Jaromír Weinberger Frühlingsstürme opera to libretto by Gustav Beer and reconstructed and arranged by Norbert Biermann. Directed 2020 by Barrie Kosky at the Komische Oper Berlin. Stars Stefan Kurt (General Wladimir Katschalow), Alma Sadé (Tatjana), Vera-Lotte Boecker (Lydia Pawlowska), Dominik Könniger (Roderich Zirbitz), Tansel Akzeybek (Ito), Tino Lindenberg (Colonel Baltischew), and Luca Schaub (Grand Duke Michailowitsch). Also features dancers and extras of the Komische Oper Berlin. Jordan de Souza conducts the Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin. Set and lighting design by Klaus Grünberg; associate set designer was Anne Kuhn; costume design by Dinah Ehm; choreography by Otto Pichler; dramaturgy by Ulrich Lenz. Directed for TV by Götz Filenius. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Andre Messager Fortunio opera to libretto by Gaston Arman de Caillavet and Robert de Flers. Directed 2019 by Denis Podalydès at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Stars Cyrille Dubois (Fortunio), Anne-Catherine Gillet (Jacqueline), Franck Leguérinel (Maître André), Jean-Sébastien Bou (Clavaroche), Philippe-Nicolas Martin (Landry), Pierre Derhet (Lieutenant d’Azincourt), Thomas Dear (Lieutenant de Verbois), Aliénor Feix (Madelon), Luc Bertin-Hugault (Maître Subtil), Geoffroy Buffière (Guillame), Sarah Jouffroy (Gertrude), Laurent Podalydès (Comedien). Louis Langrée conducts the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and the Chœur Les Éléments (Chorus Master Joël Suhubiette). Set design by Éric Ruf; costume design by Christian Lacroix; lighting design by Stéphanie Daniel. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in French. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia opera to libretto by Cesare Sterbini. Directed 2017 by Laurent Pelly at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris. Stars Florian Sempey (Figaro) Catherine Trottmann (Rosina), Michele Angelini (Il Conte Almaviva), Peter Kálmán (Bartolo), Robert Gleadow (Basilio), Annunziata Vestri (Berta), Guillaume Andrieux (Fiorello), and Stéphane Facco (Ambrogio). Jérémie Rhorer conducts Le Cercle de l’Harmonie and Unikanti (Chorus Master Gaël Darchen). Set and costume design by Laurent Pelly; associate set designer was Cléo Laigret; associate costume designer was Jean-Jacques Delmotte; lighting design by Joël Adam. Directed for TV by François Roussillon; executive producer was George Bruell. Sung in Italian. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

A great opera production requires excellence in all elements of the work: the orchestral music, singing, stage direction and movements, acting, sets, costumes, and props, etc. Each element needs to be coordinated to the overall concept of the conductor of the orchestra and the stage director. If everything is properly related, you can be successful with almost any “style” you dream up. Then you can also have a great video if you start working with the videographer early

Beethoven Leonore opera to libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner. (This is the 1805 version of “Leonore/Fildelio.”) Performed 2020 by Opera Lafayette as directed by Oriol Tomas at the Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, New York. Stars Nathalie Paulin (Leonore/Fidelio), Jean-Michel Richer (Florestan), Stephen Hegedus (Rocco), Pascale Beaudin (Marzelline), Matthew Scollin (Pizarro), Keven Geddes (Jaquino), and Alexandre Sylvestre (Don Fernando). Ryan Brown conducts the Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus. Set and costume design by Laurence Mongeau; lighting design by Rob Siler; hair and make-up design by Georgiana Eberhard; sound engineering by Marlan Barry. Directed for TV by Jason Starr. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has PCM stereo sound only. Grade: NA

We usually don’t cover operas that are recorded in stereo sound only. But we make an exception because this fills in a gap in our coverage of Beethoven’s Leonore/Fidelio opera adventures. There are 3 versions of what we call “Leonore/Fidelio,” and this 1805 effort was the earliest of them. It’s offered here by the highly respected and specialized Opera Lafayette, which focuses mostly on French Baroque works. One of those French operas, Léonore; ou, L'amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, was the inspiration for Beethoven to do a German language version, and this was Beethoven’s first stab at it. Today the 1805 version is mostly ignored, but some experts say it’s better than Beethoven’s later revisions in 1806 and 1814.

