Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” is probably the most frequently-performed Russian opera. But its success was not assured from the outset. Now this stagework is being published by Bärenreiter in an edition reflecting the latest state of research, taking into consideration the somewhat complicated history of its composition. The new edition finally clears up the many mistakes and inconsistencies in the previous editions of the score. It follows the 1885 St Petersburg version which can be regarded as the final authorised version since Tchaikovsky prepared it for the second edition of the score published by Jürgenson in 1891.

Philipp Maintz places an instrumental protagonist from his chamber opera “Thérèse” after Émile Zola at the centre of his new ensemble work “c’est une volupté de plus”: the accordion, as the secret protagonist in the septet, forms a kind of musical continuation and a portrait of the main character Thérèse Raquin, whose affair ends in the murder of her husband and suicide: “her search, her hope for an escape and the associated futility which becomes despair – this all becomes ‘music out of music’”, says Philipp Maintz. The ensemble LUX:NM gives the first performance on 22 January 2022 at the “Ultraschall” Festival in Berlin. Philipp Maintz’s ever-growing cycle of chorale preludes now encompasses the organ world like a web. The next premieres take place in Berlin and Dortmund: Konstantin Reymaier gives the first performance of the chorale prelude XLVIII (“der tag, mein gott, ist nun vergangen”) on 20 February 2022 in the Church “Zur frohen Botschaft” in Berlin-Karlshorst. And Hansjörg Albrecht gives the first performance of the chorale prelude XLVI (“morgenglanz der ewigkeit”) on the organ of the Konzerthaus Dortmund on 9 March 2022. Further first performances will follow over the coming months.

With the concert performance of Rameau’s opéra ballet “Les Surprises de l’amour” on 26 January in the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungarian conductor György Vashegyi and his Orfeo Orchestra continue the series of first performances using the “Opera Omnia Rameau”. The Centre de musique baroque de Versailles once again shares the production. The one-act “Adonis” from the little-known first version of 1748, not performed for another 274 years, is sure to be of particular interest to connoisseurs and admirers of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s work.

During the dramatic early months of the pandemic in 2020 Matthias Pintscher composed some highly expressive works. His concerto “Assonanza” for solo violin and chamber orchestra originated from a composition for Leila Josefowicz, a seemingly unending melody in a sweeping dramatic gesture which narrates the greatest tensions and inner turmoil. “Assonanza” receives its premiere on 28 January 2022 in Cincinnati and will also be live-streamed on 29 January. Shortly before this, Pintscher’s preceding work “Mar’eh” for violin and orchestra will be performed on 22 January in Berlin. The performers are Diego Tosi (violin) and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin conducted by the composer. Pintscher’s orchestral work “neharot”, says the composer, was written “during the worst period of the many daily deaths in the spring of 2020 ... and is a clear echo of the desolation and fear, but also the hope for light that so emotionally characterized this time in our lives.” The title is significant: “Neharot’ means rivers in Hebrew, but also tears. It also describes lamentation.” The German premiere on 3 February 2022 is also the start of Pintscher’s position as “Capell-Compositeur 2021/22” with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. The Swiss premiere follows in Geneva, conducted by Pintscher on 9 February 2022 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. (Photo: Franck Ferville)

On 10 February 2022 Jules Massenet’s “Thaïs”, a major work of French 19th century opera, will be performed at La Scala, the legendary Italian opera house. Directed by star director Olivier Py, the conductor is Lorenzo Viotti, chief conductor at Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, and one of the most sought-after conductors of the up-and-coming generation. The main roles are luxuriously cast with Mariana Rebeca, Ludovic Tézier and Giovanni Sala. The production benefits from research findings made by the French musicologist  Fabien Guilloux, which are documented in his critical new edition in the series “L‘Opéra français”, and can now be evaluated for practical use for the first time.

Originally scheduled for May 2020 and postponed because of the Corona pandemic, Torsten Rasch’s new stage work “Die andere Frau” to a libretto by Helmut Krausser, commissioned by the Semperoper Dresden, will now receive its first performance on 22 January 2022. Immo Karaman directs the biblical love story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, sung by Markus Marquart, Magdalena Anna Hofmann and Stepanka Purcalkova. Michael Wendeberg conducts the Sinfoniechor and Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. Further performances follow on 30 January, and 2 and 9 February.

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Anna Skryleva, General Music Director in Magdeburg, made a virtue out of necessity brought about by the pandemic for the new production of Mozart’s last opera she conducted in May 2020, reducing the orchestral writing to just twenty musicians in a careful, yet sensitive arrangement. The result is a translucent chamber music version, which promises to become an attractive option for smaller opera houses well beyond the current restrictions. The performance material is now available on hire from Bärenreiter/Alkor.