Wagner Der Fliegende Holländer opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2021 by Dmitri Tcherniakov at the Bayreuth Festival. Stars John Lundgren (The Dutchman), Asmik Grigorian (Senta), Georg Zeppenfeld (Daland), Eric Cutler (Erik), Marina Prudenskaya (Mary), and Attilio Glaser (The Steersman). Oksana Lyniv conducts the Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele. Stage design by Dmitri Tcherniakov; costume design by Elena Zaytseva; lighting design by Gleb Filshtinsky; dramaturgy by Tatjana Werestchtschagina. Sung in German. Directed for TV by Andy Sommer. Released 2022. (Preliminary information needs confirmation.) Grade: NA

Another Tcherniakov deconstruction project, this time to excellent Wagner music at the Bayreuth big house. Oksana Lyniv is the first female conductor to appear at the Bayreuth Festival. Jim Pritchard saw this live and wrote an exhaustive review (July 2021) for seenandheard-international.com. He includes a lengthy synopsis of the Tcherniakov vision, without which most of us would be completely lost. This title is for Wagner experts only. But even poor I can see that the line-up of singers is superb. Pritchard flips out for Grigorian calling her “one of the leading singing actors of her generation.”

Bizet Carmen opera to libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Directed 2010 by Richard Eyre at the Met. Stars Elīna Garanča (Carmen), Roberto Alagna (Don José), Barbara Frittoli (Micaëla), Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Escamillo), Elizabeth Caballero (Frasquita), Sandra Piques Eddy (Mercédès), Trevor Scheunemann (Moralès), Keith Miller (Zuniga), Earle Patriarco (Le Dancaïre), Keith Jameson (Le Remendado), Maria Kowroski (dancer), and Martin Harvey (dancer). Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo), a production Stage Band (Conductor Jeffrey Goldberg), and the Children's Chorus (Director Anthony Piccolo). Set and costume design by Rob Howell; lighting design by Peter Mumford; choreography by Christopher Wheeldon; associate costume design by Irene Bohan; musical preparation by Joan Dornemann, Jane Klaviter, Linda Hall, Pierre Vallet, and Jonathan Kelly; fight direction by Nigel Poulton; assistant stage direction by Jonathan Loy, Paula Williams, and Tomer Zvulun; 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. Sung in French. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A

I probably really don’t need to show screenshots explaining the Carmen plot; you know the story already. But in 2010, Gary Halvorson had 15 cameramen working on this video, which was shown in movie theaters all over the world. The result is almost unbelievable good picture quality, color handling, and video content

Wagner Tannhäuser opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2019 by Tobias Kratzer at the Bayreuth Festival. Stars Stephen Gould (Tannhäuser), Lise Davidsen (Elisabeth), Elena Zhidkova (Venus), Markus Eiche (Wofram von Eschenbach), Stephen Milling (Landgraf Hermann), Daniel Behle (Walther von der Vogelweide), Kay Stiefermann (Biterolf), Jorge Rodríguez-Norton (Heinrich der Schreiber), Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Reinmar von Zweter), and Katharina Konradi (Ein junger Hirt), Le Gateau Chocolat (Le Gateau Chocolat), and Manni Laudenbach (Oskar). Valery Gergiev conducts the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Eberhard Friedrich). Set and costume design by Rainer Sellmaier; lighting by Reinhard Traub; video by Manuel Braun; dramaturgy by Konrad Kuhn. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

As the famous Tannhäuser Overture music begins, we are immediately thrown into a mini-opera explaining how Tannhäuser got tired of living with Venus. The mini-opera was shown at Bayreuth as a video, and we in the home theater probably see it better than the live audience did

Wagner Lohengrin opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2018 by Yuval Sharon at at the Bayreuth Festival. Stars Georg Zeppenfeld (Heinrich), Piotr Beczala (Lohengrin), Anja Harteros (Elsa von Brabant), Tomasz Konieczny (Friedrich), Waltraud Meier (Ortrud), Egils Silins (Der Heerrufer des Königs or King’s Herald), Michael Gniffke (an Elder), Eric Laporte (an Elder), Raimund Nolte (an Elder), and Timo Riihonen (an Elder). Christian Thielemann conducts the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra & Chorus. Stage and costume designs by Neo Rauch and Rosa Loy; lighting by Reinhard Traub. Sung in German. Released 2019, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Preliminary info needs confirmation and completion. Grade: NA

