Advance bookings open for August–November concerts
on 06 June 2026 at 11:00
The 2026/27 season opens with Kirill Petrenko conducting Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony as part of the Musikfest Berlin, which this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. Once again, the festival brings international orchestras, soloists and conductors to the Philharmonie Berlin and venues across the city.
The season features guest conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Iván Fischer and Zubin Mehta, alongside debut appearances and returning artists. Composer in Residence Brett Dean opens his residency from the podium with a haunting programme centred on his own music.
Season opening concert with Kirill Petrenko
Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.
Kirill Petrenko and Daniil Trifonov with Brahms and Strauss
Johannes Brahms’s First Piano Concerto and Richard Strauss’s tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra.
Through Rome with Kirill Petrenko and Ottorino Respighi
Giuseppe Martucci’s Notturno and Ottorino Respighi’s Fontane di Roma, Pini di Roma and Feste romane.
Sir Simon Rattle conducts de Falla, Janáček and a world premiere
Manuel de Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat, Cathy Milliken’s why feather yellow and Leoš Janáček’s orchestral rhapsody Taras Bulba
Daniel Harding conducts Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony
Mahler imagined listeners being “struck down by clubs, only to be lifted on angels’ wings to the highest heights.”
Iván Fischer conducts Mahler’s Fifth Symphony
Also on the programme: Joseph Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante, featuring members of the Berliner Philharmoniker as the four soloists.
Zubin Mehta and Pinchas Zukerman with Bruch’s First Violin Concerto
Also on the programme: Mozart’s overture to the opera Le nozze di Figaro and Antonín Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony.
Maxim Emelyanychev conducts Mendelssohn, Mozart and Haydn
With Mozart’s Fourth Horn Concerto, Yun Zeng, principal horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker, appears for the first time as soloist with his orchestra.
Shin-Young Lee and Marie-Pierre Langlamet
Arrangements of Borodin, Liszt, Handel, Saint-Saëns and Mahler for organ and harp.
Piano recital with Yunchan Lim
Yunchan Lim presents early sonatas and other piano works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Pinchas Zukerman with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Chamber music by Strauss, Mendelssohn and Brahms.
“Satzwechsel” with Han Kang
Books and music have always shaped one another. Our new series Satzwechsel explores what happens when they meet.
Late Night Berliner Philharmoniker
The programme features Cathy Milliken’s In Play (world premiere), Brett Dean’s Imaginary Ballet and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major.
Berliner Philharmoniker Ensembles
Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker perform works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn.
World
In the World Series, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino can be heard performing traditional music from southern Italy.
Quatuor Ébène
The Quatuor Ébène performs three string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven – including the “Harp” Quartet and the “Rasumovsky” Quartet No. 3.
Karajan Akademie
The programme includes works by Schoenberg and Mozart, as well as a new piece by the winner of the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize.