There aren’t as many releases this week, though there is undeniably one that will have everyone’s attention, especially since it comes from the world’s greatest tenor.

L’Opera

Jonas Kaufmann’s new album, his first fully dedicated to the French repertoire is sure to be one of the hot holiday purchases. The tenor sings arias from Bizet, Meyerbeer, Massenet, Thomas, Berlioz, and Gounod, among others. The album also features Sonya Yoncheva and Ludovic Tezier and was highly rated by critics. “this album is incredible, as is usually the case with anything related to the famous German tenor. The repertoire is not all that surprising, but its execution is world class and will demand repeat listenings,” stated OperaWire’s review of the album.

Fellow Travelers 

A recording of Gregory Spears’ opera “Fellow Travelers” from Cincinnati Opera will be released, starring Aaron Blake, Joseph Lattanzi, Devon Guthrie, and Alexandra Shoeny, among others. The opera takes place “at the height of the McCarthy era in 1950s Washington, D.C., when recent college grad Timothy Laughlin is eager to join the crusade against communism. A chance encounter with handsome State Department official Hawkins Fuller leads to Tim s first job and his first love affair. Drawn into a maelstrom of deceit, Tim struggles to reconcile his political convictions and his forbidden love for Fuller an entanglement that will end in a stunning act of betrayal.”