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Weekend Tips: What to Do This Weekend in Berlin
April 24 to 26, 2026: Events, festivals, exhibitions and more things to do for your perfect weekend in Berlin. more
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Helsinki Chamber Choir
Date details
- Date Friday, 28/August/2026 19:00
- Venue Philharmonie Berlin
- Address Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1, 10785 Berlin-Tiergarten
Public transportation
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Train (S-Bahn)
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- S1
- S2
- S25
- S26
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
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Underground
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Bus
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Philharmonie
- 200
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Philharmonie Süd
- M41
- 300
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Kulturforum
- M48
- M85
- N2
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Varian-Fry-Str./Potsdamer Platz
- 200
- M41
- M48
- M85
- N2
- 300
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Tiergartenstr.
- 200
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Potsdamer Brücke
- M29
- M48
- M85
- N1
- N2
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S Potsdamer Platz Bhf/Voßstr.
- M41
- M48
- M85
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- M41
- 200
- M48
- N2
- 300
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Gedenkstätte Dt. Widerstand
- M29
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Lützowstr./Potsdamer Str.
- M48
- M85
- N1
- N2
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Philharmonie
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Train
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- RE3
- RE5
- RE4
- RE85
- FEX
- RB10
- RE8
- RE20
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S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Helsinki Chamber Choir
Nicholas Collon, conductor: György Ligeti “Le Grand Macabre”
Nicholas Collon, Chefdirigent des Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ein Mann mit locken Haaren und einem Taktstock in der Hand dirigiert so überschwänglich, dass seine Haare herumwirbeln.
© Chris Christodoulou
The Musikfest Berlin opens with Le Grand Macabre by György Ligeti and at the same time celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. Ligeti’s only opera is a profoundly-black parable of war and the end of the world, but ultimately humour gains the upper hand and indirectly also helps in overcoming the fear of death. It is therefore no surprise that this satire is one of the most frequently performed works of contemporary music theatre. Nicholas Collon leads the way through Ligeti’s grotesque doomsday scenario as the chief conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, assisted by the Helsinki Chamber Choir and an international ensemble of soloists. Thanks to the Helsinki Festival, Ligeti’s anti-opera will be heard for the first time in Finland just a few days previously.
Le Grand Macabre, based on a play by the surrealist dramatist Michel de Ghelderode, combines elements from absurdist theatre, the medieval dance of death and an untrammelled funfair extravaganza. In an interview from 1956, Ghelderode commented: “I have stood the figure of death on its head in Grand Macabre. I have transformed it into a comedic model: that was my revenge.” Ligeti, who personally witnessed the horrors of the Second World War and came very close to death on a number of occasions, places his opera in the fictitious Breughelland, a totalitarian-ruled, corrupt and utterly run-down republic possessing features originating from the images of the Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel. Alongside Mescalina, wife of the court astrologer Astradamor, with her collection of giant spiders, and Gepopo, the head of the secret police, this is where the Grand Macabre Nekrotzar, a demagogue and highly dubious character, performs his evil deeds. When the deadline of his prophesised apocalypse arrives, all inhabitants survive – with the exception of the Grand Macabre himself who had always maintained that he was the reincarnation of Death.
Since the 1960s, music by György Ligeti has repeatedly been performed at the Berliner Festwochen, and later at the Musikfest Berlin: “My homeland is actually Berlin, as strange as that may sound. […] The city has become highly interesting through its proximity between West and East”, commented the composer in 2003. Now Le Grand Macabre will open the Musikfest Berlin as a simultaneous celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. Since its foundation as the Berliner Festwochen in the Western part of the city in 1951, the festival has always functioned as a connecting bridge between political systems, shaped the cultural dimensions of reunification and since 2001 has also had its own venues: the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and the Gropius Bau.
György Ligeti (1923–2006)
Le Grand Macabre (1978, rev. 1996)
Opera in two acts
Lyrics by Michael Meschke und György Ligeti en La Balade du Grand Macabre by Michel de Ghelderode
Concert performance
Le Grand Macabre, based on a play by the surrealist dramatist Michel de Ghelderode, combines elements from absurdist theatre, the medieval dance of death and an untrammelled funfair extravaganza. In an interview from 1956, Ghelderode commented: “I have stood the figure of death on its head in Grand Macabre. I have transformed it into a comedic model: that was my revenge.” Ligeti, who personally witnessed the horrors of the Second World War and came very close to death on a number of occasions, places his opera in the fictitious Breughelland, a totalitarian-ruled, corrupt and utterly run-down republic possessing features originating from the images of the Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel. Alongside Mescalina, wife of the court astrologer Astradamor, with her collection of giant spiders, and Gepopo, the head of the secret police, this is where the Grand Macabre Nekrotzar, a demagogue and highly dubious character, performs his evil deeds. When the deadline of his prophesised apocalypse arrives, all inhabitants survive – with the exception of the Grand Macabre himself who had always maintained that he was the reincarnation of Death.
