Leoš Janáček’s symphonic fragment Dunaj (The Danube) dates from the period of the composition of “Katya Kabanova”. The composer was not concerned with a musical-picturesque description of a river landscape, but with the mythical link between women’s destinies and water.

Rossini composed only a few works in the last years of his life. These include the Petite Messe Solennelle which was performed privately. This chamber music version with two pianos and harmonium exists in two versions. These are now being presented for the first time in a single edition.

During Handel’s lifetime Ezio only received five performances, yet the work, which deals freely with an episode from the end of the Roman Empire, deserves to be rediscovered. This is now possible, using the Halle Handel Edition as a secure scholarly basis.

Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No. 2 “Intimate Letters” belongs to those works whose performance history has been shaped by adaptations made by its interpreters.

Erstmals werden nun in der Neuedition im Rahmen der Kritischen Gesamtausgabe der Werke von Leoš Janáček die Schichten der Komposition freigelegt.

Handel’s penultimate oratorio was not a success. A total of just five performances were arranged. The subject matter was evidently too unfamiliar for Londoners. Now Theodora is being published in the Complete Edition, with vocal score and performance material.

The Handel anniversary year continues apace with three festival productions using newly-published volumes from the Halle Handel Edition: Schwetzingen is the first on 21 May with Ezio (director: Günter Krämer, conductor: Attilio Cremonesi), Halle follows on 5 June with Il Floridante (Vincent Boussard / Christopher Moulds) and Salzburg completes the trio beginning on 25 July with a new production of Handel’s last oratorio Theodora in the Großes Festspielhaus (Christof Loy / Ivor Bolton). There’s a particularly unusual contribution from the Leipzig Bach Festival: on 17 and 18 June, at the Kulturgut Ermlitz (near Leipzig), Georg Philipp Telemann’s arrangement of Handel’s Riccardo Primo will be presented for the first time using the recently-published volume in the Telemann Edition (Andreas Baumann / Michael Schönheit).

Armide, Thésée and the Comédies-ballets. Thanks to the Complete Edition, Jean-Baptiste Lully begins to take his place again on the stage. Another Baroque composer who is assuming his place in the first rank.