Gioachino Rossini: Il turco in Italia

Erwin Schrott, Olga Peretyatko, Nicola Alaimo, René Barbera, and Pietro Spagnoli lead C Major’s release of Rossini’s opera. Filmed at Teatro Rossini, Pesaro in 2016, the staging is by Italian director Davide Livermore. Speranza Scapucci conducts.

Jean-Baptiste Lully: Acis et Galatée

Dynamic releases Lully’s work with Jean-François Lombard, Elena Harsányi, Valeria La Grotta, Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli, Markus Van Arsdale, Sebastian Monti, Luigi De Donato, Guido Loconsolo, Silvia Spessot, Davide Piva, and Federico Maria Sardelli. Conductor Benjamin Lazar leads the production from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Of the performance, Operawire said, “Acis was parted by the French haute-contre Jean-François Lombard whose light tenor proved ideal for the grief stricken hero. His voice has an innate delicacy which he used to craft exquisitely detailed lines, with subtly colored and well-placed dynamic inflections, always rendered without excess, which successfully carried his changing emotions. … Galatée was played by soprano Elena Harsányi, whose performance was equally secure. She possesses a well-supported voice with an homogenous tone, which she used skillfully to define her character, convincingly bridging the gap between the human and the semi-divine. … Bass Luigi De Donato made a strong impression in the role of Poliphème.”

Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” is led by La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations under Jordi Savall. Recorded from June 30 to July 4, 2021 at the Royal Opera of the Château de Versailles, the cast includes Marc Mauillon, Luciana Mancini, Sara Mingardo, Marianne Beate Kielland, and Salvo Vitale.

La Vestale

Marina Rebeka stars in Spontini’s opera with Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Tassis Christoyannis, Aude Extrémo, Nicolas Courjal, and David Witczak. Les Talens Lyriques and Flemish Radio Choir are conducted by Christophe Rousset.

BECAUSE

American countertenor Reginald Mobley joins forces with French jazz pianist Baptiste Trotignon to celebrate spirituals and the music of Black composers and poets. The album mark Mobley’s debut album for ALPHA. The recording features spirituals in new arrangements by Trotignon, H.T. Burleigh, and Patrick Dupré Quigley, as well as songs by Burleigh, Florence Price, and Motown’s dynamic duo songwriting team of Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong.