Mozart: Giunse alfin il momento... Deh, vieni, non tardar… (from Le nozze di Figaro)

The lyric soprano Aleksandra Kurzak is one of the most exciting young singers on the international stage - thrilling press and public alike with her performances in Europe and the US. "Gioia", her debut on Decca, is the eagerly anticipated proof of her excellence. This debut is capturing the current state of Aleksandra's voice by contrasting lyric and coloratura arias, focusing on roles which she has performed on stage. The album features much-loved Puccini arias from La Bohème and Gianni Schicchi, bel canto showpieces from I Puritani and Lucia di Lammermoor and the taxing First Act aria from La traviata "Sempre libera" which showcases both her effortless agility and the full, warm intensity of a Verdi lyric soprano.

“A rising-star soprano with flashing eyes and cover-girl looks” (The Observer).

Joyce DiDonato celebrates the rich dramatic variety of the mezzo-soprano voice in this collection of arias for different characters – of both sexes – from a single opera, or from different operatic treatments of the same story.

Joyce DiDonato’s capacity for characterisation is as astounding as the range and flexibility of her voice. As her Virgin Classics recitals of Handel and Rossini have proven, she can charm and touch as a good girl, seduce and seethe as a bad girl, and slip believably into the trousers of a hero. As Opera News said of the Rossini disc, ‘Colbran, The Muse’: “With her sure sense of line and colour, DiDonato takes possession of the repertory, mining every musical and vocal gesture to inhabit each character confidently … Her theatrical sense is magnificent. Musically and dramatically, the disc is perfection.”

This new collection showcases DiDonato’s multi-faceted art – and the wealth of opportunities open to a mezzo-soprano – by presenting her as different characters, both male and female, from the same opera or from different musical treatments of the same story.

As DiDonato explains: “This recital celebrates the vast and fabulous world of the mezzo-soprano. Aside from the obvious Toscas or Cio-Cio Sans, I've never regretted the length of my vocal cords!

I have the privilege and unmitigated joy of playing boys and young men, as well as girls and grown women … It’s an exploration of the human palette of emotions.

“I wanted to find a way to show this duality on disc, while highlighting some of the composers I'm most passionate about, such as Mozart, Bellini, Berlioz, Rossini, and Massenet. In exploring this idea, the possibility became clear for telling different sides of some of the most familiar tales which have served as inspiration for operatic legends: Cinderella, Faust, Romeo and Juliet … I've always thought of myself as a storyteller, and with this particular disc, I can showcase that side of me as never before. I'm ready to play!”

The programme features several roles that DiDonato has sung on stage – such as Rossini’s Cenerentola (it was the character’s gentle, then exuberant ‘Nacqui all’affanno’ that launched her international career at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition, and subsequently at La Scala), Bellini’s Romeo and Mozart’s Cherubino. The ‘flip sides’ of those characters are roles that have not featured in her repertoire: the Prince from Massenet’s Cendrillon (a lavish treatment of the Cinderella story more likely to bring DiDonato in the title role – as at Santa Fe in 2006 and, in 2011, at Covent Garden); the Nurse from Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette, and both Chérubin (from Massenet’s ‘sequel’ to Le nozze di Figaro) and Susanna. The Figaro connection continues with an excerpt from Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina, of course, later becomes Countess Almaviva), while other operas on the programme, from the Renaissance to late Romanticism, include La clemenza di Tito (Sesto and Vitellia), Faust, La Damnation de Faust, Mefistofele, Orphée et Eurydice, Orfeo and Orphée aux Enfers.

Accompanying Joyce DiDonato in this tour de force is the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon under the company’s Principal Conductor Kazushi Ono, another artist who successfully embraces an extraordinary diversity of musical idioms.

As John von Rhein wrote in Gramophone: “In complete control vocally, Joyce DiDonato is … consumed by the character. She embodies whomever she’s playing and whatever emotional situation she is evoking.”

In her second recording as an exclusive Virgin Classics artist Diana Damrau interprets concert and operatic arias by Mozart in a programme which displays her virtuosity and impressive vocal range.

Indeed Diana Damrau’s new recital shows she can sing practically all of Mozart’s notably varied soprano roles – ranging from the bravura (Donna Anna, Konstanze, Donna Elvira…) via the more serious (Pamina) to the lighter soprano (generally soubrette roles such as Susanna, Blonde…).

From her first recording everyone noted her outstanding Queen of the Night – here she is Pamina (in New York’s Met last Fall, Diana Damrau alternated the two roles with brio). She is also Susanna and the Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Konstanze and Blonde (Die Entführung), Donna Anna and Elvira (Don Giovanni), Servilia and Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito), pairing major soprano roles within the operas, and concert arias.

As for her first recital, ‘Arie di bravura’, French conductor Jérémie Rhorer, who is rapidly gaining international recognition, directs his French period-instrument ensemble Le Cercle de l’Harmonie

Exceptional French soprano Patricia Petibon joins the DG roster with her debut album Amoureuses, featuring arias by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck

Petibon has established herself as one of the most interesting and versatile sopranos of our day and has been widely acclaimed for her outstanding acting abilities that make her merge completely with whatever role she sings and represents on stage

With Amoureuses Petibon circles around the ever-important topic of love and desire – in a series of character-portraits she explores how the very different female characters in the operas of Mozart, Haydn, and Gluck respond to the challenges of love

Ranging from the dramatic fury in Haydn’s Odio, furor, dispetto and Mozart’s Der Hölle Rache . . . to the sweetness in his Deh vieni, and from the desperate sadness of his L’ho perduta . . . me meschina! to the grandeur of Gluck’s Ah! Si la liberté, the album is the perfect showcase for Petibon’s exceptional skills of expression and characterization

For Amoureuses Petibon teamed up with the acclaimed period-instrument band Concerto Köln and conductor Daniel Harding, a collaboration that guarantees an effervescent, entrancing approach to the music of the Viennese masters – a captivating debut to watch for!

Sung in German

The French soprano Géori Boué was particularly associated with French repertoire.

This collection includes works by Gounod, Massenet, Bizet and Berlioz as well as Italian composers of opera.

Many of the recordings date from 1942-1949.

Lucia Popp is one of the best-documented and most versatile singers of her generation. Because of her linguistic and stylistic flexibility she was able to sing a very wide range of repertoire. Her acting talent was extraordinary as well. Before she began her vocal studies she had studied medicine and drama and acted in a number of movies. This new release shows a richly varied program with soprano arias by Mozart to Weber and Rossini all the way to Lehár and Stolz taken from concerts given in 1968 to 1982.

Previously unreleased live recordings from the “Sunday Concerts” with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester.

Singer portrait featuring Lucia Popp’s core repertoire, including famous arias from the likes of Mozart to Lehár.

After Mirella Freni, Nicolai Ghiaurov and Margaret Price, this release continues the successful “Great Singers Live” series

Chen Reiss appears in leading roles at La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, and Frankfurt Opera. She also sang the soundtrack to the film ‘Das Parfum’ (Perfume) with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.

Chen Reiss starred with Rolando Villazon on German TV in an opera gala show. She sings Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier in December 2011 at the Staatsoper Wien.

Mojca Erdmann’s Deutsche Grammophon recording debut combines a variety of Mozart’s best beloved arias and works by his contemporaries such as J.C. Bach, Holzbauer, and Paisiello. The album also features Andrea Marcon and the outstanding period instrumentalists of La Cetra Baroque Orchestra, Basle. Plans in 2011 include her debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as Zerlina in a new Don Giovanni.