Digital Release 2026 Label: florez

It is with deep emotion that the multi-award-winning Peruvian-Austrian tenor Juan Diego Flórez unveils his new album, Belcanto Songs. This second release on his own label is devoted to the repertoire for which he is internationally renowned: bel canto. The intimate songs of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti lie at the very heart of Flórez’s artistic journey, each one revealing a unique emotional color and showcasing the voice at its most poetic and profoundly human.

CD Book Release 2024 Label: florez / Cat. No. JDF001

Juan Diego Flórez has made a name for himself as one of the leading bel canto tenors. By turning to “zarzuela”, he returns to the genre with which he opened up the world of opera as a young singer and composer of popular songs. “These romances full of passion and emotion represent an almost unique opportunity for Spanish and Latin American tenors to sing in their mother tongue” he says, describing his close connection to this Spanish form of opéra comique or operetta which is very well-known and popular in the Hispanic world but less represented in other countries.

DVD Release 2026 Label: HELIANE / Cat. Nr. HEL1001

Gottfried von Einem’s opera was first performed in 1953 when the popularity of Kafka’s work had reached its first peak. His music uses pulsing rhythms, recurring structures and echoes of jazz and twelve-tone music to describe the subtle terror of the novel, without losing sight of the grotesque humour of the source material. Today, more than 100 years after Kafka’s death and in historical retrospect of von Einem’s time, MusikTheater an der Wien’s production approaches Kafka’s Der Prozess as the trial of an artist against himself. The acclaimed production, arranged by Tobias Leppert as a chamber opera, is conducted by Walter Kobéra and directed by Stefan Herheim.

BD & DVD Release October 2026 Label: HELIANE / Cat. Nr. HEL1002

Benjamin Britten’s opera Gloriana, first performed in 1953 to mark the coronation of Elizabeth II, does not seek to glorify the new queen’s namesake predecessor but instead probes beneath her official image. In her repeated clashes with the Earl of Essex—a longtime favorite of the queen who was ultimately executed for treason—Elizabeth I  is portrayed as flawed and vain, yet also human and sympathetic. For this production, Ivor Bolton and David McVicar have joined forces to present an unapologetic Gloriana, drawing out its rich conflicts and revealing its complexity. The result, enhanced by an outstanding cast, is an unqualified success and a long-overdue vindication of a neglected masterpiece.

DVD Release October 2026 Label: HELIANE / Cat. No. HEL1003

Inspired by Thomas Mann’s final short story The Deceived, librettist Händl Klaus and composer Vito Žuraj have created a haunting opera of gripping psychological depth and luminous musical power. A woman falls in love with a man young enough to be her son and believes herself miraculously rejuvenated—until, at the height of her happiness, she is confronted with a terminal diagnosis. Love and mortality collide with elemental force. In this acclaimed production (»Uraufführung des Jahres 2023«, Opernwelt), director Brigitte Fassbaender brings this profoundly human drama to life with great courage and subtle restraint. Joined by a superb cast, she crafts an unforgettable meditation on desire, illusion, and farewell.