Handel Rinaldo opera to a libretto by Aaron Hill and Giacomo Rossi. Directed 2020 by Pier Luigi Pizzi at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino after an original production by Pizzi at the Teatro Valli di Reggie Emilia dating back to 1985. Stars Carmela Remigio (Armida); Leonardo Cortellazzi (Goffredo); Francesca Aspromonte (Almirena); Raffaele Pe (Rinaldo); Andrea Patucelli (Argante); Shixun Li (A Herald); Marilena Ruta and Valentina Corò (A woman/Two mermaids); William Corrò (A Christian magician). Federico Maria Sardelli conducts the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Set and costume design by Pier Luigi Pizzi; assistant direction and lighting design by Massimo Gasparon. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; sound recorded, edited, and mixed by MASClassica Audio Recording (Claudio Speranzini, Antonio Martino). Sung in Italian. Released in 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

Donizetti Lucrezia Borgia opera to a libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2019 by Andrea Bernard at the Donizetti Foundation Theater in Bergamo, Italy. Stars Marko Mimica (Don Alfonso), Carmela Remigio (Donna Lucrezia Borgia), Xabier Anduaga (Gennaro), Varduhl Abrahamyan (Maffio Orsini), Manuel Pierattelli (Jeppo Liverotto), Alex Martini (Don Apostolo Gazella), Roberto Maietta (Ascanio Petrucci), Daniele Lettieri (Oloferno Vitellozzo), Rocco Cavalluzzi (Gubetta), Edoardo Milletti (Rustighello), Federico Benetti (Astolfo), Claudio Corradi (Usher), Alessandro Yague (Servant), and Francesca Verga (Princess Negroni). Riccardo Frizza conducts the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, the stage band of the Conservatory of Bergamo, and the Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza (Chorus Master Corrado Casati). Sets by Alberto Beltrame; costumes by Elena Beccaro; lighting by Marco Alba; choreography by Marta Negrini; assistant direction by Tecla Gucci. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti. Sound recording by Rino Trasi and Giuseppe Famularo; sound editing and post-production by Rino Trasi. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Handel and Leonardo Leo Rinaldo opera to a libretto by Aaron Hill. This is the 1718 Naples version of Rinaldo as reconstructed by Giovanni Andrea Sechi. Directed 2018 by Giorgio Sangati at the Palazzo Ducale, Martina Franca, as part of the Festival della Valle d’Itria. Stars Carmela Remigio (Armida), Francisco Fernández-Rueda (Goffredo), Loriana Castellano (Almirena), Teresa Iervolino (Rinaldo), Francesca Ascioti (Argante), Dara Savinova (Eustazio), Valentina Cardinali (Lesbina), Simone Tangolo (Nesso), Dieli Hoxha (Argante’s Herald), Kim-Lillian Strebel (Spirit in the guise of a woman), and Ana Victória Pitts (Wiseman). Also features mimes Alessio Arzilli, Andrea Bellacicco, Alessandro Colaninno, Cristiano Parolin, Marco Risiglione, and Jacopo Sorbini. Fabio Luisi conducts the Orchestra La Scintilla. Set design by Alberto Nonnato; costume design by Gianluca Sbicca; lighting design by Paolo Pollo Rodighiero. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti; sound recorded by Rino Trasi and Giuseppe Famularo. Sung in Italian. Released in 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

