Fabio Luisi and Evgeny Kissin

Evgeny Kissin, acclaimed for his technical precision and sensitive, thoughtful playing, is one of the outstanding musicians of our time. The pianist, who holds not only Russian but also British and Israeli citizenship, performs with all the leading orchestras and in the most famous concert halls - including, of course, the Philharmonie Berlin. Kissin first attracted attention as a twelve-year-old when he played Frédéric Chopin's two piano concertos in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1988, at the age of 17, Kissin made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in the final New Year's Eve concert conducted by Herbert von Karajan. The performance of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto was televised internationally and made Kissin world famous at a stroke. "That Karajan, of all people, called me a young genius," he recalls, "was a great honor for me." Since then, Evgeny Kissin has been a regular guest with the Berlin Philharmonic, with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons and Sir Simon Rattle. "I feel even more inspired when I play with this orchestra," the pianist said. In 2022, Kissin played with members of the Berlin Philharmonic at a solidarity concert for Ukraine at Bellevue Palace, hosted by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Passion, stylistic confidence and versatility are Fabio Luisi's trademarks on the concert podium and opera stage. He once named Bernstein, Celibidache and Karajan as his role models, but he came to conducting in a roundabout way: "I took my piano diploma at 19. Only after that did I start studying conducting." Today, the Italian, considered one of the leading interpreters of the late Romantic repertoire and Italian opera, is known worldwide. Luisi has led the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo since September 2022, has been music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2020, and has been principal conductor of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2017. He has also spent many years as Music Director at the Dresden Semperoper, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Zurich Opera House - with acclaimed interpretations of operas ranging from Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi to Verdi's Aroldo, Jérusalem, and Alzira, and from Rigoletto to Beethoven's Fidelio and Berg's Wozzeck. Other important stages in his career have included principal positions with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, with whom he has recorded numerous CDs, the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. As music director, Luisi leads several Italian festivals, and he also makes guest appearances with leading orchestras in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. He is a regular guest at the world’s most important opera houses. In these concerts he makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic.