Our latest 10 concerts:
Daniel Harding conducts Mahler’s First Symphony
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
The music of Gustav Mahler stands on the threshold of Modernism: sometimes sceptical, sometimes self-confident, and yet despite occasional nostalgic impulses, it is always decidedly innovative. Daniel Harding juxtaposes Mahler’s First Symphony with works by Alban Berg and Charles Ives, contemporaries whose musical language has similarities as well as major differences to Mahler. An exciting journey of discovery.
29 Mar 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Daniel HardingDorothea Röschmann
Charles Ives
Orchestral Set No. 1: “Three Places in New England”Alban Berg
Three Fragments from WozzeckDorothea Röschmann soprano
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 in D major- free
Interview
Daniel Harding in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
Sir Simon Rattle conducts Schumann and Lachenmann
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
During his Berlin years, the adventurous exploration of contemporary music was as important to Simon Rattle as work on the traditional repertoire. This double focus also characterises this evening with Helmut Lachenmann’s My Melodies for eight horns, in which the solo instruments reveal many surprising tonal facets. The finale of the concert is Schumann’s Second Symphony, with an exuberance which repeatedly borders on mania.
23 Mar 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon RattleHelmut Lachenmann
My Melodies Music for 8 Horns and OrchestraStefan Dohr french horn, Stefan de Leval Jezierski french horn, Georg Schreckenberger french horn, Sarah Willis french horn, Andrej Zust french horn, Klaus Wallendorf french horn, Thomas Jordans french horn, Marie-Luise Neunecker french horn
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 2 in C major, op. 61- free
Interview
Helmut Lachenmann in conversation with Sarah Willis
Jörg Widmann conducts the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie
The Junge Deutsche Philharmonie is one of the best youth orchestras in Germany. For this year’s performance at the Berlin Philharmonie, the ensemble has invited a threefold talent: Jörg Widmann is a composer, clarinetist and conductor, and in this concert presents himself in all three functions – with the clarinet sonata in E flat major by Felix Mendelssohn which he has transcribed for orchestra, Robert Schumann’s Second Symphony, and his 2005 Mass for Orchestra.
18 Mar 2019Junge Deutsche Philharmonie
Jörg Widmann- free
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Sonata for clarinet and piano in E-flat major: Andante (arranged for clarinet, string orchestra, harp and celesta by Jörg Widmann)Jörg Widmann clarinet
- free
Jörg Widmann
Messe for large orchestra - free
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 2 in C major, op. 61 - free
Interview
Jörg Widmann in conversation with Dorothea Schröder
Bach’s “St John Passion” with Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars
Photo: Stephan Rabold
A double reunion: for the first time since the end of his tenure as chief conductor of the orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle returns to the Berliner Philharmoniker. The programme features one of the most sensational productions of those years: Bach’s St. John Passion in the production of Peter Sellars, which uses intensive imagery to accentuate the meditative as well as the dramatic dimensions of the work. The singers include the Rundfunkchor Berlin and a top-class ensemble of soloists.
16 Mar 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon RattleRundfunkchor Berlin, Peter Sellars
Johann Sebastian Bach
St John Passion, BWV 245: Part 1Magdalena Kožená mezzo-soprano, Camilla Tilling soprano, Georg Nigl baritone (Petrus), Mark Padmore tenor (Evangelist), Roderick Williams baritone (Jesus), Andrew Staples tenor, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Simon Halsey chorus master, Peter Sellars staging
Johann Sebastian Bach
St John Passion, BWV 245: Part 2- free
Interview
Peter Sellars talks about Bach’s “St John Passion”
Kirill Petrenko and Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
In this concert, Kirill Petrenko made his last appearance with the Berliner Philharmoniker before taking up office as their chief conductor. First, soloist Patricia Kopatchinskaja showed how much virtuosity and expressive variety there is in Arnold Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto. Then came Tchaikovsky’s passionate Fifth Symphony in a performance full of power and dedication, “with a final passage like a casting out of devils .... The hall was completely breathless with enthusiasm and anticipation of what the future holds” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).
09 Mar 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Kirill PetrenkoPatricia Kopatchinskaja
Arnold Schoenberg
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, op. 36Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin
Maurice Ravel
Duo No. 1 for violin and celloPatricia Kopatchinskaja violin, Bruno Delepelaire cello
Darius Milhaud
Jeu for violin and clarinetPatricia Kopatchinskaja violin, Andreas Ottensamer clarinet
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, op. 64- free
Interview
Patricia Kopatchinskaja talks about Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto - free
Interview
Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Stanley Dodds
“Late Night” concert with Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Photo: Marco Borggreve
The mysterious, expressionistic miniatures of Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire cycle are perfect for a Late Night concert. The wonderful violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who enjoys the experimental, recites the poems that underlie the work. The concert also includes waltzes by Johann Strauss II in arrangements by Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. In these arrangements, Patricia Kopatchinskaja returns to her usual role as a violinist.
09 Mar 2019
Late Night at the PhilharmonieMembers of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
George Enescu
Ménétrier (The Country Fiddler), No. 1 from Impressions dʼenfance (Childhood Impressions), op. 28Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin
Arnold Schoenberg
Pierrot lunaire, op. 21, 1st PartPatricia Kopatchinskaja speaker, Egor Egorkin flute, Manfred Preis clarinet, Krzysztof Polonek violin, Naoko Shimizu viola, Ludwig Quandt cello, Tamara Stefanovich piano
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Presto in C minor, Wq 114/3, H. 230Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin, Ludwig Quandt cello
Johann Strauss (Sohn)
Kaiserwalzer, op. 437 (arr. for chamber ensemble by Schoenberg)Krzysztof Polonek violin, Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin, Naoko Shimizu viola, Egor Egorkin flute, Manfred Preis clarinet, Tamara Stefanovich piano
Arnold Schoenberg
Pierrot lunaire, op. 21, 2nd PartPatricia Kopatchinskaja speaker, Egor Egorkin flute, Manfred Preis clarinet, Krzysztof Polonek violin, Naoko Shimizu viola, Ludwig Quandt cello, Tamara Stefanovich piano
Johann Strauss (Sohn)
Schatzwalzer, op. 418 (arr. for string quartet, piano und Harmonium by Webern)Krzysztof Polonek violin, Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin, Naoko Shimizu viola, Ludwig Quandt cello, Heike Gneiting harmonium, Tamara Stefanovich piano
Arnold Schoenberg
Pierrot lunaire, op. 21, 3rd PartPatricia Kopatchinskaja speaker, Egor Egorkin flute, Manfred Preis clarinet, Krzysztof Polonek violin, Naoko Shimizu viola, Ludwig Quandt cello, Tamara Stefanovich piano
- free
Interview
Patricia Kopatchinskaja talks about Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire
Zubin Mehta and Martin Grubinger
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Martin Grubinger, the “multi-percussion star, who runs around between his many instruments during his performances with dizzying acrobatics” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) makes his debut here with the Berliner Philharmoniker. The concert includes Peter Eötvös’s Speaking Drums where Grubinger can demonstrate his breathtaking versatility. Conductor Zubin Mehta also presents Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s exotic and powerful Scheherazade Suite.
02 Mar 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Zubin MehtaMartin Grubinger
Edgard Varèse
IntégralesPeter Eötvös
Speaking drums, Four Poems for percussion solo and orchestraMartin Grubinger drums
Martin Grubinger
Planet RudimentNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite, op. 35- free
Interview
Martin Grubinger in conversation with Philipp Bohnen - free
Interview
Zubin Mehta in conversation with Noah Bendix-Balgley - free
Interview
Zubin Mehta named honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Piano recital with Daniil Trifonov
“He has everything and more, there is tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that,” was how Martha Argerich expressed her astonishment at Daniil Trifonov, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Artist in Residence this season. He can now be heard in a solo recital in the Philharmonie. With works by Beethoven, Schumann and Prokofiev, he travels through the almost one and a half centuries when piano music flourished.
21 Feb 2019Daniil Trifonov
Ludwig van Beethoven
Andante favori in F major, WoO 57Daniil Trifonov piano
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata in E flat major, op. 31 No. 3Daniil Trifonov piano
Robert Schumann
Bunte Blätter, op. 99Daniil Trifonov piano
Robert Schumann
Presto Passionato (First Version of the finale from the Piano Sonata Nr. 2, op. 22)Daniil Trifonov piano
Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No. 8 in B flat major, op. 84Daniil Trifonov piano
Sergei Rachmaninov
Vocalise, op. 34 no. 14 (arr. Daniil Trifonov)Sergei Rachmaninov
Silver Bells, op. 35 no. 1 (arr. Daniil Trifonov)- free
Interview
Daniil Trifonov in conversation with Shirley Apthorp
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Debussy and Prokofiev
Photo: Michael Trippel
The culmination of this concert with Yannick Nézet-Séguin is Sergei Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, a both overpowering and vivid work, which also includes “the primitive nature of Russian song ... in its melodies” (A. Khachaturian). The French-Canadian Nézet-Séguin opens the concert with French repertoire: Maurice Ravel's charming Menuet antique and Claude Debussy's dazzling La Mer – a masterpiece of musical Impressionism.
15 Feb 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Yannick Nézet-SéguinMaurice Ravel
Menuet antique (orchestrated by Maurice Ravel)Claude Debussy
La MerSergei Prokofiev
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, op. 100- free
Interview
Yannick Nézet-Séguin in conversation with Albrecht Mayer
Marek Janowski conducts Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
The international press praised Marek Janowski’s complete recording of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies for its “verve” and “passion for detail”. In this concert, he turns to the Sixth whose appeal, in contrast to other Bruckner symphonies, lies less in metaphysical aspects than in its decisive forward drive. The concert also includes Bruckner’s E Minor Mass, whose orchestration consisting exclusively of wind instruments evokes an intriguingly archaic atmosphere.
01 Feb 2019Berliner Philharmoniker
Marek JanowskiRundfunkchor Berlin
Anton Bruckner
Mass No. 2 in E minor (2nd Version from 1882/1885)Rundfunkchor Berlin, Gijs Leenaars chorus master
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 6 in A major- free
Interview
Marek Janowski in conversation with Rainer Seegers
