Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Joana Mallwitz

At the beginning of this season, we are once again invited to the Musikfest Berlin with our chief conductor Joana Mallwitz. The program with the Rundfunkchor features Hans Werner Henze's 9th Symphony, which we will then take on a guest performance at the Lucerne Festival. The composer was a committed anti-fascist. Dealing with Germany's National Socialist past, he created a harrowing memorial against fascism and war with this work – an "apotheosis of the terrible and painful," which he described as the "summa summarum" of his work. Originally commissioned by the Berliner Festwochen, this large-scale "dramatic poem without scene" can now be heard as part of the anniversary year of the Berliner Festspiele and on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the composer, who passed away in 2012.