Puccini Turandot opera to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Directed 2013 by Andrew Sinclair, after Andrei Serban, at the Royal Opera House. Stars Lise Lindstrom (Turandot), Marco Berti (Calaf), Eri Nakamura (Liù), Michel de Souza (Mandarin), Raymond Aceto (Timur), Dionysios Sourbis (Ping), David Butt Philip (Pang), Doug Jones (Pong), and Alasdair Elliott (Emperor Altoum). Henrik Nánási conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev) and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Director Renato Balsadonna). Designs by Sally Jacobs; lighting design by F. Mitchell Dana; choreography by Kate Flatt; choreologist was Tatiana Novaes-Coelho. Directed for TV by Ian Russell. Sung in Italian. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Wagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2011 by David McVicar at Glyndebourne. Stars Gerald Finley (Hans Sachs), Marco Jentzsch (Walter von Stolzing), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Sixtus Beckmesser}, Alastair Miles (Veit Pogner), Anna Gabler (Eva), Topi Lehtipuu (David), Michaela Selinger (Magdelena), Colin Judson (Kunz Vogelgesang), Andrew Slater  (Konrad Nachtigall), Henry Waddington (Fritz Kothner), Robert Poulton (Herrman Ortel), Alasdair Elliot (Balthasar Zorn), Daniel Norman (Augustin Moser), Adrian Thompson (Ulrich Eisslinger), Graeme Broadbent (Hans Foltz), Maxim Mikhailov (Hans Schwarz), Mats Almgren (Nightwatchman). Vladimir Jurowski conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Leader Pieter Schoeman; Assistant Conductor Anthony Negus) and the Glyndebourne Chorus (Chorus Master Jeremy Bines). Design by Vicki Mortimer; lighting design by Paule Constable; choreography by Andrew George; fight direction by Nicholas Hall; film direction by François Roussillon; soundd supervision by Andy Rose; executive production by George Bruell; produced by Toni Hajal. Released  2012, 2 discs have 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A

Henry Purcell The Fairy Queen semi-opera to anonymous adaptation (with massive cuts) of Shakespeare'sA Midsummer Night's Dream. Directed 2009 by Jonathan Kent at Glyndebourne. Stars as actors Joseph Millson (Oberon), Sally Dexter (Titania), JothamAnnan (Puck), Desmond Barrit (Bottom), Robert Burt (Flute), Jack Chissick (Snout), Paul McCleary (Quince), Brian Pettifer (Snug), Roger Sloman (Starveling), Taliesin Knight (Changeling Boy), TerrenceHardiman (Egeus), William Gaunt (Theseus), Susannah Wise (Hermia), Helen Bradbury (Helena), Oliver Kieran Jones (Lysander), and Oliver Le Sueur (Demetrius). Singing stars are Claire Debono (First Fairy/Spring), Anna Devin (Second Fairy), Desmond Barrit (Drunken Poet), Carolyn Sampson (Night), Ed Lyon (Secrecy/Adam), Andrew Foster-Williams (Sleep/Coridon), Robert Burt (Mopsa), Sean Clayton (Summer), Adrian Ward (Autumn), LukasKargl (Phœbus), Lucy Crowe (Juno), and Helen-Jane Howells (Eve) as well as  Miriam Allan, Rachel Redmond, and John Mackenzie (Soloists from the Glyndebourne Chorus). Dancing stars are Laura Caldow, NuniCampos, Tommy Franzén, Caroline Lynn, Omar Gordon, Anthony Kurt-Gabel, MaurizioMontis, and Sarah Storer. William Christie conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Leader Alison Bury) and the Glyndebourne Chorus (Assistant Chorus Master Oliver Gooch). Designs by Paul Brown; lighting by Mark Henderson; choreography by Kim Brandstrup; TV direction by FrançoisRoussillon; executive production by Toni Hajal; sound supervision by Jean Chatauret. Released 2010, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: B

Benjamin Britten Death in Venice opera to a libretto by Myfanwy Piper. Directed by Deborah Warner in 2013 at The London Coliseum. Stars John Graham-Hall (Gustav von Aschenbach), Andrew Shore (Traveller/Elderly Fop), Tim Mead (Apollo), Sam Zaldivar (Tadzio), Laura Caldow (The Polish Mother), Mia Angelina Mather (Polish Daughter), Xhuliana Shehu (Polish Daughter), Joyce Henderson (The Governess), and Marcio Teixeira (Jaschiu, Tadzio's friend). Edward Gardner conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the English National Opera. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

George Benjamin Written on Skin opera to a libretto by Martin Crimp. Written on Skin had its first performance at the Grand Théâtre de Provence, France in July, 2012. It was soon thereafter produced in Bonn and in Amsterdam. The performance on this disc was directed by Katie Mitchell in March 2013 at the Royal Opera House. Stars Christopher Purves (The Protector), Barbara Hannigan (Agnès, wife of the Protector), Bejun Mehta (Angel 1/The Boy), Victoria Simmonds (Angel 2/Marie), Allan Clayton (Angel 3/John), as well as  David Alexander, Laura Harling, Peter Hobday, and Sarah Northgraves (Angel Archivists). The composer himself conducted the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Design by Vicki Mortimer; lighting design by Jon Clark; fight direction by Kate Waters. Produced and directed for TV by Margaret Williams. Sung in English. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. The video was shot at 23.976 fps with a Cinemascope (letterbox) picture ratio of 1:2.35 (incorrectly printed on the letterbox as "1:2:35"). Grade B+