Widmann scored Babylon for the following large orchester with 90 players: The work is characterized by cinematic editing techniques and various multimedia layers. Some other examples of self-quotation within the opera are Teufel Amor, Con brio, Antiphon and Messe. Example of a special musical style is Widmann's version of the Bayerischer Defiliermarsch and Tiroler Holzhackerbuab`n from his composition Dubairische Tänze in Scene III. The premiere of the revision of the opera in 2019 received positive and mostly negative 'icely' reviews. Die Welt wrote: 'alphabet soup of sound salad: orgiastic, bombastic' (' Buchstabensuppe an Klangsalat, orgiastisch bombastisch.'). Die Zeit wrote about an indifferent libretto, a monstrous score and old men's lust ( Altherrenerotik), Süddeutsche Zeitung about howling wind players, opulent pictures and strange music. The New York Times noted that Widmann's hard work received a major forum, that Sloterdijk's libretto is overstuffed and often inscrutable, and the production is extravagant. The premiere of Babylon was reviewed critically by several newspapers. The Babylon Suite is the concertante version of Widmann's opera.

The first performance of Widmann's Babylon Suite, a commission of Grafenegg Festival and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, took place on 21 August 2014 in Grafenegg under the direction of Kent Nagano. In the revision Widmann used live electronics for the first time at the end. Conductor of the new production by Andreas Kriegenburg was Christopher Ward, replacing Daniel Barenboim. Ī revised version of the opera was premiered on 9 March 2019 at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin. The production was directed by Carlus Padrissa ( La Fura dels Baus). The Bavarian State Opera presented the world premiere of Widmann's Babylon, conducted by Kent Nagano on 27 October 2012 in National Theatre Munich. The librettist Peter Sloterdijk describes life in a multi-religious and multi-cultural metropolis, the rise and fall of an empire. Librettist and composer were not held to any restrictions. The opera was composed from 2011 to 2012. The stage work Babylon was written by Jörg Widmann on a commission by the Bavarian State Opera.

Babylon 9 german grammar