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

In this edition, a leading Bel Canto interpreter delves into mad scenes with her new alum while a rarely performed opera by a female composer gets a new release. There is also a special Wagner recording out this week.

Rheinberger & Mendelssohn Choral Works

The Netherlands Radio Choir and its chief conductor Benjamin Goodson bring together choral works by Josef Rheinberger and Felix Mendelssohn. The recording begins with Rheinberger’s rarely recorded Mass in E-Flat Major and closes with the composer’s “Abendlied.” Four of Mendelssohn’s psalms settings are paired with his lesser-known “Sechs Sprüche.”

Delirio

Jessica Pratt releases her latest album “Delirio” on Tancredi Records.

The soprano revisits some of the iconic characters from operas by Bellini and Donizetti and aims to delve into the portrayal of mental illness within this repertoire. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra and Choir are conducted by Riccardo Frizza.

On the album Pratt performers scenes from “Lucia di Lammermoor,” “Emilia di Liverpool,” “Linda di Chamounix,” “I Puritani” and “La Sonnambula.”

Dame Ethel Smyth: Der Wald

Resonus releases Dame Ethel Smyth’s opera which was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1903, the first opera by a woman to be mounted at the house. The new recording stars Natalya Romaniw, Claire Barnett-Jones, Robert Murray, Andrew Shore, Morgan Pearse, and Matthew Brook. The BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Orchestra are conducted by John Andrews.

Weill, Brecht, Hauptmann: L’opéra de quat-sous

Alpha releases the new recording which stars the Comédie-Française made up of Christian Hecq, Véronique Vella, and Marie Oppert. Maxime Pascal conducts the album.

Siegfried

BR Klassik releases a recording of Wagner’s epic which stars Simon O’Neill, Peter Hoare, Michael Volle, Georg Nigl, Franz-Josef Selig, Danae Kontora, Gerhild Romberger, and Anja Kampe. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.