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.

At the Salzburg Easter Festival, „Thérèse“ by Philipp Maintz to a libretto by Otto Katzameier receives its premiere. A multi-layered plot and its reflection in the music awaits the audience.

With the new edition of George Frideric Handel’s most popular opera „Giulio Cesare“, opera houses now have the opportunity to recreate all four versions of the work and to choose the most appropriate one.

The first performance of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Comédie-Ballet „Les Paladins“ was a failure from which the work did not recover for a long time. Today it strikes us as a jewel with many opportunities for presentation on the stage.

83 years before George Frideric Handel’s opera „Serse“ was premiered, Francesco Cavalli had opened his dramma per musica „Il Xerse“ with the very same verses. The work very probably received its first performance on 12 January 1655 in Venice. The text was by Cavalli’s preferred librettist Nicolò Minato, whose work was revised by Silvio Stampiglia, the version also used by Handel. Cavalli’s original version of “Serse” quickly established itself in Italy and was even performed in France for Louis XIV in 1660, but today it is little known. On 25 July there is a thrilling opportunity to rediscover this opera at the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, Apulia, perhaps comparing it with Handel’s setting. Director Leo Moscato and conductor Federico Maria Sardelli, with his early music ensemble “Il modo antiquo”, perform „Il Xerse“ for the first time using the new critical edition from the „Opere di Franceso Cavalli“.

Gluck, „a young man of the highest abilities and a fiery spirit“, composed his opera „Antigono“ for Rome. In July this thrilling stage work can be heard once again in Bayreuth.