Verdi La forza del destino opera to libretto by Francesco Piave. Directed 2021 by Carlus Padrissa (of La Fura dels Baus) at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Saioa Hernández (Leonora), Roberto Aronica (Don Alvaro), Amartuvshin Enkhbat (Don Carlo di Vargas), Annalisa Stroppa (Preziosilla), Ferruccio Furlanetto (Padre Guardiano), Nicola Alaimo (Fra Melitone), Alessandro Spina (Il Marchese di Calatrava), Leonardo Cortellazzi (Mastro Trabuco), Valentina Corò (Curra), Francesco Samuele Venuti (Un Alcalde), and Roman Lyulkin (Un chirurgo). Also stars extras Elena Barsotti, Maria Diletta Della Martina, Maria Novella Della Martira, Sara Silli, Giampaolo Gobbi, Emanuele Marchetti, Alessio Nieddu, and Gaetano Tizzano. Zubin Mehta conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Features chorus soloists Ferruccio Finetti, Leonardo Melani, and Luca Tamani. Assistant direction by João Aboim Carvalho; set design by Roland Olbeter; assistant set designer was Esterina Zarrillo; costume design by Chu Uroz; light and video design by Franc Aleu. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; video production by Metis; recording, editing, and post-production by MASClassica Audio Recording, Claudio Speranzini, and Antonio Martino. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Franco Alfano Risurrezione opera to libretto by Cesare Hanau after the novel by Leo Tolstoy. Directed 2020 by Rosetta Cucchi at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Anne Sophie Duprels (Katerina Mihaylovna [Katyusha]); Matthew Vickers (Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Nehlyudov); Leon Kim (Simonson); Francesca Di Sauro (Sofia Ivanovna); Romina Tomasoni (Matryona Pavlovna/Anna); Nadia Pirazzini (An Old Maidservant); Ana Victoria PItts (Vera/Korablyova); Barbara Marcacci (Fenyichka); Filomena Pericoli (The Hunchback); Nadia Sturlese (The Redhead); Silvia Capra (A Woman); Lisandro Guinis (Kritzlov/Second Peasant); Gabriele Spina (Chief Guard); Giovanni Mazzei (Guard); Nicolò Ayroldi (Train-station Officer); Nicola Lisanti (Officer/First Peasant); Egidio Massimo Naccarato (Muzhik); Antonio Montesi (Cossack); Giulia Bruni (Fedia); Delia Palmieri (First Prisoner); Monica Marzini (Second Prisoner); Giovanna Costa (Third Prisoner); as well as Livia Sponton, Sabina Beani, Katja Da Sarlo, and Nadia Pirazzini (Other Prisoners). Francesco Lanzillotta conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Staging by the Wexford Festival Opera; sets by Tiziano Santi; costumes by Claudia Pernigotti; lighting by Ginevra Lombardo (based on original designs by D. M. Wood). Directed for TV by Davide Mancini; video editing by Metis; audio recording by Claudio Speranzini and Antonio Martino of MASClassica Audio Recording. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Alessandro Melani L’Empio Punito (“The Punished Wicked”) opera to libretto by Giovanni Filippo Apolloni. Directed 2019 by Cesare Scarton at the Reate Festival in Rome. Stars Alessandro Ravasio (Atrace); Michela Guarrera (Ipomene); Carlotta Colombo (Cloridoro); Sabrina Cortese (Atamira); Mauro Borgioni (Acrimante); Giacomo Nanni (Bibi); Alessio Tosi (Delfa); Riccardo Pisani (Tidemo); Luca Cervoni (Corimbo); Maria Elena Pepi (Proserpina); Guglielmo Buonsanti (Demonio); Maria Elena Pepi and Luca Cervoni (Due Pastorelle); Luca Cervoni, Riccardo PIsani, and Guglielmo Buonsanti (Coro di Stallieri e Diavoli); and Gaetano Carbone, Alessandro Gaglio, Valerio Leoni, and Guido Targetti (Actors). Alessandro Quarta conducts the Reate Festival Baroque Ensemble. Set design by Michele Della Cioppa; costume design by Anna Biagiotti; lighting design by Andrea Tocchio. Directed for TV by Maxim Derevianko; video operators were Gianluca Santoni, Federico Rodelli, Serena Perla, and Francesco Siciliano; audio recording by Giacomo De Caterini. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Donizetti Le Nozze in Villa opera to a libretto by Bartolomeo Merelli. Directed 2020 by Davide Marranchelli at the Teatro Donizetti Bergamo. Stars Gaia Petrone (Sabina), Omar Montanari (Don Petronio), Fabio Capitanucci (Trifoglio), Giorgio Misseri (Claudio), Manuela Custer (Anastasia), Claudia Urru (Rosaura), and Daniel Lettieri (Anselmo). Stefano Montanari conducts the Orchestra Gli Originali and the Coro Donizetti Opera (Chorus Master Fabio Tatari). Set design by Anna Bonomelli; costume design by Linda Riccardi; lighting design by Alessandro Carletti. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti; recorded by Rino Trasi, Vera Zanotti, and Silvano Landonio; editing and post-production by Rino Trassi. Sung in Italian. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

The Fondazione Teatro Donizetti and Dynamic raise yet another body from the dead—Donizetti’s third attempt at writing an opera. This project almost suffered yet another death . . .

