29 December 2019 Berliner Philharmoniker started their 2-days New Year’s Eve marathon. Orchestra leaded by Kirill Petreko offered plenty of modern, spectacular compositions, but they were not the only star of the evening. The second one, shining full light, was Diana Damrau, guest soprano, making her debut at the famous Berlin’s philharmonic stage.
One can say- it was a musical journey. Gerschwin, Berstein, Weil, Rodgers… It was to be an unforgettable, spectacular and joyful evening. And indeed- it was. The orchestra of Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Petrenko created a great variety of stunning sounds. One could feel the connection between the conductor and each of the musicians. Petrenko looked as if he was a dancer taken out of the musical times, each of his gestures was deeply connected with the sound of each piece. Wheather it was a spectacular ouverture from Girl Crazy by Gerschwin, witty and distinguished sounds from Amerikan in Paris or demanding, emotional Symphonic Notturne fromLady in the Dark. One could see too, that the orchestra was having so much fun and joy performing this day with Petrenko and that was expressed in sound as well. It was rich, the great dynamic and tempo changes, musical effects (like shout- „mambo!” or snapping fingers) and wise phrasing made a hudge impression on the audience.
Berliner Philharmoniker and Petrenko were not the only stars that wereshining that evening. It was as well the german soprano- Diana Damrau, who this day (29th Dec.) was making her debut on the Berlin’s Philharmonic stage with Berliner Philharmoniker. And what a debut it was. Damrau took the audience to the land of great musical pieces. She was constantly in touch with the people gained in Philharmonic, creating the unique connection in between her and the audience. Beginning with the imagined love in If I loved you by Rodgers, through funny, witty and full of positive emotions I feel pretty (there was a little dance as well), a little nostalgic, but firm and with the valse dignity foolish heart by Weill, to magical, full of hope lines of Somewhere over the rainbow. There was a moment of great emotions too. And it was the Send in the clowns by Sondheim. That was not only the beautiful sound, but and amazing and really true interpretation as well. The great pause- silence after this particular piece sounded louder than applause (which appeared,with a great enthusiasm, a moment after).
That was an unique concert. Full of modern sounds, beautiful interpretations and great emotions. And that was the audience, who felt it and wanted more. After almost every piece one could hear „bravo!”, „brava!” and great round of applause. Belriner Philharmoniker, Petrenko and Damrau could not leave the audience in that moment. They added two more pieces to complete the concert. Damrau made a little „wink” to the german audience singing I could have danced all night partly in German and getting another round of great applause, then Berliner Philharmoniker one more time stunned the audience, this time with energetic and impressive The Ride of the Cossacks by Waxman. And that was it. The great end of the old and beginning of the comming year.
KK
