Jamie Barton, Leontyne Price & Samuel Hasselhorn Lead New CD/DVD Releases

By Francisco Salazar

This week features a number of solo recital albums, compilations, and one of the greatest divas of all time. Here is a look at what you can stream this week.

Flare

British composer Joanna Marsh reflects on her first ten years living in Dubai, releasing the first recordings of six pieces with the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Onyx Brass, and the Chapel Choir of Royal Holloway.

The new album will include “Pearl of Freedom,” “Arabesques,” “Weighing the Earth,” “Flare,” “Sheikh Zayed’s Parade,” and “The Tower.”

Leontyne Price at the Met

The Metropolitan Opera is releasing Leontyne Price at the Met, a 2-CD collection that features 34 live recordings highlighting soprano the legendary soprano’s great Met performances. The album will be released first on CD and digitally in early 2021.

The album includes selections from Price’s 1962 performance in the title role of Puccini’s “Tosca,” the world premiere of Barber’s “Antony and Cleopatra” in 1966, the 1974 performance Mozart’s Don Giovanni,  “Un Ballo in Maschera” from 1966, “Il Trovatore” from 1969, and “La Forza del Destino” from 1972 and 1977.

Recordings from Price’s 1962 and 1965 performances as Elvira in Verdi’s Ernani are also included as well as a 1982 concert performance of Messa da Requiem. The recording also includes selections from “Aida.”

Norman Dello Joio: The Trial at Rouen

BMOP/sound releases “Norman Dello Joio: The Trial at Rouen,” a two-CD set featuring works by Boston-based Emmy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Norman Dello Joio. The new recording is led by conductor Gil Rose and features the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera. Soloists include Heather Buck (soprano) and Stephen Powell (baritone).

The recording comprises a mini-survey of two 1950s large-scale scores inspired by the French national hero Joan of Arc: the orchestral work “The Triumph of Saint Joan Symphony” followed by the full, rich English-language opera “The Trial at Rouen.”

Heggie Unexpected Shadows 

Star mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton releases a new album with songs by American composer Jake Heggie. Heggie performs at the piano in a recital album that includes four song cycles, a standalone art song, and an opera aria. Cellist Matt Haimovitz also makes a special appearance. Among the works in the album are “The Work at Hand,” “Iconic Legacies,” “Of Gods & Cats,” “Music,” and the “Ice Cube Aria” from Heggie’s opera “If I Were You.”

In a statement, Barton noted, “One of the great joys of singing is collaboration — working with great colleagues on exciting projects that matter and make a difference. And though the meat of my career is singing big roles in operas by Verdi, Donizetti, Wagner, and others, there’s a special place in my heart for the intimacy and immediacy of recital work. Unlike opera, there are no characters up there onstage — just me and a pianist. Together, we can explore a range of work, vibrations, and perspectives from all kinds of composers; a range that isn’t always possible on the opera stage. I am a die-hard feminist, so work by and about women is very important to me. In recital, we can explore poetry and music by and about women, and I can work with living composers.”

Magic Mozart 

Conducted by Laurence Equilbey, the new album features interpretations of the famed composer’s works performed by French singers Sandrine Piau, Jodie Devos, Lea Desandre, Loïc Félix, Florian Sempey, and Stanislas de Barbeyrac.

The program includes arias from “The Magic Flute,” “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Don Giovanni” and “Entführhrung aus dem Serail.”

Winterreise 

Baritone Benjamin Hewat-Craw and pianist Yuhao Guo record Schubert’s famed song cycle for their debut recording. The release comes from the ARS Produktion label.

Stille Liebe

Harmonia Mundi releases Samuel Hasselhorn’s first CD together with pianist Joseph Middleton. The program is an all Schumann album including the composer’s famed  Kerner Lieder, Andersen Lieder, and Heine ballads.

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