Welcome back for this week\u2019s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world.<\/p>\n
This week audiences cannot miss the new album by one of the world’s most renowned tenors and the world premiere of two contemporary operas composed by acclaimed female composers.<\/p>\n
Bright Shiny Things releases “Akathist,” a large-scale oratorio by composer Benedict Sheehan. Featuring The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Downtown Voices, Trinity Youth Chorus, and NOVUS NY along with Sheehan\u2019s Artefact Ensemble, “Akathist” is based on a 27-stanza Eastern Orthodox hymn of thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
Paola Prestini’s “The Old Man and The Sea” is being released on VIA Records. The opera is the first-ever approved operatic adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s novel and was co-created by Karmina \u0160ilec.<\/p>\n
The work which was written for percussion, electronics, and cello is performed by cellist Jeffrey Zeigler and percussionist Ji Hye Jung. Mila Henry conducts a cast that includes Armando Contreras as Hemingway\/Santagio, Measha Brueggergosman Lee as La Mar, Rodolfo Gir\u00f3n as Manolin, and Yvette Keong as La Virgen del Cobre. The piece also features the Phoenix Chorale.<\/p>\n
Fourth Wall Ensemble and Samuel Siskind<\/a> team up for “<\/span>Awake,” <\/span>released by Tiger Turn. The album features a song cycle composed by Siskind who makes his album debut.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Johnathan McCullough spoke about Siskind’s talent and said,\u00a0\u201cI first knew Samuel as a principal singer with a strong baritone voice, but then found out that he composed as well. I asked to hear some of his pieces and knew right away that he had a very special talent. It is vitally important that the music we make spreads messages of what we are passionate about and Samuel does just that.\u201d<\/p>\n French star tenor Benjamin Bernheim released his latest album for Deutsche Grammophon. The new album will be his first solo song album entitled \u201cDouce France: M\u00e9lodies & Chansons\u201d and is inspired by his long study and experience of French song. Bernheim interprets songs by\u00a0Berlioz<\/a>,\u00a0Chausson<\/a>, Duparc, Brel, Kosma, and Trenet. The tenor is joined by pianist Carrie-Ann Matheson, who transcribed the relevant orchestral scores into the more idiomatic versions on the album.<\/p>\n\u201cDouce France: M\u00e9lodies & Chansons<\/h3>\n