Orfeo, a new concerto for alto saxophone for orchestra by Josefine Opsahl, receives its world premiere on 15 November with soloist Christoph Enzel and the Heilbronn Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alois Seidlmeier. The concerto will be presented at the Theodor-Heuss-Saal in Heilbronn, Germany in a Nordic programme which also features works by Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius.
Opsahl's new orchestral commission explores the ancient myth of Orpheus and what the composer describes as its 'tragic conflict between human agency and absolute fate.' She explains:
Across four distinct movements, the concerto examines the tension between free will and determinism - the desperate struggle of Orpheus’s own will against the crushing forces of what destiny compels us to endure. At its core, the work reflects the profound vulnerability of being utterly at the mercy of love, life and fate. (...) Within this framework, Orfeo Concerto for Saxophone & Orchestra lets the saxophone take on the role of the legendary protagonist, serving as a lyrical, versatile, and deeply human voice navigating a capricious, mythical and predetermined universe.
Orfeo consists of four movements: I. Allegro Volante - Turning Torso, II. Scherzo - Of Fortuna, III. Grave - Saltwater Lakes and IV. Celeste - In Oceans Dissolved. Throughout the piece, the isolated figure is in constant dialogue with the surrounding symphonic landscape before they merge at last:
Their eventual integration is not a surrender to a crushing fate, but a shared transition into a cooperative state - a mutual giving in to the reality of the music, where both forces stop resisting one another, moving as a single entity to affirm that meaning is not found in isolated defiance, but in the vulnerable, shared act of existence.
Read more about Orfeo and the thoughts behind the composition here
Performance details
15 November 2026 at 18.00
Heilbronn Symphony Orchestra
Alois Seidlmeier, conductor
Christoph Enzel, saxophone
Theodor-Heuss-Saal
Concert and Congress Centre Harmonie
Heilbronn, Germany
