In Beethoven’s cheerful Second Symphony from 1802, contemporaries detected something new and profound—reviews spoke, for example, of great “depth, power, and artistic erudition.” Later critics often overlooked this. For them, it was not until his world-famous “Third Symphony”—composed a year later and named “Eroica”—that the composer broke away from his role models Haydn and Mozart. For some time now, however, it has once again been appreciated for its own merits. 

While 2027 marks the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin – founded in 1952 as the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester – will also celebrate its 75th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we’ll delve into our history in this concert: In 2003, under the baton of then-principal conductor Eliahu Inbal, the orchestra performed the world premiere of “Klangszenen III,” a commissioned work by Friedrich Goldmann (1941–2009). Now it’s back on the programme.

South African soprano Elza van den Heever is one of the “world’s leading interpreters of the youthful-dramatic soprano repertoire” and has captivated audiences in New York and Paris, among other places, in the role of Salome in Richard Strauss’s opera of the same name. We are very much looking forward to listening to her interpreting Salome's “Schlussgesang” in our Great Hall together with you.