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

This week audiences get to hear a Puccini album by one of the great divas of our time, re-releases of Pavarotti’s great hits, and a full performance of “Faust” with a star-studded cast.

Sondra Radvanovsky – Puccini: Heroines

Sondra Radvanovsky, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Enrique Mazzola present Puccini: Heroines, a live recording of an all-Puccini program performed in February 2025. The album includes arias from “Le Villi,” “Tosca,” “Manon Lescaut,” “Edgar,” “La Fanciulla del West” and “Turandot.”

Mahler 4

The Verbier Festival has released the latest album on its VF Gold label, produced in collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon. This time it releases a live recording from the Festival’s 2018 archives of Christoph Eschenbach conducting Mahler: Symphony No. 4, joined by acclaimed soprano Ying Fang and the Verbier Festival Orchestra.

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LET US THE FLEETING HOURS ENJOY!

Navona records releases acclaimed vocalist Molly Fillmore new album. The album also includes Steven Harlos, Nini Marchese, Shelby VanNordstrand, Jeffrey Snider, and Jaymee Haefner.

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Vatroslav Lisinski

Krešimir Stražanac releases a new album of the complete songs on German verses by the Croatian composer Vatroslav Lisinski. Haenssler CLASSIC releases the album.

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Divine Impresario: Nicolini on Stage

Signum Classics releases countertenor Randall Scotting’s new album celebrating  Nicolò Grimaldi, the castrato who conquered the opera world under the stage name Nicolini (1673 – 1732). Recorded with the Academy of Ancient Music under the direction of Laurence Cummings, with soprano Mary Bevan, the album features rarely performed arias and duets from the early 18th century, nine of which have never been recorded before and have not been heard since Nicolini’s lifetime. Among the composers featured are Handel, Francesco Gasparini, Nicola Porpora, Riccardo Broschi, Francesco Mancini, Attilio Ariosti, and Giovanni Antonio Giaj.

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All These Little Things

Navona records releases soprano Mary Hubbell’s latest album.

The album includes music by Ronald Perera, Alice Jones, Gregory W. Brown, and Sarah Rimkus and is showcases the soprano alongside pianist Christina Wright-Ivanova and Alice Jones.

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On the Joys of Recorded Music

Marking the anniversary of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s birth on March 15, Cedille Records will release a digital single, “On the Joys of Recorded Music.” Written by soprano and composer Patrice Michaels, the song is performed by soprano Alisa Jordheim and Chicago collaborative pianist extraordinaire Kuang-Hao Huang.

The piece adapts and sets the text of a letter from Justice David H. Souter to James Ginsburg, founder and President of Cedille Records and son of Justice Ginsburg, expressing Souter’s delight on hearing a then-recent Cedille recording.

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Tenor Arias from Italian Opera

Decca Classics re-releases tenor Arias from Luciano Pavarotti at the height of his expressive power, interpreting the arias that made him a legend. From the soaring lyricism of Verdi to the heartfelt passion of Puccini, this definitive collection reveals Pavarotti’s unparalleled gift for shaping a melody, illuminating a character, and touching the soul.

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Verismo Arias

Decca Classics releases Luciano Pavarotti’s “Verismo” album. Originally released in 1971, this reissue comes with new remastered HD audio for the first time. These were taken freshly from the pre-master tapes in the Decca vaults and bring a fresh and beautiful perspective to these historic recordings.

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Arteserse

Cedille Records releases Haymarket Opera Company’s production of Leonardo Vinci’s final opera, “Artaserse.” The recording features the original cast from the American stage premiere in June 2025, along with leading period musicians performing on antique and replicated instruments for the Haymarket Opera Orchestra, conducted by Craig Trompeter.

The cast includes Kangmin Justin Kim’s, Key’mon Murrah, Emily Fons, Elijah McCormack, Eric Ferring, and Ryan Belongie.

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Donizetti Song Project

 Opera Rara releases the seventh and penultimate volume of its Donizetti Song Project, featuring 24 Italian songs performed by soprano Rosa Feola and Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi.

Rizzi and Feola recorded the album in November 2024 ahead of their Wigmore Hall recital in Opera Rara’s Donizetti & Friends London concert series.

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Bell Tower

Georgia Stitt’s new album includes twenty-six art songs performed by Kate Baldwin, Sierra Boggess, Tituss Burgess, Nikki Renée Daniels, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Marc Kudisch, Rebecca Luker, Ruthie Ann Miles, Kelli O’Hara, and Hila Plitmann.

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Johann Sebastian Bach: Johannes-Passion

CVS releases a DVD version of Johannes Passion with a cast that includes Linard Vrielink, Nicolas Brooymans, Halidou Nombre, Moritz Kallenberg. The Tölzer Knabenchor and Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles are conducted by Gaétan Jarry.

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Charles Gounod: Faust

Piotr Beczala, Luca Pisaroni, Marina Rebeka, Stephane Degout, Isaac Galan, and Serena Malfi lead Gounod’s “Faust” from the Teatro Real. The production by Alex Olle is conducted by Dan Ettinger.