Our latest 10 concerts:
A musical journey with the brass and percussion of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
The members of the Berliner Philharmoniker invite you on a musical journey from America and Russia to Asia with a delightful combination of brass instruments and percussion: Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man is answered by Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, and the meditations of a Chinese nun in Wen-Chung Chou’s Soliloquy of a Bhiksuni is contrasted with Mussorgsky’s powerful Pictures at an Exhibition.
22 Nov 2020Brass and percussionists of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Thomas GuggeisEmmanuel Pahud
Stefan Dohr on the programme
Aaron Copland · Joan Tower
Fanfare for the Common Man · Fanfare for the Uncommon WomanWen-Chung Chou
Soliloquy of a BhiksuniAndré Jolivet
Suite en concert for flute and four percussionistsEmmanuel Pahud flute
Modest Mussorgsky
Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. by Elgar Howarth)
Kirill Petrenko conducts Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony
Photo: Stephan Rabold
Following the performance of the Ninth Symphony at the end of October, the Berliner Philharmoniker with chief conductor Kirill Petrenko will now present Shostakovich’s Eighth, which will be broadcast from the Philharmonie Berlin without an audience. The stirring music, which was created in the middle of the Second World War, is characterised by not only sadness and despair but also by beauty and hope. Organised spontaneously for the Digital Concert Hall, the performance is intended for classical music fans from all over the world to bridge the period of closed concert halls.
13 Nov 2020Berliner Philharmoniker
Kirill PetrenkoDmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 8 in C minor, op. 65- free
Interview
Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Noah Bendix-Balgley
Family Concert: The Carnival of the Animals
Photo: Martin Walz
Chickens clucking, zebras running and kangaroos jumping around: Camille Saint-Saëns created colourful and captivating music about the animal world in his famous Carnival of the Animals. Which pachyderm has hidden himself in the double bass? And what strange creatures are jumping out of the xylophone? Actor Nina Hoss and the pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen go on a voyage of discovery together with the Karajan Academy, conducted by Nodoka Okisawa. As an introduction, Maurice Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye (“Mother Goose”) whisks us away to the world of animals.
01 Nov 2020
Family ConcertKarajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Nodoka OkisawaNina Hoss, Lucas Jussen, Arthur Jussen
- free
Maurice Ravel
Ma Mère l’Oye (arr. by Matthias Kaufmann) - free
Camille Saint-Saëns
The Carnival of the Animals with texts by LoriotNina Hoss speaker, Lucas Jussen piano, Arthur Jussen piano
Kirill Petrenko conducts Strauss, Shostakovich and Norman
Photo: Frederike van der Stræten
Chief conductor Kirill Petrenko presents two works that reflect the end of the Second World War in very different ways. On the one hand Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen: a web of sound for 23 solo strings that with warmth and transparency mourns a devastated world. In the case of Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony, the Soviet rulers hoped for a victory symphony – but received a bright, ironic work that refuses to rejoice. We also hear Andrew Norman’s Sabina, a sound painting full of iridescent reflections of light.
31 Oct 2020Berliner Philharmoniker
Kirill PetrenkoAndrew Norman
Sabina (arr. for string orchestra)Richard Strauss
Metamorphosen for 23 solo stringsDmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, op. 70John Cage
4′33″- free
Interview
Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Eva-Maria Tomasi
Daniel Barenboim conducts Smetana’s “Má vlast”
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Everyone knows Bedřich Smetana’s The Moldau – but almost no one knows the cycle Ma vlast, from which this wonderful river portrait is taken. But Smetana’s vision of creating a panorama of his Czech homeland is only conveyed in the complete work, with its vivid descriptions of nature and dramatic depictions of myths and historical events. At the helm of this performance is Daniel Barenboim, honorary conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, who has a particular flair for the powerful colours of late-Romantic music.
24 Oct 2020Berliner Philharmoniker
Daniel BarenboimBedřich Smetana
Má vlast (My Homeland)- free
Interview
Daniel Barenboim in conversation with Christoph Streuli
Marc Minkowski conducts Haydn and Beethoven
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
God, rebel and bringer of fire – Prometheus is one of the most important figures in Greek mythology, a shining example of the Enlightenment and a symbol of its impossibility at the same time. Many artists felt called upon to interpret his story. Beethoven reworked Prometheus’ advocacy of mankind through his theft of fire into a heroic-allegorical ballet. It is preceded by a thematically related work, Joseph Haydn’s so-called “Fire Symphony” which is characterised by a passionate, dramatic tone.
17 Oct 2020Berliner Philharmoniker
Marc MinkowskiJoseph Haydn
Symphony No. 59 in A major “Fire Symphony”Ludwig van Beethoven
The Creatures of Prometheus, ballet music, op. 43- free
Interview
Marc Minkowski in conversation with Bruno Delepelaire
François-Xavier Roth and Tabea Zimmermann
Photo: Frederike van der Stræten
Paul Hindemith is a composer close to Tabea Zimmermann’s heart. It thus comes as no surprise that as artist in residence she will perform his viola concerto Der Schwanendreher. The work owes its peculiar title to a German folk song whose melody forms the basis of the third movement. Béla Bartók was also inspired by folk music in his Divertimento. His work is based on Romanian and Hungarian dance music. The programme, conducted by François-Xavier Roth, opens with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s First Symphony, which already clearly looks ahead to the First Viennese School.
10 Oct 2020Berliner Philharmoniker
François-Xavier RothTabea Zimmermann
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Symphony in D major, Wq 183 No. 1Paul Hindemith
Der Schwanendreher, Concerto on old folk songs for viola and small orchestraTabea Zimmermann viola
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata for Viola da Gamba in D Major, BWV 1028: AndanteTabea Zimmermann viola, Marie-Pierre Langlamet harp
Béla Bartók
Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz 113- free
Interview
Tabea Zimmermann in conversation with Julia Gartemann
Marek Janowski and Noah Bendix-Balgley
Photo: Stephan Rabold
With this programme we commemorate Max Bruch, the 100th anniversary of whose death is remembered in 2020. Our 1st concertmaster, Noah Bendix-Balgley, is the soloist in this performance of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Marek Janowski. With its yearning opening movement and sparkling finale, this work became the composer’s most popular work. The second part of the concert is dedicated to Johannes Brahms, a contemporary of Bruch. His Serenade No. 2 is characterised by the dark, warm sound typical of Brahms and is considered a milestone on the composer’s path to the symphony.
03 Oct 2020Berliner Philharmoniker
Marek JanowskiNoah Bendix-Balgley
Max Bruch
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G minor, op. 26Noah Bendix-Balgley violin
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001: AdagioNoah Bendix-Balgley violin
Johannes Brahms
Serenade No. 2 in A major, op. 16- free
Interview
Noah Bendix-Balgley in conversation with Stanley Dodds
Lahav Shani and Francesco Piemontesi
Photo: Stephan Rabold
Double debut with two rising stars: Lahav Shani, successor to Zubin Mehta as music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and pianist Francesco Piemontesi, considered one of the most interesting Mozart interpreters of his generation. In this concert, he introduces himself with the last piano concerto by the First Viennese School composer. The main symphonic work is Robert Schumann’s First Symphony, which the newly married composer wrote in the euphoric mood of a new beginning.
26 Sep 2020Berliner Philharmoniker
Lahav ShaniFrancesco Piemontesi
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 27 in B flat major, K. 595Francesco Piemontesi piano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Sonata in F major K. 332: AdagioFrancesco Piemontesi piano
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, op. 38 “Spring”- free
Interview
Lahav Shani in conversation with Amihai Grosz
Kirill Petrenko and Frank Peter Zimmermann
“Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto is a piece that gets under your skin,” says violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann. Devastated by the death of Manon Gropius, the daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius, the composer created a musical memorial to the young girl with this work, and at the same time created one of the most poignant concertos of the 20th century. Antonín Dvořák strikes a completely different mood in his Fifth Symphony – one that is cheerful, relaxed and pastoral. The work is dedicated to Hans von Bülow, the first chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
19 Sep 2020Berliner Philharmoniker
Kirill PetrenkoFrank Peter Zimmermann
Alban Berg
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra “To the Memory of an Angel”Frank Peter Zimmermann violin
Johann Sebastian Bach
Violin Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005: LargoFrank Peter Zimmermann violin
Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 5 in F major, op. 76- free
Interview
Frank Peter Zimmermann on Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto “To the Memory of an Angel” - free
Interview
Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Albrecht Mayer
