Handel Rodelinda opera to a libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym. Directed 2011 by Stephen Wadsworth at the Met. Stars Renée Fleming (Rodelinda), Joseph Kaiser (Grimoaldo), Shenyang (Garibaldo), Stephanie Blythe (Eduige), Andreas Scholl (Bertarido), Iestyn Davies (Unulfo), and Moritz Linn (Flavio). Harry Bicket conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Continuo: Harry Bicket, harpsichord (recitative); Bradley Brookshire, harpsichord (ripieno); David Heiss, cello; and Daniel Swenberg, theorbo and baroque guitar. Set design by Thomas Lynch; costume design by Martin Pakledinaz; lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski. Directed for TV by Matthew Diamond; Music Producer Jay David Saks; Supervising Producers Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park; Producers Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik. Sung in Italian. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-

Rodelinda is considered one of Handel’s greatest works, but the newcomer must contend with some of the ugliest character names in all literature and a also be aware of a backstory to the opera. There was a virtuous King Bertarido married to Queen Rodelinda, and they had a son, Prince Flavio. The ambitious nobleman Grimoaldo was engaged to Bertarido’s sister, Eduige. Grimoaldo usurped the throne, and Bertarido escaped into the countryside. Unable to find allies, Bertarido floated a false story, believed by almost everyone, that he had died.

Richard Strauss Capriccio opera to a libretto by Clemens Krauss and Richard Strauss. This is the Met John Cox production with 2011 stage direction by Peter McClintock. Stars Renée Fleming (The Countess), Joseph Kaiser (Flamand), Russell Braun (Olivier), Peter Rose (La Roche), Morten Frank Larsen (The Count), Sarah Connolly (Clairon), Olga Makarina and Barry Banks (Italian Singers), Ronald Naldi, Paul Corona, Steven Goldstein, Christopher Schaldenbrand, Grant Youngblood, Scott Scully, Brian Frutiger, Kyle Pfortmiller (Servants), Micahael Devlin (Majordomo), and Bernard Fitch (Monsieur Taupe). Solo dancers are Laura Feig and Eric Otto. Also stars stage musicians David Chan (violin), Rafael Figueroa (cello), and Dennis Giauque (harpsichord). Andrew Davis conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, with stage band conductor Jeffrey Goldberg. Set design by Mauro Pagano; costume design and interior décor by Robert Perdziola; lighting design by Duane Schuler; choreography by Val Caniparoli; dramaturgy by Paul Cremo. Directed for TV by Gary Halvorson; music producer was Jay David Saks. Supervising Producers were Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park; Producers were Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

Richard Strauss was the last great, complete man of music in the western tradition

Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier opera to libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Directed 2017 by Robert Carsen at the The Met. Stars Elīna Garanča (Octavian), Renée Fleming (Marschallin), Billy Conahan (Mohammed), Günther Groissböck (Baron Ochs), Scott Scully (Major-domo), Marco Jordão, Ross Benoliel, Clark Smith, Edward Hanlon (Lackeys),  Sidney Fortner (Noble widow), Maria D'Amato, Christina Thomson Anderson, Rosalie Sullivan (Three noble orphans), Anne Nonemacher (A milliner), Dustin Lucas (An animal vendor), James Countney (Notary), Alan Oke (Valzacchi), Helene Scheiderman (Annina), Tom Watson (Hairdresser),  Matthew Polonzani (An Italian singer), Patrick Stoffer (Leopold), Markus Brück (Herr von Faninal), Erin Morley (Sophie), Susan Neves (Marianne),Mark Schowalter (Faninal's major-domo), Frank Colardo (Doctor), Tony Stevenson (Innkeeper), Brian Frutiger, Bradley Garvin, Brian Kontes, Christopher Job (Waiters), and Scott Conner (Police Commissioner).  Sebastian Weigle conducts the The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

