Ludovic Tézier & Elīna Garanča Lead New CD/DVD Releases

By Francisco Salazar

This week audiences get to hear a new version of a Verdi classic, a new release of a beloved Wagner song cycle, a lot of baroque music, and some Christmas albums.

Macbeth

Dynamic will release the world premiere recording of the 1865 French version of Verdi’s early masterpiece. Conducted by Roberto Abbado, the concert performance starred Ludovic Tézier (Macbeth), Silvia Dalla Benetta (Lady Macbeth), Riccardo Zanellato (Banquo), Giorgio Berrugi (Macduff), David Astorga (Malcolm), Francesco Leone (Un médecin), Natalia Gavrilan (La Comtesse), Jacobo Ochoa (Un serviteur / Un sicaire / Premier fantôme), Pietro Bolognini (Second fantôme), and Pilar Mezzadri Corona (Troisième fantôme).

The concert performance was awarded the Premio Abbiati in Milan for excellence in opera.

Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder / Mahler: Rückert-Lieder

Deutsche Grammophon releases a live Salzburg Festival concert, given a year apart yet both marked by the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elīna Garanča sings orchestral songs with Christian Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker. Their interpretations of Wagner’s “Wesendonck-Lieder” and Mahler’s “Rückert-Lieder” are tributes to the power of live performance following months of silence. (CD, Digital)

Little Christmas 

The new album contains recordings made under the direction of Franz Farnberger and Markus Stumpner between 1998 and 2021 and features The St Florian Boys’ Choir, one of the most traditional choirs worldwide. The new album is released on the ARS Produktion label.

Monteverdi DayLight: Stories of Songs, Dances and Loves

Rinaldo Alessandrini and his ensemble Concerto Italiano‘s new album follows their previous “Night,” released in 2017. The Daylight-themed program offers a “Best of” of Monteverdi’s nine books of madrigals ranging from the second book (1590) to the ninth (1651) and opera arias, augmented by instrumental pieces by Andrea Falconiero and Biagio Marini.

Vivaldi: Cantate per soprano I

Andrea Buccarella conducts from the harpsichord his Abchordis Ensemble with soloist soprano Arianna Vendittelli in Cantate per soprano I. Naïve Classiques’ releases the 68th Vivaldi Edition album with another record coming featuring Vivaldi’s cantate da camera for soprano. The album will first be available on Nov. 12, 2021, and later on CD Jan. 7, 2022.

Amare e fingere

Alessandro Stradella’s opera gets its world premiere recording with conductor Andrea De Carlo conducting his Ensemble Mare Nostrum. The album stars Mauro Borgioni, Paola Valentina Molinari, Josè Maria Lo Monaco, Luca Cervoni, Chiara Brunello, and Silvia Frigato.

Virgil Thomson: Complete Chamber Works

The Virgil Thomson Foundation has announced the digital release of the complete chamber works by Virgil Thomson. The new set is comprised of 63 tracks from all periods of Thomson’s long composing career.

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