Opening Ceremony Musikfest Berlin 2026 
75 Years Berliner Festspiele Opening Ceremony Musikfest Berlin 2026 75 Years Berliner Festspiele

Musikfest Berlin

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Info

The Musikfest Berlin opens with Le Grand Macabre by György Ligeti and at the same time celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. Ligeti’s only opera is a profoundly-black parable of war and the end of the world, but ultimately humour gains the upper hand and indirectly also helps in overcoming the fear of death. It is therefore no surprise that this satire is one of the most frequently performed works of contemporary music theatre. Nicholas Collon leads the way through Ligeti’s grotesque doomsday scenario as the chief conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, assisted by the Helsinki Chamber Choir and an international ensemble of soloists. Thanks to the Helsinki Festival, Ligeti’s “anti-opera”, as the composer himself called it, will be heard for the first time in Finland just a few days previously.

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Artists

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Nicholas Collon conductor
Sarah Aristidou soprano (Venus and Chief of Gepopo)
Heidi Melton soprano (Mescalina)
Andrew Watts countertenor (Prince Go-Go)
Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke tenor (Piet the Pot)
Leigh Melrose baritone (Nekrotzar)
Karl Huml bass (Astradamors)
Kathrin Lorenzen soprano (Amanda)
Jingjing Xu mezzo-soprano (Amando)
Luke Terence Scott bass (Black Party Minister)
Tuomas Katajala tenor (White Party Minister)
Jussi Merikanto baritone (Schabernack)
Tomi Punkeri baritone (Schobiack)
Sakari Topi baritone (Ruffiack)
Helsinki Chamber Choir choir
Nils Schweckendieck chorus master
Frederic Wake-Walker stage direction

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Programme

György Ligeti
Le Grand Macabre

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Additional information

Duration ca. 2 hours and 20 minutes

_{In cooperation with Berliner Festspiele/Musikfest Berlin}