Below is a list of all Classical Blu-Ray Disc titles released in the last 180 days.
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors (complete opera, sung in German, recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Tempu Ishijima (boy soprano), Dshamilja Kaiser, Paul Schweinester / Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Wiener Symphoniker, Magnus Loddgard [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 1/Dec/2023 ] Long a Christmas favourite, this new Viennese production, sung in German, boldly re-examines the story finding its key elements to be fantasy, empathy and the enduring power of love. |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (complete opera recorded in 2022) Klaus Florian Vogt (tenor) Eva Heidi Stober (soprano) Johan Reuter (bass-baritone) / John Fiore (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray - released 24/Nov/2023 ] Triumphantly premiered in 1868, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg evokes the singing guilds of mid-16th-century Nuremburg, a focal point of the Northern European Renaissance. |
FRANZ SCHREKER
Schreker: Der Schatzgräber (complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Deutsche Oper Berlin / Elisabet Strid, Daniel Johansson, Michael Laurenz, Thomas Johannes Mayer / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 8/Nov/2023 ] Franz Schreker's career was cut short by the events of 1933 in Germany but he achieved real fame with his operas, and the huge success of Der Schatzgräber ('The Treasure Hunter') in the 1920s was the high point of his career. In a complex and... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Bayreuther Festspiele / Clay Hilley, Iréne Theorin, Albert Dohmen, Elisabeth Teige, Michael Kupfer-Radecky / Cornelius Meister (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 27/Oct/2023 ] In 2022 Bayreuth Festival 2022 presented a long-awaited new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, staged by young Austrian director Valentin Schwarz and conducted by Cornelius Meister. |
DOMENICO CIMAROSA
Cimarosa: Le Astuzie Femminili (Complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Teatro Flavio Vespasiano / Eleonora Bellocci, Martina Licari, Rocco Cavalluzzi / Alessandro de Marchi (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 27/Oct/2023 ] First performance in modern times according to the original manuscript and on period instruments. |
LEO DELIBES
Delibes: Lakme (complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Opera Comique, Paris / Sabine Devieilhe, Grederic Antouni, Stephane Degout, Ambroisine Bre / Pygmalion, Raphael Pichon [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 20/Oct/2023 ] Premiered in 1883, Lakmé remains one of the most popular of all French operas. Reflecting contemporary tastes, the original source material presented a tragic liaison between a French officer and a Tahitian woman on a Pacific island. |
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Roger Federer, John Williams, Daniel Barenboim, Andre Previn, Jorg Widmann, Lambert Orkis, Steve Cohen
Anne-Sophie Mutter: Vivace (Blu-ray) [ SWR Classics / Blu-ray - released 29/Sep/2023 ] Anne-Sophie Mutter is one of the greatest musicians of our age and for the last five decades has appeared at the world's leading concert venues. In addition to premiering 31 new works from leading composers, she is an inspiring mentor, has promoted... |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Don Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 2019) BLU-RAY Royal Opera / Bryn Terfel, Ioan Hotea, Markus Werba, Olga Peretyatko / Evelino Pidò (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 29/Sep/2023 ] "Terfel sounds wonderful, singing with handsomely focused tone and brings considerable panache to his duet with Werba, which is denied its traditional encore here. In the pit, Evelino Pidò conducts with admirable precision and grace." (The Guardian) |
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Blu-ray) The Royal Opera [ Opus Arte / Blu-ray - released 25/Aug/2023 ] From the headlong rush of the overture, Mozart's timeless comedy is a breathless journey through one very eventful day in the life of an 1830s château. Figaro and his bride Susanna conspire to foil the unwanted advances of Count Almaviva, while the... |
BIZET / BOULANGER / BERLIOZ / GOUNOD / RAVEL / SAINT-SAENS
Summer Night Concert in Vienna 2023 (Blu-ray) Elina Garanca (mezzo-soprano) / Wiener Philharmoniker, Yannick Nezet-Seguin [ Sony Classical Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 18/Aug/2023 ] 2023's 'Sommernachtskonzert' ('Summer Night Concert') was performed on June 8th, 2023. It is an annual open-air event, which has been held since 2008. The park of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna/Austria is the magical setting for the concert. |
UMBERTO GIORDANO
Giordano: Andrea Chenier (Blu-ray) Bayerische Staatsoper, Jonas Kaufmann (Andrea Chénier), George Petean (Carlo Gerard), Anja Harteros (Maddalena di Coigny) [ BSO Recordings / Blu-ray - released 18/Aug/2023 ] First performed in 1896, Andrea Chénier is rightly regarded as one of the key works of verismo. With his melodrama about the historical poet André Chénier during the upheavals of the French Revolution, the composer Umberto Giordano created an... |
ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
Humperdinck: Konigskinder [The King's Children] (complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Daniel Behle, Olga Kulchynska, Josef Wagner, Doris Soffel / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 11/Aug/2023 ] Hänsel und Gretel brought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy storybrought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy story KönigskinderKönigskinder ('The King's Children') offers a stark contrast to it and has only begun to be... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Il Trittico (complete operas recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Vienna Opera / Asmik Grigorian, Misha Kiria, Karita Mattila, Roman Burdenko / Franz Welser-Möst,(cond) [ Until Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 28/Jul/2023 ] Il trittico was premiered in New York on 14 December 1918, composed while the First World War was still raging in Europe. At first glance, the three one-act operas Gianni Schicchi, Il tabarro and Suor Angelica seem to have no connection with each... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Semele (Blu-ray) Emma Pearson, Amitai Pati, Sarah Castle, Paul Whelan / New Zealand Opera Chorus, Holy Trinity Cathedral Choir, NZ Opera Baroque Orchestra, Peter Walls [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 21/Jul/2023 ] "Amitai Pati is the pick of the bunch. The Samoan tenor is an outstanding Jupiter, bright-toned and fullvoiced, lyrical lines anchored by enough weight to make this reluctant smiter believable as both lover and thug." Gramophone |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 2 / Symphony No 2 BLU-RAY Mao Fujita (piano) / Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly [ Accentus Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 16/Jun/2023 ] For Riccardo Chailly, celebrating Rachmaninoff in Lucerne is something dear to his heart. In 2022, the the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and their music director devoted themselves to the Second Symphony and the Piano Concerto No. 2. |