Donizetti L’ange de Nisida opera to libretto by Alphonse Royer and Guastave Vaëz. Directed 2019 by Francesco Micheli at the Teatro Donizetti. Stars Florian Sempey (Don Fernand d’Aragon), Roberto Lorenzi (Don Gaspar), Konu Kim (Leone de Casaldi), Lidia Fridman (La comtese Sylvia de Linarès), and Federico Benetti (Le Moine). Jean-Luc Tingaud conducts the Orchestra Donizetti Opera and the Coro Donizetti Opera (Chorus Master Fabio Tartari). Set design by Angelo Sala; costume design by Margherita Baldoni; lighting design by Alessandro Andreoli; assistant directors are Davide Gasparro and Erika Natali; costume assistants are Silvia Pasta and Valentina Volpi. Directed for TV by Adriano Figari and Matteo Richetti; video production by Matteo Richetti; sound recording by Rino Trasi, Giuseppe Famularo, and Vera Zanotti; sound editing and post production by Rino Trasi. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Nisida is a tiny and romantic-looking island in the Bay of Naples that is corrected to Naples by a small bridge. Donizetti started on L’ange de Nisida (the The Angel of Nisida), in 1839. He abandon the project

Wagner Siegfried to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2012 by Plamen Kartaloff at the National Opera and Ballet in Sofia, Bulgaria. Stars Martin Iliev (Siegried), Krasimir Dinev (Mime), Biser Georgiev (Alberich) Martin Tsonev (The Wanderer/Wotan), Petar Buchkov (Fafner), Rumyana Petrova (Erda), Bayasgalan Dashnyam (Brünnhilde), and Lyubov Metodieva (Forest Bird). Pavel Baleff conducts the Orchestra of the Sofia Opera and Ballet (Concertmaster Teodora Hristova). Set and costume design by Nikolay Panayotov; lighting design by Andrej Hajdinjak. Directed for TV by Plamen Kartaloff; sound engineer was Yordan Tomov; video editing by Angel Hristov. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: D

Puccini Gianni Schicchi to libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. Directed 2019 by Denis Krief at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Bruno de Simone (Gianni Schicchi), Francesca Longari (Lauretta), Anna Maria Chiuri (Zita detta La Vecchia), Dave Monaco (Rinuccio), Antonio Garés (Gherardo), Costanza Fontana (Nella), Matteo Lantieri (Gheradino), Francesco Venuti (Betto di Signa), Eugenio Di Lieto (Simone), Min Kim (Marco), Giada Frasconi (La Ciesca), Enrico Marabelli (Maestro Spinelloccio/Ser Amantio di Nicolao), Shuxin Li (Pinellino), Adam Jon (Guccio), and Fabrizio Casagrande (Extra). Valerio Galli conducts the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Set, costume, and lighting design by Denis Krief. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Puccini Il Tabarro opera to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami. Directed 2019 by Denis Krief at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Franco Vassallo (Michele); Angelo Villari (Luigi); Antonio Garés (Il “Tinca”); Eugenio Di Lieto (Il “Talpa”); Maria José Siri (Giorgetta); Anna Maria Chiuri (La Frugola); Dave Monaco (Song Peddler); Thalida Fogarasi and Leonardo Sgroi (Two Offstage Voices); Costanza Fontana and Claudio Zazzaro (Two Lovers); Maria Cristina Bisogni, Cristina Pagliai; Sarina Rausa, Elena Bazzo, Elisabetta Ermini, and Delia Palmieri (Midinettes), and Fabrizio Casagrande (Extra). Valerio Galli conducts the Ochestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set, costume, and lighting design by Denis Krief. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Wagner Das Rheingold. Directed 2010 by Plamen Kartaloff at the National Opera and Ballet in Sofia, Bulgaria. Stars Nikolay Petrov (Wotan), Krastan Krastanov (Donner), Miroslav Andreev (Froh), Daniel Ostretsov (Loge), Biser Georgiev (Alberich), Krasimir Dinev (Mime), Stefan Vladimirov (Fasolt), Petar Buchkov (Fafner), Rumyana Petrova (Fricka), Veselina Vasileva (Freia), Blagovesta Mekki (Erda), Irina Zhekova (Woglinde), Dorotea Doroteeva (Wellgunde), and Tsveta Sarambelieva (Flosshilde). Pavel Baleff conducts the Orchestra of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Assistant direction by Juliya Krasteva; set and costume design by Nikolay Panayotov; light design by Andrej Hajdinjak. Directed for TV by Rumen Kovachev and Plamen Kartaloff; sound engineer was Yordan Tomov; video editing by Angel Hristov. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D

