With stunning natural imagery and attention to every detail, Barrie Kosky presents Tchaikovsky’s soulful drama about the hopes, longings, and failures of four young people who come to realize in the end that happiness was almost within reach.

Eugene Onegin

Schiller Theater

In the heart of the desert, three fugitive criminals establish the city of Mahagonny. This ‘paradise city’ has its own rules for living life, fueled by the wealth of men passing through from the Gold Coast. Eating, loving, boxing, and drinking are the order of the day. However, this idyllic utopia soon begins to falter, as natural disasters, excesses, violence, and corruption push the city to its breaking point.

Rise and Fall of the City of Maha­gonny

‘Imagine that the universe is beginning to sound and resonate’, Gustav Mahler once said about his Eighth Symphony. This extraordinary work is often called the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, because Mahler’s vision called for such a huge ensemble: two mixed choirs, a boys’ choir, eight soloists, a massive orchestra, an organ, and an additional brass section. ‘Veni, creator, spiritus!’ It is with this Pentecost hymn invoking the Holy Spirit that the symphony’s first movement begins. For the second movement, Mahler draws upon the final scene of Goethe’s Faust II: ‘The noble part of the spirit has been saved from evil’. Angels and other celestial ‘flight attendants’ lift Faust’s soul—rescued from the clutches of the devil—up to the realm of the ‘Eternal Feminine’. Faust, an early pioneer of grand visions and soaring ideas, fits perfectly into the industrial architecture of Tempelhof. It is here that Mahler’s Eighth Symphony will truly ‘sound and resonate’ as never before, especially with Music Director James Gaffigan himself in the cockpit, guiding our flight through Mahler’s universe.

The thou­sand at Tem­pel­hof

Tempelhof Airport

When the Parisian composer Lili Boulanger took Psalm 130 ‘Du fond de l’abîme’ and set it to music in a darkly opulent, lyrical style, she was already acutely aware that her life—marked by serious illness but wholly dedicated to music—would not be long. In his own Requiem Op. 48, Gabriel Fauré (an early admirer and supporter of Boulanger’s exceptional talent) sought to depict death as peaceful and consoling. With subtle nuance and great depth, the choral soloists of the Komische Oper Berlin, led by choir director David Cavelius, are presenting late Romantic masterpieces of French sacred music. Meanwhile, the renowned Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna will unlock the radiant power of the Konzerthaus organ with Francis Poulenc’s expressive Concerto for Organ in G minor.

Hubert Zapiór

Events

Upcoming events

Jun 29, 2026

Sacre Choir · Komische Oper Berlin

Past events

Jan 16 - Feb 1, 2026

Eugene Onegin · Komische Oper Berlin

Dec 6, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny · Komische Oper Berlin

Future and recently performed repertoire

Jewgeni Onegin in Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky

Komische Oper Berlin

Bill in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Weill

Komische Oper Berlin

Ecstatic Father in Symphony No. 8 by Mahler

Komische Oper Berlin

About

Hubert Zapiór hasn't added a bio

Hu­bert Za­piór

Events

Upcoming events

Jun 29, 2026

Sacre Choir · Komische Oper Berlin

Past events

Jan 16 - Feb 1, 2026

Eugene Onegin · Komische Oper Berlin

Dec 6, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026

Rise and Fall of the City of Maha­gonny · Komische Oper Berlin

Future and recently performed repertoire

Jewgeni Onegin in Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky

Komische Oper Berlin

Bill in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Weill

Komische Oper Berlin

Ecstatic Father in Symphony No. 8 by Mahler

Komische Oper Berlin

About

Hu­bert Za­piór hasn't added a bio

Hubert Zapiór

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny · Komische Oper Berlin

Hubert Zapiór hasn't added a bio