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Berliner Philharmoniker I
Date details
- Date Saturday, 12/September/2026 19:00 ( 2 more dates )
- Venue Philharmonie Berlin
- Address Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1, 10785 Berlin-Tiergarten
Public transportation
-
Train (S-Bahn)
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- S1
- S2
- S25
- S26
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
-
Underground
-
Bus
-
Philharmonie
- 200
-
Philharmonie Süd
- M41
- 300
-
Kulturforum
- M48
- M85
- N2
-
Varian-Fry-Str./Potsdamer Platz
- 200
- M41
- M48
- M85
- N2
- 300
-
Tiergartenstr.
- 200
-
Potsdamer Brücke
- M29
- M48
- M85
- N1
- N2
-
S Potsdamer Platz Bhf/Voßstr.
- M41
- M48
- M85
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- M41
- 200
- M48
- M85
- N2
- 300
-
Gedenkstätte Dt. Widerstand
- M29
-
Lützowstr./Potsdamer Str.
- M48
- M85
- N1
- N2
-
Philharmonie
-
Train
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- RE3
- RE5
- RE4
- FEX
- RB10
- RE8
- RE20
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
Part of:
Berliner Philharmoniker I
Brett Dean, conductor; Dean / Debussy
Brett Dean – Brett Dean sitzt allein in der Mitte eines großen, leeren Saals mit braunen Sitzreihen und blickt nach vorne, die Arme auf dem Sitz vor ihm gestützt.
© Stefan Höderath
When Brett Dean is composing for strings, a genuine expert is at work. An outstanding violist, he was of course a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker for 14 years before his works transformed him into one of the most successful composers of his generation. Dean will be conducting his former orchestral colleagues in a programme featuring his orchestral piece Beggars and Angels, inspired by an exhibition in Potsdam where sculptures of beggars and paintings of angels were displayed opposite one another. For the Australian musician, these are only seemingly opposing realms, since on closer inspection some of the angels appeared to him as likenesses of the beggars. Also on the programme, alongside two more works by Dean, is Debussy’s La cathédrale engloutie in Colin Matthews’s ingenious orchestral version – an enigmatic tonal enchantment that conjures a mythical, mystical world.
Brett Dean has already written a whole series of works with express references to the creative work of Robert and Clara Schumann or their personal sphere – references made less through direct quotation than through distorted echoes and fragmentary reminiscences, in which moments of musical romanticism can be discerned like an echo of history in a contemporary context. The original tonal harmonics are distorted as if in a concave mirror by microtonal shifts and clusters, often creating a seeming unrealistic dialogue between the distant past and the present – and at times, Dean also alludes to Schumann’s two poetic alter egos (Florestan and Eusebius) through contrasting sonic states. He composed such a dialogue in his Conversations with Schumann for soprano and orchestra – a “suite” that alternates between impulsive (Florestan) and introverted lyrical (Eusebius) sections. In Dean’s And once I played Ophelia, written for the same cast, the otherworldly music is focussed on the lover of Shakespeare’s Hamlet who continues to sing during the process of her death. The solo soprano part presents great challenges for the singer, including lamentations in quartertones and the extreme range extending up to F6. This is followed by Debussy’s atmospheric La cathédrale engloutie with its associations with medieval chants and the sounds of bells and the organ in the brilliant orchestral version by Colin Matthews. The piece conjures up an image of the Cathedral of Ys, which according to a Breton legend rose up out of the sea at dawn before sinking back underwater. The concert concludes with Brett Dean’s orchestral work Beggars and Angels in which threatening tonal eruptions are juxtaposed with shimmering harmonics on the strings: the creatures of the heavens display themselves as volatile and possibly even dangerous beings.
Brett Dean (*1961)
Conversations with Schumann (2026)
for soprano and orchestra
And once I played Ophelia (2013)
for soprano and orchestra
Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
La cathédrale engloutie (1910)
Arrangement for orchestra by Colin Matthews
Brett Dean
Beggars and Angels (1999)
for orchestra
Brett Dean has already written a whole series of works with express references to the creative work of Robert and Clara Schumann or their personal sphere – references made less through direct quotation than through distorted echoes and fragmentary reminiscences, in which moments of musical romanticism can be discerned like an echo of history in a contemporary context. The original tonal harmonics are distorted as if in a concave mirror by microtonal shifts and clusters, often creating a seeming unrealistic dialogue between the distant past and the present – and at times, Dean also alludes to Schumann’s two poetic alter egos (Florestan and Eusebius) through contrasting sonic states. He composed such a dialogue in his Conversations with Schumann for soprano and orchestra – a “suite” that alternates between impulsive (Florestan) and introverted lyrical (Eusebius) sections. In Dean’s And once I played Ophelia, written for the same cast, the otherworldly music is focussed on the lover of Shakespeare’s Hamlet who continues to sing during the process of her death. The solo soprano part presents great challenges for the singer, including lamentations in quartertones and the extreme range extending up to F6. This is followed by Debussy’s atmospheric La cathédrale engloutie with its associations with medieval chants and the sounds of bells and the organ in the brilliant orchestral version by Colin Matthews. The piece conjures up an image of the Cathedral of Ys, which according to a Breton legend rose up out of the sea at dawn before sinking back underwater. The concert concludes with Brett Dean’s orchestral work Beggars and Angels in which threatening tonal eruptions are juxtaposed with shimmering harmonics on the strings: the creatures of the heavens display themselves as volatile and possibly even dangerous beings.
Brett Dean (*1961)
Conversations with Schumann (2026)
for soprano and orchestra
And once I played Ophelia (2013)
for soprano and orchestra
Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
La cathédrale engloutie (1910)
Arrangement for orchestra by Colin Matthews
Brett Dean
Beggars and Angels (1999)
for orchestra
Artists/Collaborators: Jennifer France, Brett Dean
Events by Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation in cooperation with Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin
Work introduction
45 minutes before the start of each concert, South Foyer
Programme booklet at the venue
Work introduction
45 minutes before the start of each concert, South Foyer
Programme booklet at the venue
Alternative events
©olly - stock.adobe.com
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