Kristine Opolais, Johanni van Oostrum & Kirstin Chávez Lead New CD/DVD Releases
By Francisco SalazarWelcome back as we explore the latest CD and DVD releases from around the opera world.
This week audiences get a new “Tosca” recording as well several interesting experimental albums and debut albums. Here are some of the exciting releases of the week.
Tosca
Sing Your Way Home
Navona Records releases an album led by conductor David Holdhusen and The USD Chamber Singers. The Chamber Singers perform through a Stabat Mater with the same ease, grace, and power as through spirituals and a Slovenian wedding song.
A Baroque fantasy: Dialouges with Vivaldi
Navona records releases Courtney Carey’s “Stabat Mater,” a work shaped by the voice, by breath, line, and the inflection of text, offering a complementary perspective to Vivaldi’s instrumental imagination. Performed by Olanna Goudeau, Daveda Browne, Scott La Marca, and Justice Yates through the collaboration between Courtney’s Stars of Tomorrow and the Bronx Arts Ensemble, this recording is conducted by Courtney Carey.
Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher
Animal Music will release Arthur Honegger’s “Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher.” Lukáš Vasilek conducts the Czech Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonic Choir and the Prague Philharmonic Children’s Choir. The cast is led by Audrey Bonnet as Jeanne d’Arc and Sébastien Dutrieux as Frère Dominique. This is the first recording since 1975 of Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher made with the same orchestra and two choirs.
Rusalka
Naxos releases the Dutch National Opera’s production of “Rusalka” directed by Philipp Stölzl and Philipp M. Krenn. The recording, from June 2023, marked Joana Mallwitz’s debut with Dutch National Opera, with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the pit. Soloists included Johanni van Oostrum (Rusalka), Pavel Černoch (Prince), Raehann Bryce-Davis (the witch Ježibaba), and Annette Dasch (Foreign Princess).
Orlando Generoso
Agostino Steffani is one of the great composer stars of the Baroque era, whose music is still unjustly underrated. His opera “Orlando Generoso ” is a musical “masterpiece” full of adventure, passion, and fantastic soundscapes.
The new album stars Terry Wey, Hélène Walter, Natalia Kawalek, Shira Patchornik, Morten Grove Frandsen,
Sreten Manojlovic, and Gabriel Diaz.
Amour
Navona releases Kirstin Chávez’s new album featuring all-time favorite French love songs. The album features Chávez collaborate with her dear friend, the celebrated pianist Paolo André Gualdi.
SING YOUR WAY HOME
Led by conductor David Holdhusen, The USD Chamber Singers go above and beyond in almost every musical dimension from technical skill to expressive force on SING YOUR WAY HOME.
This aptitude isn’t confined to any particular genre. The Chamber Singers perform through a Stabat Mater with the same ease, grace, and power as through spirituals and a Slovenian wedding song. SING YOUR WAY HOME is awe-inducing and viscerally enjoyable, a tour de force.
Giacomo Susani: A Screenshot of Now
The song cycle “A Screenshot of Now” is a new work by guitarist and composer Giacomo Susani on words by the poet, lyricist, author and physician Chinwe D. John. Receiving its premiere recording on this album, the collection is a series of 14 poems performed by Alexander Chance, Tim Mead, and Daniel Norman.
Mozart Week 1994: Ombra Felice: Arias, Scenes & Ensembles
Salzburg’s Mozart Week, which has been an annual event since the mid-1950s, in 1994 produced “Ombra felice,” a collection of arias and ensembles composed as individual works rather than in the context of a larger opera. This album features such performers as Veronica Cangemi, Cyndia Sieden, Elzbieta Szmytka, Nathalie Stutzmann, alto; Michael Schade, Oliver Widmer, Mireille Mossé, Klaus Stoll, Siegmund Weinmeister, Camerata Academica des Mozarteums Salzburg, and Heinz Holliger.
I Am a River: Choral music by Kaija Saariaho & Helena Tulve
The Helsinki Chamber Choir under conductor Nils Schweckendiek juxtapose works by Saariaho with two by Estonian composer Helena Tulve on this album released on Bis.
Bomba Flamenca: Les funérailles imaginaires de Charles Quint
La Tempête under Simon-Pierre Bestion releases an album of chants and hymns demonstrating Arabic influence in Spain, Requiem mass movements, and much more on this album. Alpha Classics releases.
Sacred Music by Alfred Schnittke: Three Sacred Hymns, Concerto for Choir
The Yekaterinburg Philharmonic Choir under Andrei Petrenko releases an album of music by Alfred Schnittke, who selected the texts for his “Three Sacred Hymns” from well-known Christian prayers.
Brahms: Gesang der Parzen
BR Klassik releases Brahms’ six-part choir, accompanied by a large orchestra. The Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is conducted by Mariss Jansons.
Handel: Theodora
The Millenium Orchestra, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, and Leonardo García-Alarcón releases Handel’s dramatic oratorio.
Fromental Halévy: La Juive
Naxos releases the five act opera from the Oper Frankfurt with a cast that includes Ambur Braid, Monika Buczkowska, John Osborn, Gerard Schneider, Sebastian Geyer, Danylo Matviienko, and Simon Lim. Henrik Nánási conducts the production by Tatjana Gürbaca.
