The new season of opera houses and concert halls begins, premieres, great performances and exciting festivals are waiting for you. You also have the chance to discover unknown and almost forgotten female composers whose works are finally back on the repertoire of several orchestras and who more than deserve to be rediscovered.
To kick things off, many houses invite you to join in the celebration, listen to the orchestras and even dance.
Best of all, many of the opening ceremonies don't charge admission. So take a peek and get excited.
Tip 1: Start the new season with the Musikfest Berlin
The new season begins with a brilliant bang: top Berlin and international orchestras come to Musikfest Berlin and unleash the full magic of classical music.
One of the highlights of the Musikfest is the performance of Hector Berlioz's monumental opera "Les Troyens" - in its original sound form with a length of five and a half hours! But you can also swing along to the music of Gershwin or discover Persian music - the offer is large and varied with many exciting impressions.
The Mahler concert conducted by Sir Simon Rattle is sold out, but otherwise you can still get tickets for these extraordinary musical delights.
When: August 26 - September 18
Where: Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan Straße 1 ,Tiergarten
Musikfest Berlin
Tip 2: Meet the Heroes at the Philharmonie
On August 25, Kirill Petrenko opens the Berliner Philharmoniker's season with Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben. The season's thematic focus "Heroes" promises to be exciting, telling stories of heroines and heroes. The Philharmonic also congratulates Arnold Schönberg on his 150th birthday and Anton Bruckner on his 200th. The wonderful violinist Lisa Batiashvili is Artist in Residence and will give several concerts in which you can experience how soulfully and nuanced she makes the violin sound. A true highlight!
When: From August 25
Where: Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan Straße 1 , Tiergarten
Tip 3: Meet the new chief conductor at the Konzerthaus
Welcome, Joana Mallwitz is the name of the game at the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt. The new chief conductor has arrived! The Konzerthausorchester is the first major Berlin orchestra to welcome a woman to the post. On August 31, the Konzerthaus will open the new season with a concert featuring Joanna Mallwitz. She conducts the Konzerthausorchester with symphonies by Prokofiev, Weill and Mahler.
When: from August 31
Where: Konzerthaus, Gendarmenmarkt, Mitte
Tip 4: Celebrate at the Staatsoper
The Staatsoper Berlin invites you to the season opening party and gets you in the mood for the season with the grand opera gala. The Staatskapelle Berlin, Staatsopernchor and Staatsballett Berlin will welcome you on stage, while sing-alongs, a rally and activities for children will provide entertaining entertainment. And the entry is free!
A glance at the program booklet shows that many exciting productions await you in the magnificent opera house. On October 3, for example, the Staatsoper celebrates its first premiere of the season with Aida in a production by scandal-plagued director Calixto Bieito.
When: September 9 from 11 a.m.
Where: Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Mitte
Tip 5: Dance at the rave in the opera house
the Deutsche Oper starts the new stage year with a swinging start and invites you to a rave in the opera house on September 27. At the Playground Festival, the Opera House will be transformed into a club where you can dance to electronic music. And on September 3, the house opens with a program for the whole family, including behind-the-scenes tours, a children's program and an evening concert.
When: from 27 September
Where: Deutsche Oper, Bismarckstrasse, Charlottenburg
Tip 6: Congratulate the Radio Symphony Orchestra on its 100th birthday
Happy Birthday! The Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin celebrates its 100th anniversary at the Musikfest Berlin. Chief conductor Vladimir Jurowski and his orchestra will perform Kurt Weill's "Little Threepenny Music," Thomas Adès' Piano Concerto and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Last Symphony.
On October 29, there will be another big anniversary concert at the Philharmonie, because on October 29, 1923, German radio broadcast its first official radio program. And the orchestra is also offering a varied program for the anniversary season, with concerts at unusual venues, children's programs and many highlights.
When: from September 2
Where: Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan Straße 1, Tiergarten
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester
Tip 7: Follow the Komische Oper throughout Berlin
Out into the city, into the neighborhoods! As the Komische Oper's opera house in Mitte is being renovated, the Komische Oper is now giving guest performances at the Schillertheater in Charlottenburg and at numerous other unusual venues. On September 10, for example, it will start with an opening matinee and a performance of Hans Werner Henze's "Das Floss der Medusa" in Hangar 1 at Tempelhof Airport.
On October 15, the Schillertheater will host the free opening party with the children's opera premiere of Nils Holgersson's Wondrous Adventures and the first musical appetizers from upcoming productions.
Where: Komische Oper at the Schillertheater, Charlottenburg and many other venues.
When: from September 10
Komische Oper
Tip 8: Meet female composers with the DSO
No symphony concert this season should be without the work of a female composer - that's the goal of the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester. And so you can enjoy not only works by Bruckner; Beethoven and Schubert, but also discover new pieces by female composers who have long been overlooked by the music world. Things kick off with a symphony concert at the Music Festival on August 30, when Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati and the DSO perform Mahler's Song of the Earth and the piece Šu for Sheng and Orchestra by South Korean composer Unsuk Chin.
Street music at its finest can then be heard throughout the city on September 9 at the Kiez Concerts, when the DSO tours across Berlin and sails across the water.
When: from August 30
Where: Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan Straße 1 , Tiergarten and other locations
Tip 9: Congratulate the RIAS Kammerchor
75 years and not a bit quiet: The RIAS Kammerchor is also celebrating its birthday. The choir, one of the most successful in the world, looks back on a proud 75 years. It celebrates together with numerous anniversary guests and a program full of exciting highlights and starts right away with a sonorous special concert at the Musikfest Berlin on September 17.
When: from September 17
Where: various locations
RIAS Kammerchor
Tip 10: Going on a musical journey with the Berliner Symphoniker
The orchestra Berliner Symphoniker will be traveling through major European cities - and you can get to know a composer at each stop. The first stop is on September 24 from London to Hamburg, where you will meet Johannes Brahms and the composer Ethel Smyth, whose works have recently been appearing more and more frequently on the repertoire of major orchestras.
When: from September 24
Where: Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan Straße 1 , Tiergarten and other locations
Tip 11: Learn the latest from Neukölln
"Climbing mountains with an impromptu orchestra, founding your own state on an oil rig with Fabian Gerhardt, meeting forgotten female composers in the desert with Sommer Ulrickson..." that's what Neuköllner Oper promises you in the coming months. So, take the opportunity and come by when Die Frau ohne Schatten negotiates women's rights or the moving hit play Ocaña, Queen of the Ramblas tells of the life of the queer icon.
When: from 25 August 23
Where: Neuköllner Oper, Karl-Marx-Strasse 131 - 133, Neukölln
