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

This week audiences get a world premiere recording of a new opera, a legendary recording of Strauss’ work, and a rarely performed Tchaikovsky opera.

The Shining 

Pentatone releases “The Shining,” the world-premiere recording from the Lyric Opera of Kansas City of the opera by Pulitzer Prize winners Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell.  Gerard Schwarz conducts the recording which stars Edward Parks, Kelly Kaduce, Aubrey Allicock, Roger Honeywell, and Malcolm MacKenzie. The recording also features the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Chorus and the Kansas City Symphony.

Songs for Mary

Dawn Carroll and Jon Butcher will release a soundtrack album, “Songs For Mary.”

“The stories of Mary Dawson and the famous musicians and other visitors to the ‘ house on Apple St. are embodied in the 15 songs on the soundtrack album” Butcher said in an official release. “They’re powerful and also personal.”

Carroll adds, “Mary’s legacy is the fight for racial justice, freedom and fairness, ironically the same struggle we’re in now. Songs For Mary are stories that need telling now more than ever!”

St. Florianer Sängerknaben: Remembrance. Bruckner in St. Florian

Solo Musica releases the latest album by the renown choir which celebrates Bruckner’s 200th anniversary.

The Enchantress

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s rarely performed work gets a release from Naxos. The production from Oper Frankfurt is directed by Vasily Barkhatov. Filmed on December 30, 2022, the opera stars Asmik Grigorian, Iain MacNeil, Claudia Mahnke, Alexander Mikhailov, Frederic Jost, and Zanda Švede. Valentin Uryupin conducts.

Le Carnaval du Parnasse

Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville’s heroic ballet, “Le Carnaval du Parnasse” gets a release with Alexis Kossenko and his ensemble Les Ambassadeurs ~ La Grande Écurie. They are joined by the vocalists of the Choeur de Chambre de Namur.

Richard Strauss: Die schweigsame Frau

BR-KLASSIK marks its 75th anniversary with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra by making this previously unreleased studio production available for the first time on CD and as a stream. This week the company releases Strauss’ masterwork which stars Fritz Wunderlich, Hermann Prey, Hans Hotter, and Ingeborg Hallstein. The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is conducted by Heinz Wallberg.