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

Audiences will get to hear a new Ring Cycle by a major American orchestra, a new recording from the National Symphony Orchestra and some world premieres.

Der Ring des Nibelungen

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Fabio Luisi release a live recording of Richard Wagner’s epic “Ring Cycle” (Der Ring des Nibelungen) on Delos. The 13-CD box set will be available on physical and digital release.

President & CEO Michelle Miller Burns. “This epic journey would not have been possible without the talented musicians of the DSO, our superb cast of singers and our Music Director Fabio Luisi, whose breadth of experience in both orchestral and operatic repertoire proved invaluable. We are very grateful to the generous patrons who supported this ambitious project and to Delos and Outhere for helping us share these performances with music lovers around the world.”

The cast includes Mark Delavan (Wotan), Lise Lindstrom (Brünnhilde), Sara Jakubiak (Sieglinde), Daniel Johansson (Siegfried), Christopher Ventris (Siegmund), Deniz Uzun (Fricka), Tómas Tómasson (Alberich), and Michael Laurenz (Mime), among many others.

Wind, Water, Stone

Kameron Kavanaugh and his Sound of Ages ensemble perform new compositions that hover between scintillating harmonies. Composed by Andrew Maxfield, these works are at once ethereal and approachable.

UNSUNG GEMS

Albany Records releases the album which is a treasury of songs by American Women Composers. The composers represented here include artists of vision and resilience — teachers, advocates, innovators, and storytellers whose songs reflect a deep sensitivity to text and a belief in the communicative power of the human voice. These songs performed by soprano Serena Hill LaRoche and pianist Catherine Garner.

Vanessa

Alma y Fuego

Platoon to release Alma y Fuego from Gustavo Dudamel & the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. The new album explores three visions of Andalusia through the music of Manuel de Falla featuring three landmark works: “El amor brujo” with Pasión Vega, “Noches en los jardines de España” with pianist Javier Perianes, and “El sombrero de tres picos.”

My Brother’s Keeper

New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) releases a new album, “My Brother’s Keeper,” on NYFOS Records. Co-produced by baritone Justin Austin along with pianist and Artistic Director Steven Blier, the recording brings together six of today’s leading Black male vocalists in a resounding collection of works celebrating the commitment of Black men in support of one another. Tenors Joshua Blue and Chaz’men Williams-Ali; baritones Will Liverman, Joseph Parrish, and Jorell Williams; and bass-baritone Alan Williams are featured alongside Blier on piano, in solo and combined performances of works handpicked by the artists for their cultural and personal resonance.

Selections include works by Margaret Bonds, Steve Lutvak, H. Leslie Adams, William Grant Still, Johannes Brahms, Harry Revel, “Lead Belly” Huddie Ledbetter, Rachel J. Peters, Richard Rodgers (arr. Will Liverman), and the duo of Bobby Scott and Bob Russell.

Golda Zahra

Soprano Golda Zahra releases her debut album project, “GOLDA ZAHRA FREE.”  The album was produced, arranged and conducted by internationally renowned Maestro Steven Mercurio, (Bocelli/Pavarotti/Sting) and recorded with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.

Bright Shiny Things releases “Eat the Document,” an opera composed by John Glover with libretto by Kelley Rourke, based on the novel by Dana Spiotta. Recorded live as part of the 2025 PROTOTYPE Festival at New York’s HERE Arts Center.

Developed in collaboration with music director Mila Henry and stage director Kristin Marting, the opera features Danielle Buonaiuto and Tim Russell as the young activists alongside Amy Justman and Paul Pinto as their older counterparts, as well as Natalie Trumm, Paul Chwe MinChul An, Michael Kuhn, and Adrienne Danrich.