Mozart La finta giardiniera opera (composed at age 18) to a libretto possibly from Giuseppe Petrosellini. Directed by Tobias Moretti at Opernhaus Zürich in 2006. Stars Eva Mei (Sandrina), Christoph Strehl (Il Contino Belfiore), Rudolf Schasching (Il Podestà Don Anchise), Isabel Rey (Arminda), Liliana Nikiteanu (Il Cavalier Ramiro), Julia Kleiter (Serpetta), and Gabriel Bermúdez (Nardo). Nikolaus Harnoncourt directs the Orchestra "La Scintilla" of the Zurich Opera. There is no chorus. Set design by Rolf Glittenberg; costumes by Renate Martin and Andreas Donhauser; lighting by Jürgen Hoffmann; directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 dts-HD sound. Grade: A

Monteverdi Complete Operas box set. This is not a collection of titles previously published separately. This box includes three operas performed on one day in September 2013 as part of a single huge production directed by Barrie Kosky at the Berlin Komische Oper:

1. L'Orfeo or La Favola d'Orfeo, written 1607(libretto by Alessandro Striggio reworked and translated into modern German by Susanne Felicitas Wolf and Ulrich Lenz). This is the earliest surviving opera still regularly seen on the boards. Performed in the morning, it's the familiar story Orpheus story for which we already have five HDVD versions.
2. Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, written 1639 (libretto by Giacomo Badoaro, Wolf, and Lenz) here called Odysseus. Performed in the afternoon.
3. L'incoronazione di Poppea, written 1643 (libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Wolf, and Lenz),  Performed in the evening. We have an opera and a ballet version of this already in HDVD.

There are no clearly authentic musical scores for these works---instead multiple competing scores come from obscurity down to us. Here's how Shirley Apthorp put it in the Financial Times: "Composer Elana Kats-Chernin has re-imagined Monteverdi's score with a battery of exotic instruments in different chamber orchestrations for each opera. The result is a marathon for all concerned." Well, in the form of HDVD recordings, you can pace yourself and experience this over several days.

The production has 32 soloists and more than 200 supporting artists. Stars Tansel Akzeybek (Telemachos/Valletto), Thomas Michael Allen (Arnalta/Eumaios), Alexey Antonov (Pluto), Katharina von Bülow (Minerva), Brigitte Geller (Poppea), Julia Giebel (Drusilla), Karolina Gumos (Fate/Juno), Dominik Köninger (Orpheus), Theresa Kronthaler (Sylvia/Proserpina/Otho), Ezgi Kutlu (Penelope), Jens Larsen (Antinoos/Time/Neptun/Seneca), Tom Erik Lie (Amphinomos/Amme), Annelie Sophie Müller (Minerva/Tugend or Virtue), Julia Novikova (Eurydice), Christiane Oertel (Eurykleia), Günter Papendell (Odysseus), Peter Renz (Amor), Helene Schneiderman (Octavia), Stefan Sevenich (Charon), Roger Smeets (Nero), Frank Soehnle (Figuren orr Figures of Orpheus and Eurydike), Ariana Strahl (Damigella/Fate), Adrian Strooper (Eurymachos/Liberto), Christoph Späth (Pisandro/Jupiter), and Mirka Wagner (Melanto). André de Ridder conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Komische Oper Berlin (Chorus Master André Kellinghaus). Set designs by Katrin Lea Tag; costume designs by Katrin Lea Tag and Katharina Tasch; lighting by Alexander Koppelmann; choreography by Otto Pichler; dramatic advice by Ulrich Senz; directed for video by Peter Schöenhofer. Sung in German with subtitles in German, English, French, and Turkish. Released 2015, has 3 discs with 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Admeto Special 4-Pack. The Handel Admeto opera from the 2006 Halle Handel Festival was published in 2009 by Arthaus as Item No. 101258. See the preceding entry in the Alphalist. Later Arthaus announced a new version with 1 Blu-ray disc, the whole opera on 2 DVDs, and a separate CD with the music. That's 4 discs packed in one case. The Blu-ray disc appears to be the same as in the old edition except it's on a double-layer disc (50 GB). The item number of the 4-Pack is 109067.

Mieczysław Weinberg The Passenger opera to libretto by Alexander Medvedev after a novel of the same name published in 1962 by concentration camp survivor Zofia Posmysz. Directed 2010 by David Pountney at the Bregenz Festival (The title in German is Die Passagierin). Stars singers Michelle Breedt (Lisa), Roberto Saccà (Walter), Elena Kelessidi (Martha), Artur Rucinski (Tadeusz), Svetlana Doneva (Katja), Angelica Voje (Krzystina), Elżbieta Wróblewska (Vlasta), Agnieszka Rehlis (Hannah), Talia Or (Ivette), Helen Field (Alte), Liuba Sokolova (Bronka), Tobias Hächler (1st SS Officer), Wilfried Staber (2nd SS Officer), David Danholt (3rd SS Officer), Richard Angas (Elderly Passenger/Steward), Heide Capovilla (Senior Overseer/Capo), David Gabl, Michael Koch, Juliusz Kubiak, and Anton Schwärzler (4 Soldiers), Michelle Lau and Matthias Zuggal (Soldiers on watchtowers), and violinist Andreas Semlitsch (Double for Tadeusz in violin scene). Also stars stage musicians Raphael Brunner, Stefan Mikic, Roger Szedalik, Dominik Neunteufel, and Michael Schatzmann. Teodor Currentzis conducts the Weiner Symphoniker and the Prague Philharmonic Choir (Choirmaster Lukáš Vasilek). Set design by Johan Engels; costume design by Marie-Jeanne Lecca; lighting design by Fabrice Kebour; video direction by Felix Breisach. The opera is sung in German, English, French, Russian and Yiddish. There is also a documentary film "In der Fremde" in German with English subtitles. Released  2015, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound and the documentary and extras are in stereo. Grade: A

