Live recorded at the Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepaja, Latvia

Sunday, 1st of May

Berliner Philharmoniker

Kirill Petrenko, conductor

Elina Garanca, mezzo-soprano

On 1 May every year, the Berliner Philharmoniker present the famous EUROPAKONZERT (European Concert). Taking place in a different European city each year, the concert not only celebrates the orchestra’s birthday, but also Europe’s shared cultural heritage. The first concert took place on 1 May 1991, and EuroArts has been a solid partner right from the start, accompanying the orchestra on the inaugural concert and – indeed – all others since then. 
In 2022 the Europakonzert with the Berliner Philharmoniker under chief conductor Kirill Petrenko takes place in Liepaja, in beautiful Latvia. “Great Amber” is the name of the city’s Concert Hall, it has 1024 seats and is the largest concert hall of the Baltic.
The program is a show of solidarity with Odesa and Ukraine and stands for a peaceful coexistence in Europe with music by composers whose musical message is about freedom and self-determination. It starts with Pēteris Vask, whose music has a wholehearted emotional power that hits the listener right in the heart. The Latvian Vasks is present in person at the Great Amber Hall. His Musica dolorosa is followed by the Elegy for string orchestra by the Ukrainian composer Valentyn Silvestrov.
Latvia is known for the traditionally strong choral movement, as it is in all countries of the Baltic: the sung dream of freedom can be seen as a founder of national identity and a subtle form of protest. Born in Riga in Lativa, the mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča performs Luciano Berio's Folk Songs.
The Great Amber Concert Hall is praised for its excellent acoustics, ideal preconditions for the Berliner Philharmoniker and their performance of the rhapsody of Taras Bulba by Leoš Janácek and Finlandia by Jean Sibelius. 

Pēteris Vasks: Musica dolorosa; Valentyn Silvestrov / Ivan Fedorovych Karabyts: Elegy; Luciano Berio: Folk Songs (Elīna Garanča): Black is the colour, I wonder as I wander, Loosin yelav, Rossignolet du bois, A la femminisca, La donna ideale, Ballo, Motettu de Tristura, Malorous qu'o un fenno, Lo fiolaire, Azerbaijan love song; Leoš Janáček: Taras Bulba - Rhapsody for orchestra; Jean Sibelius: Finlandia, Op.26

Duration: 100'

TV Director: Henning Kasten

Produced by EuroArts Music in co-production with RBB, LTV, NHK, CCTV

The Festspielhaus Baden-Baden hosts the Easter Festival 2022 as a great return of the Live Opera with Tchaikovsky´s classic Pique Dame. The sets and cast of this production set standards and compete with cinema set design. Together for the first time, Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker perform an opera production. Pique Dame was written during probably the most difficult period in Tchaikovsky´s life, when he himself was already beginning to sense how hard he would have to work for his own happiness. The very self-critical composer considered it to be his best opera. Now it is Kirill Petrenko together with Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier who are reshuffling the cards.

"Pique Dame will hardly be seen with a better cast of singers at the moment."
- FAZ

Berliner Philharmoniker

Kirill Petrenko, conductor

with Elena Stikhina, Lisa; Arsen Soghomonyan, Hermann; Doris Soffel, Gräfin; Vladislav Sulimsky, Graf Tomski; Aigul Akhmetshina, Polina; Boris Pinkhasovich, Fürst Jelezki

Progr. No.: 6901

TV Director: Nele Münchmeyer

Duration:  165'

Produced by EuroArts in coproduction with SWR/arte