Lisette Oropesa, J’Nai Bridges, Bryn Terfel, Jakub Józef Orliński & Nina Stemme Lead New CD/DVD Releases

By Francisco Salazar

This week audiences will get to check out full opera recordings, world premiere recordings, and new solo albums by some of the great artists. Here is a look!

La Traviata 

The Dresdner Philharmonie, Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden and conductor Daniel Oren present Verdi’s masterpiece with a stellar cast including René Barbera as Alfredo, Lester Lynch as Germont, and world star soprano Lisette Oropesa as Violetta. Pentatone releases the San Francisco Classical Recording Company Production.

Oropesa has performed the role to great acclaim with OperaWire noting “Lisette Oropesa Delivers Breathtaking Display in Verdi’s Masterpiece.”

They Still Want to Kill US

Bright Shiny Things in partnership with composer/violinist/activist Daniel Bernard Roumain, award-winning mezzo-soprano and activist, J’Nai Bridges, and Sozo Creative releases a digital single and video of DBR’s “They Still Want to Kill Us,” an aria sung by Bridges, to mark the anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

The video features performances by Bridges and Roumain intercut with archival film footage and images telling the story of the Massacre in an ominous shorthand. All proceeds from the audio and video sales of this release will be donated to Castle of Our Skins.

Farewells

Warsaw-born countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński and pianist Michał Biel join forces for a panorama of Polish song. Often nostalgic in spirit, the program of the album spans 150 frequently turbulent years. “Michał and I started exploring the Polish art song repertoire when we were at the Juilliard School in New York,” explains Orliński, whose recordings until now have focused on the baroque era.

“As a Polish duo we love to present Polish music to our public. I know that no language can present a barrier when it’s set to music. I believe that music builds bridges and I am sure that those songs will get under the listener’s skin.”

The album takes its name from a triptych of songs written in 1948 by Henryk Czyż, who joins five other composers on the program: Stanisław Moniuszko (known as the 19th century’s father of Polish opera), Karol Szymanowski (recognized around the world as a major post-Romantic composer), Mieczysław Karłowicz, Tadeusz Baird and Paweł Łukaszewski, a leading figure in contemporary Polish music.

Faure Complete Songs 

Cyrille Dubois is accompanied by Tristan Raës, the tenor’s long-standing recital partner of fifteen years performing songs of the French composer Fauré. Covering over six decades of musical excellence in three studio sessions, the two capture every essence of the composer’s life.

Tristan und Isolde

Nina Stemme and Peter Seiffert star in a 2013 performance of “Tristan und Isolde” from the Wiener Staatsoper, conducted by its then music director, Franz Welser-Möst. Orfeo releases.

Der Künder—The Chosen

Orfeo releases Antal Doráti’s operatic adaptation of philosopher Martin Buber’s 1956 mystery play, “Elijah.” Martin Fischer-Dieskau leads the Chorus of the Teatr Wielki of Poznán and the Orchestra of the Beethoven Academy, Kraków. The cast includes bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny as the prophet Elijah, tenor Michael Schade as King Ahab, and mezzo-soprano Rachel Frenkel as the Baal-worshipping Jezebel.

The Verbier Recital 

Deutsche Grammophon releases Bryn Terfel and Llyr Williams’ The Verbier Recital which includes music by Schumann, Schubert, Ibert, and Quilter.

When I Have Sung My Songs

Nicholas Provenzale releases a new album on Albany Records featuring the music of Ernest Charles. Some of the pieces on the record are world premiere recordings. Terry Klinefelter accompanies on piano.

Passages

Michael Murray’s PASSAGES, a celebration of 19th and 20th-century poetry with intimate chamber arrangements will be released this week Soprano Genevieve Fulks performs throughout the album with the Moravian Orchestra.

Reactions 

Naxos releases the world premiere recordings of two vocal works by Margaret Brouwer. Soprano Sarah Beaty is featured in “Declaration,” a set of songs for voice, piano, and violin addressing violence and war and the equality of all people, including a section using text from the Declaration of Independence. Brouwer wrote both music and text for “The Lake,” (2020), which is sung by tenor Brian Skoog.

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