For the first episode of Black History Month, Oliver introduces some of the most exciting singers in opera today, including sopranos Janai Brugger, Jeanine De Bique, and Pumeza Matshikiza; mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams, tenor Noah Stewart; and baritone Justin Austin.
Watch Janai Brugger and Jeanine De Bique sing a beautiful duet from Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.
Jeanine De Bique, soprano
George Frideric Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6
Aria, “L’alma mia fra le tempeste”
Concerto Köln
Luca Quintavalle, conductor
Mirrors
Berlin Classics 0302017BC
Riccardo Broschi: L’isola d’Alcina
Aria, “Mi restano le lagrime”
Concerto Köln
Luca Quintavalle, conductor
Mirrors
Berlin Classics 0302017BC
Jean Philippe Rameau: Platée
Air de La Folie “Formons les plus brillants concerts”
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie, conductor
Rameau: Platée
Harmonia Mundi HAF-890534950
Justin Austin, baritone
Damien Sneed: I Dream a World
Damien Sneed, piano
Classically Harlem
LeChateau Earl Records
Janai Brugger, soprano
Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle: “Love Will Find a Way” from Shuffle Along
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
Rick Benjamin, conductor
Black Manhattan Vol. 2
New World NW-80731
Zoie Reams, mezzo-soprano
Leonard Bernstein: Songfest
XI. “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed”
National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic
James Judd, conductor
Leonard Bernstein: Songfest
Naxos 8.559859
Pumeza Matshikiza, soprano
Alfredo Catalani: La Wally
Aria, “Ebben? Ne andrò lontana”
Aarus Symphony Orchestra
Tobias Ringborg, conductor
Pumeza: Arias
Decca 4788964
Norman Thomas: The Naughty Little Flea
Aurora Orchestra
Iain Farrington, conductor
Pumeza: Voice of Hope
Decca 4787605
Noah Stewart, tenor
Giacomo Puccini: Tosca
Aria, “Recondita armonia”
Vienna Studio Symphony
Johnny Bertl, conductor
Noah
Decca 2775385
Robert Chesley: Autumn
Kenneth Merrill, piano
An AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope
GPR Records GPR-12014