Easter Festival Baden-Baden

Giacomo Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly has been moving audiences since its premiere in 1904. The story of the geisha Cio-Cio-San and the American officer Benjamin F. Pinkerton includes everything that makes a successful opera: great emotions, drama, and sound paintings that showcase the orchestra in all its facets. Director Davide Livermore has already been honored three times to open the season of La Scala in Milan. Jonathan Tetelman almost feels at home in Baden-Baden. He sang the title role in Werther and roused the audience to storms of applause at the season-opening gala in 2024. Butterfly Eleonora Buratto celebrates her Baden-Baden debut with one of her star roles.

"Béla Bartók's mother tongue was Beethoven." This quote by the composer György Kurtág goes right to the heart of this Easter Festival concert under the direction of Jakub Hrůša. It will feature Béla Bartók's monumental Concerto for Orchestra, which the composer wrote in American exile. Ludwig van Beethoven was also surrounded by the tumult of war when he wrote his last piano concerto. It is nicknamed the "Emperor” Concerto, although it is not clear whether this refers to the fleeing Archduke Rudolph or the Emperor Napoleon invading Vienna, from whom Beethoven had actually already turned away by that time. Pianist Seong-Jin Cho enjoys pop star status in his home country of South Korea.

Already in its founding year of 1883, the Berliner Philharmoniker included Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in its program. Franz Wüllner established a long tradition in Berlin of distinguished interpretations of this pivotal work of classical music. Hans von Bülow, who loved Baden-Baden, once even offered a double performance of the work, which naturally also received notable interpretations by Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, and Claudio Abbado. On taking up his position in August 2019, Kirill Petrenko stated: "There is only one work with which I can begin my tenure here in Berlin, Beethoven's Ninth." With this symphony, he is now bidding farewell to Baden-Baden.

The Easter Festival with the Berliner Philharmoniker also includes concerts with the Bundesjugendorchester, for whom the Berliners have taken on the role of mentors. The most talented young German instrumentalists learn their parts together with musicians from the Berliner Philharmoniker. After orchestral rehearsals, it’s time for the long-awaited highlight – the public performance, which you can also look forward to in the coming years. We are already working on future projects with the Bundesjugendorchester.