Vanessa Goikoetxea, Piero Pretti, Sabine Devieilhe, Michael Spyres & Ian Bostridge Lead New CD/DVD Releases
By Francisco SalazarWelcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world.
This week audiences will get to experience many of the famed artists of our time in new albums featuring classic works, rarely performed works and rediscovered works. Here is a look at this week’s new releases.
Stravinsky: Le rossignol
Captured in March 2023, Sabine Devieilhe sings the title role in Stravinsky’s miniature three-act opera “Le rossignol” in Olivier Py’s production at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. The cast also features such leading French soloists as Cyrille Dubois, Chantal Santon Jeffery, and Laurent Naouri, with support from Les Siècles and Ensemble Aedes, conducted by François-Xavier Roth.
Donizetti Songs Volumes 3 and 4
Opera Rara releases two albums featuring the works of Donizetti and songs for tenor and mezzo-soprano. Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi performs at the piano performs with American tenor Michael Spyres on Volume 3; and on Volume 4, Canadian mezzo-soprano Marie-Nicole Lemieux performs with Italian pianist Giulio Zappa.
Censored Anthems
The ensemble Parlando releases its debut album on DELOS. Parlando. The program for Censored Anthems explores music from the 20th century as a tool of cultural resilience in the face of censorship, particularly in the Soviet Union. The album opens with a selection from Dmitri Shostakovich’s controversial opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” followed by Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra by the Polish, Soviet, and Russian composer Mieczysław Weinberg. The American violinist Aubree Oliverson is the featured soloist. The final piece is the Symphony for String Orchestra and Timpani by the Armenian composer Edvard Mirzoyan.
I Giardini present ‘Le temps des lilas’
Le temps des lilas is an ode to Romanticism, a love song, and a nostalgic reflection on the bittersweet beauty of lost happiness. The album is dedicated to the music of Ernest Chausson.
Twilight: Schumann Songs
Twilight is the third album of tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Saskia Giorgini, dedicated to Robert Schumann’s song cycles, all written in the miraculously productive year of 1840. Pentatone releases.
George Antheil: Venus in Africa
CPO releases “Venus in “Africa” featuring Johanna Stojkovic, Miljenko Turk, Thomas Laske, Claudia Barainsky, and Stephan Boving. The Bochumer Symphoniker is conducted by Steven Sloane.
Vilém Blodek: V studni/In the Well
In recognition of both the Year of Czech Music and the 150th anniversary of the death of the Czech composer Vilém Blodek, Supraphon is releasing the 1959 stereo recording of the opera “In the Well (V studni).” The recording was released briefly in the first half of the 1960s on LP records, but only in a monophonic version. After that, it disappeared from the catalogue for several decades. Only now, nearly 66 years since the recording was made and after careful restoration of the sound from the original tapes, this rarity from the early days of stereophonic recording technology is being released as it originally sounded. The soloists are Milada Šubrtová, Štěpánka Štěpánová, Ivo Žídek, and Zdeněk Kroupa. The chorus and orchestra of the Prague National Theatre are conducted by František Škvor.
Sweet Oblivion
This program of Renaissance and early Baroque songs and arias features Greek soprano Eleni Lydia Stamellou accompanied on the lute by Konstantin Shenikov.
Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
Johanna Wallroth and Brian Mulligan star in a new recording of Brahms’ famed work with the Edvard Grieg Kor and Choir of Collegium Musicum. The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir are conducted by Edward Gardner. Chandos releases the recording.
Zingarelli: Giulietta e Romeo
Franco Fagioli, Adèle Charvet, Krystian Adam, Valentino Buzza, Nicolò Balducci, and Florie Valiquette star in Niccoló Antonio Zingarelli’s opera which became Napoleon I’s favorite opera. The Choeur & Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal are conducted by Stefan Plewniak.
Puccini: Tosca
Dynamic releases Puccini’s masterwork from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The production stars Vanessa Goikoetxea, Piero Pretti, and Alexey Markov. Daniele Gatti conducts the production by Massimo Popolizio.
