Melbourne’s intrepid contemporary opera group releases two CDs in a bold recording venture.

Chamber Made Opera, Australia’s only dedicated contemporary chamber opera company, has launched its own record label. Chamber Made Opera Records will be inaugurated with two new CD releases, the first recordings of the collective’s work to be produced since composer David Young became artistic director in 2010.

“We are thrilled to announce that Minotaur The Island is the first release on the brand new label,” said Young. “ABC Classic FM used nearly 100 microphones to capture all the intricate sounds in this opera.” Created by Young and Margaret Cameron and premiered on Bruny Island during the 2011 Ten Days on the Island Festival, the production is the first in an “epic” trilogy that reinvents L’Arianna, the lost opera written by Monteverdi in 1608.

The second disc, Another Lament, is an improvisation on the music of Henry Purcell and features the double bass and voice of Danish musician Ida Duelund Hansen. The opera was first staged at a private home in 2010 as part of the group’s initiative to present chamber opera/performance art in the intimate surrounds of people’s living rooms. It then progressed to the Opera XS...