Pick a theme… and name your seven favourite examples

Zémide*; Pygmalion** Ema Nikolovska, Virginie Thomas et al; A Nocte Temporis, Chœur de Chambre de Namur/ Reinoud Van Mechelen Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS174 80:10 mins Readers may be grateful

Works by Offenbach Véronique Gens (soprano); Chœur et Orchestre National des Pays de La Loire/Hervé Niquet Alpha Classics ALPHA1168 55:49 mins This is not for the po-faced. If you enjoy charming and i

Sun Triptych Maxim Rysanov, Dasol Kim, Roman Mints et al; BBC Concert Orchestra/ Dobrinka Tabakova ECM 4878558 64:61 mins This is the second ECM disc to feature the extremely accessible music of Bulga

In 1976, the revolutionary singer-songwriter LAURA NYRO returned from self-imposed exile. But her comeback confounded expectations, shifting away from the impassioned intimacies of her early albums to embrace more radical perspectives. Fifty years on, Nyro’s collaborators revisit her striking second act. “She was a hip American from the Bronx,” one friend and producer tells Rob Hughes. “But her soul was old.”

Songs of Fate Anna Lucia Richter (mezzo-soprano), Gürzenich-Orchester Köln/Jordan de Souza Myrios Classics MYR036 55:28 mins The booklet accompanying this remarkable release begins with a short interv

Glasgow, 1942. The Carl Rosa Opera Company was in town to perform Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Tickets had been snapped up by local people – including many who didn’t really know what an opera was. The