Handel Xerxes opera to a libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz (Serse in Italian). Directed 2017 by Tilmann Köhler at the Frankfurt Opera. Stars Gaëlle Arquez (Xerxes), Lawrence Zazzo (Arsamene), Elizabeth Sutphen (Romilda), Louise Alder (Atalanta), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Amastre), Brandon Cedel (Ariodate), and Thomas Faulkner (Elviro). Constantinos Carydis conducts the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumorchester and the Vocalensemble Frankfurt. Set design by Karoly Risz; costume design by Susanne Uhl; lighting design by Joachim Klein; live video by Marlene Blumert; dramatic advisor was Zsolt Horpácsy. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Janáček Věc Makropulos (The Makropulous Thing) opera to a libretto by the composer after Karel Čapek’s play. Directed 2011 by Christoph Marthaler at the Großes Festspielhaus as part of the Salzburg Festival. Stars Angela Denoke (Emilia Marty), Raymond Very (Albert Gregor), Peter Hoare (Vítek, the lawyer's clerk), Jurgita Adamonytė (Krista, his daughter), Johan Reuter (Jaroslav Prus), Aleš Briscein (Janek, his son), Jochen Schmeckenbecher (Dr. Kolenatý, the lawyer), Linda Ormiston (A Scottish maid) Peter Lobert (A conscientious objector), Ryland Davies (Hauk-Šendorf), Sasha Rau (Jin Ling), Silvia Fenz (Mary Lang), and Antia Stadler (Anita Stadler). Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chorus Master Jörn H. Anderson), and Members of the Angelika Prokopp Sommerakademie of the Wiener Philharmoniker. Set and costume design by Anna Viebrock; lighting design by Olaf Winter. Directed for TV by Hannes Rossacher; produced by Magdalena Herbst. Sung in Czech. Released in 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-

Věc Makropulos is usually translated as The Makropulos Affair or Case Makropulos, but it should be called The Makropulos Thing. This is perhaps the weirdest opera in the canon because it is (1) a philosophical discourse on the meaning of life, (2) a comedy of manners, (3) although no crime was committed, a who-done-it-type detective story, (4) the only opera ever about a decedent’s probate case that has lasted for 100 years, and (5) the only opera ever with a character who is 337 years old! Director Christoph Marthaler ratchets up the weirdness

Brett Dean Hamlet opera to libretto by Matthew Jocelyn. Directed 2018 by Neil Armfield at Glyndebourne (in a World Premiere). Stars Allan Clayton (Hamlet), Barbara Hannigan (Ophelia), Sarah Connolly (Gertrude), Rod Gilfry (Claudius), Kim Begley (Polonius), John Tomlinson (Ghost of Old Hamlet), David Butt Philip (Laertes), Jacques Imbrailo (Horatio), Rupert Enticknap (Rosencrantz), and Christopher Lowrey (Guildenstern). Vladimir Jurowski conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Leader Vesselin Gellev) and The Glyndebourne Chorus (Chorus Master Jeremy Bines). Set design by Ralph Myers; costume design by Alice Babidge; movement direction by Denni Sayers; lighting design by John Clark; fight direction by Nicholas Hall; produced by George Bruell; directed for TV by François Roussillon. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA