The Berliner Philharmonie is abuzz with excitement as it hosts a compelling series of events that promise to captivate music enthusiasts and cultural connoisseurs alike. From the jubilant 50th anniversary of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie to the thought-provoking discourse on political dynamics in Germany, the Philharmonie is a hub of artistic and intellectual engagement. Highlights include the renowned Easter Festival in Baden-Baden featuring timeless operatic masterpieces, and intimate lunch concerts offering a diverse mix of musical genres. Join us in exploring the vibrant tapestry of events that define this cultural epicenter.

A Symphony of Sound: Celebrating Musical Mastery at the Berliner Philharmonie

From the spontaneous Lunch Concerts to the thought-provoking Carte blanche series, the Berliner Philharmoniker presents a diverse array of musical experiences in 2025. This season includes a mix of classical pieces, youth talent showcases, and tributes to legendary composers, all set in the heart of Berlin and beyond. Join us as we explore the vibrant atmosphere and unique offerings of these events, featuring contributions from renowned conductors and emerging artists alike.

The Berliner Philharmoniker: A Symphony of Cultural Experiences

Berlin offers a rich tapestry of musical experiences, hosting an array of events from spontaneous lunch concerts to grand orchestral performances. The Berliner Philharmoniker plays a pivotal role in curating these events, offering everything from chamber music and film scores to interactive children's concerts and anniversary celebrations. With each event showcasing a unique blend of tradition and innovation, audiences are treated to performances by both seasoned musicians and rising stars, making Berlin a vibrant hub for music enthusiasts.

Exploring the Melodic Wonders: An Insight into Berlin's Dynamic Concert Events

As the summer of 2025 unfolds, the Berliner Philharmoniker embarks on a magnificent tour across Japan, captivating audiences with timeless classics from Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Following this, they return to Europe for a historic performance at the Dresdner Musikfestspiele led by maestro Kirill Petrenko. This article delves into the highlights of these remarkable events, celebrating the artistry and talent of the musicians involved, and exploring their contribution to the global orchestral scene.

A Global Symphony: Unveiling The Berliner Philharmoniker's Japan Tour and Dresdner Musikfestspiele Performance

During the era of the Iron Curtain, the orchestral guest appearance of Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic at the very first edition of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele in 1978 was legendary. It was followed by several others after the fall of the Wall, led by the chief conductors of the time.

Mayer − Berliner Philharmoniker − Petrenko

Kulturpalast Dresden

Japan tour

Kawaguchiko Park

Aichi Arts Center

Nakanoshima Festival Tower

Summer, energy, passion – Gustavo Dudamel and the Berliner Philharmoniker invite you to a end-of-season concert at the Waldbühne. The Venezuelan conductor performed at this venue back in 2008 under the motto Los ritmos de la noche. It was his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and was met with great acclaim by the audience. Dudamel now celebrates the end of the season with the orchestra in the open air for the fourth time. The programme will include rousing dances from Bernstein’s musical West Side Story, in which Latin American sounds and rhythms are all-pervasive.

End-of-season concert: Berliner Philharmoniker and Gustavo Dudamel at the Waldbühne

Waldbühne

The young musicians of the Karajan Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker invite you to a unique concert evening dedicated to Beethoven. With fresh perspectives and musical passion, they curate the programme alongside special guests.

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#Beethoven

Berliner Philharmonie

Every orchestra is a living organism and is constantly changing: With the Berliner Philharmoniker, too, familiar faces leave and retire year after year. New musicians come in their place - and many of them quickly become audience favourites. We would like to use the summer matinee to introduce you to some of these newcomers. Among them is first principal viola Diyang Mei, who has already made history by being the first Chinese to join the orchestra. He has lived in Germany since 2014, where he won the prestigious ARD Music Competition in 2018. You can also look forward to the new principal timpanist, the young Austrian Vincent Vogel, who inherited his teacher Rainer Seegers in this position in 2022: almost a Philharmoniker dynasty. A total of four new members will be available to answer questions at this welcome matinee. And, of course, they will also inspire you with their instrumental skills.

Matinee of the Friends of the Berliner Philharmoniker e. V. “Introduced: New Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker”

In our new series Ausklang, you can experience the Berliner Philharmoniker in a condensed form. A single major work is featured, followed by a relaxed get-together in the foyer, including a free drink. This time the conductor is Gustavo Dudamel, famous for his dynamism and charisma. We will hear Peter Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony - music that is full of longing, warmth and radiance, just as it tells of man’s rebellion against his fate. This is a battle fraught with drama, interrupted by an airy waltz in the third movement.

