There’s something unique about this year’s Label of the Year. Most recipients of this annual accolade are variations on the form of a company offering a recording home to artists, nurturing and supporting them, and issuing their albums on a regular basis. Opera Rara does that of course, but its primary focus – and that of all the superb artists who show such dedication to this cherished company in this mission – is the championing of forgotten gems from the opera archives, specifically the 19th and earlier 20th centuries.

Donizetti, Leoncavallo, Offenbach, Rossini and many other familiar composers are often heard in less familiar works or editions, while beyond such names as these the label’s catalogue bursts with composers and operas likely to be fresh discoveries to most if not all: a staggering 100 recordings in total, including more than 60 complete operas. Triumphs over the past year include Offenbach’s La princesse de Trébizonde, conducted by Paul Daniel (11/24), Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma (9/24) and Mercadante’s Il Proscritto (7/23), the latter two conducted by Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi.

Writing of that Offenbach set, a Recording of the Month, our reviewer Richard Bratby captured the lengths Opera Rara goes to in adding colour and context to everything it does: ‘There’s never been a recording as complete, as polished and as beautifully presented as this new set from Opera Rara. There’s a full-colour booklet, complete with period images (posters, newspaper illustrations and sheet music covers) as well as the complete text (with translation) of Charles Nuitter and Étienne Tréfeu’s libretto’. Such attention to detail is a trademark of the organisation. Much of this draws on – and continues to enrich – its substantial and significant library of scores of first and early editions, which since 2018 has been housed at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Carlo Rizzi with Ermonela Jaho (photo: Russell Duncan)

Founded over half a century ago by Patric Schmid and Don White, many figures have helped create today’s Opera Rara, including repertoire consultant Roger Parker and previous Artistic Director Sir Mark Elder. Nowadays it’s in the care of Rizzi and Chief Executive Henry Little, who don’t so much keep the flame alive as fuel it with ambition, energy and ideas at every turn.

Project after project, singers as renowned as the soprano Ermonela Jaho and tenor Michael Spyres – both official Artistic Ambassadors for the company – happily learn rare repertoire for live performance and subsequent sessions (invariably studio, it’s worth noting!) that they know they will rarely, if ever, be asked to perform again. They, like all who work for and support Opera Rara, do so out of an abiding admiration for this marvellous institution – and it’s in the same spirit that we honour them as our 2024 Label of the Year. Martin Cullingford

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