Welcome back as we explore the latest CD and DVD releases from around the opera world.

This audiences will get another “Maria Stuarda” recording and a new recording of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” There are also a number oratorios and world premiere recordings.

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Deutsche Grammophon and C Major Entertainment release Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” from the 2025 Bayreuth Festival. The new production is directed by Matthias Davids under the baton of Daniele Gatti. The cast includes Georg Zeppenfeld, Michael Spyres, Christina Nilsson, Michael Nagy, Jongmin Park, Matthias Stier, and Christa Mayer.

Maria Stuarda

C Major Entertainment releases Salzburg Festival’s staging of Donizetti’s masterwork. The staging by Ulrich Rasche is conducted by Antonello Manacorda. The Wiener Philharmoniker is featured alongside a cast that includes Kate Lindsey, Lisette Oropesa, Bekhzod Davronov, Aleksei Kulagin, Thomas Lehman, Nino Gotoshia, Dancers of SEAD, and Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor. 

Hotel Metamorphosis

C Major Entertainment Salzburg Festival’s production of Ovid’s Metamorphoses combining some of its episodes with music by Antonio Vivaldi. Stage Director Barrie Kosky directs the production which features Cecilia Bartoli, Lea Desandre, Nadezhda Karyazina, Philippe Jaroussky, Angela Winkler, and Il Canto di Orfeo. Gianluca Capuano conducts Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco. 

Finzi: Requiem da camera, For St Cecilia & In terra pax

Hyperion releases Finzi’s Requiem with soloists Florian Störtz, Gwilym Bowen, and Hilary Cronin under the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge and Steven Grahl.

Mozart: Requiem; Mass in C Minor

Deutsche Grammophon releases a new album of conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading Mozart’s “Requiem” and “Great Mass in C minor.” Recorded live at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in summer 2025, the album includes soloists Ying Fang, Emily D’Angelo, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, and Michael Volle, alongside the RIAS Kammerchor and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

The album is released digitally.

La Juive 

Naxos releases the CD version of Oper Frankfurt’s recording of Halevy’s work featuring Ambur Braid, John Osborn, Gerard Schneider, Monika Buczkowska, Simon Lim, Sebastian Geyer, and Danylo Matviienko.

Johann Sebastian Bach: The First Cantata Year

Vol. 10 of the edition Johann Sebastian Bach: The First Cantata Year will be released on Hänssler Classic, marking the completion of an editorial and performance project unique on the international scene. Under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann, the Gaechinger Cantorey recorded all surviving cantatas from Johann Sebastian Bach’s first year in office in Leipzig, presented in the chronological order in which they were first performed between 1723 and 1724.

What Belongs to you

Bright Shiny Things releases the world premiere recording of “What Belongs to You,” two-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated composer David T. Little’s opera for tenor and chamber orchestra, based on Garth Greenwell’s award-winning novel of the same name. The recording stars tenor Karim Sulayman and the new-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, led by Alan Pierson. The recording was captured live at the 2024 world premiere production at the Modlin Center for the Arts in Richmond, Virginia.

Through the Centuries – Songs of Madeleine Dring

English mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately presents an album of songs by Madeleine Dring. She is joined by pianist Julius Drake.

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang.”

Jone Martínez, Eri Sawae and Benjamin Bruns join the Bach Collegium Japan choir and orchestra with Masaaki Suzuki conducting for Felix Mendelssohn’s symphony-cantata, Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang.” BIS releases the album.

Handel: Messiah

The Irish Baroque Orchestra and The Irish Baroque Choir performs Händel’s masterpiece with soloists Hilary Cronin, Helen Charlston, Alexander Chance, Nathan Mercieca, Guy Cutting, Frederick Long, and Edward Grint. Peter Whelan conducts.

Joseph Haydn: La Création du Monde

Alpha Classics releases Haydn’s oratorio with a cast that includes Julie Roset, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, and Nahuel di Pierro. The Choeur de Chambre de Namur and Le Concert de la Loge are led by conductor Julien Chauvin. The recording presented the French version of his oratorio which premiered on Dec. 24, 1800.

Leonardo García-Alarcón: La Passione di Gesù

Leonardo García-Alarcón’s first major composition, “La Passione di Gesù” will be released by Alpha Classics. The recording features García-Alarcón’s ensemble Cappella Mediterranea and soloists Andreas Wolf, Mariana Flores, Ana Quintans, Julie Roset, Mark Milhofer, and Victor Sicard.

Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres; Lalande: Miserere

Alpha Clasccis releases “The Leçons de Ténèbres” by François Couperin with Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s “Répons de Ténèbres,” and the “Miserere” by Michel Richard de Laland. The female singers of Hervé Niquet’s Le Concert Spirituel perform.

Singing Ravel. Les Métaboles

This new album, recorded live at the Philharmonie de Paris, centers on Maurice Ravel’s sole works for a cappella choir: the Three Songs “Nicolette,” “Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis,” and “Ronde,” classics of the choral repertoire on texts by the composer. Conductor Léo Warynskihad leads the recording with Les Métaboles.