From 28th August to 20th September 2021
Musikfest Berlin
This year's Musikfest Berlin will take place from 28th August to 20th September 2021, organised by the Berliner Festspiele, in co-operation with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation. 34 events in the Philharmonie’s Main Concert Hall and its Chamber Music Hall, in the Konzerthaus Berlin am Gendarmenmarkt and the rbb Broadcasting Hall, showcase music from five centuries, with more than 100 works by 52 composers, performed by 29 instrumental and vocal ensembles and 35 soloists from the international and Berlin music scene.
Go to website of Musikfest BerlinIn focus: Igor Stravinsky
He has been called the Picasso of composers. When Igor Stravinsky died 50 years ago at age 88, his life’s work was similar to that of the painter: filled with surprising changes, appropriations and transformations, masterfully giving time an unmistakable shape, not shying away from provocation and extravagance, admired and celebrated, buoyed by the unshakeable joy of musical creation (plaisir de la creation) as he commented in the Poetics of Music. “Stravinsky remains” (Stravinsky demeure) the young Pierre Boulez prognosticated in 1951. At that time, Stravinsky was in the process of reinventing himself artistically once again. His sense of discovery led him to historically more removed music of the Renaissance, the Early Baroque and the Middle Ages. He was particularly fascinated by the madrigals of the Italian count Don Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa. This was one area of focus. Another, the music of Anton Webern, who had died at the end of the war and his young, up and coming contemporaries: Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen interested him greatly. From the spheres of this dialogue spanning the ages, Stravinsky developed his late music style and the late works, composed in California where he had made his home since 1939. In his later years, the insular city of Venice was to become the centre of his creative and spiritual space of the imagination. He composed the cantata Canticum Sacrum for the city’s Basilica San Marco and his greatest sacred work for the ballroom of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, decorated with Tintoretto’s ceiling frescoes. His Requiem Canticles were performed during his funeral on Venice’s island of the dead, San Michele. After World War II, Igor Stravinsky became the icon of a European life that extended from pre-revolutionary Russia through the two World Wars to the Cold War era. He was a regular and celebrated guest at the Berlin Festival in the 1960s.
From Gesualdo to Goebbels and Neuwirth
The 50th anniversary of Stravinsky’s death and the 70th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele this year will thus become an occasion for Musikfest Berlin 2021 to present his rarely performed late work. The festival’s programme follows the great composer’s roving ear through history and the present: it goes back in time to the music of the 16th and 17th centuries, to Bach, Handel, Gesualdo, Gabrieli and Palestrina, in historically informed performances by experts of these remote times. And the festival programme, in continuing with Stravinsky's interest, embraces the music of contemporary composers: new works by George Benjamin, Rebecca Saunders and Wolfgang Rihm to Clara Iannotta, Ondřej Adámek and Ann Cleare, including the European premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s musical calligrams Keyframes for a Hippogriff by the Berliner Philharmoniker.
The composer Karl Amadeus Hartmann with his wife Elisabeth Hartmann and Igor Stravinsky, 1950 (Photo: akg images)
International orchestras in Berlin
In addition to the Berlin-based orchestras, vocal and instrumental ensembles, this year’s Musikfest Berlin will feature guest performances by the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam with Daniel Harding, the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir with John Eliot Gardiner, the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and Collegium Vocale Gent with Philippe Herreweghe, the London Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle, the Orchestre Les Siècles with François-Xavier Roth, and many others. A series of events will break down the confines of the concert format: in the interactive project Night Shift – The Rehearsal, Cathy Milliken eliminates the divide between stage and audience in Shakespearean fashion. Johannes Kalitzke – on the occasion of the anniversary “200 years Konzerthaus Berlin” and reflecting the Beethoven Year 2020 – brings Max Neufeld’s famous silent film The Tales of Hoffmann from 1923 to new prominence with his Beethoven Variations for orchestra. And the Théâtre National du Luxembourg gives a guest performance in the rbb broadcasting Great Hall with Heiner Goebbels’ scenic concert Liberté d’action, which was created during the Covid-19 shutdown. The Musikfest Berlin will officially begin on 30th August in the Main Concert Hall of the Philharmonie with the world premiere of another new work by Heiner Goebbels: A House of Call. My imaginary Notebook.
