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

This week audiences will get some Verdi and Monteverdi releases as well as the release of a world premiere album.

Verdi

Decca releases an album from the Teatro alla Scala which showcases Riccardo Chailly and La Scala as they maintain the gold standard for Verdi of rarely recorded choral works. “The Hymn of the Nations” features tenor Freddie De Tommaso, the first tenor to record this work for Decca since Pavarotti.

The album also showcases the “The Four Scared Pieces.”

Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo

Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” from Les Épopées features the tenor Julian Prégardien in the title role, Gwendoline Blondeel as Musica, Euridice, Marie Perbost as Ninfa, Proserpina, Eva Zaïcik as Messagiera, Speranza, and Cyril Auvity as Apollo, Eco, Pastore, Spirito. The recording is released by Château de Versailles Spectacles label.

Last Days

Platoon releases Oliver Leith’s critically acclaimed chamber opera “Last Days.” The work premiered in a sold-out run of performances at London’s Royal Opera House in October 2022, and was later performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in February of this year. In this new studio recording, the stellar cast returns to their original roles, and the 12 Ensemble led by Jack Sheen anchor Leith’s tightly wrought and deeply imaginative score.

In Dolce Abbandono | Solo Cantatas by Handel and Haydn

Megan Kahts is joined for her new album with the Carestini Ensemble Vienna. The album includes music by Handel and Haydn. Solo Musica releases the record.

Echoes 

Katharina Konradi, Catriona Morison and Ammiel Bushakevitz bring the echoes of the Romantic Lied to this new project. The album features duets for Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano with Piano in works by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles Gounoud,
Ernest Chausson, Pauline Viardot, Maria Malibran, and Mel Bonis. The label CAvi releases.

Verdi: Aida

Opus Arte releases the new production of Verdi’s masterpiece starring Elena Stikhina, Francesco Meli, Agnieszka Rehlis, Ludovic Tézier, and Soloman Howard. Antonio Pappano conducts the new production by Robert Carsen.

When the production premiered OperaWire noted, “Robert Carsen’s contemporary vision is starkly effective.”