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

This week audiences will get to hear and see new holiday albums, a Puccini album, and rarely performed works. Here is a look at what to buy this season.

Puccini

The celebrated tenor Freddie De Tommaso celebrates Puccini in a new album with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner. The album features music from “Manon Lescaut,” “Le Villi,” La Boheme” and La Fanciulal del West.” Decca Classic releases.

Die Fledermaus

The Bayerische Staatsoper releases its 2023 production of “Die Fledermaus.” Barrie Kosky directed with General Music Director Vladimir Jurowski conducting. The cast includes Diana Damrau in her role debut as Rosalinde, Georg Nigl as Gabriel von Eisenstein, Katharina Konradi as Adele, and Martin Winkler as Frank.

Past Life / Lifeline

Medtner

Mezzo-soprano and harpist Ekaterina Levental and pianist Frank Peters release a new album on Brilliant Classics dedicated to Russian composer Nikolai Medtner. This fifth CD of this edition is titled “Geweihter Platz” (‘Sacred Space’) featuring more of the composer’s lied.

Would That Loving Were Enough

The first album devoted to music by Lee Kesselman, “Would That Loving Were Enough” is released on Blue Griffin Records. The collection of world premiere recordings is performed by HAVEN comprised by Soprano Lindsay Kesselman, clarinetist Kimberly Cole Luevano and pianist Midori Koga.

George Frideric Handel: Brockes Passion

Naxos will release Handel’s Oratorio in two parts. The DVD was recorded on April 26 and 27, 2023 at Oper Halle, Germany, and features Robert Sellier, Vanessa Waldhart, Yulia Sokolik, Romelia Lichtenstein, Michael Zehe, Jorge Navarro Colorado, Franziska Faust, Christina Mattaj, Leandro Marziotte, and Ki-Hyun Park. The Chorus of Oper Hallea and Händelfestspielorchester Halle is conducted by Michael Hofstetter.

Ferrum Splendidum

Florian Sempey returns to the Alpha label for an album of works by Grétry, Donizetti, Tchaikovsky, Orff, and Wagner. The baritone teams up with the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and maestro Victor Jacob.

The Song of Songs, The Poet in Exile

Signum Classics releases an album of works by Walter Arlen, a Jewish composer, originally from Austria, who escaped the country when Hitler invaded Vienna. The album features Anna Huntley, Gwilym Bowen, and Thomas Mole alongside the English Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kenneth Woods.

La Comédie Humaine: Chansons Balzaciennes

Alpha releases an album featuring Arnaud Marzorati and his singers, “Les Lunaisiens.” The album contains musical settings of a wide selection of witty and satirical verse, reflecting all the Parisian themes that obsessed Balzac. Jérôme Varnier, Lucile Richardot, and Cyrille Dubois participate in the album.

Adèle Hugo: Mélodies sur des Poèmes de Victor Hugo

Karine Deshayes, Sandrine Piau, Isabelle Druet, Axelle Fanyo, Anaïs Constans, and Laurent Naouri record an album that pays homage to the composer Adèle Hugo (1830-1915), the fifth child of the great poet Victor Hugo. The Choeur de l’Opéra de Dijon and Orchestre Victor Hugo are led by Jean-François Verdier.

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: Aletheia

The Latvian Radio Choir and Sigvards Kļava release an album of four choral works that explore the direct emotional expression of singing voices without a text

Monteverdi Testamento: Vespro della Madonna

Perrine Devillers, Éva Zaïcik, Paco Garcia, Cyril Auvity, Romain Bockler, and Viktor Shapovalov perform works by Monteverdi with conductor Vincent Dumestre.

John Rutter: Brass at Christmas

Arranged by Luc Vertommen, the Naxos recording features a selection of John Rutter’s most famous Christmas carols. The  Black Dyke Band and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus are led by Nicholas Childs and Darius Battiwalla.