Puccini Madama Butterfly opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier at the Royal Opera House in 2017. Stars Ermonela Jaho (Cio-Cio San), Marcelo Puente (Pinkerton), Scott Hendricks (Sharpless), Carlo Bosi (Goro), Elizabeth DeShong (Suzuki), Jeremy White (Bonze), Emily Edmonds (Kate Pinkerton), Gyula Nagy (Imperial Commissioner), and Yuriy Yurchuk (Prince Yamadori). Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Master William Spaulding; Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin). Set design by Christian Fenouillat; costume design by Agostino Cavalca; lighting design by Christophe Forey; directed for video by Matthew Woodward. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Verdi Giovanna d'Arco opera to a libretto by Temistocle Solera. Directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier at the Teatro alla Scala. Stars Francesco Meli (Carlo VII), Anna Netrebko (Giovanna), Carlos Álvarez (Giacomo), Dmitry Beloselskiy (Talbot), and Michele Mauro (Delil). Riccardo Chailly conducts the Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala (Chorus Master Bruno Casoni). Set design by Christian Fenouillat; costume design by Agostino Cavalca; lighting design by Christope Forey; video design by Étienne Guiol; movement direction by Leah Hausman; directed for TV by Patrizia Carmine. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA

Puccini Turandot opera to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni and as completed by Lucio Berio. Directed 2015 by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and assistant Daniel Dooner at Teatro alla Scala. Stars Nina Stemme (Turandot), Aleksandrs Antonenko (Calaf), Maria Agresta (Liù), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Timur), Angelo Veccia (Ping), Roberto Covatta (Pang), Blagoj Nacoski (Pong), Carlo Bosi (Altoum), Gianluca Breda (Mandarino), Azer Rza-Zada (Prince of Persia), Barbara Rita Lavarian (First Handmaid), and Kjersti Ødegaard (Second Handmaid). Riccardo Chailly conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala and the Childrens' Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala School (Chorus Master Bruno Casoni). Set design by Raimund Bauer; costume design by Andrea Schmidt-Futterer; lighting design by Duane Schuler; choreography by Denni Sayers. Directed for TV by Patrizia Carmine. Sung in Italian. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: NA

Handel Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar) opera to libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym. Directed 2012 by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurie at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Stars Cecilia Bartoli (Cleopatra), Andreas Scholl (Cesare), Philippe Jaroussky (Sesto), Anne Sofie von Otter (Cornelia), Christophe Dumaux (Tolomeo), Ruben Drole (Achilla), Jochen Kowalski (Nirena), and Peter Kálmán (Curio). Giovanni Antonini conducts Il Giardino Armonico. Sets by Christian Fenouillat; costumes by Agostino Cavalca; lighting by Christoph Forey, choreography by Beate Vollack; dramaturgy by Konrad Kuhn. Directed for TV by Olivier Simonnet. Released 2016, disc has dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Verdi Falstaff opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed by Robert Carsen at the Metropolitan Opera. Stars Carlo Bosi (Dr. Caius), Ambrogio Maestri (Sir John Falstaff), Keith Jameson (Bardolfo), Christian Van Horn (Pistola), Jennifer Johnson Cano (Meg Page), Angela Meade (Alice Ford), Stephanie Blythe (Mistress Quickly), Lisette Oropesa (Nannetta), Paolo Fanale (Fenton), and Franco Vassallo (Ford). James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera, Orchestra & Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo). Set design by Paul Steinberg; costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel; lighting design by Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet. Released in 2015, disc has dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Dvořák Rusalka opera to libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil. Directed 2014 by Laurie Feldman reviving the 1933 Otto Schenk production. Stars Renée Fleming (Rusalka), Piotr Beczala (Prince), Dolora Zajick (Jezhibaba), John Relyea (Water Gnome), Emily Magee (Foreign Princess), Julie Boulianne (Kitchen Boy), Vladimír Chmelo (Gamekeeper), Alexey Lavrov (Hunter), Dísella Lárusdóttir (First Wood Sprite), Renée Tatum (Second Wood Sprite), Maya Lahyani (Third Wood Sprite), and Amir Levy (Noble). Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts The Metropolitan Opera and Chorus. Sets by Günther Schneider-Siemssen; costumes  by Silvia Strahammer; lighting by Gil Wechsler; choreography by Carman De Lavallade; sound editing by John Bowen, directed for TV by Barbara Willis Sweete; produced by Mia Bongiovanni. Released 2015. Grade: NA

