review

Berlin - Gendarmenmarkt

The Festival in Berlin

Since 1992 every summer the Gendarmenmarkt in the heart of Berlin turns into a great concert arena. It is one of the most beautiful places in the whole of Europe and therefore is a stunning scenery for musical performances. The concert series has become an attraction for national and international visitors and artists. The media interest is also enormous. Some of the concerts were watched by millions of people on TV, and the current coverage can regularly be seen in over 60 countries and on all continents.

Surely the success of the concert series is partly down to the picturesque mise-en-scène of classical architecture and the consequently unique atmosphere, which arises in combination with the classical music. Other factors are, however, the concert themes. The musical palette reaches from German over Italian opera, operetta and musical to crossover productions with classics of pop, soul, swing and jazz. Especially popular are the productions where light, laser or fireworks have been built into the dramaturgy.

With José Carreras doing the opening concert, the festival has been keeping up its star-studded line-ups. Internationally famous artists like Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Roberto Alagna, Lucia Aliberti, Ramon Vargas, Marcelo Alvarez, the king of Klezmer Giora Feidman, or in crossover concerts stars such as The Scorpions together with the Berliner Symphoniker, Buena Vista Social Club, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Chris de Burgh, The Supremes and many more have performed at the Classic Open Air Festival.

For its characteristic versatile and sophisticated concert programmes, the festival received the “LEA – Live Entertainment Award 2006”. More than half a million spectators came to see 93 concerts in the last 17 years