Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin | Cornelius Meister

Deutsches Philharmonie-Orchester Berlin

A very unique musical dawn of spring awaits the audience with a singular selection of famous modern and romantic orchestral pieces under the direction of Igor Budinstein. A rousing programme full of the energy of Ravel’s »Bolero!« and works by Romantics such as Debussy and Bizet.

Meister & Müller

»No original feeling … nothing but technical skill, calculation and inner deceit, a sickly, ill-tasting Supermusic«, an outraged critic wrote of the premiere of Mahler’s Fourth in Munich in 1901. Today we speak of a masterpiece. One can love or hate Mahler’s symphonies: some suffer vicariously with them, understanding their loneliness and loving their melancholy. Others find them outré, self-indulgent, hysterical. In the Fourth, it’s all not so bad. »We revel in heavenly pleasures«, it says at the end.

Essener Jugend-Symphonie-Orchester Beethoven 9. Sinfonie

The Essen Philharmonic and Essen Youth Symphony Orchestra, celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2023, collaborate to perform Beethoven's monumental Ninth Symphony. Gustav Mahler's richer, more romantic orchestration gives the piece a unique character.

Meister in Bad Kissingen

Musikfest Berlin: Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Joana Mallwitz

For the second time in a row, the Konzerthausorchester and chief conductor Joana Mallwitz will be guests at the Musikfest. The solo parts in both works on the programme will be sung by the French-Cypriot soprano Sarah Aristidou, who has made a name for herself particularly in the field of contemporary music. In 1971, composer Luigi Nono met with artists and politicians in Chile, including Luciano Cruz Aguayo, one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Left. Back in Italy, he learnt of the young man's accidental death. Nono then composed a kind of ‘secular requiem’ for the activist, which was intended not only to convey grief but also the motivation to continue his social struggle. To this end, the composer set a memorial poem by Julio Huasi to Luciano, which was also given the title ‘Como una ola de fuerza y luz’ (Like a wave of strength and light). Among Mahler's symphonies, No. 4 is comparatively straightforward in terms of instrumentation and length. There is ‘much laughter’ in it, the composer assured us in a letter after its completion in 1901. However, the feeling that hilarity and horror exist side by side and that the idyll is not to be trusted creeps in as soon as the retuned solo violin plays in the second movement. And if you listen very carefully to the text of the ambiguous Wunderhorn song ‘Das himmlische Leben’, you will learn that, at least for the ox and lamb, heaven in the land of milk and honey is not full of violins, as a German saying goes.

Musikfest Berlin 2024

Many people consider Julian Prégardien a Frenchman, but in fact he comes from a clan of tenors from Frankfurt. He first sang to praise the Lord as a choirboy; as a teenager, he was crazy about the rock band Nirvana. But he ultimately could not escape the family genes: a Berliner by choice, he has become a modern singer with a melts-in-your-mouth tenor voice. At the Musikfest Berlin he will transform into Mahler’s wayfarer in love, yearning for the »blue eyes of my beloved«, as it says in one of the songs.

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor Berlin

Really old and extremely lively: For many seasons now, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin has been demonstrating how thrilling music from the 17th to the early 19th century can sound in its own series at the Konzerthaus Berlin.Bach's „St Matthew Passion“ was premiered for the second time in 1829 - in the Singakademie building in Berlin, which is now home to the Maxim Gorki Theatre. The conductor was Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who was only twenty years old. He paved the way for a Bach renaissance with the version he arranged and shortened. In the era of Viennese Classicism, Bach's music had simply hardly ever been performed. The Passion, however, which was first presented to the congregation of St Thomas' Church in Leipzig in 1727, is one of the most haunting musical depictions of the story of the crucifixion.

Festkonzert 70 Jahre Akademisches Orchester Leipzig

Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Iván Fischer

Mozart's “Magic Flute” is a masterpiece of the 18th century that reflects the moral concepts of the time with regard to the roles of men and women. Iván Fischer wants to confront parts of this favorite opera with 21st century values. He concentrates on well-known arias and scenes: Reversed gender roles of central characters invite an unexpected new listening experience as well as reflection. For example, a King of the Night, interpreted by the outstanding countertenor Samuel Mariño, appears as the antagonist of the powerful Sarastra, sung by Deniz Uzun. Iván Fischer also plays with the music itself, for example when he has the famous overture performed not only by the Konzerthausorchester but also by the Vocalconsort Berlin.