Flavius Bertaridus is Telemann’s sole surviving opera seria. Following the first performance of the new edition in 2008 in Magdeburg, this highly emotive drama in the Italian style is being revived by the renowned Innsbruck Festival of Early Music from 10 August. In the co-production with the Hamburg State Opera, the director is Jens-Daniel Herzog and Alessandro de Marchi conducts the choir and orchestra of the Academia Montis Regalis.

Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass has an extremely complicated genesis and presents an intricate set of problems for an editor. Now, an authoritative edition has been published as part of the complete edition.

A scholarly-critical edition of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem is an editorial adventure, since the composer expanded the work several times after the premiere of the “small” version of 1888. The edition in the new Fauré complete edition offers a convincing solution.

There is still a great deal to discover amongst Christoph Willibald Gluck’s operatic works, beyond the well-known Reform operas. One such work is Telemaco, the Dramma per musica premiered in Vienna in 1756, which combines traditional and progressive stylistic elements in fascinating ways. Tobias Kratzer directs the ‘magic opera’ at the Schwetzingen Rococo Theatre; performers include the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Anu Tali (21, 22, 24 and 26 May).

Zaïs, the fairy-story opera, now published in the complete edition of Rameau’s works “Opera Omnia Rameau”, is characterized by daring musical experiments and the theme of freemasonry.

New gems are constantly emerging from the large output of works by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The latest volumes of the Complete Edition are devoted to music theatre at court and church music for the sun king Louis XIV.

The Handel Festival Halle continued its outstanding series of first performances using newly-published volumes in the Complete Edition with three major vocal works this year: the first of these was the opera Ottone on 3 June (Marcus Creed / Franziska Severin), followed on 7 June by the seldom-performed Occasional Oratorio (MDR Radio Choir and The English Concert, conducted by Howard Arman). The crowning conclusion was Handel’s last oratorio Jephtha on 12 June, also performed the following day at the Göttingen Handel Festival (Salzburg Bach Choir and Handel Festival Orchestra, conducted by Bernhard Forck).

Bild links: Coronation of the Emperor Otto II. and his wife Theophanu, ca. 980