All concerts of the Musikfest Berlin 2021
Saturday,
28 Aug 2021,
17:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Sat, 28 Aug 2021, 17:00
Philharmonie
Bundesjugendchor
Anne Kohler chorus master
Works by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Orlando di Lasso, Wolfgang Rihm, Jonathan Harvey, Hendrik Hofmeyr, Kathrin A. Denner and James MacMillan
Monday,
30 Aug 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Mon, 30 Aug 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Ensemble Modern
Vimbayi Kaziboni conductor
Heiner Goebbels stage lighting
Norbert Ommer sound direction
Heiner Goebbels A House of Call. My Imaginary Notebook ‒commissioned by Ensemble Modern, Berliner Festspiele /Musikfest Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, musica viva/BR, Kölner Philharmonie, Wien Modern/Wiener Konzerthaus, beuys2021 and Casa da Música Porto
Tuesday,
31 Aug 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Tue, 31 Aug 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Concertgebouworkest
Daniel Harding conductor
Renée Fleming soprano
Works by Igor Stravinsky, Olivier Messiaen and Claude Debussy
Wednesday,
01 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Wed, 01 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Ensemble Modern
Catherine Larsen-Maguire conductor
Neuer Kammerchor Berlin
Adrian Emans chorus master
Helena Rasker Gesang und Schauspiel
Michael Schiefel Gesang und Schauspiel
Cathy Milliken composition, text and workshop
Patrick Hahn text and dramaturgy
Robert Lehmeier scenic realization
Cathy Milliken Night Shift - The Rehearsal, An evening for ensemble, soloists, choir and audience (premiere)
Thursday,
02 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Thu, 02 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
George Benjamin conductor
Tamara Stefanovich piano
Works by Oliver Knussen, Henry Purcell, Igor Stravinsky and George Benjamin
Friday,
03 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Fri, 03 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner conductor
Ann Hallenberg mezzo-soprano
Works by George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach
Saturday,
04 Sep 2021,
19:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Sat, 04 Sep 2021, 19:00
Philharmonie
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Vladimir Jurowski conductor
Georg Nigl baritone
Tamara Stefanovich piano
Works by Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith
Saturday,
04 Sep 2021,
21:00
Chamber Music Hall
Musikfest Berlin
Sat, 04 Sep 2021, 21:00
Chamber Music Hall
Anna Prohaska soprano
Nicolas Altstaedt cello
Francesco Corti Orgel / Cembalo
Works by Sir John Tavener, Franz Tunder, Vincenzo Bonizzi, George Frideric Handel, Alexander Tscherepnin, Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer, Zoltán Kodály, Wolfgang Rihm, Marin Marais, Luciano Berio, Heinrich Scheidemann and Jörg Widmann
Sunday,
05 Sep 2021,
11:30
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Sun, 05 Sep 2021, 11:30
Philharmonie
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Enno Poppe conductor
Works by Ann Cleare
Sunday,
05 Sep 2021,
15:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Sun, 05 Sep 2021, 15:00
Philharmonie
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Enno Poppe conductor
Enno Poppe Prozession for large ensemble
Sunday,
05 Sep 2021,
17:00
Haus des Rundfunks, Großer Sendesaal
Musikfest Berlin
Sun, 05 Sep 2021, 17:00
Haus des Rundfunks, Großer Sendesaal
David Bennent Performance
Hermann Kretzschmar piano
Ueli Wiget piano
Heiner Goebbels music, direction and stage design
Paul Jeukendrup sound direction
Marc Thein light
Florence von Gerkan costumes
Diego Ramos Rodriguez musical assistance and transcription
Lisa Schettel Assistenz
Sóley Sigurjónsdóttir trainee
Heiner Goebbels Liberté d'action, Scenic concert with texts by Henri Michaux
Sunday,
05 Sep 2021,
18:00
Konzerthaus Berlin
Musikfest Berlin
Sun, 05 Sep 2021, 18:00
Konzerthaus Berlin
Konzerthausorchester Berlin orchestra
Johannes Kalitzke conductor
Works by Max Neufeld and Johannes Kalitzke
Sunday,
05 Sep 2021,
21:00
Haus des Rundfunks, Großer Sendesaal
Musikfest Berlin
Sun, 05 Sep 2021, 21:00
Haus des Rundfunks, Großer Sendesaal
David Bennent Performance
Hermann Kretzschmar piano
Ueli Wiget piano
Heiner Goebbels music, direction and stage design
Paul Jeukendrup sound direction
Marc Thein light
Florence von Gerkan costumes
Diego Ramos Rodriguez musical assistance and transcription
Lisa Schettel Assistenz
Sóley Sigurjónsdóttir trainee
