Programme Guide

2022 began with a festive concert celebrating the 50th birthday of the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker – and there will also be a performance by the ensemble at its end: in the Christmas concert for the whole family, conceived and presented by Philharmoniker horn player Sarah Willis. Other guests at this special concert are children of the Berliner Philharmoniker – and perhaps even Santa Claus himself will make an appearance...

The programme includes works from Brazil, America, France, Russia and Germany, which are popular precisely because of their rich local colour. Franz Xaver Gruber’s “Silent Night, Holy Night” is probably the best-known Christmas carol of all and was first sung to guitar accompaniment on Christmas Eve 1818. It was translated into numerous languages and spread around the world.

Music brings people together: not even the Cold War could prevent the waltz from the Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 2 by the Russian Dmitri Shostakovich and the Moonlight Serenade by the American Glenn Miller from bringing joy to both sides of the Iron Curtain. The French song Fleur de Paris gained a similarly international following. The hope for peace is particularly expressed in these works, which unite people across national borders.