Global Wagner Documentary Leads New CD/DVD Releases
By Francisco SalazarAmong the three major new releases from this week will be a documentary about one of the great composers in Opera as well as a unique showcase of created during the lockdown.
Here is a look at what audiences can expect!
Global Wagner
From German critic and filmmaker Axel Brüggermann comes “Global Wagner: From Bayreuth to the World,” a 97-minute look at the thriving, intensely serious but often quite amusing, worldwide devotion to “the Master” and his works. The documentary features Katharina Wagner, conductor Christian Thielemann, singers Anja Harteros and Piotr Beczala, director Barrie Kosky, and Alex Ross.
The COVID-19 Sessions
Recorded at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the tracks come from early in the pandemic when American society began to shut down towards the end of March 2020. First released on YouTube and Facebook that spring, the recordings proved wildly popular, attracting millions of views. This led to digital singles and eventually the present album, which covers a great range of emotions, from sorrow and joy to pain and wonder. Cantus noted, “We hope you will find the performances themselves informed by the emotional states in which they were recorded – heightened at different times in different ways.”
Mandala
“Mandala – VI Poems” by the Dubai-based mezzo-soprano Yana Mann is being released on Irreverence Group Music to all DSPs. The song cycle is one of two which appears on Mann’s larger forthcoming album, Paisaje Nihilista, with all music written by the Brooklyn composer Julián De La Chica.