Igor Stravinsky’s later stage works Mavra (1922), Oedipus Rex (1927/28) or The Rake’s Progress (1951) are more than matched by his early 'lyrical fairy tale in three acts' Le Rossignol, which occupies a special place – due to its brevity at scarcely 45 minutes. It is also unusual for the fairy-tale subject matter, based on a story called The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen; for its language – the original was Danish, this recording features the Russian version, yet it was premiered in French in Paris in 1914.

This Così fan tutte enchanted the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus audience when recorded in concert in 2012, with Nézet-Séguin inspiring his stellar cast to feats of vocal derring-do. An enthusiastic advocate of Mozart s music, Rolando Villazón takes on the lead tenor role. Das Opernglas hailed his debut as Ferrando, calling him ideal for the role we have not heard a more beautiful, better sung and deeper felt Un aura amorosa in a long time. Starring a thrilling cast of both young and experienced Mozart opera stars including accomplished soprano Mojca Erdmann as Despina, acclaimed Mozartian soprano Miah Persson and prize-winning young American mezzo Angela Brower as the emotionally manipulated sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella. Also joining this crème-de-la-crème cast are distinguished Mozart bass-baritone Adam Plachetka as Guglielmo and Italian buffo baritone Alessandro Corbelli as Alfonso.

Pentatone presents a new album full of world-premiere recordings of orchestral songs by Hans Sommer, sung by an excellent quartet of soloists – Mojca Erdmann, Anke Vondung, Mauro Peter and Benjamin Appl – together with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the baton of Guillermo García Calvo. Sommer was a Liszt student whose operas were performed and praised by Richard Strauss, but sunk into relative oblivion due to his unusual career path and independence from major publishers. The songs were discovered recently and can finally be presented to the world. Focusing mostly on Goethe poetry, combining high Romanticism with folk styles, Sommer’s songs are colourfully orchestrated, harmonically audacious, and often highly dramatic and evocative.