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

This week we get a Bel Canto album from a Metropolitan Opera musician, an Italian album by a leading tenor, a rare opera and a a complete performance of one of the great mezzos of our time. Here is a look!

Bel Canto: Concerti For The English Horn

As the principal English horn of the Metropolitan Orchestra in New York City, multi-instrumentalist Pedro Diaz is accompanied by Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under the direction of Ricardo Frizza. He performs compositions by Donizetti, Reicha, Pilotti, and Mares.

Sogno | Tosti Songs

Tenor Javier Camarena releases his second Pentatone album which pays tribute to Francesco Paolo Tosti, together with pianist Ángel Rodríguez. Camarena and Rodríguez perform Tosti’s songs that not only include some of his greatest hits but also highlight lesser-known works, including songs in French and English.

 In a statement, Camarena said, “This album, like ‘Signor Gaetano’ by Pentatone, is a personal dream that I have cherished for a long time. This dream today is a reality and I have the honor of sharing it with my dear Ángel Rodríguez, a great stage partner, a great friend and with whom since 2011 I didn’t stop growing as an artist. Today, in absolute synchronicity and complicity, Ángel completes this very personal interpretative vision of Tosti’s music.”

Bloody Jack

Navona Records releases composer Michael Matthews’ cycle of 14 songs based on selected poems from Dennis Cooley’s 1984 collection by the same name. Pianist Laura Loewen and soprano Dawn Bruch-Wiens perform the works.

Gidon Kremer: Songs of Fate

Gidon Kremer approaches scores by Baltic composers Giedrius Kuprevičius, Raminta Šerkšnytė, Jēkabs Jančevskis, and the Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg in his new album. Together with his Kremerata Baltica chamber ensemble and soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė many of the works captured here appear in premiere recordings.

L’italiana in Londra

Naxos releases Domenico Cimarosa’s “L’italiana in Londra” from the Oper Frankfurt in a recording from November 2021. The company assembled an energetic young quintet of singers sopranos Angela Vallone and Bianca Tognocchi, tenor Theo Lebow, baritone Iurii Samoilov, and bass-baritone Gordon Bintner. Leo Hussain led the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester.

Samson et Dalila

Opus Arte releases Saint-Saëns’s “Samson et Dalila” from the Royal Opera House. Recorded in May 2022, the cast included Elīna Garanča and SeokJong Baek. Antonio Pappano led the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House.