, releases its 30th album “Titration,” on Navona Records. Premiered at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, Montana in August 2022, “Titration” is another creative collaboration between The Crossing and Shara Nova, founder of the chamber pop band My Brightest Diamond and one of the featured composers on the choir’s most recent album, Carols After a Plague.
“As a child,” Shara Nova said, “I often understood the best way to deal with big feelings was to go silently into my bedroom and remain there until I could come out with a ‘better attitude.’ The story of my learning how to identify feelings and stay connected to my body is ongoing. The details of what has happened to me personally to make emotion and body awareness difficult were not necessary to tell. Instead I wanted to share some explorations in asking the question, ‘How do I keep on feeling in this mean, mean world?’”
Force of Nature
Soprano Emily Albrink releases her solo debut album, “Force of Nature,” on Lexicon Classics, with collaborative pianist Kathleen Kelly. The album features world premiere song cycles by composers Jake Heggie, Rene Orth, Nailah Nombeko, and Steve Rouse. Albrink dedicates the album to her late mother, pianist Nancy Albrink.
Schnittke’s–Psalms of Repentance
Cappella Amsterdam and its artistic leader Daniel Reuss present their third Pentatone album with a recording of Alfred Schnittke’s Psalms of Repentance.
“There is a wonderful manuscript of Stikhi Pokayanniye in the hand of Alfred Schnittke. Between this manuscript and the edition published by Belaieff are considerable differences. There are hardly any dynamic markings in the manuscript, there are no time signatures indicated, no phrasing. And sometimes there are simply different notes written! For this recording we have based our interpretation on the manuscript,” said, Daniel Reuss.
When You Wish Upon a Star
The King’s Singers celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Disney with When You Wish Upon A Star, a joyful album of twenty-five hit songs drawn from the soundtrack of the past century. They are joined by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and a host of guest artists in a program comprising virtuoso close-harmony arrangements freshly commissioned from an international line-up of composers, including John Rutter, Nico Muhly, Alexander L’Estrange, Toby Young, Jim Clements and Jamey Ray. The tracklist embraces songs from nine decades of Disney animation, spanning everything from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Coco (2017) to evoke memories of childhood for listeners of all ages.
Tosca
C Major releases “Tosca” from the Teatro alla Scala. The 2019 production was directed by Davide Livermore and starred Anna Netrebko (Tosca), Francesco Meli (Cavaradossi), and Luca Salsi (Baron Scarpia). The Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala was led by Music Director Riccardo Chailly.
Tarot
Navona Records releases Tarot with vocalist Timothy Stoddard and pianist Ellen Fast. The album features a diverse assortment of composers and librettists.
Casta Diva
Matilda Lloyd releases her new album in which she is joined by the Britten Sinfonia and conductor Rumon Gamba for a unique recording of early 19th Century Italian operatic arias and variations.
Avner Dorman: Siklòn + Lee Hoiby: The Italian Lesson
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project, led by acclaimed conductor Gil Rose, releases two new recordings on its Grammy Award-winning in-house label, BMOP/sound. Avner Dorman: Siklòn comprises five orchestral works providing a snapshot of the composer’s wide-ranging, virtuosic craftsmanship. Lee Hoiby: The Italian Lesson includes two operatic jewels written for the acclaimed American actress Jean Stapleton and performed here by mezzo-sopranos Janna Baty and Vanessa Schukis.
Sweet Dreams: Lullabies & Night Songs
Soprano Caitlin Lynch and pianist Jean Schneider have announced the release of “Sweet Dreams: Lullabies and Night Songs,” a collection of 23 works spanning seven languages and nearly 200 years, from German Lieder to Great American Songbook to contemporary compositions.
Canzoni di un lungo viaggio
Mezzo-soprano Margherita Rotondi and pianist Vincenzo Cicchelli release a new album that includes f Parigi a Hollywood e Broadway passando per L’America Latina