Frank Peter Zimmermann has performed both of Bohuslav Martinů’s violin concertos with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In an interview the violinist talks about the beauties and challenges of these works.

With his four symphonic poems, Camille Saint-Saëns placed himself firmly in the tradition of Hector Berlioz and Franz Liszt. The first critical editions offer an opportunity for new interpretations based on authoritative primary sources, both in the 2021 anniversary year (the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death) and well beyond.

Based on a source not previously evaluated, Haig Utidjian has edited the organ version of Dvořák’s Mass in D major, complemented for the first time by the composer’s additional cello and double bass parts.

“Splendour” could stand as the heading for Matthias Pintscher’s last composition in his “Shirim” cycle, which now receives its premiere as a complete work. As the fourth part and conclusion of his Shirim cycle, Matthias Pintscher has set the third chapter of the Song of Solomon for baritone, chorus and orchestra. In this, there is mention of splendour, the entrance of King Solomon himself, of the costliness of the treasures and robes, the shimmering gold swords of his accompanying retinue

Ľubica Čekovská has composed “Liberte” for mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra for the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution on 17 November 1989 in Bratislava. Recollections of the largely peaceful transition from socialism to democracy in Czechoslovakia thirty years ago are full of ambivalence for the Slovak composer.

It might seem audacious to venture to place any piece of music alongside the gigantic symphonic creations of Gustav Mahler. And yet this is the essence of the commission from the Jena Philharmonic and its Music Director Simon Gaudenz for the composer Andrea Scartazzini. A short, self-contained orchestral work has been composed to complement each of the Mahler symphonies, each relating to Mahler’s music and intellectual world.

Almost fifty years after the first edition of Bohuslav Martinů’s 4th Piano Concerto „Incantation“, Bärenreiter-Verlag is publishing new material based on the Critical Complete Edition.