No fewer than 28 operas by Francesco Cavalli, the famous Monteverdi pupil of his day, survive. The edition Francesco Cavalli – Opere reveals this early Baroque world once more.

2014 is also the 300th anniversary of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s birth. Two opera houses in the place where he worked are anticipating this anniversary with new productions: the first is at Theater an der Wien on 8 November with the rarely-performed Iphigenie en Aulide (Torsten Fischer/Alessandro de Marchi), followed by the Staatsoper, which stages the Paris version of Alceste beginning on 12 November (Christof Loy/Ivor Bolton).

In the run-up to the Rameau anniversary year in 2014 marking the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death, his rarely-performed one-act ballet Anacréon will be presented by vocal soloists, the Choir of Magdalen College and the renowned Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Jonathan Huw Williams conducts the first performance of his new edition of the work, published in the Opera Omnia Rameau, in a concert performance on 9 November in the Sheldonian Theatre Oxford.

(22.11.2014) The Volkstheater Rostock is offering a special bel canto highlight on 9 January 2015, a concert performance of Rossini’s oper Maometto II using the new Critical Edition by Hans Schellevis. On the podium is the renowned English Rossini specialist David Parry, who conducted this seldom-performed opera last year at the Garsington Festival and has recorded it on CD.

Handel set his opera Poro in distant India. However, the conflicts that develop in it are universally applicable and enabled Handel to express through it his entire compositional maturity.

The confrontation of religions was as current at the time of the Old Testament as it is today. One such conflict takes centre stage in Handel’s oratorio Samson until its fatal outcome.

Telemann’s Passion to a text by Brockes is distinguished by its powerful emotions and their skilful realisation using rich compositional means. A rewarding alternative for Passiontide concerts.