Jonas Kaufmann box set with 4 operas featuring Jonas Kaufmann. Below are the discs. Each of them has already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:

1. Bizet Carmen. 2014. (Grade NA)
2. Gounod Faust. 2014. (Grade NA)
3. Massenet Werther. 2014. (Grade A+)
4. Puccini Tosca. 2014. (Grade NA)

Released 2015. Grade: NA

Rossini Guillaume Tell opera to a libretto by Étienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis. Directed 2013 by Graham Vick at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Stars Nicola Alaimo (Guillaume Tell), Juan Diego Flórez (Arnold Melcthal), Marina Rebeka (Mathide), Amanda Forsythe (Jemmy), Veronica Simeoni (Hedwige) Simon Orfila (Walter Furst), Simone Alberghini (Melcthal, Arnold's father), Luca Tittoto (Gesler), Alessandro Luciano, (Rodolphe), Celso Albulo (Ruodi), and Wojtek Gierlach (Leuthold/Hunter). Michele Mariotti conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Chorus Master Andrea Faidutti). Set and costume designs by Paul Brown; choreography by Ron Howell; lighting design by Giuseppe Di Iorio; directed for screen by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: A-

Mozart Die Zauberflöte opera to a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. Directed 2006 by Pierre Audi at the Salzburg Festival (Grosses Festspielhaus) as part of the huge Salzburg Festival M22 Project to record all the Mozart operas in HD. Stars Paul Groves (Tamino), Genia Kühmeier (Pamina), Christian Gerhaher (Papageno), Irena Bespalovaite (Papagena), Diana Damrau (Queen of the Night), René Pape (Sarastro), Inga Kalna (First Lady), Karine Deshayes (Second Lady), Ekaterina Gubanova (Third Lady), Franz Grundheber (Speaker/First Priest), Xavier Mas (Second Priest), Michael Authenrieth (Third Priest), Burkhard Ulrich (Monostatos), Simon O'Neil (First Armoured Man), Peter Loehle (Second Armoured Man), and Members of the Vienna Boys' Choir (The Three Boys) . Riccardo Muti conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Thomas Lang). Stage design by Karel Appel; costume design by Jorge Jara. Directed for TV by Brian Large; produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Sung in German. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Verdi Otello opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2012 by Elijah Moshinsky at the Met. Stars Johan Botha (Otello), Renée Fleming (Desdemona), Falk Struckmann (Iago), Michael Fabiano (Cassio), Renée Tatum (Emilia), Stephen Gaertner (Montano), Eduardo Valdes (Roderigo), James Morris (Lodovico), and Luthando Qave (A Herald). Semyon Bychkov conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Ballet (Chorus Master Dorald Palumbo). Sets designed by Michael Yeargan; costumes by Peter J. Hall; lighting by Duane Schuler; choreography by Eleanor Fazan; stage direction by David Kneuss; directed for TV by Barbara Willis Sweete. Music Producer was Jay David Saks; Supervising Producers were Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park; Producers were Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Richard Wagner Lohengrin opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2009 by Richard Jones at the Munich Festival. Stars Jonas Kaufmann (Lohengrin), Anja Harteros (Elsa), Wolfgang Koch (Telramund), Michaela Schuster (Ortrud), Christof Fischesser (König Heinrich), and Evgeny Nikitin (Herald). Kent Nagano conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. Set and costume design by Ultz; lighting design by Mimi Jordan Sherin; video direction by Karina Fibich. Released 2014, disc has dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: NA

Bizet Carmen opera to libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Directed 2008 by Matthias Hartmann at the Opernhaus Zürich. Stars Jonas Kaufmann (Don José), Vesselina Kasarova (Carmen), Isabel Rey (Micaëla), Michele Pertusi (Escamillo), Sen Guo (Frasquita), Judith Schmid (Mercédès) Gabriel Bermúdez (Dancaïre), Javier Camarena (Remendado), Morgan Moody (Zuniga), and Krešimir Stražanac (Moralèz). Franz Welser-Most conducts the Philharmonia Zurich. Set design by Matthias Hartmann; costume design by Su Bühler; light design by Martin Gebhardt; choreography by Teresa Rotemberg. Directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA