Musikfest Berlin 2008
The musikfest berlin 08 – Berlin’s largest orchestral festival – opens on September 4th and runs until September 21, 2008.
Growing out of the traditional Berliner Festwochen and organized in collaboration with the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker, musikfest berlin 08 presents top-flight orchestras from international musical life alongside the German capital’s five great symphony orchestras. This year’s guests include orchestras from Amsterdam, Göteborg, London, Paris, Baden-Baden, and Freiburg, along with renowned soloists such as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Akiko Suwanai, Christine Schäfer, Matthias Goerne, and Sally Matthews. The festival as a whole centers on orchestral works by French composer Olivier Messiaen – an homage to a great artist on the occasion of the centennial of his birth. Orchestral works by Messiaen will be performed in conjunction with those by Anton Bruckner, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Richard Wagner, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Igor Strawinsky, Maurice Ravel, and many others.
On September 5, the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam will perform in the Philharmonic with organist Leo van Doeselaar under the direction of Mariss Jansons. At a special concert event scheduled for September 6, Peter Eötvös will conduct the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra in a performance of his new composition Seven for solo violin and orchestra. A “Memorial for the Columbia Astronauts,” it is dedicated to the victims of the Columbia space shuttle disaster of 2003. The soloist will be Japanese violinist Akiko Suwanai. On September 7, the London Symphony Orchestra performs a program of music by Pierre Boulez, Oliver Messiaen, and Anton Bruckner with soloist Sally Matthews under the direction of Daniel Harding. On Monday, September 8, the Orchestre de Paris presents a program of works by Olivier Messiaen, Maurice Ravel, and Alexander Zemlinsky under the direction of principal conductor Christoph Eschenbach. The soloists will be Matthias Goerne and Christine Schäfer.
On September 13th, to mark the 100th birthday of American composer Elliot Carter, Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin will perform a portrait concert in the framework of musikfest berlin 08. On September 17 in the Radialsystem, the elite new music ensemble musikFabrik will perform the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Concerto “Séraphin” for large ensemble, a work commissioned by musikfest berlin | Berliner Festspiele.
For the Festival finale, consisting of a trio of events taking place on September 20th and 21st, musikfest berlin 08 invites you to Hangar 2 of Tempelhof Airport. On the program are works by Olivier Messiaen and Stockhausen’s epochal Gruppen für drei Orchester. Performing will be the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, and Michael Boder, along with the
Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by Susanna Mälkki.
Additional information, tickets, and subscriptions are available by telephone at (030) 254 89 100 or online at http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de.
Program:
20 events including a world premiere in the Philharmonic and events in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, the Radialsystem V, and Hangar 2 of Tempelhof Airport.
Do 04.09. | 20:00
Theatre of Voices / Paul Hillier
Stockhausen
Ort: St. Johannes-Evangelist-Kirche
Fr 05.09. | 20:00
Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest / Mariss Jansons
ERÖFFNUNGSKONZERT Messiaen – Poulenc – Bruckner
Ort: Philharmonie
Sa 06.09. | 20:00
Göteborgs Symfoniker / Peter Eötvös
Messiaen – Eötvös – Skrjabin
Ort: Philharmonie
So 07.09. | 20:00
London Symphony Orchestra / Daniel Harding
Boulez – Messiaen – Bruckner
Ort: Philharmonie
Mo 08.09. | 20:00
Orchestre de Paris / Christoph Eschenbach
Messiaen – Ravel – Zemlinsky
Ort: Philharmonie
Di 09.09. | 20:00
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg / Sylvain Cambreling
Messiaen – Bruckner
Ort: Philharmonie
Mi 10. und Do 11.09. | jeweils 20:00
Berliner Philharmoniker / Sir Simon Rattle
Wagner – Messiaen
Ort: Philharmonie
Fr 12.09. | 20:00
Konzerthausorchester Berlin / Lothar Zagrosek
Grisey – Strawinsky – Messiaen – Skrjabin
Ort: Philharmonie
Sa 13.09. | 20:00
Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim
Elliott Carter zum 100. Geburtstag
Ort: Philharmonie
So 14. und Mo 15.09. | jeweils 20:00
Berliner Philharmoniker / Sir Simon Rattle
Schreker – Bruckner
Ort: Philharmonie
Di 16.09. | 20:00
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester / Ingo Metzmacher
Wagner – Messiaen
Ort: Philharmonie
Mi 17.09. | 20:00
musikFabrik / Emilio Pomárico
Stockhausen – Lachenmann – Rihm (UA)
Ort: Radialsystem V
Do 18.09. | 20:00
Orchestre des Champs-Élysées / Philippe Herreweghe
Bruckner
Ort: Philharmonie
Fr 19.09. | 20:00
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Marek Janowski
Messiaen – Ravel
Ort: Philharmonie
Sa 20.09. | 20:00
Berliner Philharmoniker / Harding / Boder / Rattle
TEMPELHOF I Messiaen – Stockhausen
Ort: Hangar 2 im Flughafen Tempelhof
So 21.09. | 11:00
Die 12 Cellisten der Berliner Philharmoniker / Philharmonia Quartett Berlin
BENEFIZKONZERT Pärt – Piazzolla – Bruckner
Ort: Kammermusiksaal der Philharmonie
So 21.09. | 17:00
Ensemble intercontemporain / Susanna Mälkki
TEMPELHOF II Messiaen
Ort: Hangar 2 im Flughafen Tempelhof
So 21.09. | 20:00
Berliner Philharmoniker / Harding / Boder / Rattle
TEMPELHOF III Messiaen – Stockhausen
Ort: Hangar 2 im Flughafen Tempelhof
