Family concert: The Heath Hare Song Contest

What does it sound like when hares and rabbits hold a singing competition? The Berliner Philharmoniker provide the answer in the children’s opera The Heath Hare Song Contest, in which Lodengrün the hare wins the hand of the beautiful hare princess thanks to his wonderful voice. The piece is performed in German, but with a little imagination, it’s not too hard to work out what’s going on.

In Germany, this tale has been popular with music lovers both young and old ever since the author James Krüss wrote it in 1952. It was the orchestra’s own trombonist Thomas Leyendecker who developed the piece for performance in the Philharmonie with new arrangements of many well-known opera melodies – as well as taking on the role of the shady director, Wackelohr. The roles of the other hares will be taken by his philharmonic colleagues and by school children from Berlin. You can look forward to a funny, exciting piece with everything that a good opera should have: love, intrigue and plenty of wonderful music.