Journal

Fall Performances in Berlin, Milan and Vienna

This September, Daniel Barenboim returns Staatsoper unter den Linden for the 15th edition of Staatsoper für alle, beginning with the opening of Le Nozze di Figaro on September 18, which will be broadcast live for Berlin audiences at the Bebelplatz. The Vincent Huguet production features Gyula Orendt (Count Almaviva), Federica Lombardi (Countess Almaviva), Anna Prohaska (Susanna), Gerald Finley (Figaro), and Corinna Scheurle (Cherubino), with additional performances on September 23, 26, 29, and October 5. Staatsoper für alle continues on September 19 with an open-air concert featuring works by Wagner, Verdi, Weber, and Schumann performed by the Staatsopernchor and Staatskapelle Berlin.

Next, Daniel Barenboim conducts another Mozart opera at Staatsoper unter den Linden, leading six performances of Cosí fan tutte on October 3, 6, 9, 13, 16, 20. Directed by Vincent Huguet, the production features Federica Lombardi (Fiordiligi), Marina Viotti (Dorabella), Paolo Fanale (Ferrando), Gyula Orendt (Guglielmo), Lucio Gallo (Don Alfornso), and Barbara Frittoli (Despina). Later in October, Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin in a program of Schumann, featuring cellist Kian Soltani as the soloist for Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor (October 18 & 19). Barenboim then travels to Katowice, Poland to perform Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Lawrence Foster (October 23).

At the end of October, Barenboim embarks on a European tour with the Staatskapelle Berlin, beginning in Athens on October 27, 29, 30, and 31. Barenboim and the Orchestra then travel to Milan (November 4), Geneva (November 5), Madrid (November 8 & 9), and Vienna (November 11-14). The tour concludes in Zurich on November 15.

Barenboim again performs at Musikverein Wien on November 21-28, offering multiple recitals of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas.  He then returns to Staatsoper unter den Linden to conduct three performances of Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila, on December 5, 8, & 11. Tenor Andreas Schager and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča perform the title roles, alongside baritone Michael Volle (High Priest of Dagon) and bass Jongmin Park (Abimélech).

Barenboim closes 2021 in Berlin and Vienna, conducting the 200th anniversary of the Berlin State Opera Choir with Chorus Master Martin Wright, soprano Elza van den Heever, mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, tenor Siyabonga Maqungo, and the Staatskapelle Berlin. The evening includes  works by Haydn, Francesconi, Schubert, and Bruckner (December 13 & 14). On December 30, 31, and January 1, Barenboim leads the Wiener Philharmoniker in a New Year’s celebration, welcoming the arrival of 2022.