Adolphe Adam Le Postillon de Lonjumeau opera to a libretto by Adolphe de Leuven and Léon-Lévy Brunswick. Directed 2019 by Michel Fau at the Opéra Comique, Paris. Stars Michael Spyres (Chapelou/Saint-Phar), Florie Valiquette (Madeleine/Madame de Latour), Franck Leguérinel (Le Marquis de Corcy), Laurent Kubla (Biju/Alcindor), Michel Fau (Rose), Yannis Ezziadi (Louis XV), and Julien Clément (Bourdon). Sébastien Rouland conducts the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie, the accentus (sic) choir, and the Opéra de Rouen Normandie choir. Set design by Emmanuel Charles; costume design by Christian Lacroix; lighting design by Joël Fabing; make-up design by Pascale Fau. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in French. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Alexander von Zemlinsky Der Zwerg opera to a libretto by Georg C. Klaren. Directed 2019 by Tobias Krazer at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Stars Elena Tsallagova (Donna Clara), Emily Magee (Ghita), David Butt Philip (Der Zwerg), Mick Morris Mehnert (Der Zwerg Actor), Philipp Jekal (Don Estoban), Flurina Stucki (Maid 1), Amber Faquelle (Maid 2), and Maiju Vaahtoluoto (Maid 3). Donald Runnicles conducts the Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and the Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin (Chorus Master Jeremy Bines). Set and costume design by Rainer Sellmaier; lighting design by Stefan Woinke; dramaturgy by Sebastian Hanusa. Directed for TV by Matteo Ricchetti and Adriano Figari. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Purcell King Arthur opera to libretto by John Dryden. Directed 2017 by Sven-Eric Bechtolf and Julian Crouch at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, Berlin. Stars actors Michael Rotschopf (Arthur), Max Urlacher (Oswald), Axel Wandtke (Conon), Hans-Michael Rehberg (Merlin), Oliver Stokowski (Osmond), Tom Radisch (Grimbald), Steffen Schortie Scheumann (Aurelius), Meike Droste (Emmeline), and Sigrid Maria Schnückel (Matilda). Stars sopranos Anett Fritsch and Robin Johannsen, countertenor Benno Schachtner, tenors Mark MIlhofer and Stephan Rügamer, and baritones Arttu Kataja and Johannes Weisser. Also stars Dancers of the skills ensemble. René Jacobs conducts the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the Choir of the Staatsoper Under den Linden (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Set design by Julian Crouch; choreography by Gail Skrela; costume design by Kevin Pollard; lighting design by Olaf Freese; video design by Joshua Higgason; dramaturgy by Detlef Giese. Directed for TV by Andy Sommer; produced by François Duplat. Sung in English with German dialogue. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Respighi La bella dormente nel bosco (The Sleeping Beauty in English) opera to a libretto by Gian Bistolfi after the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Directed 2017 by Leo Muscato at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. Stars Veta Pilipenko (La Regina/The Queen, La Vecchietta/The Old Lady, La Rana/The Frog); Angela Nisi (La Principessa/The Princess); Antonio Gandía (Il Principe Aprile/The Prince April); Vincenzo Taormina (Il Re/The King, L’Ambasciatore/The Ambassador); Shoushik Barsoumian (La Fata Azzurra/The Blue Fairy); Lara Rotili (La Fata Verde/The Green Fairy, Il Gatto/The Cat, La Duchessa/The Duchess, Il Cuculo/The Cuckoo); Claudia Urru (Il Fuso/The Spindle, L’Usignolo/The Nightingale); Enrico Zarra (Mister Dollar, Il Buffone/The Jester); Nicola Ebau (Un Boscaiuolo/A Lumberjack), and Niccola Ebau, Francesco Leone, Marco Puggioni, and Enrico Zara (I quaddri Medici/The Four Doctors).

Carl Maria von Weber Euryanthe opera to libretto by Helmina von Chézy. Directed 2018 by Christof Loy at the Theater an der Wien. Stars Jacquelyn Wagner (Euryanthe), Norman Reinhardt (Adolar), Theresa Kronthaler (Eglantine), Andrew Foster-Williams (Lysiart), Stefan Cerny (König Ludwig IV), and Eva-Maria Neubauer (Herzogin von Burgund). Constantin Trinks conducts the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir (Chorus Master Erwin Ortner). Set design by Johannes Leiacker; costume design by Judith Weihrauch; lighting design by Reinhard Traub; dramaturgy by Klaus Bertisch. Directed for TV by Paul Landsmann; produced by Landsmann+Landsmann. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA