Our latest 10 concerts:
Teodor Currentzis’ debut with Verdi’s Requiem
Photo: Stephan Rabold
The reviews were rapturous: when Teodor Currentzis conducted Verdi’s Requiem at the Elbphilharmonie in April, it had the high suspense of a psychological thriller. For his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Currentzis conducts the same work, in which Verdi describes the existential terrors of a human being in the face of death. And by bringing all his experience as an opera composer into play, he creates a unique fusion of liturgy and human emotion.
30 Nov 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Teodor CurrentzismusicAeterna chorus
Giuseppe Verdi
Messa da RequiemZarina Abaeva soprano, Annalisa Stroppa mezzo-soprano, Sergej Romanowsky tenor, Evgeny Stavinsky bass, musicAeterna chorus
- free
Interview
Teodor Currentzis in conversation with Sarah Willis
Zubin Mehta conducts Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony
Photo: Stephan Rabold
The Berliner Philharmoniker and their honorary member Zubin Mehta are travelling to Japan – with Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony. Zubin Mehta confesses to feeling particularly close to this mammoth work. Above all, the warm-sounding Adagio is “among the greatest Romantic movements, and when the cellos and violas sing out freely in the second theme, it breaks your heart”. Before setting off for Japan, the conductor and orchestra present their tour programme at the Berlin Philharmonie.
08 Nov 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Zubin MehtaAnton Bruckner
Symphony No. 8 in C minor (2nd Version from 1890)- free
Interview
Zubin Mehta in conversation with Walter Küssner
Zubin Mehta conducts Strauss and Beethoven
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
In this concert, Zubin Mehta and the Berliner Philharmoniker present musical tales of heroes. On the one hand, there is the knight Don Quixote, who in his fanciful imagination experiences exciting adventures with giants, robbers and a flying horse – inspiring Richard Strauss to create a wonderfully effective score. In contrast, the hero in Beethoven’s Eroica remains anonymous – it is rather a principle that is celebrated here: the determined struggle for a better world.
02 Nov 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Zubin MehtaAmihai Grosz, Ludwig Quandt
Richard Strauss
Don Quixote, Symphonic Poem, op. 35Amihai Grosz viola, Ludwig Quandt cello
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, op. 55 Eroica- free
Interview
Zubin Mehta in conversation with Eva-Maria Tomasi
François-Xavier Roth and Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Photo: Stephan Rabold
Pierre-Laurent Aimard is one of the foremost musicians of our time – a “thinker at the piano” (The Washington Post). Together with François-Xavier Roth, general music director of the city of Cologne, he performs Béla Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto, a work permeated by a soft parlando tone and gentle melancholy. The other works on the programme are wonderfully energetic – albeit in very different ways: Joseph Haydn’s Fire Symphony, and Arcana by Edgard Varèse.
26 Oct 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
François-Xavier RothPierre-Laurent Aimard
Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 59 in A major “Fire Symphony”Béla Bartók
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3, Sz 119Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano
Béla Bartók
Dance Suite, Sz 77Edgard Varèse
Arcana for large Orchestra (revised version from 1960)- free
Interview
Pierre-Laurent Aimard in conversation with Stephan Koncz - free
Interview
François-Xavier Roth in conversation with Stephan Koncz
“Late Night” concert with François-Xavier Roth
Photo: Stephan Rabold
Most of Edgard Varèse’s works are witty miniatures. But at the time of their creation nearly a hundred years ago, they embodied a tangible revolution – with new forms of composition and a hitherto unknown fusion of sound and music. This is shown, for example, by the famous Ionization in which percussion, pianos and sirens create a mysterious nocturnal scene. In this Late Night concert, François-Xavier Roth presents original works by the French composer.
26 Oct 2019
Late Night at the PhilharmonieMembers of the Berliner Philharmoniker
François-Xavier RothEdgard Varèse
Poème électronique for Audio TapeEdgard Varèse
Ionisation for 13 PercussionistsEdgard Varèse
Density 21.5 for Solo FluteEdgard Varèse
Octandre for seven Winds and Double BassEdgard Varèse
Intégrales for small Wind Orchestra and PercussionEdgard Varèse
Hyperprism for Winds and Percussion InstrumentsEdgard Varèse
Offrandes, 2 Pieces for Soprano and Chamber OrchestraSarah Aristidou soprano
- free
Interview
François-Xavier Roth in conversation with Jan Schlichte
Emmanuelle Haïm conducts Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks”
Photo: Stephan Rabold
In Handel’s famous Music for the Royal Fireworks, Baroque music shows its most magnificent side. In this concert, the work will be conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm, who in energetic performances repeatedly succeeds in “unleashing the wild and daring side of the Baroque” (The New York Times). The second part of the concert is dedicated to Handel’s cantata Apollo e Dafne – an early work that in sometimes highly virtuosic and enchantingly delicate arias reveals Handel’s interest in Italian opera.
19 Oct 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Emmanuelle HaïmLucy Crowe
Henry Purcell
Suite from The Fairy QueenGeorge Frideric Handel
Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351George Frideric Handel
Apollo e Dafne, Cantata for Soprano, Bass, Flute, Oboe, Strings and Continuo, HWV 122Lucy Crowe soprano
- free
Interview
Emmanuelle Haïm in conversation with Jonathan Kelly
Janine Jansen plays Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
Photo: Frederike van der Stæten
The New York Times attests that the violinist Janine Jansen has “a kind of radiant modesty”, and indeed: even in moments of utmost virtuosity, her performances captivate with introspection and substance. This ability is particularly well demonstrated in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, which, despite its fast yet expressive tempos, is always interspersed with subtle nuances. To bring the concert to a close, Paavo Järvi conducts Robert Schumann’s sonorous and exuberant Rhenish Symphony.
12 Oct 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Paavo JärviJanine Jansen
Jean Sibelius
Tapiola, Symphonic Poem, op. 112Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, op. 35Janine Jansen violin
Johann Sebastian Bach
Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004: SarabandeJanine Jansen violin
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, op. 97 “Rhenish”- free
Interview
Paavo Järvi in conversation with Sarah Willis
Works by Mozart and Haydn with Adam Fischer and Julia Lezhneva
Photo: Attila Nagy
He has conducted an acclaimed Ring in Bayreuth, is a guest of the foremost symphony orchestras and an honorary member of the Wiener Staatsoper – and yet: Adam Fischer is still considered one of the conducting world’s best kept secrets. The audience of the Berliner Philharmoniker can now experience him conducting symphonies by composers who are particularly close to his heart: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn. The highly virtuoso soprano Julia Lezhneva is also a guest as the soloist in a Mozart aria and a Haydn cantata.
05 Oct 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Adam FischerJulia Lezhneva
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 36 in C major, K. 425 “Linz”Joseph Haydn
“Berenice, che fai”, Cantata for Soprano and Orchestra, Hob. XXIVa No. 10Julia Lezhneva soprano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Chʼio mi scordi di te”, Recitative and Aria for Soprano, Piano obbligato and Orchestra, K. 505Adam Fischer conductor and piano, Julia Lezhneva soprano
Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 104 in D major- free
Interview
Adam Fischer in conversation with Christoph Hartmann
Iván Fischer and Anna Vinnitskaya
Overwhelming virtuosic, magnificently colourful, sometimes Romantic, sometimes avant-garde: such is Sergei Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto with which the internationally acclaimed pianist Anna Vinnitskaya makes her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Iván Fischer, who stands in for Mikko Franck, also presents two works of musical Impressionism: Ravel’s famous ballet music Daphnis et Chloé and Debussy’s Printemps – a wonderful early work, full of freshness and optimism.
28 Sep 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Iván FischerAnna Vinnitskaya
Einojuhani Rautavaara
ApotheosisSergei Prokofiev
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in G minor, op. 16Anna Vinnitskaya piano
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
April. Snowdrop, op. 37a no. 4Anna Vinnitskaya piano
Claude Debussy
Printemps (Version for Ochestra)Maurice Ravel
Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2- free
Interview
Anna Vinnitskaya in conversation with Raphael Haeger
Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Alice Sara Ott
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
The London Telegraph described pianist Alice Sarah Ott as the “hottest new talent in classical music”. She now makes her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker performing Ravel’s vibrant, jazz-influenced Piano Concerto in G major. Another artist making his debut is the Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, who shows the music of his homeland from its most passionate side: with Jean Sibelius’s Tchaikovsky-inspired First Symphony, and music by the internationally too little known Uuno Klami.
21 Sep 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Santtu-Matias RouvaliAlice Sara Ott
Uuno Klami
Kalevala Suite, op. 23: 4. Cradle Song for Lemminkäinen · 5. The Forging of the SampoMaurice Ravel
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G majorAlice Sara Ott piano
Frédéric Chopin
Nocturne in C-sharp minor, opus posth.Alice Sara Ott piano
Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 1 in E minor, op. 39- free
Interview
Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Alice Sara Ott in conversation with Wenzel Fuchs
