It’s very much alive, the art form of opera. Contemporary music theatre fills the theatres, like grand opera for a large audience.

Philipp Maintz has composed hängende gärten for large orchestra for the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin – an evocative allusion to the gardens of Babylon which Nebuchadnezzar II had built for his wife Semiramis. “It is precisely this image which for me best fits with the idea of this orchestral piece”, says the composer: “a park in which you can plant, garden, tend and see plants growing (yes, actually write ‘music from music’) – yet also a ‘garden of longing’ in which things should flower beautifully, but also run wild.” The first performance is on 28 May 2017 in the Philharmonie Berlin conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.

A veritable premiere of an orchestral piece found amongst Jean Barraqué’s unpublished works, and now newly edited, will take place in Cologne: the WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne under Jean-Michaël Lavoie performs Melos, a ballet music, which was entered for the Prix Biarritz in 1951. The scenario by Marie-Laure de Noailles tells of a young man’s search for the ideal art, which can easily be translated to the situation of the young composer – and culminates in an apotheosis of music. The reconstruction of the incomplete orchestration by Laurent Feneyrou, Aurélien Maestracci and Frédéric Durieux will be performed on 24 June 2017 as part of “Musik der Zeit” in the Cologne WDR Funkhaus.

Manfred Trojahn’s great composition for soloists, choral groups and ensemble, Les dentelles de Montmirail receives its premiere at the Festival “Acht Brücken” in Cologne on 1 May. It is part of his cycle Quitter after René Char. The “Dentelles de Montmirail” is a mountain range near Mont Ventoux, which René Char took as the theme for his third last poem in his cycle. Of the eight poems, Trojahn has already set four to music and premiered these. With this poem, the most extensive section now follows, both in terms of scoring and of length. The premiere will be given by the Vokalsolisten Köln and Ensemble Modern conducted by Duncan Ward. – (photo: Dietlind Konold)

Miroslav Srnka’s move 03 for large orchestra will be premiered at the Printemps des Arts in Monte-Carlo on 2 April. move 03 belongs to a series of short orchestral pieces which Srnka has been working on since 2015. Miroslav Srnka: “Initially I started from a loose combination of pieces in the tradition of symphonic dances.  ‘move’ is also reminiscent of ‘movement’ – the English name for a symphonic setting. Of the three existing moves, move 03 is closest to such a ‘movement’. It is the most independent of the three pieces, because it is also the most heterogeneous …”. The premiere with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice is conducted by Pierre-André Valade. – (photo: Vojtĕch Havlík)

Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini’s third opera follows on from his earlier works with a subject full of archaic power. Edward II was commissioned by the Deutsche Oper Berlin and receives its first performance on 19 February 2017. The opera tells a story from the England of the 14th century about King Edward II, who ruled for twenty unhappy years and left a country in chaos. Power struggles, affairs and intrigues about Edward’s homosexual relationships provide a theatrical subject matter for a drama of relationships and politics. Following Scartazzini’s successful collaboration with the librettist Thomas Jonigk on Der Sandmann, the team comes together again with director Christof Loy for this production. Thomas Søndergård conducts.

For the anniversary year “Luther 2017. 500 Jahre Reformation" Charlotte Seither has composed Inschrift for choir and orchestra, a commentary on Bach’s cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden  BWV 4. It can be performed following on from this cantata, but also as an independent work, and is scored for the same forces as the original work (choir and strings), with the addition of two recorders and (several) trombones playing the chorale melody. The premiere on 30 April in the Erlöserkirche Herten/Recklinghausen will be given by the Hertener Kantorei with members of the Dortmund Philharmonie conducted by Elke Cernysev. – (photo: Marco Bussmann)