Wagner Die Walküre to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2011 by Plamen Kartaloff at the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Stars Martin Iliev (Siegmund), Angel Hristov (Hunding), Nikolay Petrov (Wotan), Tsvetana Bandalovska (Sieglinde), Rumyana Petrova (Fricka), Milena Gyurova (Helmwige), Mariana Tzvetkova (Brünnhilde), Irina Zhekova (Ortlinde), Lyubov Metodieva (Gerhilde), Dimitrinka Raycheva (Waltraute), Mariela Aleksandrova (Siegrune), Tsveta Sarambelieva (Rossweisse), Margarita Damyanova (Grimgerde), and Blagovesta Mekki-Tsvetkova (Schwertleite). Pavel Baleff conducts the Orchestra of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Assistant stage direction by Yulia Krasteva and Vera Petrova; set and costume design by Nikolay Panayotov; lighting design by Andrej Hajdinjak and Emil Dinkov. Directed for TV by Rumen Kovachev and Plamen Kartaloff; sound engineering by Yordan Tomov; video editing by Angel Christov. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Violanta opera to a libretto by Hans Müller. Directed 2020 by Pier Luigi Pizzi at the Teatro Regio Torino. Stars Annemarie Kremer (Violanta), Michael Kupfer-Radecky (Simone Trovai), Norman Reinhardt (Alfonso), Peter Sonn (Giovanni Bracca), Soula Parassidis (Bice), Anna Maria Chiuri (Barbara), Joan Folqué (Matteo), Cristiano Olivieri (First Soldier), Gabriel Alexander Wernick (Second Soldier), Eugenia Braynova (First Maid), and Claudia De Pian (Second Maid). Pinchas Steinberg conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino (Chorus Master Andrea Secchi). Set and costume design by Pier Luigi Pizzi; lighting design by Andrea Anfossi. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti; editing by Adriano Figari; sound recording by Rino Trasi. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

I happened by accident to see this recording streamed for free in the spring of 2020 on the website operavision.eu. I thought it

Puccini Suor Angelica to libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. Directed 2019 by Denis Krief at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Stars Maria José Siri (Suor Angelica); Anna Maria Chiuri (La Zia Principessa); Marina Ogii (La Badessa); Anna Malavasi (La Suora Zelatrice); Giada Frasconi (La Maestra delle Novizie); Costanza Fontana (Suor Genovieffa); Elena Cavini (Suor Osmina); Nikoleta Kapetanidou (Suor Dolcina); Carmen Buendia (La Suora Infermiera); Eunsong Lim (Prima Sorella Cercatrice); Francesca Longari (Seconda Sorella Cercatrice); Marilena Ruta (Prima Conversa); Emma Alessi Innocenti (Seconda Conversa); Marta Pluda (Prima Novizia); Julia Costa (Seconda Novizia); and Daniela Losi, Consuelo Cellai, and Amanada Ferri (Tre suore).. Valerio Galli conducts the Orchestra, Coro, e Coro delle voci bianche del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Chorus Master Lorenzo Fratini). Set, costume, and lighting design by Denis Krief. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; video editing by Metis; recording and editing by MASClassica Audio Recording, Claudio Speranzini, and Antonio Martino. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA