“It was love at first note”
Kirill Petrenko on the 2026/27 season “It was love at first note”Kirill Petrenko on the 2026/27 season

How does chief conductor Kirill Petrenko view the forthcoming 2026/27 season of the Berliner Philharmoniker? Speaking at a press conference in the Philharmonie, he discussed the works that matter most to him — from little-known musical depictions of nature to an “Everest of music” and music “as if from another world”.

There was much to discuss at this press event: the season opening with Tchaikovsky and Elgar, Wagner’s Walküre at the Salzburg Easter Festival, and the world premiere of a new work by Sarah Nemtsov. Three very different concert programmes conducted by Kirill Petrenko offered a particularly vivid sense of the breadth of the season ahead.

A “musical Everest”

One topic of conversation was the performance of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis as part of the Biennale Signs & Wonders – on faith, hope and doubt, also marking the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death in March 2027. For Kirill Petrenko, the work stands alongside the Ninth Symphony at the summit of Beethoven’s output. Asked how he approaches Beethoven more generally, Petrenko stressed the importance of the composer’s biography. “When I engage with Beethoven, I focus very much on the person,” he said. “What kind of human being was he? In what social circumstances did he live? How did he deal with his tragic illness?” 

Kirill Petrenko also reflected on Beethoven’s hearing loss: “When you think about the force with which he rebelled against this fate – and the music he continued to write despite it – you realise that his achievement is almost unparalleled among composers.” Asked about his interpretative approach, Kirill Petrenko explained that he and the orchestra were engaging intensively with historically informed performance practice. “It can lend the sound a new edge, a new bite, even a certain aggressiveness – even with a traditional symphony orchestra.” 

Kirill Petrenko finds the tension between these approaches exciting. “We want to present a contemporary view of Beethoven without betraying our own sound,” he said. He is especially looking forward to tackling the Missa solemnis in this spirit – a “musical Everest” which he has conducted only once before.

Beyond the standard repertoire

The season also leaves room for less familiar repertoire. “My preference for less familiar repertoire is reflected this season in Ottorino Respighi’s Roman Trilogy.” Kirill Petrenko explains that he is “a great fan of Respighi, and of this trilogy in particular”, although he has never performed it as a complete cycle. His enthusiasm for the music dates back many years, he explained. “I consider the Roman Trilogy an absolutely magnificent cycle. I find it very modern, and I am fascinated by the way Respighi uses orchestral colour.” 

At the same time, Kirill Petrenko hears an intriguing connection between Western European and Russian music in the cycle – after all, Respighi studied with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. “He combines these depictions of nature with Russian harmony, touches of French Impressionism and a genuinely Italian melodic style.” Kirill Petrenko finds it surprising that the trilogy is not performed much more often. “Especially with an orchestra like the Berliner Philharmoniker, this music offers extraordinary possibilities.”

“Perhaps the season’s greatest highlight”

At the end of the season comes what Kirill Petrenko describes as “perhaps the season’s greatest highlight”: a semi-staged performance of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, marking the 25th anniversary of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Education & Outreach Programme. Kirill Petrenko first encountered the work in the late 1990s, when he was Kapellmeister at Vienna’s Volksoper. “It was love at first sight – or rather: at first note. This music has never let go of me.” At the time, he says, the story itself seemed almost secondary. “For me, this music was like something from another world: full of hope and, in a way, spiritually restorative. I attended almost every performance at the Volksoper – it was a formative experience for me.” 

Kirill Petrenko later conducted Hänsel und Gretel himself while he was General Music Director in Meiningen. Performing the work with the Berliner Philharmoniker fulfils a long-held dream. What fascinates him most, he says, is the music itself: “The instrumentation, this incredible wealth of themes, the humour – all within a tradition that extends from Wagner to Richard Strauss.”  That lineage can already be heard in the work’s large orchestral forces. 

Kirill Petrenko believes that the work is ideally suited to the Berliner Philharmoniker. “This romantic sound is made for our orchestra,” he said. “It’s going to be very special.” He believes that Hänsel und Gretel does not belong exclusively to the Christmas season. “The fact that we are playing it in May, when everything outside is in bloom, is particularly beautiful.” For Kirill Petrenko, this makes for an especially welcoming close to the season.