There are big Danish opera events in the offing. The Royal Danish Opera is responsible for three of them - three operas we are really looking forward to: the revival of Poul Ruders' international success The Handmaid's Tale in September 2003; the premiere of Bent Sørensen's Under the Sky in March 2004; and in 2005 follows the premiere of Poul Ruders' next opera The Trial. All three operas are published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen, and we are hard at work with this major task, which has rubbed off on this issue of Notations, where we turn the focus on new Danish opera.
An opera production is something special - not only for the composer, the librettist, the director, the opera house and the singers, but also for the publisher, editors and music copyists. Long before orchestra, conductor and singers go to work on the rehearsals we have been out in the remotest nooks and crannies of the operatic process. Kilometres of music have been written out and proofs have been read into the wee, wee hours. Big operas are a huge, time-consuming job - but also a really fun job that demands close cooperation between composer and publisher. It is a privilege to be allowed to follow the composer's work on the opera at such close quarters as we do, and we share in all the deliberations, problems and pleasures that crop up from the celebration of the commission until the finale of the opera has been notated. But the greatest thrill is of course to see the finished opera unfold on the stage with singers and orchestra.
In this Notations we unveil a little preview of what we can expect from the upcoming major opera productions at the Royal Theatre. At the same time we take the opportunity to relive a small selection of the earlier big opera experiences that we hope (and work to ensure) that Danish and foreign audiences will be able to experience again.
But it isn't all opera: you can also read Marianne Granvig's report from the Odense Symphony Orchestra's world premiere of Peter Bruun's The Same Fountain; or let Bent Lorentzen tell you about how you get a piano concerto down to sinfonietta size; or find out about our latest works and the coming performances of new Danish/Nordic music with the WH signature.
In other words, open up Notations and let the music flow.
