Pene Pati, Franziska Heinzen & Véronique Gens Lead New CD/DVD Releases

By Francisco Salazar

Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will be able to listen to rarities from Massenet, Mozart, and Campra.

Love Bade Me Welcome

The new album is a collection of choral music from composer J.A.C. Redford exploring spirituality, love, and the human experience. Blending traditional forms with contemporary harmonies and time-honored texts, Redford sets the poetry of Shakespeare, Gerard Manley Hopkins, George Herbert, and more.

Swiss Love – Der Liebe Leid und Lust

Swiss Soprano Franziska Heinzen and Benjamin Mead release their new new album Swiss Love – Der Liebe Leid und Lust with SoloMusica. The album is a declaration of love to Swiss Art Song featuring many premiere recordings by composers Lothar Kempter, Josef Eschmann, Wilhelm Baumgartner, and Yvonne Röthlisberger. There is also a selection of Swiss folk songs, arranged by Benjamin Britten, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Raban Brunner, and Flurina Zehnder.

Cantus: Alone Together

Signum Classics releases “Alone Together” from low-voice ensemble Cantus. The album reflects upon isolation and connectedness in contemporary society, with music spanning Beethoven to Arcade Fire, and includes world premiere recordings of works by Libby Larsen, Gabriel Kahane, and Rosephanye Powell.

Jules Massenet: Grisélidis

A New recording of Massenet’s rare work is recorded by the Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie, Choeur Opéra National Montpellier Occitanie, and conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni.

The work premiered at Paris’s Opéra-Comique in 1901 and is based on a medieval folktale retold by Boccaccio and Perrault.

Desmarets & Campra: Iphigénie en Tauride.

Véronique Gens, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Thomas Dolié, David Witczak, Olivia Doray, Floriane Hasler, and Tomislav Lavoie star in this rar work from 1695. Le Concert Spirituel is conducted by Hervé Niquet. ALPHA releases the record.

W. A. Mozart: Mitridate, re di Ponto

C Major releases the Staatsoper Unter den Linden’s production of Mozart’s classic recorded in December 2022. Pene Pati takes on the title role in a cast that includes, Ana Maria Labin, Angela Brower, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Sarah Aristidou, and Ken Sugiyama. Les Musiciens du Louvre is conducted by Marc Minkowski.

The production is by Satoshi Miyagi.

Categories

DVD and CD ReleasesNews