Heiner Goebbels Liberté d'action, Scenic concert with texts by Henri Michaux
Sunday,
05 Sep 2021,
21:00
Konzerthaus Berlin
Musikfest Berlin
Sun, 05 Sep 2021, 21:00
Konzerthaus Berlin
Konzerthausorchester Berlin orchestra
Johannes Kalitzke conductor
Works by Max Neufeld and Johannes Kalitzke
Monday,
06 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Mon, 06 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Orchestre des Champs-Élysées
Philippe Herreweghe conductor
Collegium Vocale Gent
Dorothee Mields soprano
Krešimir Stražanac bass-baritone
Works by Gabriel Fauré, Johannes Brahms and Igor Stravinsky
Tuesday,
07 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Tue, 07 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Magdalena Kožená soprano
Works by Ondřej Adámek and Ludwig van Beethoven
Wednesday,
08 Sep 2021,
17:00
Chamber Music Hall
Musikfest Berlin
Wed, 08 Sep 2021, 17:00
Chamber Music Hall
Collegium Vocale Gent choir
Philippe Herreweghe conductor
Works by Don Carlo Gesualdo
Wednesday,
08 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Wed, 08 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim conductor
Martha Argerich piano
Works by Robert Schumann
Wednesday,
08 Sep 2021,
21:00
Chamber Music Hall
Musikfest Berlin
Wed, 08 Sep 2021, 21:00
Chamber Music Hall
Collegium Vocale Gent choir
Philippe Herreweghe conductor
Works by Don Carlo Gesualdo
Thursday,
09 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Thu, 09 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra
Ilan Volkov conductor
Nicolas Hodges piano
Christian Dierstein percussion
Dirk Rothbrust percussion
Works by Anton Webern and Rebecca Saunders
Friday,
10 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Fri, 10 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Donald Runnicles conductor
Flurina Stucki soprano
Matthew Newlin tenor
Markus Brück baritone
Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Children's Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Benjamin Britten War Requiem, op. 66
Saturday,
11 Sep 2021,
17:00
Chamber Music Hall
Musikfest Berlin
Sat, 11 Sep 2021, 17:00
Chamber Music Hall
Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano
Works by Jan Peterson Sweelink, György Kurtág and Mark Andre
Saturday,
11 Sep 2021,
19:00
Philharmonie
Serie: B
Sat, 11 Sep 2021, 19:00
Philharmonie
Berliner Philharmoniker
Jakub Hrůša conductor
Andrew Watts countertenor
Tölzer Knabenchor
Works by Olga Neuwirth and Anton Bruckner
Saturday,
11 Sep 2021,
21:00
Chamber Music Hall
Musikfest Berlin
Sat, 11 Sep 2021, 21:00
Chamber Music Hall
Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano
Frank Reinecke double bass
Works by Mark Andre
Sunday,
12 Sep 2021,
11:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Sun, 12 Sep 2021, 11:00
Philharmonie
Ensemble Mini
Joolz Gale conductor
Christian Tetzlaff violin
Works by Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók
Sunday,
12 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Serie: L
Sun, 12 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Berliner Philharmoniker
Jakub Hrůša conductor
Andrew Watts countertenor
Tölzer Knabenchor
Works by Olga Neuwirth and Anton Bruckner
Monday,
13 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Mon, 13 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Les Siècles
François-Xavier Roth conductor
John Heuzenroeder tenor
Miljenko Turk baritone
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Isabelle Faust violin
Works by Igor Stravinsky
Wednesday,
15 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Musikfest Berlin
Wed, 15 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
RIAS Kammerchor Berlin
Soloists of the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin
Kammerakademie Potsdam
Justin Doyle conductor
Works by Giovanni Gabrieli, William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa and Igor Stravinsky
Thursday,
16 Sep 2021,
17:00
Chamber Music Hall
Musikfest Berlin
Thu, 16 Sep 2021, 17:00
Chamber Music Hall
Isabelle Faust violin
Dominique Horwitz recitation
Lorenzo Coppola clarinet
Javier Zafra bassoon
Reinhold Friedrich trumpet
Raymond Curfs drums
Jörgen van Rijen trombone
Wies de Boevé double bass
Igor Stravinsky Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale)
Thursday,
16 Sep 2021,
20:00
Philharmonie
Series: W, G
Thu, 16 Sep 2021, 20:00
Philharmonie
Berliner Philharmoniker
Kirill Petrenko conductor
Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin
Works by Karl Amadeus Hartmann and Igor Stravinsky