Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world.

This week audiences will get to hear ambitious vocal projects that include multiple world premieres, rarities, and homages to historical artists.

Schubert/Beatles

The New York Festival of Song releases Schubert/Beatles on NYFOS Records featuring baritone Theo Hoffman, pianists Steven Blier and Kunal Lahiry, and special guests soprano Julia Bullock and tenor Andrew Owens.

The playlist pairs Schubert songs with Beatles songs on similar themes, and, in Blier’s words, “Lo and behold, the Holy of Holies sits comfortably next to the Oldie of Oldies.”

Arsilda

Vivaldi’s “Arsilda” is released featuring La Cetra Barockorchester & Vokalensemble Basel conducted by Andrea Marcon.

The soloists include Benedetta Mazzucato, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Nicolò Balducci, Marie Lys, Leonardo Cortellazzi, Shira Patchornik, and José Coca Loza. Naïve’s Vivaldi releases the album which marks the 74^th volume in naïve’s Vivaldi Edition, a project conceived at the beginning of this century to record the Foà-Giordano collection housed at the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin.

“Echoes of Eternity”

Bass-baritone Milan Siljanov – most recently seen as Donner in the “Rheingold” premiere of Tobias Kratzer’s new Wagner “Ring” at the Bayerische Staatsoper is releasing his first song album with “Echoes of Eternity.” He is joined by pianist Nino Chokhonelidze and takes listeners on an emotional journey that explores the existential themes of life, death, and transience.

The album showcases Schubert’s melancholy songs with Brahms’ “Vier ernste Gesänge” and Martin’s monologues from “Jedermann.”

Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts

The new album from Albany Records celebrates the decades-long friendship and shared mission of Louise Toppin and Darryl Taylor in promoting classical vocal music by Black composers.

This album, their first duet recording, features compositions by Black composers across generations, reflecting on cultural and societal issues. Many pieces were commissioned for or dedicated to the artists, highlighting their deep connections with the composers.

Le Tre Soprano: The Three Ladies of Ferrara

Amanda Forsythe, Amanda Powell, and Amanda Crider join Apollo’s Fire and Jeannette Sorrell pay hommage to the three ladies of Ferrara, an ensemble that was praised by contemporary poets and won the highest renown throughout Italy and Germany.

AVIE Records releases.

UNCHARTED

Avie Records releases Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen‘s new album. The album sees Cohem collaborate with pianist John Churchwell and showcases a program of works by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Clara and Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms – music that resonates profoundly with his family’s German and Jewish heritage.

Lieder

Fatma Said sings Romantic lieder by Schubert, Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn on her new album. In a statement, she said, “My priority was to convey the characterization of the words most of all.”

She is accompanied by baritone Huw Montague Rendall, clarinetist Sabine Meyer, harpist Anneleen Lenaerts, pianists Malcolm Martineau, Joseph Middleton, and Yonatan Cohen, the Quatuor Arod, and the Walhalla zum Seidlwirt male-voice ensemble.

Cappella Amsterdam – Lassus: Penitential Psalms

Cappella Amsterdam and chief conductor Daniel Reuss present an integral recording of Lassus’ “Penitential Psalms.” The release explores new dimensions in the theme of penitence and marks a significant return to Renaissance repertoire.

Songs in Flight

Songs in Flight features world premiere recordings of Shawn E. Okpebholo’s complete song cycle for which the album is named, along with four additional art songs.

Performers include Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, Rhiannon Giddens, countertenor Reginald Mobley, soprano Karen Slack, and pianist Paul Sánchez.