Welcome back as we explore the latest CD and DVD releases from around the opera world.

Manon

Heartbeat Opera releases its first-ever full length album with “MANON!.” The recording, made at the legendary Power Station Studios with Lexicon Classics, features the original cast from the company’s run at Irondale last season, which showcased an English-language Broadway-infused revamp of Massenet’s 1884 French opera. The adaptation features a new libretto by Jacob Ashworth and Obie Award winner Rory Pelsue, who directed the winter production, and the score is newly arranged and conducted from the piano by Dan Schlosberg.

J. S. Bach: The Motets

Hans-Christoph Rademann and the Gaechinger Cantorey will release the album J. S. Bach: The Motets on ACCENTUS Music. The complete recording of all six known motets, BWV 225–230, was made at the TauberPhilharmonie Weikersheim in November 2025 and draws on decades of engagement with Bach’s vocal music.

Dancing Tree: Choral Landscapes

Dancing Tree presents the St. Charles Singers, conducted by Jeff Hunt, in a program ranging from early 20th-century masterworks to contemporary pieces. The title work, written for St. Charles Singers, is Sir John Rutter’s Dancing Tree, an eight-song cycle drawn from the poetry of Charles Causley, whose verse blends folklore, nature, and emotional directness. The program proceeds with Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia, Op. 27, Claude Debussy’s Trois Chansons, Charles Villiers Stanford’s The Blue Bird, Jake Runstad’s Cello Songs, and Charles Forsberg’s Buttercup Days — the latter two, written for the St. Charles Singers. Cellist Jean Hatmaker, harpist Erin Freund, and pianist Stephen Uhl support the choir with steady, flowing musicality and verve.

Anders Hillborg: Lost Landscapes

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra celebrates Anders Hillborg, Sweden’s most important living composer, with two world premiere recordings. Alpha Classics continues its partnership with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. The album includes “Through Lost Landscapes,” “The Strand Settings,” and “Sound Atlas.” Soprano Ida Falk Winland is featured on the recording while Pekka Kuusisto and Brad Lubman conduct.

Don Giovanni

Channel Classics releases Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in a new recording from Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. This was captured live in October 2025 at the spectacular Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy, where the dream duo of André Schuen’s Don Giovanni and Luca Pisaroni’s Leporello headed a first-rate cast.

Bell Tower and other Art Songs

Hal Leonard Publishing and Concord Theatricals has released a new songbook of works by American composer Georgia Stitt. The songbook features 35 works by Stitt, including the 26 theatrical art songs included on Stitt’s album Bell Tower, released on Concord Theatricals Recordings. The repertoire on Bell Tower and Other Art Songs is appropriate for classical and musical theater performers, alike. The songbook is available in digital and print editions.

Breaking the Waves

Houston Grand Opera will release the first recording of composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek’s “Breaking the Waves,” captured during the acclaimed opera’s 2025 regional premiere in Houston. The new recording of the groundbreaking opera, which premiered in 2016, captures outstanding performances from a star-studded cast led by soprano Lauren Snouffer and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, accompanied by the HGO Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of HGO Music Director Emeritus Patrick Summers. The recording also includes Michelle Bradley as Mother, mezzo-soprano Maire Therese Carmack as Dodo McNeill, tenor David Portillo as Dr. Richardson, baritone Michael Mayes as Councilman, bass-baritone Sam Dhobhany as Terry, bass Johnny Salvesen as Sadistic Sailor, tenor Andrew Surrena as Young Sailor, and Jon Janacek.

Verdi Requiem

The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will release a new spatial audio recording of Verdi’s Requiem. Recorded live at Severance Music Center during performances on January 15, 17, and 18, 2026, the recording features soloists soprano Asmik Grigorian, mezzo-soprano Deniz Uzun, tenor Joshua Guerrero, and bass Tareq Nazmi.

The Secret Letter

Cantus will release “The Secret Letter,” a program that weaves music together with excerpts from letters by Marcus Au­relius, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and others whose stories bear witness and celebrate queer love that has always existed.

“The Secret Letter” is a recorded adaptation of a program of the same name performed by Cantus in the spring of 2025 featuring works by Abbie Betinis, Mohammed Fairouz, Leoš Janáček, Libby Larsen, Francis Poulenc, Steven Sametz, Mari Esabel Valverde, and Consuelito Velázquez.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: An Opera

Blue Griffin Recording releases “The Tibetan Book of the Dead: An Opera” by Ricky Ian Gordon, restored from the 1996 Archival Tapes from The American Music Theater Festival from June 12–14, 1996.

Co-Commissioned by Houston Grand Opera and The American Music Theatre Festival in 1995, “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” is based on ancient Tibetan Buddhist teachings on death and rebirth, and depicts the epic journey of a dying soul through a series of spiritual and emotional planes along the road of rebirth.

These archival recordings feature a cast of artists from The Houston Grand Opera studio: baritone Frank Hernandez, bass Eric Owens, sopranos Nicole Heaston and Jonita Lattimore, mezzo-sopranos Beth Clayton and Jill Grove, tenors John McVeigh and
Gabriel Gonzalez, and Orchestra 2001 conducted by Charles Prince.

Piedra de sol (Sunstone)

Divine Art Records releases composer Joby Talbot’s choral setting of Mexican poet Octavio Paz’s epic masterpiece, performed by choir Conspirare and Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson.

Lili Elbe

Bright Shiny Things releases Lili Elbe, composer Tobias Picker’s two-act opera based on the life of the title character, a Danish landscape painter who was one of the first people to undergo gender affirmation surgery. The libretto for Lili Elbe was written by Aryeh Lev Stollman. The recording was made live during its dress rehearsal and world premiere on October 22, 2023 in Switzerland’s Theater St. Gallen. The opera stars Lucia Lucas in the title role, and she is joined on the recording by soprano Sylvia D’Eramo in the role of Gerda, Mack Wolz; Jennifer Panara; Brian Michael Moore; Sam Taskinen; Msimelelo Mbali; Kristján Jóhannesson; Theo Imart; and David Maze. Lithuanian conductor Modestas Pitrėnas leads the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen.

Made in Germany

Texas-based Olmos Ensemble releasing its album on Divine Art Records. “Made in Germany” features three composers of German origin: Richard Strauss, Rudolf Tillmetz, and Ruth Schonthal.

Sur

PENTATONE releases Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack new album “Sur,” an album shaped by memory, identity, and the enduring pull of home. Inspired by a vivid childhood recollection, the mezzo performs works by Astor Piazzolla.

Qigang Chen’s Iris Dévoilée

The Seattle Symphony releases a live concert album featuring Chinese-French composer Qigang Chen’s Iris Dévoilée (Iris Unveiled) and L’Éloignement, marking the first Seattle Symphony recording with Music Director Xian Zhang. Recorded before live audiences at Benaroya Hall, the album reflects Zhang’s commitment to championing composers whose music draws on diverse cultural traditions.

LEGENDS: Rebellion

Soprano Laura Strickling and Sono Luminus release of “LEGENDS: Rebellion,” a new album featuring world-premiere recordings of contemporary art song by composers from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, celebrating women’s voices and stories. Performing alongside longtime collaborative pianist Joy Schreier, Strickling perform works by Juhi Bansal, Cecilia Livingston, Jens Ibsen, and Jodi Goble.

Complications in Sue