It is well worth rediscovering Gabriel Fauré’s orchestral works and concertante pieces. And here, the Urtext editions from Bärenreiter’s Complete Edition can help.

Philipp Maintz has composed hängende gärten for large orchestra for the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin – an evocative allusion to the gardens of Babylon which Nebuchadnezzar II had built for his wife Semiramis. “It is precisely this image which for me best fits with the idea of this orchestral piece”, says the composer: “a park in which you can plant, garden, tend and see plants growing (yes, actually write ‘music from music’) – yet also a ‘garden of longing’ in which things should flower beautifully, but also run wild.” The first performance is on 28 May 2017 in the Philharmonie Berlin conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.

Bärenreiter Praha is publishing the A minor Violin Concerto and the Slavonic Rhapsodies, two works which urgently needed new editions.

The Göttingen Handel Festival traditionally opens with a new production of an opera – this year on May 19 it’s Handel’s opera seria Lotario. Meanwhile in Halle, the late oratorio Jephtha is presented by Halle Opera on 26 May for the opening of the Handel Festival there. Tatjana Gürbaca, one of the most sought-after directors of her generation, is responsible for this production, and the conductor is Christoph Spering. A new edition of the opulently-scored 2nd version of 1732 of the oratorio Esther, published in the Halle Handel Edition, has been prepared specially for the first performance using this edition in Halle. The performers on 3 June include top soloists, the chorus of the Capella Cracoviensis and the Italian instrumental ensemble La Risonanza conducted by Fabio Bonizzoni.

At the age of 78 Georg Philipp Telemann wrote his resurrection oratorio for Hamburg. In it he was able to draw on the full experience of his long composing career. A magnificent alternative for Passiontide concerts.

A veritable premiere of an orchestral piece found amongst Jean Barraqué’s unpublished works, and now newly edited, will take place in Cologne: the WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne under Jean-Michaël Lavoie performs Melos, a ballet music, which was entered for the Prix Biarritz in 1951. The scenario by Marie-Laure de Noailles tells of a young man’s search for the ideal art, which can easily be translated to the situation of the young composer – and culminates in an apotheosis of music. The reconstruction of the incomplete orchestration by Laurent Feneyrou, Aurélien Maestracci and Frédéric Durieux will be performed on 24 June 2017 as part of “Musik der Zeit” in the Cologne WDR Funkhaus.

The concerto, commissioned from Maurice Ravel  by Paul Wittgenstein, is the most famous work written for the pianist injured in the war.  Now it is available in an Urtext edition reflecting the latest evaluation of the sources.