What do you give a Puccini collector for Christmas? Possibly this collection of opera morsels in original or alternative versions. Three tracks are warmed by Domingo’s timbre, but the voice you hear most is the soprano Violeta Urmana’s — forceful, and rather too meaty for Madama Butterfly. Most of the versions can’t match Puccini’s later thoughts, though the star power keeps you listening. So does the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Alberto Veronesi.
(Deutsche Grammophon; out now)