As early as 1960, George Frideric Handel’s Dixit Dominus was published as part of the then comparatively new Halle Handel Edition (HHA III/1). Eberhard Wenzel edited this volume, primarily intended for practical performance use, and hoped back then in 1960 that it would “enrich the Handelian repertoire for church and concert hall by the addition of a valuable, interesting and strongly effective work”. This intention was more than fulfilled, and in the intervening years, Handel’s youthful, demanding Dixit Dominus of 1707 has become a quintessential staple of the Baroque repertoire.

The new Urtext edition of Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Blessed Virgin is suitable for performing the complete work or excerpts.

(20.11.2012) With two premieres and other works which contrast compositions by Debussy and Mozart, Manfred Trojahn is the subject of a concise retrospective at the Dialogues Festival Salzburg. The premieres are Musique for soprano and ensemble after three chansons by Claude Debussy (28.11.2012), and Libera me for low strings and solo tenor (2.12.2012). A further premiere will be given by the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt: Contrevenir for ensemble (2.12.2012) followed by first performances in Rome and Amsterdam.

(5.2.2013) Thomas Daniel Schlee’s Rufe zu mir op. 80 for organ and orchestra receives its premiere on 23 February 2013 in the Gewandhaus Leipzig, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, with Michael Schönheit as soloist. It receives its first Austrian performance shortly afterwards on 5 March in Vienna. The composition has been commissioned by Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Vienna. Thomas Daniel Schlee describes his concertante music for orchestra and solo organ as a “symphonic scene”. Its title places a sentence after Isaiah at its centre, which Schlee wants to understand “as a magical power”. “Rufe zu mir, dann werde ich dir antworten” [Call to me, and I will answer you] sets both the poetic mood and the musical programme.

[10.10.2012] After her extensive composer portrait at St. Martin’s, Kassel, at which 27 works were performed, Charlotte Seither’s new projects all place a characteristic spectral sonority at their centre.

Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag Wien is offering a new supplement to the Complete Bruckner Edition – a practical performing edition of the orchestral parts.

Antonín Dvořák’s dramatic ballad The Spectre's Bride composed in 1883 promises a powerful musical impact. The revised vocal score is now available from Bärenreiter Praha.