“Ausklang” (Finale) Gustavo Dudamel conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony

Beethoven’s dramatic and heroic Egmont Overture is well-known and much loved. However, very few listeners know the extensive incidental music that Beethoven also wrote Goethe’s drama Egmont. Gustavo Dudamel gives us the opportunity to hear how vividly the composer depicts the fate of the Dutch prince Egmont in music: his triumphs, his love, his failure. Fate also plays a central role in Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, symbolised by a relentless motif that runs through the entire work. The composer uses it to mirror his own struggles with himself and the world – passionately, stirringly, movingly.

Gustavo Dudamel conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fifth

At our youngSTAR Festival, Berlin’s school ensembles take over the stages of the Philharmonie Berlin for four days, performing in front of capacity audiences. Once again we invited school orchestras, jazz ensembles, rock and pop bands from Berlin to take part in our four-day festival from June 10-13, 2024.

youngSTAR Festival

At the interactive concerts for children aged 3 and over, the immediate encounter with music, dance and rhythm gets every fibre of the body vibrating. Each concert is dedicated to a different instrument, played by members of the Berliner Philharmoniker or the Karajan Academy. In the upper foyer of the chamber music hall, a shared stage area is created that brings children and artists together. Our young guests sit on cushions in the centre of the stage and experience magical stories without words. Seating for accompanying adults surrounds the performance area. The entire audience is encouraged to join in!

Interactive concert “Plitsch-platsch”

Colourful, festive, refined – Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” surprises us not only with its unexpected use of the organ, but also with its delicate sound textures. Kazuki Yamada, chief conductor of the orchestras in Birmingham and Monte-Carlo, conducts the work in his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker; the organ part is played by Sebastian Heindl.The symphany will be preceded by two different kinds of water music: Ottorino Respighi’s gaudy, shimmering tone poem Fontane di Roma and Tōru Takemitsu’s mystical I Hear the Water Dreaming, featuring our solo flautist Emmanuel Pahud.

Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” and Respighi’s “Fontane di Roma”

In the popular chamber music series “Workshop.Dialogue.Music”, musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker introducing themselves and their instruments, and talking in a relaxed atmosphere about the works presented, their interpretation and their approach. Questions and a dialogue with the audience are very welcome! A new feature is that visitors can enjoy a French breakfast from 11:00 onwards, before the concert begins at 11:30. Breakfast is included in the ticket price.

“Workshop.Dialogue.Music” Concert breakfast at the Palais Populaire

PalaisPopulaire

For 25 years, curator and cellist Götz Teutsch has been bringing music and literature together in the Philharmonic Salon. A wide variety of cultural worlds have been experienced. The series has presented the Mendelssohn family and their guests, traced the travels of the legendary Casanova, and brought Gustav Mahler's Vienna to life. This anniversary concert, featuring actor Heikko Deutschmann and soprano Anna Prohaska with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, is all about art and kitsch – two worlds that are particularly captivating when they overlap.

25 years “Philharmonic Salon”

What would films like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones or Harry Potter be without his extraordinary music? John Williams, superstar of American film music, gave all these blockbusters their unmistakable sound. His soundtracks provide so much more than catchy tunes; they lend depth and nuance to both stories and characters. In 2021, John Williams made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker, leading the audience through the cosmos of his work. This season brings a new opportunity to hear him conduct his own music: a major event, not just for film fans.

John Williams conducts John Williams

Whether in the 19th or 20th century: The string quartet is the supreme genre of chamber music, and every composer must consider it. Robert Schumann’s quartet cycle op. 41 is a stroke of genius; members of the Berliner Philharmoniker play numbers 1 and 3. Inspired by the quartets of Beethoven and Mendelssohn, Schumann created his own musical cosmos, full of poetry and instrumental song. Our late Composer in Residence Wolfgang Rihm, on the other hand, favours contrasts in his Fourth String Quartet. On the one hand, his work appears brusque, passionate and effervescent; on the other, tender, intimate and poetic.

String quartets by Schumann and Rihm

He is a rising star among conductors: Klaus Mäkelä is just 29 years old, and already chief conductor designate of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra. With Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, he will be able to open a magnificent panorama of sound. The work takes us through a day in the mountains, across flowery meadows, through thunderstorms and storms. Wolfgang Rihm also favours lush sounds in Transitus III. “I love the intricate web of orchestral possibilities,” says our Composer in Residence, who died in 2024, “the creation of states, and of transformations.”

Klaus Mäkelä conducts Richard Strauss’ “Alpine Symphony”

Sona Jobarteh is the first professional female kora player to have conquered a previously male domain. She comes from a family of Gambian musicians with a long tradition of playing the kora, a 21-stringed West African bridge harp. Until now, women were only allowed to sing to the sounds of the kora – Sona Jobarteh combines both in her meditative music-making. Born and raised in London, she studied both classical music and traditional African music. Sona Jobarteh shows us how well tradition and innovation can complement one another.

World Sona Jobarteh – The magic of the African harp

Diverse tonal colours, intense emotions: These qualities characterise the music of the Romantic period. This concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra shows just how broad an expressive spectrum could be encompassed by works from this period. Franz Schubert is featured, with his lyrical and intriguing “Unfinished” Symphony and melancholy “Lacrimoso son io”; also on the programme are Mendelssohn's liltingly lively “Scottish”’ Symphony and Richard Wagner's Siegfried Idyll: a tender declaration of love to his wife Cosima. Raphaël Pichon, best-known for his refreshing approach to early music, conducts.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Raphaël Pichon

With its brick-red façade, a gleaming white entrance area and a magnificent red and gold auditorium, the venue for this year’s European Concert, Bari’s Teatro Petruzzelli, is an architectural jewel. Under the direction of Riccardo Muti, the Berliner Philharmoniker will present a mixed programme of Italian and German music. Rossini’s rousing William Tell Overture and the atmospheric ballet music from Verdi’s opera The Sicilian Vespers exude Italianità. Completing the programme, the dusky mixture of yearning and consolation in Brahms’ Second Symphony make the work a seminal example of late German Romanticism.

Europakonzert Riccardo Muti and the Berliner Philharmoniker in Bari

Teatro Petruzzelli

Guest performance Künzelsau

Carmen Würth Forum

The Ninth Symphony is Gustav Mahler’s last completed work – an expressive farewell and at the same time a visionary anticipation of musical modernism. Since Mahler did not live to see the premiere of his Ninth, he could not complete his customary final revisions of the instrumental balance. “This provides a special challenge for all those who interpret this musical testament when examining the musical text,” says Kirill Petrenko. He is joined in this delicate task by the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Guest performance Kirill Petrenko with Mahler’s Ninth

Philharmonic Essen

Museum Ludwig

Mitsuko Uchida is the grande dame of the piano – and one of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s  close artistic companions. Her elegant, gripping and sensitive playing makes her an ideal interpreter of the piano works of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. In the final concert of our piano series, we will hear her perform Beethoven's Piano Sonata in E minor, which journeys between contemplative calm and passionate forward momentum, as well as Schubert's last sonata - a work full of intense emotions: sometimes rapturous and reflective, sometimes comforting; and at times, offering a terrifying glimpse into a psychological abyss. Arnold Schönberg and György Kurtág contribute poetic miniatures from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Piano recital Mitsuko Uchida plays Beethoven and Schubert

Guest performance Brussels Kirill Petrenko with Mahler’s Ninth

BOZAR

begin to doubt God. In His rage, He sends a plague of snakes. What can help now? Johann Adolf Hasse expresses the whole range of human emotions in his music to Serpentes ignei in deserto: Anger, fear, hope, confidence. The ensemble Les Accents, founded by baroque violinist Thibault Noally, delights audiences with its fresh and unconventional style of music-making, and is regarded as a leading ensemble on the early music scene. The ensemble has rediscovered this striking oratorio by Dresden court conductor Hasse.

In the snake pit: Les Accents and Thibault Noally

Throughout the 55-year span of his collaboration with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Barenboim has never conducted the music of Gustav Mahler. Until now. Two late works can be heard, beginning with the expressive Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony. Painful melancholy prevails here, as it does in Das Lied von der Erde (Songs of the Earth), which looks back on the lost beauty of life. Formally located between a song cycle and a symphony, this work was, according to Mahler, “probably the most personal thing I have done so far”.

Guest performance Amsterdam Daniel Barenboim conducts Mahler

The Concertgebouw

Interactive concert “Schwupp-di-wupp”

Guest performance Amsterdam Kirill Petrenko with Mahler’s Ninth

The season finale of our Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic series is entitled Europeana and commemorates the end of the war and liberation from National Socialism 80 years ago – a celebration of the European idea. Artists will include the NDR Bigband with Geir Lysne, bringing the traditional big band sound creatively and innovatively into the present; the legendary Joachim Kühn on piano; and the vision string quartet, whose background is in classical music, but who have taken this opportunity to celebrate their passion for jazz. You can expect to breathtaking solos from saxophonist Émile Parisien.

Calender Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic “Europeana” – a jazz homage to the European idea

Kirill Petrenko with Mahler’s Ninth

Finding coherence in the complex – that is the Simply Quartet's recipe for success. After winning several international competitions, including the Carl Nielsen Competition in Copenhagen and the Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna, the young ensemble is one of the rising stars of the quartet scene. For their debut in our quartet series, the four musicians will perform classics of the genre such as Mozart's “Hunting Quartet” and Grieg's Opus 27, as well as Wynton Marsalis’ jazzy Creole Contradanzas and American composer Rebecca Clarke’s thought-provoking Poem.

The Simply Quartet plays Mozart, Grieg, Clarke and Marsalis

Slovakian organist Zuzana Ferjenčíková dedicates her debut concert on the organ of the Berlin Philharmonie Berlin to her teacher Jean Guillou, who died in 2019. Guillou performed on the the Philharmonie’s organ several times himself. His speciality: his own arrangements of famous orchestral works, with which he created unexpected orchestral timbres on the organ. Zuzana Ferjenčíková plays some of Guillou's most impressive arrangements, including the delicate “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker and Mussorgsky's powerful cycle Pictures at an Exhibition.

Organ matinee In memory of Jean Guillou

Throughout the 60-year span of his collaboration with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Barenboim has never conducted the music of Gustav Mahler. Until now. Two late works can be heard, beginning with the expressive Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony. Painful melancholy prevails here, as it does in Das Lied von der Erde (Songs of the Earth), which looks back on the lost beauty of life. Formally located between a song cycle and a symphony, this work was, according to Mahler, “probably the most personal thing I have done so far”.

Daniel Barenboim conducts Mahler

The Berliner Philharmoniker will also be stopping off in Bologna as part of their European concert tour of Italy. Conducted by Riccardo Muti, they invite you to a concert with an attractive Italian-German programme. Rossini’s rousing overture to William Tell and the atmospheric ballet music from Verdi's opera The Sicilian Vespers bring Italian flair to the stage. Brahms’ Second Symphony provides an exciting contrast – a work full of cantabile melodies, pastoral moods and darkly coloured timbres, which is considered the epitome of German late Romanticism.

Guest performance Bologna

PalaDozza

The presenters are also members of the orchestra and, at 14 to 19 years old, are just as old as their listeners in the audience. As the sponsoring orchestra of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the National Youth Orchestra will play for grades 5 to 13 in the Main Auditorium of the Philharmonie Berlin on 30 April 2025 and provide information about the orchestra and its repertoire: Where do most of the members come from? What do conductors have to say? Which parts are particularly challenging?

School concert

Beethoven's legendary letter to the “Immortal Beloved” inspired Detlev Glanert to write his Second Violin Concerto. Glanert wrote a work full of longing and passion for the violinist Midori; he has admired her since her days as an internactionally-acclaimed child prodigy. Midori is also the soloist in this performance with the National Youth Orchestra under the direction of Patrick Lange. The orchestra, of which the Berliner Philharmoniker is a patron, will also play Johannes Brahms' First Piano Quartet in Arnold Schoenberg's colourful orchestration.

German National Youth Orchestra, Patrick Lange and Midori

Seong-Jin Cho loves the “incredible wealth of colours” and “often orchestral sound” of Maurice Ravel's piano music, where he finds a special form of sensitivity. He sees in Ravel  “a person who smiles gently, but with tears in his eyes”. To mark the 150th anniversary of the French composer's birth, our Artist in Residence will perform Ravel's complete works for solo piano, including the gravitational Pavane pour une infante défunte, the mysterious Gaspard de la nuit and the sometimes lively, sometimes dreamy Valses nobles et sentimentales.

A Ravel evening with Seong-Jin Cho

For her it is true love, for him just an affair. Giacomo Puccini transformed John Luther Long’s 1898 story of teenaged geisha Cio-Cio-San and cavalier American naval lieutenant Pinkerton into one of the most popular operas of all time – and a commentary on colonialism that remains ripe for re-examination. His music reflects both the orientalism of his time and the sentimentality of late verismo. After leading staged performances in Baden-Baden, Kirill Petrenko presents Madama Butterfly in concert to the Berlin public. The title role will be sung by Eleonora Buratto, who was celebrated for her performance of this part at the New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Star tenor Jonathan Tetelman takes the role of Pinkerton.

Concertante: Kirill Petrenko with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”

Easter Festival Baden-Baden 2025

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

In the Karajan Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker, outstanding young musicians are prepared for artistic work in a world-class orchestra. The concert series Carte blanche – Berlin, hör mal! particularly highlights the Academy’s educational mission. Here, the young musicians step out of the orchestra to perform as soloists or in ensembles. They select the repertoire and design the programmes themselves – a true Carte blanche in every sense of the term.

Carte blanche – Berlin, hör mal!

The federal election is behind us. The Union won, but the far-right AfD managed to double its nationwide vote share in comparison to 2021, leading in all five eastern federal states. How should the other parties and civil society respond? What motivates people to vote for a party like the AfD? Former Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse and political scientist Julia Reuschenbach will discuss these questions and more with journalist Christiane Florin.

Discourse at the Philharmonie “AfD on the Rise: Who Holds Back the Right?”

You can simply go to a concert at the Philharmonie, spontaneously, during your lunch break – and with free admission: every Wednesday at 13:00 between September and June. The programme lasts 40 to 50 minutes: chamber music, piano works or a percussion duo – everything from Tchaikovsky to tango. Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Karajan Academy regularly perform, as well as guests from the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Berlin music conservatories. As can be expected at a lunch concert, catering is available from 12 noon until shortly before the concert begins.

Lunch concert

Berliner Philharmoniker

Happy Birthday, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie! Germany’s best music students have been playing together in this orchestra for 50 years – in preparation for a career in a professional orchestra. What characterises its members? A high level of technical proficiency, an irrepressible desire to make music together, and a passion for the music of our time. These qualities are also reflected in this programme – with the spherical tones of Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres), the labyrinthine sound structures of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia for eight voices and orchestra and the rhythmic energy of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps. Roderick Cox conducts.

The Junge Deutsche Philharmonie turns 50!

Strong and yet vulnerable – on the international music scene, Souad Massi's voice is unmistakable. The Algerian began her career as a member of a heavy metal band, later establishing herself as a singer-songwriter in her exile home of Paris. In her songs, Souad Massis mixes elements of French chanson and Algerian music with folk rock and country music. Her music addresses existential themes such as freedom, justice and female self-determination. In her programme Sequana, she sings about the fragility of nature.

World Souad Massi – Cosmopolitan from Algeria

In this series, the Berliner Philharmoniker and guests spark enthusiasm for classical music and take a closer look at the art of composing. In moderated concerts, they present the timbres of the instruments. In the school concert “Klassik rockt” with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the music and comedy duo Carrington-Brown and the children’s songwriter Suli Puschban, young and old can also sing along – across all musical styles.

School concert “Classical music rocks”

The pianist Sunwook Kim has been acclaimed for his sensitivity, brilliance and stylistic confidence – all qualities well-suited to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, whose Piano Concertos No. 3 and No. 4 he performs with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. While the Third is tragic, serious and combative, the Fourth is lyrical, impetuous and playful. Two works by contemporary British composers will also be performed: Anna Clyne's string work Stride, which is inspired by Beethoven's music, and Helen Grime's Elegiac inflections, which demonstrates the diverse sonic possibilities of a wind ensemble.

Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Sunwook Kim

Schubert’s “Great” C major Symphony is considered by many to epitomise romanticism in orchestral music. The first call of the horns is typical of the era – evoking a sound world that is at once warm, idyllic and full of yearning. Conductor Zubin Mehta has included two further Romantic works on the programme: Carl Maria von Weber’s overture to the fairy-tale opera Oberon and Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with its combination of heartfelt expression and overwhelming virtuosity. Himari, who comes from Japan and is just 13 years old, makes her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker as soloist.

Romantic music with Zubin Mehta and Himari

A journey through the diversity of European baroque music: the Europa Galante ensemble on an exciting journey with its programme Europe on the move. The members of the ensemble, founded and led by Fabio Biondi, see themselves as cosmopolitans with Italian roots. “With our Italianità, we show that we live in a Europe that is, fortunately, both united and full of differences,” says Biondi. Europa Galante has played its way to the forefront of the early music scene with its passionate, lively music-making, and has rescued many musical treasures from oblivion.

Original sound: Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante

Sky, sea and light permeate this concert, in which Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska makes her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Jean Sibelius transports us to the historical Finland of legend with his dramatic tone poem Pohjola’s Daughter, while Kaija Saariaho’s Orion describes the astrological constellation in numinous music. The concert will also include Edvard Grieg’s piano concerto, which its echoes of Norwegian folk music, and Claude Debussy’s shimmering tone poem La Mer. The soloist is pianist Jean-Fréderic Neuburger.

Biennale »Paradise lost?« Debussy’s “La Mer” and Grieg’s Piano Concerto

Gentle drizzling, vigorous splashing, thunderous drumming – rain comes in many guises. Hanns Eisler’s 1941 film score Fourteen Ways to Describe Rain was one of his best chamber music works. Today, in the face of accelerating climate change, weather patterns take on a whole new urgency. Inspired by Eisler, Gregor Mayrhofer explores these phenomena in his composition Tipping Points. Fourteen ways to describe climate change, a commissioned work which will be premiered as part of our Biennale, explores pivotal moments for our climate. The physicist and science journalist Harald Lesch will host this dialogue concert.

“Tipping Points. Fourteen ways to describe climate change”

In search of the hidden biodiversity of Berlin’s cemeteries: Researchers Katharina and Parm von Oheimb explore the fascinating world of snails. Join the pair as they set off on the trail of the slimy molluscs to examine the peculiar habitat they have found between ivy-covered gravestones and mausoleums. Travel with them as they share insights into their research on the impressive biodiversity of tropical land snails. During the evening's journey, they will report on the endangered diversity of their favourite gastropods, and explain why these creatures are severely affected by the current extinction of species.

