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

This week, Jonas Kaufmann has a new album that focuses on lieder, while Jessica Pratt shows off her Bel canto skills in one of Donizetti’s masterpieces. Audiences get to discover some rare pieces and hear some world premiere recordings.

Gaetano Donizetti: Roberto Devereux

Dynamic releases Donizetti’s tragedy conducted by Riccardo Frizza in a production by Stephen Langridge. Jessica Pratt stars alongside Simone Piazzola, Raffaella Lupinacci, and John Osborn.

Carl Loewe: Hiob

Composed in 1848, Hiob was Carl Loewe’s twelfth oratorio, and on this new recording by BR Klassik, the Barockorchester L’arpa festante is conducted by Thomas Gropper. The recording features Monika Mauch, Ulrike Malotta, Georg Poplutz, and Dominik Wörner.

Arrigo Boito: Nerone

Naxos releases Boito’s lesser-known work featuring Mikheil Sheshaberidze, Franco Vassallo, Roberto Frontali, Valentina Boi, and Deniz Uzun. Francesco Cilluffo conducts the recording from the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari’s 2024 production.

Antonia Bembo: LʼErcole amante

Yannick Debus, Alena Dantcheva, Anita Rosati, David Tricou, Flore Van Meerssche, Chelsea Marilyn Zurflüh, Arnaud Gluck, Andrés Montilla Acurero, and Hans Porten lead a recording of Bembo’s work. Jörg Halubek conducts Il Gusto Barocco.

Morales: Requiem a 5 & Officium defunctorum

Hyperion releases De Profundis’ latest album, showcasing the choral group in Masses and Magnificats of Cristóbal de Morales.

Requiem: Mozart’s Death in Words and Music

Reference Recordings releases Mozart’s Requiem in a very special interpretation. Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning film and Broadway star F. Murray Abraham joins Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for Honeck’s dramatic conception of “Requiem: Mozart’s Death in Words and Music.” The recording features Jeanine De Bique (soprano), Catriona Morison (mezzo-soprano), Ben Bliss (tenor), and Tareq Nazmi (bass).

The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe

Odyssey Opera, in partnership with the acclaimed Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), released the debut studio recording of Dominick Argento’s “The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe” on BMOP/sound.

In a statement, Gil Rose said, “Dominick Argento is, for me, one of the true heroes of American opera. His music is of such high quality that it’s kind of a crime that his praises are not sung even louder. This score showcases, an artist burning brightest during the latter part of his life. We invite everyone to enjoy this remarkable music by a master of contemporary America opera!”

The recording features Peter Tantsits, Thomas Meglioranza, Maggie Finnegan, Neal Ferreira, Kirsten Chambers, Felicia Gavilanes, Christina English, David Salsbery Fry, Alexis Rodda, and Marcus Schenk.

DOPPELGÄNGER

Sony Classical releases Jonas Kaufmann’s new album, “DOPPELGÄNGER.” The new album features a DVD and CD and will include Schumann’s Dichterliebe & Kerner-Lieder and six Bonus Tracks. The album was recorded with Kaufmann’s longtime collaborator, Helmut Deutsch.

The physical edition includes a DVD of the Park Avenue Armory performances of “DOPPELGÄNGER,” which were directed by Claus Guth. Of the performances, OperaWire said, “Jonas Kaufmann & Helmut Deutsch Shine in Claus Guth’s Unique Take on Schubert’s ‘Schwangesang.”

My Dancing Sweetheart

This new recording by the Brightwork Ensemble features world premiere recordings by microtonal composer Bens Johnston, Bill Alves, and Helmut Oehring, performed by Stacey Fraser, Aron Kallay, Nick Terry, and Shalini Vijayan, violin.

Belle Époque! 

Adèle Charvet and Florian Caroubi team up for a new album of the great French melodists (Massenet, Debussy, Fauré) and their protégés, including Chausson, Hahn, Koechlin, Aubert, Caplet, Messager, Enesco, Albéniz, Madeleine Dubois, and Nadia Boulanger, as well as the much less known Xavier Leroux and Ernest Moret. Alpha Classics releases.

Yuliya: Forgotten Songs of Julia Weissberg Rimsky-Korsakov

 Sarah Moulton Faux and Konstantin Soukhovetski release an album with the first modern-day recording of the music of Julia Lazarevna Weissberg Rimsky-Korsakov. Her works were widely published and performed during her lifetime, both in Russia and Germany, and following Faux‘s two-year research project into the composer’s catalog with the assistance of musicologist Olga Panteleeva, they found a treasure trove of Weissberg’s published manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow.

Händel: Italian Cantatas & Arias

Amanda Forsythe joins Opera Prima and Cristiano Contadin for Handel’s Cantatas.

Unerhörte Komponistinnen: Chorwerke unbekannter Komponistinnen des 19.–21. Jahrhunderts

The Ensemble Horizons and Matthias Klosinski join forces to celebrate the occasion of the first Tübingen Women Composers Festival in 2023, which focused on Josephine Caroline Lang. The album features music by Iris Szeghy,  Cecilia McDowall, and Galina Grigorjeva.

Gabriel Jackson: Choral Works

The Choir of Canterbury Cathedral and David Newsholme present an album of Gabriel Jackson’s choral works, including six world premiere recordings.