Notable CD and DVD releases for the month of September

This month a variety of repertoire will be released on DVD and CD. 

The first of the releases is La Didone conducted by William Christie leading his esteemed group Les Arts Florissants. Anna Bonitatibus, Kresimir Spicer, Xavier Sabata lead the cast in Cavalli's early gem from the theatre de Caen. Opus Arte releases. 

Handel's popular opera Rinaldo will get a release from Glyndebourne. The production by Robert Casen stars Sonia Prina, Anett Frisch and Luca Pisaroni. Ottavio Dadonte conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Opus Arte Releases 

Jose Cura and Julia Gertseva lead the cast of this new modern take on the famous Saint-Saens opera Samson et Dalila. The opera was recorded from the Badisches Stattstheater in 2010. Arthaus releases.    

Rossini's rarely performed opera Sigismundo was revived in 2010 in Pesaro. Critics hailed the production as well as the singing. Daniela Barcellona and Olga Peretyatko lead the cast which also includes Antonio Siragusa. Michelle Mariotti who makes his Met debut in Carmen lead an outstanding performance. Arthaus releases.

As part of Verdi's Bicentennial, C major will release a compilation of Verdi's 26 operas from Palermo. The first three of Verdi's operas will be released first. Oberto's cast includes Mariana Pentcheva, Fabio Sartori, and Francesca Sassu. Un Giorno di Regno stars esteemed Mezzo Anna Caterina Antonacci, Guido Lonconsolo, Alessandra Marianelli and Andrea Porta. And finally Nabucco stars Leo Nucci in the title role and Dimitra Theodossiou.  

Placido Domingo's legendary Pagliacci will get yet another release. Franco Zefirelli's production is conducted by legendary Leonard Slatkin. The video is also directed Brian Large and it also features soprano Veronica Villarroel. Kultur releases. 

The month also finds the release of Rossini's rarely performed Zelmira. The opera also performed in Pesaro stars Belcanto sensation Juan Diego Florez and marks his first release on DECCA since 2009. The opera also stars Kate Aldrich, Gergory Kunde and is conducted by Roberto Abbado.

The Met will release their new Ring Cycle. The production by Robert Lepage was one of the most controversial productions that the Met has premiered in years and received mixed reviews from critics world wide. Nevertheless the cinematic translations have brought a new visual splendor that the theater experience did not have. The opera features all star casts that includes Deborah Voigt in her Brundhilde, Jay Hunter Morris in the role of Siegfried, Bryn Terfel, Stephanie Blythe, Waltraud Meier, Jonas Kaufmann, and Eva Maria Westbroek. James Levine and Fabio Luisi conduct. 

Rolando Villazon and Yannick Nezet-Seguin's Mozart project starts to be unveiled this month with Don Giovanni. The opera which was recorded at the Baden Baden festival in 2011 features a unique cast of stars including Diana Damrau, Joyce Didonato, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, Luca Pisaroni and Mojca Erdmann. The following in the series will be Cosi Fan Tutte.  

Finally the featured album of the month in Joseph Calleja's tribute to Mario Lanza. The album features works by Rossini, Leoncavallo, Tosti, Mascagni, and Ponchielli. Steven Mercurio conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra.