Opera on Your Own

Whatever happens at the Met, there is no reason to go without opera this Christmas. The record companies have been as productive as ever and some of their releases are of extraordinary quality.

Cavalli: L'Ormindo (Argo). Something practically unheard-of: an authentic, workable masterpiece miraculously retrieved from the past. One of the 17th century Venetian composers influenced by Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli wrote melodiously, with great penetration into the personal relationships of his characters. The present recording stems from an edition pieced together by Raymond Leppard from musical fragments for a Glyndebourne production in 1967. The result is musically and dramatically spellbinding.

Mozart: Idomeneo (Philips). Like most opera seria, this one depends on gods, a sea monster, women pretending to be men and an unusual ability on the part of the audience to take the whole thing seriously. But the music is Mozart at his best, requiring only a great conductor and a great cast to do it justice. It gets just that. Colin Davis fans the music to a fierce, steady glow. Highpoints: George Shirley's rocketlike traversal of Fuor del mar--a crippling catalogue of coloratura devices --and Elettra's two arias sung by Pauline Tinsley, a British dramatic soprano whose voice has an electric radiance that recalls Ina Souez and Ljuba Welitsch at their best.

Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (London). Conducted by Georg Solti, this Rosenkavalier neatly obliterates its recorded competition. Three lush-voiced ladies (Regine Crespin, Helen Donath and Yvonne Minton) keep the story poised convincingly between spring and autumn and the music teetering tenderly on the verge of tears. The big cast is stuffed with the names of well-loved Viennese singers, as well as the Met's sensational new tenor, Luciano Pavarotti.

Donizetti: Roberto Devereux (Westminster). Just as memorably melodic as Lucia but far more powerful. Beverly Sills' Queen Elizabeth has all the expected coloratura dazzle but with chest tones and a dramatic style that should raise her already formidable reputation several notches higher.

Henze: Three Cantatas (Deutsche Grammophon). Once a leading German avant-garde composer, Henze often writes mistily modern and weirdly beautiful music. In this score, German Soprano Edda Moser floats through the vocal stratosphere with astonishing ease, and demonstrates a bewildering range of sound and color.

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