1. Philharmonic Concert »Dancing«

Season opening with our new Principal Conductor and our »Artist in Residence«: We kick off the 2026/27 season with this dance-inspired and spirited concert at the Kleist Forum in Frankfurt. This opening concert will be conducted by Principal Conductor Felix Mildenberger. On 1 August 2026, he takes over as Artistic Director of Brandenburg’s largest symphony orchestra.

In his Firebird Suite, Stravinsky blends the exotically iridescent soundscape of the Firebird with the dark world of the sinister sorcerer Kashchei. In this ballet fairy tale, Stravinsky cloaks the mysterious and magical in an electrifying, colourful orchestration.

Rachmaninoff had likewise composed his Symphonic Dances for a ballet performance. They are his final work and a musical retrospective of his life – featuring references to his early works and echoes of Russian Orthodox church music. In this deeply moving piece, audiences experience Rachmaninoff – both the composer and the man – more intimately than in any of his other works.

Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Viola and Orchestra is also his final major work, a form of summary and one of the most important concertos for viola and orchestra. It marks the first of a series of regular encounters between the viola and the orchestra that will characterise this season. We are delighted to welcome Amihai Grosz, one of the world’s finest violists. The principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic will introduce himself to the Frankfurt audience as »Artist in Residence« at this season-opening concert.