Erich Wolfgang Korngold Die tote Stadt opera to a libretto by the composer and his father, Julius Korngold, under the collective pseudonym of Paul Schott. Directed 2019 by Simon Stone at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich. Stars Jonas Kaufmann (Paul), Marlis Petersen (Marietta/Die Erscheinung Mariens [The Apparition of Marien]), Andrzej Filończyk (Frank/Fritz), Jennifer Johnston (Brigitta), Mirjam Mesak (Juliette), Corinna Scheurle (Lucienne), Manuel Günther (Gaston/Victorin), and Dean Power (Graf Albert). Kirill Petrenko conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and the Chorus and Children’s Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper (Chorus Master Stellario Fagone). Sets by Ralph Myers; costumes by Mel Page; lighting by Roland Edrich. Directed for TV by Myriam Hoyer; produced by Dr. Roland Schwab and Guido Gärtner. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A

This title created more excitement and critical praise than any other in 2021. It’s hard to imagine anyone doing better by Korngold’s libretto and score. But for me, the best thing about this title is that it led to my reading of the book behind it: Bruges-la-Morte by the symbolist poet and novelist George Rodenbach. Finally, it was exciting to see our new super-nova videographer, Myriam Hoyer, at work on a recent important opera production. So in this review, I’ll tell you about . . .

Mavra/Iolante by stage director Axel Ranisch is a creative combination of Igor Stravinsky’s one-act opera Mavra and Tschaikovsky’s one-act opera Iolanta. Recorded in 2019 at the Cuvilliés Theatre Munich. Mavra is a comedy about a clever and aggressive girl who blunders into losing her lover. Iolanta is a bittersweet story of a princess who finds love even though she was sheltered from life by the king and grew up ignorant that she was blind. The star singers are graduate students in the Opernstudio der Bayerischen Staatsoper. Alevtina Ioffe conducts the Chorus and Children’s Chorus of der Bayerischen Staatsoper (Chorus Master Stellario Fagone) and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. Set, costume, and video designs by Falko Herold; lighting by Michael Bauer. Sung in Russian. Directed for TV by Corentin Leconte. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-MA Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Mavra has been performed rarely and has been recorded only a few times in CD collections of Russian music. Iolante is fairly well known—we have 2 HDVDs of it in our Alphalist. The two operas were written to vastly different styles of music. The charm will be to see how Ranisch bakes his cake . . .

Hans Abrahamsen The Snow Queen opera to libretto by Hans Abrahamsen and Henrik Engelbrecht. Directed 2019 and 2020 by Andreas Kriegenburg at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Stars Barbara Hannigan (Gerda), Rachel Wilson (Kay), Katarina Dalayman (Grandmother/Old Lady/Finn Woman/Snow Queen), Peter Rose (Reindeer/Clock), Caroline Wettergreen (Princess), Dean Power (Prince), Kevin Conners (Forest Crow), and Owen Willetts (Castle Crow). Cornelius Meister conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and Bayerischer Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Stellario Fagone). Set design by Harald B. Thor; costume design by Andrea Schraad; lighting design by Michael Bauer. Directed for TV by Christoph Engel. Sung in German. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA