Classical concerts featuring

Benjamin Bruns

Karneval in Rom

The Carnival in Rome

Parsifal

In his “Parsifal”, Wagner created a complex world of its own. It is complex because it consists of so many heterogeneous elements whose meaning is hard to comprehend, frequently drawing us onto paths leading nowhere. Thus, the many religious signs, symbols and rituals can only be understood as partial elements pointing to a world which must be interpreted as a whole. Elements of Christianity, such as the last supper, the goblet, blood, the spear and dove, or Schopenhauer’s idea that compassion might release man from his egocentricity, as well as Gnostic and Manichean motifs lead to partial interpretative approaches which are unsuitable for “Parsifal” as a whole. A theatrical world, however, can design a fictional cosmos in which all these elements can effectively participate, leaving the audience to interpret its own experiences as it sees fit. Director, Set-, Costume- and Lightdesign: Achim Freyer Artistic Collaboration: Sebastian Bauer Set Design Collaboration: Moritz Nitsche Costume Design Collaboration: Petra Weikert Light Design Collaboration: Sebastian Alphons Video: Jakob Klaffs/Hugo Reis Dramaturgy: Klaus-Peter Kehr Premiere: 16.9.2017

Parsifal

In his “Parsifal”, Wagner created a complex world of its own. It is complex because it consists of so many heterogeneous elements whose meaning is hard to comprehend, frequently drawing us onto paths leading nowhere. Thus, the many religious signs, symbols and rituals can only be understood as partial elements pointing to a world which must be interpreted as a whole. Elements of Christianity, such as the last supper, the goblet, blood, the spear and dove, or Schopenhauer’s idea that compassion might release man from his egocentricity, as well as Gnostic and Manichean motifs lead to partial interpretative approaches which are unsuitable for “Parsifal” as a whole. A theatrical world, however, can design a fictional cosmos in which all these elements can effectively participate, leaving the audience to interpret its own experiences as it sees fit. Director, Set-, Costume- and Lightdesign: Achim Freyer Artistic Collaboration: Sebastian Bauer Set Design Collaboration: Moritz Nitsche Costume Design Collaboration: Petra Weikert Light Design Collaboration: Sebastian Alphons Video: Jakob Klaffs/Hugo Reis Dramaturgy: Klaus-Peter Kehr Premiere: 16.9.2017

Parsifal

In his “Parsifal”, Wagner created a complex world of its own. It is complex because it consists of so many heterogeneous elements whose meaning is hard to comprehend, frequently drawing us onto paths leading nowhere. Thus, the many religious signs, symbols and rituals can only be understood as partial elements pointing to a world which must be interpreted as a whole. Elements of Christianity, such as the last supper, the goblet, blood, the spear and dove, or Schopenhauer’s idea that compassion might release man from his egocentricity, as well as Gnostic and Manichean motifs lead to partial interpretative approaches which are unsuitable for “Parsifal” as a whole. A theatrical world, however, can design a fictional cosmos in which all these elements can effectively participate, leaving the audience to interpret its own experiences as it sees fit. Director, Set-, Costume- and Lightdesign: Achim Freyer Artistic Collaboration: Sebastian Bauer Set Design Collaboration: Moritz Nitsche Costume Design Collaboration: Petra Weikert Light Design Collaboration: Sebastian Alphons Video: Jakob Klaffs/Hugo Reis Dramaturgy: Klaus-Peter Kehr Premiere: 16.9.2017

Parsifal

In his “Parsifal”, Wagner created a complex world of its own. It is complex because it consists of so many heterogeneous elements whose meaning is hard to comprehend, frequently drawing us onto paths leading nowhere. Thus, the many religious signs, symbols and rituals can only be understood as partial elements pointing to a world which must be interpreted as a whole. Elements of Christianity, such as the last supper, the goblet, blood, the spear and dove, or Schopenhauer’s idea that compassion might release man from his egocentricity, as well as Gnostic and Manichean motifs lead to partial interpretative approaches which are unsuitable for “Parsifal” as a whole. A theatrical world, however, can design a fictional cosmos in which all these elements can effectively participate, leaving the audience to interpret its own experiences as it sees fit. Director, Set-, Costume- and Lightdesign: Achim Freyer Artistic Collaboration: Sebastian Bauer Set Design Collaboration: Moritz Nitsche Costume Design Collaboration: Petra Weikert Light Design Collaboration: Sebastian Alphons Video: Jakob Klaffs/Hugo Reis Dramaturgy: Klaus-Peter Kehr Premiere: 16.9.2017

Daniel Barenboim conducts Mahler

Throughout the 60-year span of his collaboration with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Barenboim has never conducted the music of Gustav Mahler. Until now. Two late works can be heard, beginning with the expressive Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony. Painful melancholy prevails here, as it does in Das Lied von der Erde (Songs of the Earth), which looks back on the lost beauty of life. Formally located between a song cycle and a symphony, this work was, according to Mahler, “probably the most personal thing I have done so far”.

Daniel Barenboim conducts Mahler

Throughout the 60-year span of his collaboration with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Barenboim has never conducted the music of Gustav Mahler. Until now. Two late works can be heard, beginning with the expressive Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony. Painful melancholy prevails here, as it does in Das Lied von der Erde (Songs of the Earth), which looks back on the lost beauty of life. Formally located between a song cycle and a symphony, this work was, according to Mahler, “probably the most personal thing I have done so far”.

Daniel Barenboim conducts Mahler

Throughout the 60-year span of his collaboration with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Barenboim has never conducted the music of Gustav Mahler. Until now. Two late works can be heard, beginning with the expressive Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony. Painful melancholy prevails here, as it does in Das Lied von der Erde (Songs of the Earth), which looks back on the lost beauty of life. Formally located between a song cycle and a symphony, this work was, according to Mahler, “probably the most personal thing I have done so far”.

Mahler Festival: Daniel Barenboim, Berliner Philharmoniker - Symphony No. 10 & Das Lied von der Erde

One of the world's most legendary orchestras, the Berliner Philharmoniker, will be led by Daniel Barenboim on the final night of the Mahler Festival. 'The Tenth is and remains music of the future,' the legendary pianist and conductor says of Mahler's swan song. He also conducts the impressive non-symphony Das Lied von der Erde. Vocal soloists in Das Lied are Dorottya Láng and Benjamin Bruns.The world is turning - roughly the tenor of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. In texts inspired by Chinese poems, life is seen as a continuous stage of transition. In both this work and the Tenth Symphony, the idea of mortality played a major role. Mahler knew he was incurably ill, and had also lost his infant daughter. He had lost everything and had to 'learn to walk like a newborn again', he wrote to a friend. That did not come to pass. Of the Tenth Symphony, he completed only the stirring Adagio, performed tonight by the Berliner Philharmoniker.