Science, Talk and Music

Museum of Natural History Berlin

Childcare centre concert “Ri-ra-rutsch”

Giedre Šlekyte and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

They are an unconventional and avowed duet: Vincent Dubois, titular organist of Notre-Dame in Paris, and accordionist Marie-Andrée Joerger have been performing together for many years. At their organ matinee, they transform the Philharmonie first into a French salon with works by Ravel and Debussy, then into an Argentinian café – with tangos such as Invierno porteño, Adiós Nonino and Decarisimo by Astor Piazzolla. Imposing works by celebrated French organ composers Louis Vierne and Maurice Duruflé round off the performance.

Organ matinee Vincent Dubois and Marie-Andrée Joerger

Terminal Infinity is an immersive audiovisual performance installation. Using music, dance and lighting design, it addresses the transition of humans into an increasingly digital world, reflecting on the effects of technological progress on our environment and our identity.

Terminal Infinity

Radialsystem

Interactive concert “Ri-ra-rutsch”

Nature, its beauty, its endangerment: These are the themes of our Biennale and of this concert, which takes us around the world. It begins with a new work by Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen, whose work is strongly inspired by her native Lapland. Brett Dean’s Fire Music in turn refers to a devastating bushfire in Australia in 2009. Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring takes us on to North America, while Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Chôros No. 10 echoes the birdsong of the Amazon. Marin Alsop makes her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Biennale “Paradise lost?” Marin Alsop conducts images of nature

Was the world a better place in the Romantic era? Alexander Melnikov explores this question through his piano recital – following the theme of our Biennale entitled Paradise lost? On the threat to nature. With Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, Melnikov leads you through idyllic landscapes and man-made chasms, reveals the poetry of Schumann’s Waldszenen, and shows atmospheric images of nature in Franz Liszt’s piano works. The forest appears here as a place of retreat – from the self and from encroaching industrialisation. By contrast, Alexander Scriabin prophesies the destruction of the world in the grand conflagration of Vers la flamme.

Biennale of the Berliner Philharmoniker Piano recital with Alexander Melnikov

Biennale »Paradise lost?« “The Four Seasons” with the Freiburger Barockorchester

Biennale »Paradise Lost?« Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with Nicholas Collon and Pekka Kuusisto

In this series, the Berliner Philharmoniker and guests spark enthusiasm for classical music and take a closer look at the art of composing. In moderated concerts, they demonstrate the sound colours of the instruments or show how nature can sound.

Family concert of the Biennale “Pastorale”

In his music, Lucas Dorado explores the sounds and rhythms of the musical and natural landscapes of Latin America. His compositions tell of the animals, flowers and trees of South America – of their lush diversity and magnificent beauty, and also of the threat to their dwindling habitat, which is a place of melancholic longing. The ensemble interweaves diverse rhythmic structures with jazz harmonies. Vibraphone and cello meet vocals – with Latin American percussion.

Late Night “Cantando hacia el Sur”

St. Matthew's Church

The German cellist Tanja Tetzlaff plays J.S. Bach’s cello suites no. 4 to 6 – in the midst of wounded nature scarred by climate change. A musically and visually moving plea for more mindfulness and humility towards the beauty of our planet. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Tanja Tetzlaff and Heinz von Loesch.

Film screening “Suites4nature”

Museum of Musical Instruments

Beethoven’s “Pastoral” exuberantly celebrates the beauty of country life – with birdsong, babbling brooks and dancing peasants. But the idyll turns out to be deceptive ... A perfect prelude to our biennial Paradise lost? On the threat to nature. The rest of the programme also picks up on the Biennale theme: Varèse’s Arcana recalls the alchemist Paracelsus and his search for the healing powers of nature, while Srnka’s Superorganisms explores life forms that can only exist in community. Stepping in for the unwell Kirill Petrenko is American conductor David Robertson, who previously led the European premiere of Srnka’s work.

Biennale Opening with Beethoven’s “Pastoral”

“It is the best thing I have written in my life”, declared Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1784 of his piano quintet. Many of his most famous works had not yet been written, but the quintet remains a Mozartian jewel, with its melodic beauty and charming dialogues between the instruments. It is no wonder that the young Ludwig van Beethoven was inspired by Mozart’s example to write an equally enchanting quintet. Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker play both works with pianist Kit Armstrong. Contemporary counterpoints are provided in the form of wind quintets by Hans Werner Henze and Wolfgang Rihm.

Philharmonic chamber music Piano quintets by Mozart and Beethoven with Kit Armstrong

Jean Rondeau is not only a highly respected interpreter of harpsichord works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, among others, but also a great jazz musician. So it comes as no surprise that he is passionate about improvisation – an art that is equally at home in both genres. Jean Rondeau presents an evening of improvisation designed to inspire through surprise: “In the absence of prior knowledge, the unexpected happens,” he explains.

Originalklang Jean Rondeau: “Sisyphus”

What Jean Sibelius is to Finland, Edward Elgar is to England: both composers gave their country its own national musical language. With his Lemminkäinen Suite, Sibelius transports us to the world of Finnish legends. He tells of the adventures of a young, high-spirited hero in music that is as impassioned as it is sincere. Edward Elgar’s violin concerto reflects the values of Victorian England – profound, romantic, noble. The violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, widely acclaimed for his selfless musicality, performs the concerto under the direction of Dima Slobodeniouk, who steps in for Kirill Petrenko.

Dima Slobodeniouk and Frank Peter Zimmermann

Anyone who delves into George Frideric Handel’s vocal and instrumental music will find a wealth of treasures. Elegance, virtuosity, delicacy – all this can be discovered in an endlessly inventive world of musical expression. In a programme with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Robin Ticciati, you can experience some of Handel’s most beautiful arias and orchestral pieces from operas and other works. Iestyn Davies, one of the leading countertenors of our time, is the soloist. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a great admirer of Handel. His festive and exuberant “Haffner Symphony” concludes the programme.

Iestyn Davies, Robin Ticciati and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Welcome to the second instalment of our new series Ausklang! Each time, you can experience a short programme with a single orchestral work – but one that has it all. This time it’s Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets: a musical journey through our solar system, conducted by Daniel Harding. Each of the seven planets has its own musical character, from rugged Mars to mystical Neptune. Unusual orchestral effects are employed, inspiring many subsequent film music composers. After the concert, we invite you to enjoy a free drink in the foyer.

“Ausklang” (Finale) Daniel Harding conducts Holst’s “Planets”

With Gustav Holst’s atmospheric 1916 orchestral suite The Planets, Daniel Harding embarks on a cosmic musical journey through our solar system. Each of the seven planets has its own musical character, from rugged Mars to mystical Neptune. Holst was greatly inspired by Arnold Schoenberg’s Five Orchestral Pieces, which oscillate intriguingly between late Romanticism and Modernism. Completing the programme, Brett Dean’s Komarov’s Fall was commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2006 as a musical “asteroid” to Holst’s Planets.

Daniel Harding conducts Holst’s “Planets”

Our Artist in Residence Seong-Jin Cho made his name by winning the legendary Chopin Competition; since then, Chopin’s music has been particularly close to his heart. In this concert with the Karajan Akademie, the pianist is the soloist for a chamber music version of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1: a work in which gives Seong-Jin Cho scope for both technical brilliance and poetic creativity. Beethoven's cheerful wind quintet and the mysterious piece My Shadow by Korean composer Donghoon Shin will complete the programme.

Seong-Jin Cho and the Karajan Akademie

Vokalhelden-sing-along-concert

Hatred, jealousy and loss: Sergei Rachmaninoff creates a dark world with powerful colours in his one-act opera Francesca da Rimini. Against this backdrop, the heroine’s brief happiness in love shines all the more brightly. Kirill Petrenko presents the impassioned score with acclaimed soloists in a concert performance. Sofia Gubaidulina’s work The Wrath of God is almost apocalyptically dramatic. And here, too, it is about the hatred that – says the composer – “grows in this world with such force and intensity that it inevitably touches me.” The programme opens with one of the most popular works of American orchestral music: Samuel Barber’s touching and intimate Adagio for strings.

Kirill Petrenko with Rachmaninoff’s “Francesca da Rimini”

The Philharmonic Octet is characterised by polyphonic dialogue between its individual voices; at the same time, the ensemble represents the distinctive sound of the Berliner Philharmoniker in micro format. The main work of this programme is Beethoven’s early Septet in E flat major – a work which would become one of the composer’s most popular during his lifetime. This music is rapturous and vivid, with moments of profound emotion. Beethoven wrote his First Symphony immediately afterwards, and his mature style is already evident. Also on the programme are Wolfgang Rihm’s Sextet for clarinet, horn and string quartet and arrangements of Schubert's Moments musicaux.

Orchestral chamber music Philharmonic Octet Berlin

Music, dance and rhythm gets all the fibers of the body vibrating at the daycare concerts for children aged 5-6 years. Each concert is dedicated to a different instrument, played by members of the Berliner Philharmoniker or the Karajan Akademie. In the upper foyer of the chamber music hall, a stage area is created that brings children and artists together. Our young guests will sit on cushions right in the middle and experience magical stories without words. Seating for accompanying adults frames the playing area. The entire audience is encouraged to join in!