Rossini Aureliano in Palmira opera to a libretto by G. F. R. (generally attributed to Giuseppe Felice Romani). Directed 2014 by Mario Martone at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. Stars Michael Spyres (Aureliano), Jessica Pratt (Zenobia), Lena Belkina (Arsace), Raffaella Lupinacci (Publia), Dempsey Rivera (Oraspe), Sergio Vitale (Licinio), Dimitri Pkhaladze (Gran Sacerdote), and Raffaele Constantini (Un Pastore). Will Crutchfield completed a new critical edition of the score and conducts the Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini and the Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Chorus Master Andrea Faidutti). Set design by Sergio Tramonti; costume designs by Ursula Patzak; directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Janáček Jenůfa opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2014 by Christof Loy at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Stars Michaela Kaune (Jenůfa), Jennifer Larmore (Kostelnička Buryjovka), Will Hartmann (Laca Klemeň), Ladislav Elgr (Števa Buryja), Hanna Schwarz (Grandmother Buryjovka), Simon Pauly (Foreman), Stephen Bronk (Mayor), Nadine Secunde (Mayor's Wife), Martina Welschenbach (Karolka), Jana Kurucová (Barena), Alexandra Hutton (Jano), and Fionnuala McCarthy (Herdswoman). Donald Runnicles conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Chorus Master William Spaulding). Set designs by Dirk Becker; costumes by Judith Weihrauch; lighting by Bernd Purkrabek; choreography by Thomas Wilhelm; dramaturgy by Christian Arseni; video by Brian Large. Subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Korean, and Chinese. Released 2015, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: NA

Richard Strauss Feuersnot opera to a libretto by Ernst von Wolzogen. Directed 2014 by Emma Dante at the Teatro Massimo Palermo. Stars Nicola Beller Carbone (Diemut), Dietrich Henschel (Kunrad), Alex Wawiloff (Schweiker von Gundelfingen), Rubén Amoretti (Ortolf Sentlinger), Christine Knorren (Elsbeth), Chiara Fracasso (Wigelis), Anna Maria Sarra (Margret), Michail Ryssov (Jörg Pöschel), Nicolò Ceriani (Hämmerlein), Paolo Battaglia (Kofel), Christiano Olivieri (Ortlieb Tulbeck), Irina Pererva (Ursula), Francesco Parrino (Ruger Aspeck), Valentina Vitti (Walpurg), and Francesca Martorana (Ein großes Mädchen). Gabrielle Ferro conducts the Orchestra, Chorus and Youth Chorus of the Teatro Massimo (Chorus Master Piero Monti; Youth Chorus Master Salvatore Puntero). Set designs by Carmine Maringola; costumes by Vanessa Sannino; lighting by Christian Zucaro; choreography by Sandro Campagna; directed for video by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD sound. Grade: NA

Aribert Reimann Lear opera (composed 1978) to a libretto by Claus H. Henneberg. Directed 2014 by Karoline Gruber at the Staatsoper Hamburg. Stars Bo Skovhus (König or King Lear), Katja Pieweck (Goneril), Hellen Kwon (Regan), Siobhan Stagg (Cordelia), Erwin Leder (Narr or Fool), Lauri Vasar (Graf or Count von Gloster), Andrew Watts (Edgar), Martin Homrich (Edmund), Christian Miedl (Herzog or Duke von Albany), Peter Galliard (Herzog or Duke von Cornwall), Jürgen Sacher (Graf or Duke von Kent), Wilhelm Schwinghammer (König von Frankreich), and Frieder Stricker (Bedienter or Servant). Simone Young conducts the Philharmoniker Hamburg and Chor der Staatsoper Hamburg (Chorus Master Eberhard Friedrich). Set Design by Roy Spahn; costume design by Mechthild Seipel; lighting design by Hans Toelstede; directed for video by Marcus Richardt. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA

Francis Poulenc Dialogues des carmélites opera to libretto by the composer based on the play by Georges Bernanos. Directed 2008 by Nikolaus Lehnhoff at the Staatsoper Hamburg. Stars Wolfgang Schöne (Marquis de la Force), Alexia Voulgaridou (Blanche de la Force), Nikolai Schukoff (Le Chevalier de la Force), Kathryn Harries (Madame de Croissy), Anne Schwanewilms (Madame Lidoine), Gabriele Schnaut (Mère Marie de l'Incarnation), Jana Büchner (Sœur Constance), Olive Fredricks (Mère Jeanne), Susanne Bohl (Sœur Maltilde), Benjamin Hulett (Father Confessor for the Convent), Mortiz Gogg (Officer), Frieder Stricker (First Commissionar), Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Second Commissionar), Jan Buchwald (The Jailor), Peter Veit (Thierry, a Lackey), and Rainer Böddeker (Doctor). Simone Young conducts the Philharmoniker Hamburg and the Chor der Staatsoper Hamburg (Chorus Master Florian Csizmadia). Sets by Raimund Bauer; costumes by Andrea Schmidt-Futterer; associate direction by Heiko Hentschel; dramaturgy by Annedore Cordes; lighting by Olaf Freese; TV direction by Andreas Morell. Released 2010, disc has 7.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: B