The private papers of Fausto Romitelli (1963-2004), a figure of fundamental importance on the Italian and international music scene over the last thirty years, have been acquired by the Giorgio Cini Foundation Institute of Music, with thanks to a generous donation by the composer’s heirs.

On January 15, the Opéra de Rouen will host the French premiere (with libretto into French) of the Expo Opera Milo, Maya et le tour du monde (Milo and Maya around the world), a contemporary opera for young audiences (ages 6 to 14) written by Matteo Franceschini on a libretto by Lisa Capaccioli.

The world premiere of Daniele Ghisi’s An Experiment with Time for ensemble, video and electronics will be performed in Milan (Teatro Litta) on 26 January by the Divertimento Ensemble.

Ferenc Farkas (1905–2000) was an outstanding representative of 20th-century Hungarian music.

On December 8 the Opéra de Reims will present, for the first time with the reduced orchestration, Matteo Franceschini’s Zazie dans le métro, a music theatre piece on a libretto by Michel Beretti dedicated to young audiences.

The 2015-2016 opera season at the Teatro alla Scala opens on December 7 with the critical edition of Giuseppe Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco, edited by Alberto Rizzuti. The Orchestra and Chorus of Milan’s famous theatre, under the baton of its principal conductor Riccardo Chailly, will present the first performance of this opera at La Scala in 150 years. Anna Netrebko will sing the title role while Carlo VII will be interpreted by Francesco Meli. The stage direction is by the Belgian directors Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier.

As part of the 150th birthday celebrations for Sibelius, Eric Tanguy was commissioned by the composer and conductor Ville Matvejeff, musical director of the Jyväskylä Sinfonia, to write a new orchestral piece which will have its world premiere on December 9. In this interview, Tanguy tells us about the different sources of inspiration that led him to write Matka (“travel” in Finnish), and his relationship with symphonic music.

In Venice on 6 December, the world premiere of Azio Corghi’s Alzarsi in volo for soprano, reciting voice, and ensemble will be performed by the soprano Valentina Coladonato and the Ex-Novo Ensemble, who commissioned the piece. The concert will be held in the Sale Apollinee at the Gran Teatro La Fenice.

The Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin will honor the great composer György Kurtág with a Festschrift and concerts presented on December 11th and 12th, 2015. At these events, faculty, alumni, students of the school and celebrated ensembles and artists such as Tabea Zimmermann will perform chamber works, miniatures, and monumental compositions like the Kafka Fragments and the Messages of the Late R. V. Troussova.

On December 12, 2015, Concertino, a recently discovered work for piano and orchestra by Giacinto Scelsi will be premiered in Amsterdam. In the same concert, Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo will start his residency at the Concertgebouw with a new piano concerto.