What are 260 years? Goldoni’s “The Impresario from Smyrna” can be effortlessly transferred to our time, for people still risk their necks in the theatre business today. Ľubica Čekovská’s new opera makes a musico-dramatic tragicomedy out of the subject matter.

The new production of the opera “Lanzelot” in Weimar was hailed as a “sensation” and a “rediscovery of the first rank”. Four other operas by Paul Dessau await a revival on the stage.

The new edition of the opera “Dardanus” by Jean-Philippe Rameau in the version from May 1744 presents the work in the definitive form intended by the Composer.

For his opera “Alessandro” Handel was able to engage the best singers of his day in 1726. Today too, the work, with its fictitious plot, continues to offer ample subject matter for a bravura opera evening.

In keeping with the Austrian-Spanish wedding festivities, the old couple Philemon and Baucis become a young couple. Gluck’s one act “Atto di Bauci e Filemone” with its bravura arias deserves to be revived.

The first concert performance of the fragmentary surviving early version of the opera „Sosarme“ planned for 1 April 2020 at the London Handel Festival has unfortunately had to be cancelled. Handel fans are now hoping to hear „Fernando“ on 5 June at Handel Festival Halle in the Freylinghausen Saal of the Francke Foundation with soloists and the orchestra of Opera Settecento conducted by Leo Durate. Performance material specially created for this occasion from the Halle Handel Edition will be used for the first time.

In its structure Handel’s “Il pastor fido” is a rather modest work. But the music and plot offer plenty of opportunities for an effective theatrical experience.