For each of the ten Mahler symphonies, Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini has composed a short orchestral work which contemplates Mahler’s music and intellectual world. The end of April sees the premiere of the fourth piece, “Incantesimo”.

Miroslav Srnka has composed a concerto for the harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and the Gürzenich-Orchester Cologne. François-Xavier Roth conducts the premiere. Srnka follows this with a short “Encore” for the Mahler Competition in Bamberg. Three questions to the composer.

Theatre as a reflection of the world: Carlo Goldoni’s “L‘impresario delle Smirne” is a turbulent piece about the opera business. The Bregenz Festival is staging a contemporary version by Ľubica Čekovská and the librettist Laura Olivi in an updated version, adapted to the Corona situation. The opera “Impresario Dotcom” is about today. Six characters – five singers and an agent – seek a financial backer. The protagonists are called Olympia, Violetta, Carmen, Tamino and Orfeo, and come from all over the world. The inherent tragedy of the characters in their roles resonates in each case. “We all play roles in our lives”, says Ľubica Čekovská, “and it’s about the question of who we are, who the people behind these are.” The premiere of this special opera will be conducted by Christopher Ward, in a production by Elisabeth Stöppler on 20 August 2020 (and on 21 August) in the Festspielhaus Bregenz.

“Splendour” could stand as the heading for Matthias Pintscher’s last composition in his “Shirim” cycle, which now receives its premiere as a complete work. As the fourth part and conclusion of his Shirim cycle, Matthias Pintscher has set the third chapter of the Song of Solomon for baritone, chorus and orchestra. In this, there is mention of splendour, the entrance of King Solomon himself, of the costliness of the treasures and robes, the shimmering gold swords of his accompanying retinue

Ľubica Čekovská has composed “Liberte” for mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra for the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution on 17 November 1989 in Bratislava. Recollections of the largely peaceful transition from socialism to democracy in Czechoslovakia thirty years ago are full of ambivalence for the Slovak composer.

It might seem audacious to venture to place any piece of music alongside the gigantic symphonic creations of Gustav Mahler. And yet this is the essence of the commission from the Jena Philharmonic and its Music Director Simon Gaudenz for the composer Andrea Scartazzini. A short, self-contained orchestral work has been composed to complement each of the Mahler symphonies, each relating to Mahler’s music and intellectual world.

On 22 October Manfred Trojahn celebrates his 70th birthday. Although is too early for an assessment of his life and work, Gerhard R. Koch traces some of the directions and milestones in the composer’s work.