Since the 1960s, music by György Ligeti has repeatedly been performed at the Berliner Festwochen, and later at the Musikfest Berlin: “My homeland is actually Berlin, as strange as that may sound. […] The city has become highly interesting through its proximity between West and East”, commented the composer in 2003. Now Le Grand Macabre will open the Musikfest Berlin as a simultaneous celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. Since its foundation as the Berliner Festwochen in the Western part of the city in 1951, the festival has always functioned as a connecting bridge between political systems, shaped the cultural dimensions of reunification and since 2001 has also had its own venues: the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and the Gropius Bau.
György Ligeti (1923–2006)
Le Grand Macabre (1978, rev. 1996)
Opera in two acts
Lyrics by Michael Meschke und György Ligeti en La Balade du Grand Macabre by Michel de Ghelderode
Concert performance
Artists/Collaborators: Sarah Aristidou, Heidi Melton, Andrew Watts, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, Leigh Melrose, Kathrin Lorenzen, Luke Terence Scott, Toumas Katajala, Jussi Merikanto, Tomi Punkeri, Sakari Topi, Nils Schweckendieck, Nicholas Collon, Frederic Wake-Walker, Jingjing Xu, Karl Huml
A joint production by Finnish Broadcasting Company, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Festival and Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin
A Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin event
A Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin event
Alternative events
© Quelle: Reservix-System
Original Hoch- und Deutschmeister
Original Hoch- und Deutschmeister Nadja Plattner • Gesang Galakonzert der Kapelle des K. und K. Infanterieregiments Hoch- und Deutschmeister Nr. 4 Änderungen vorbehalten Zusätzliche Informationen: Einlass ab 13:30 Uhr Buchungshinweise: Der Vorverkauf... moreabout: Original Hoch- und Deutschmeister
- Date:
- Saturday, 29/August/2026 15:00
- Venue:
- Kloster Chorin
- Address:
- Amt Chorin 11a, 16230 Chorin
- Price:
- from €17.50
© Quelle: Reservix-System
Kalit 26 – Das Musik- und Literaturfestival im Gutshaus Friedenfelde
THE FUTURE OF MELANCHOLY // DIE ZUKUNFT DER MELANCHOLIE Alljährlich Ende August findet im Gutshaus Friedenfelde das Musikfestival KALIT statt, benannt nach dem geflochtenen Korb aus der Uckermark, der Tradition und Gegenwart verbindet. Musik des Spätbarock... moreabout: Kalit 26 – Das Musik- und Literaturfestival im Gutshaus Friedenfelde
- Next date:
- Probleme, Probleme – Sophie Rois liest Ingeborg Bachmann
- Date:
- Saturday, 29/August/2026 16:00 (3 more dates)
- Venue:
- Gutshaus Friedenfelde
- Address:
- Ort Friedenfelde 6, 17268 Gerswalde
- Price:
- from €23.20
© Quelle: Reservix-System
Von Hofmusik bis Salonträume - Open-Air-Konzert mit dem Zeitklang Ensemble Berlin
Von Hofmusik bis Salonträume - Open-Air-Konzert mit dem Zeitklang Ensemble Berlin und der Sopranistin Dana Hoffmann Am 29. August 2026 lädt der Märkische Hof Päwesin um 16 Uhr zu einem sommerlichen Konzert unter freiem Himmel ein. Das Zeitklang Ensemble... moreabout: Von Hofmusik bis Salonträume - Open-Air-Konzert mit dem Zeitklang Ensemble Berlin
- Next date:
- Märkisches Hofkonzert
- Date:
- Saturday, 29/August/2026 16:00
- Venue:
- Märkischer Hof Päwesin
- Address:
- Fischerstraße 9, 14778 Päwesin
- Price:
- from €30.00
©olly - stock.adobe.com
Musik in Brandenburgischen Schlössern
- Next date:
- Klaviergala zu vier Händen - Maria-Magdalena Pitu-Jokisch & Naoko Fukumoto
- Date:
- Saturday, 29/August/2026 18:00 (1 more date)
- Venue:
- Ehemalige Schlosskirche Schöneiche bei Berlin
- Address:
- Dorfstraße, 15566 Schöneiche bei Berlin
- Price:
- from €33.00
© Quelle: Reservix-System
Young Voices Brandenburg
Chart-Kracher von Ed Sheeran und Billie Eilish gehören zum knalligen Repertoire der Landesjugendpopchors Young Voices Brandenburg: Das Ensemble steht für junge und kraftvolle Stimmen, viel Talent und die Liebe zur Popmusik. Bei ihrem Konzert in Brandenburg... moreabout: Young Voices Brandenburg
- Date:
- Saturday, 29/August/2026 20:00
- Venue:
- Klubhaus Ludwigsfelde
- Address:
- Theodor-Fontane-Straße 42, 14974 Ludwigsfelde
- Price:
- from €14.00
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