opera

Dessau: Lanzelot [2 CDs]

There are masterpieces of music history that are simply forgotten for a while before they are rediscovered in a later era as a mirror of one’s own sensitivities. Nowhere in his work does Dessau come up with a greater variety of musical styles; from baroque concerto grosso and romantic parodies to agitprop music and modern sounds, he pulls out all the stops. (Audite)

2CD# ADT23448 $31.99

Piccinni: Didon [2 CDs]

The success achieved with some works represented since 1754 in Italy, Piccinni’s simple and elegant style, his consistently refined and appropriate orchestrations, and his revival and reworking of some already successful popular titles attracted the attention, in the 70s of 1700, not only of Italian audiences and critics but also of some French men of letters and of culture. (Bongiovanni)

2CD# GB2602/3-2 $31.99

Arias of Love & Sorrow / Gevorg Hakobyan

Gevorg Hakobyan is a rising star on the international operatic stage. His deep, resonant voice brings drama and color to every aria on this album. Three unusual selections in Armenian – including Mosi’s Aria from Anoush, the most important opera in the Armenian language – enhance this debut recording. (Delos)

1CD# DE 3572 $16.99

Porpora: L’Angelica [2 CDs]

Nicola Porpora was a composer who helped to turn Italian opera into the most successful and spectacular genre in Europe. One of the few luminaries of the ‘Neapolitan School’ to actually be born in Naples, Porpora wrote L’Angelica, a serenade for six voices and instruments, to a libretto by the young Pietro Metastasio in 1720. The work was composed for the birthday of Empress Elizabeth Christine, wife of Charles VI. (Dynamic)

2CD# DYN-CDS7936.02 $22.99

Tafreshipour: The Doll Behind the Curtain

Based on the short story by the same name by Sadeq Hedayat (1903–51), Iran’s first modernist writer, The Doll behind the Curtain is an opera from Iranian-Danish composer Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour and librettist Dominic Power. It explores themes of alienation, the mysteries of human sexuality and the dissonance, both musical and cultural, between East and West and tradition and modernity. (BIS)

1CD# BIS-2596 $19.99