Childcare centre concert “Rumpel-pumpel”

Interactive Concert “Rumpel-pumpel”

Märkisches Zentrum

It is his first major work, and yet it is a mature musical statement. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 contains everything that would characterise the composer’s later style: emotional outbursts, sudden yawning chasms, folkloric melodies, the sounds of nature, grotesque alienations. Conductor Tugan Sokhiev places this work alongside Lili Boulanger’s impressionistic, shimmering D’un matin de printemps and a newly-composed viola concerto by South Korean composer Donghoon Shin – also an admirer of Mahler. The solo part of the world premiere will be played by Amihai Grosz, first principal viola of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Tugan Sokhiev conducts Mahler’s First

Martha Argerich speaks of Daniil Trifonov with astonishment: “He has everything and more – tenderness, but also a demonic quality. I’ve never heard anything like it.” To round off the year, the star pianist performs Johannes Brahms’ monumentally virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko. After the interval, the powerful and festive prelude from Richard Wagner’s opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg follows. The concert concludes with two lavishly-orchestrated dance works by Richard Strauss of a contrasting nature: the charming waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier and Salome’s Dance, with its exhibitionistic, almost brutal sensuality.

New Year’s Eve concert with Kirill Petrenko and Daniil Trifonov

Herbert Blomstedt sees Anton Bruckner as “the greatest symphonist since Beethoven”. The conductor is recognised worldwide as an authority on this music, acclaimed for his affinity to Bruckner’s distinctive, darkly-glowing tonal language and its powerful climaxes. Herbert Blomstedt now addresses the composer’s last symphony, in which Bruckner bids a very personal farewell to the world. In the concert’s first half, Leif Ove Andsnes is the soloist in Mozart’s festive Piano Concerto No. 21.

Herbert Blomstedt and Leif Ove Andsnes

Alexander Lonquich is famous not only for his nuanced sound, but also for his original programming. For this programme, he has chosen a wide range of colourful discoveries that convey maximum expressivity in short movements. Alongside Bruckner’s delicate Erinnerung, there are two ebullient piano sonatas by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and these are offset by alternatingly powerful and melancholic works by composer in residence Wolfgang Rihm, who died in July. Little-known Novellettes by Robert Schumann, a master of the expressive piano miniature, also punctuate the evening.

Alexander Lonquich plays Rihm, C. P. E. Bach, Schumann and Bruckner

In this series, the Berliner Philharmoniker and guests spark enthusiasm for classical music and take a closer look at the art of composing. In moderated concerts, they demonstrate the sound colours of the instruments or show how nature can sound.  In our Queen of Christmas special with horn player Sarah Willis and her colleagues, it gets turbulent and enchanting – Sebastian Heindl provides support on the organ.

Family Concert “Queen of Christmas”

For Andris Nelsons, chief conductor of the Gewandhausorchester and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony is a work with a unique aura: “Bruckner penetrated regions that remained out of reach for other composers,” he says. Performing the symphony is “an existential experience” for him. Nelson’s close connection with this work is reflected in his interpretation. The blossoming and fading of the themes, the swelling and breaking of musical arcs of tension, exert a powerful pull on the listener.

Andris Nelsons with Bruckner’s Eighth

Its perfect fusion of precision with spontaneity has made the Quatuor Ébène one of the world's leading string quartets. Together with solo violist of the Berliner Philharmoniker Amihai Grosz and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt – the ensemble presents Peter Tchaikovsky's string sextet “Souvenir de Florence”. Despite the chamber music instrumentation, the composer created a work of almost symphonic dimensions that ingeniously combines Russian drama with Italian grace. The programme opens with a string quartet by Joseph Haydn and highly virtuosic divertimenti by Benjamin Britten.

Quartet Quatuor Ébène, Amihai Grosz and Nicolas Altstaedt

Artist in Residence Seong-Jin Cho and members of the Berliner Philharmoniker unfold a panorama of Hungarian musical styles in this concert. Johannes Brahms was often inspired by Hungarian music in his works, for instance in the finale of his clarinet trio, which oscillates between deep emotion and serenity. The trio for violin, horn and piano, which the Hungarian György Ligeti wrote in homage to Brahms, is characterised by folk rhythms. The piano quintet by the young Béla Bartók, who would go on to revolutionise Hungarian music, is still very much rooted in the Romantic period. But even here – according to Seong-Jin Cho – you can sense “Bartók's musical future”.

Berliner Philharmoniker

Sep 20, 2025

Mayer − Berliner Philharmoniker − Petrenko

5 - 6 Jul, 2025

Japan tour

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