Carl Orff Carmina Burana cantata and Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 concert. Recorded October 10, 2018 at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the Forbidden City, Beijing. Features soloists Aida Garifullina (soprano), Toby Spence (tenor), Ludovic Tézier (baritone), Daniil Trifonov (piano), and Mari Samuelsen (violin). Long Yu conducts the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Spring Children’s Choir, and the Wiener Singakademie (Chorus Master Heinz Ferlesch). Disc contains the following works:

1. Carl Orff Carmina Burana (soloists Aida Garifullina, Toby Spence, and Ludovic Tézier)

2. Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 (Daniil Trifonov)

3. Max Richter November (Mari Samuelsen)

4. Tianhua Liu Enchanted Night

5. Jasmine Flower, a traditional Chinese folk song.

Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

Wagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2017 by Barrie Kosky at the Bayreuth Festival. Stars Michael Volle (Hans Sachs), Günther Groissböck (Veit Pogner), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Sixtus Beckmesser), Klaus Florian Vogt (Walther von Stolzing), Daniel Behle (David), Anne Schwanewilms (Eva), and Wiebke Lehmkuhl (Magdalene). Philippe Jordan conducts the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Eberhard Friedrich). Stage design by Rebecca Ringst; costume design by Klaus Bruns; lighting design by Franck Evin; video by Regine Freise; dramaturgy by Ulrich Lenz. Released 2018, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Donizetti La Favorite opera to a libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz. Directed 2016 by Amélie Niermeyer at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Stars Elīna Garanča (Léonor de Guzmán), Matthew Polenzani (Fernand), Mariusz Kwiecień (Alphonse XI, King of Castile), Mika Kares (Balthazar), Joshua Owen Mills (Don Gaspar), and Elsa Benoit (Inès). Karel Mark Chichon conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and the Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper (Chorus Master Sören Eckhoff). Set design by Alexander Müller-Elmau; costume design by Kirsten Dephoff; lighting design by Michael Baueri. Directed for video by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Wagner Lohengrin opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2016 by Angela Brandt (after the 1983 production by Christine Mielitz) at at the Dresden State Opera or Semperoper. Stars Piotr Beczała (Lohengrin), Anna Netrebko (Elsa von Brabant), Tomasz Konieczny (Friedrich von Telramund), Evelyn Herlitzius (Ortrud), Georg Zeppenfeld (König Heinrich der Vogler), Derek Welton (Der Heerrufer des Königs or the King's Herald), Tom Martinsen (1st Nobleman of Brabant), Simeon Esper ( 2nd Nobleman of Brabant), Matthias Henneberg (3rd Nobleman of Brabant), Tilmann Rönnebeck (4th Nobleman of Brabant) as well as Jana Hohlfeld, Monika Harnisch, Annett Eckert, and Masako Furuta (four Pages). Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden, men of the Sinforniechor Dresden, and the Sempreoper Extra Choir (Choirmaster Jörn Andresen). Set and costume designs by Peter Heilein; lighting by Friedewalt Degen; dramaturgy by Matthias Rank. Directed for video by Tiziano Mancini with photography directed by Luca Longarini. All regions. Sound on the 4K version was recorded with 96kHz/24-bit sound sampling with Audio Engineer Peter Hecker and Audio Producer Arend Prohmann. Recording by Metisfilm Classica produced by Magdalena Herbst. Released 2017, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: NA

Wagner Parsifal opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2016 by Uwe Eric Laufenberg at the Bayreuth Festival. Stars Ryan McKinny (Amfortas), Karl-Heinz Lehner (Titurel), Georg Zeppenfeld (Gurnemanz), Klaus Florian Vogt (Parsifal), Gerd Grochowski (Klingsor), Elena Pankratova (Kundry), Tansel Akzeybek (First Knight of the Grail), Timo Riihonen (Second Knight of the Grail), Alexandra Steiner (1st Squire), Mareike Morr (2nd Squire), Charles Kim (3rd Squire), Stefan Heibach (4th Squire), Anna Siminska, Katharina Persicke, Mareike Morr, Alexandra Steiner, Bele Kumberger, Ingeborg Gillebo (Flower Maidens), and Wiebke Lehmkuhl (Voice from Heaven). Hartmut Haenchen conducts the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master Eberhard Friedrich).  Stage design by Gisbert Jäkel; costumes by Jessica Karge; lighting by Reinhard Traub, dramaturgy by Richard Lorber, video designs by Gérard Naziri. Directed for video by Michael Beyer. Released 2017, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA