Name: Joliphanto
Start: 2026-04-18T12:00:00
Location: Alte Oper

Anna Blume

Anne Smorra

Miroslava Stareychinska

Alte Oper Frankfurt

There is an acute risk of congestion in front of the ‘Alte Oper’ multi-storey car park (operator: Parkhausbetriebsgesellschaft). Please allow sufficient time for your journey. You can find an up-to-date overview of the parking spaces currently available in Frankfurt city centre here.

Buena Vista Social Club

Alte Oper

In 2002, Wim Wenders made his personal contribution to a major project produced by Martin Scorsese with the film The Soul of a Man, a poetic homage to the music that shaped his life. The project was a collection of seven films exploring the essence of the blues. Wenders focused on the life stories of three blues musicians, Skip James, J. B. Lenoir and Blind Willie Johnson, and commissioned contemporary musicians such as Lou Reed, Nick Cave and Cassandra Wilson to reinterpret their songs. "These songs meant the world to me," says Wenders. 'I felt there was more truth in them than in any book or film about America that I had read or seen. I tried to convey what touched me so deeply about these songs and these three unique voices of the blues in the form of a story, rather than in a 'documentary' way."

The Soul of a Man

Wim Wenders and Wolfgang Niedecken have been close friends for almost four decades. Both hail from the Rhineland and have a strong connection to music. They also both work as painters. Wenders' film Alice in the Cities had as much of an impact on Niedecken as BAP's music had on Wenders. Last but not least, a joint film project brought the director and singer closer together. In 2001, Wim Wenders shot a major documentary about the history of the Cologne rock band BAP and its founder. The conversation between the filmmaker and the singer explores these similarities and the different perspectives on artistic work.

Wim Wenders im Gespräch mit Wolfgang Niedecken

With his vlogs, humorous posts and captivating piano interpretations, Louis Philippson has inspired millions to take an interest in classical music and has gained almost 800,000 followers. In autumn 2024, he successfully participated in the ‘Night of the Proms’ concert series in large venues in Belgium and Germany, alongside pop greats such as Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Shaggy and Max Giesinger.

Louis Philippson

You've never seen the Four Seasons like this! A fascinating multimedia experience for all the family.

Germany from above - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

The world-famous Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis (1925–2021) is considered the most important Greek composer of the 20th century. For decades, he shaped the history of modern Greece with his compositions and his political activism. His countless songs have been performed by Maria Farantouri, Melina Mercouri, the Beatles, Shirley Bassey, Nat King Cole, Édith Piaf and Milva, among others.

Benefit concert celebrating 100 years of Mikis Theodorakis – a tribute

An encounter with the great Romantic spirit: Under the baton of 21-year-old Maximilian Haberstock, founder of the Young Philharmonic Orchestra of Munich, outstanding young musicians from more than twenty-five nations come together – a new generation of excellence. Together with the exceptional American pianist Maxim Lando, they perform Wagner’s Prelude to „Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg“, Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 – three milestones of Romantic passion and symphonic power. Youthful energy, precision, and remarkable artistic maturity combine in a concert that vividly reveals what the future of orchestral music-making can sound like.

Munich Young Philharmonic Orchestra

Despite its timelessness, the music of the great Romantic composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) can sound completely 'contemporary' when heard through the ears of Hans Zender. In his 'composed interpretation', Zender - for many years a central figure in Frankfurt's musical life as a composer, conductor and university lecturer - has liberated 'Winterreise', composed in 1827, from the dignified atmosphere of the concert hall and restaged it as an existential world theatre for voice and small orchestra with a disconcerting power of sound. The Ensemble Modern was involved in the premiere at the Alte Oper in 1993, but Julian Prégardien is now also an intimate connoisseur of the score. The celebrated tenor has sung the vocal part not only on stage but also in the recording studio, delighting audiences and critics alike. It would be difficult to find a more expert interpretation of Zender's 'Winterreise' than this.

Ensemble Modern

The Isidore String Quartet takes its name from Isidore Cohen, longtime member of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Juilliard Quartet. Cohen remains an icon of the American chamber music world and a pillar of New York's Juilliard School, where the members of the Isidore Quartet studied and came together as an ensemble inspired by the example of the Juilliard Quartet. Founded in 2019, the quartet used the time without a performance due to the coronavirus to work intensively on its ensemble sound and was rewarded with the first prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022, the most important chamber music competition on the American continent. Since then, the quartet's career has gone from strength to strength, and it is now the leading young ensemble in the USA, as well as touring Europe every year. For their Frankfurt concert, the 'Isidores' are bringing a brand new quartet by jazz pianist Billy Childs, which will receive its German premiere here, and Antonín Dvořák's great Symphonic G Major Quartet.

Isidore String Quartet

‘Mahler's soul sings its farewell!’ - There are many famous words like this about the 9th Symphony. And they often refer to farewell, the end, the abyss. This deeply moving work is an end point in sound - and at the same time a high point of the entire genre, of the era. ‘The orchestra is famous for its Mahler interpretations, and I will continue that,’ promised Alain Altinoglu in 2021 when he took up the post of Chief Conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. The Frenchman's Mahlerian approach is rich in detail, attentive to structure and crystallising colours. And in the Ninth, the colours are not exactly the brightest, naturally, because: This is not about failure in the pursuit of personal happiness, but about a failure of the world as a whole. It is not just Mahler the man who sees himself before the abyss, he sees humanity there - the Ninth as a universal requiem. Arnold Schönberg coined one of the winged words about this work: ‘It seems that the Ninth is a limit. If you want to go beyond it, you have to leave.’ Because: ‘Those who wrote a Ninth were too close to the hereafter.’ (hr-Sinfonieorchester)

hr Symphony Orchestra

A dose of energy for your lunch break: you don't need any instruments or electronics to get the Mozart Hall humming. The Jazzchor Freiburg stands for exquisite, precise choral culture, rousing grooves and unusual programmes. We have always tried to sing music that no other choir has sung before. That means a lot of pioneering spirit and development work," says Bertrand Gröger, explaining the concept of the vocal collective, which he founded in 1990 and has successfully toured the world with ever since. The choir is now making its debut at the Alte Oper as part of the lunchtime concerts, a half-hour concentrated programme of original a cappella arrangements of pop and jazz numbers. This will be followed by a light lunch in our foyers.

Jazzchor Freiburg

German Brass owes its success to its sound. As a pioneer among brass ensembles, German Brass has not only made music history since its founding in 1974, but continues to build on its success story. The ten solo wind players are particularly distinguished by their uncompromising commitment to creating the genuine sound of their ensemble, finding and reinventing it in every concert and every recording. German Brass celebrates sound – and thus creates an experience for the audience.