A major opera gala brings renowned voices and one of the Czech Republic’s leading orchestras to the Philharmonie Berlin on 2 November 2026.
On Monday, 2 November 2026, at 20:00, the Philharmonie Berlin hosts the Operngala-Nacht in its Großer Saal. The cast is international: the Filharmonie Brno from the Czech Republic, conductor Arkady Beryn, American tenor René Barbera, French baritone Florian Sempey and soprano Alisa Medvedeva, who trained in Saint Petersburg and is based in Geneva. The programme covers music from Austria, Italy, France, Russia and Bohemia, plus one piece from Brazil.
The conductor is Maestro Prof. Arkady Beryn, who has more than forty years of professional experience and was Chief Conductor of the Internationale Symphoniker Deutschland from 2003 to 2011. His guest engagements have included the Berliner Symphoniker, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the Camerata Salzburg, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Győr Philharmonic, and he has conducted in the Philharmonie Berlin, the Vienna Musikverein, the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In July 2026 he conducted a concert performance of Eugene Onegin in Jerusalem. The orchestra is the Filharmonie Brno, one of the Czech Republic’s principal ensembles since 1956.
The tenor is René Barbera, who in 2011 became the first singer to win all three top prizes at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition and has since sung at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Opéra de Paris, the Vienna and Bavarian State Operas and the New National Theatre Tokyo.
The baritone is Florian Sempey, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, whose Figaro in The Barber of Seville has been heard at the Opéra de Paris, Covent Garden, Pesaro, Rome and Tokyo. The soprano is Alisa Medvedeva, a prizewinner of the Rachmaninov and Stravinsky international competitions who has appeared alongside Andrea Bocelli and Il Divo.
The programme. Barbera sings Puccini’s “Che gelida manina” and Donizetti’s “Una furtiva lagrima”. Sempey sings Rossini’s “Largo al factotum”, Bizet’s Toreador Song and Mozart’s “Fin ch’han dal vino”. Medvedeva sings Puccini’s “Quando me’n vo” and Bellini’s “Oh! quante volte” and joins Sempey in Mozart’s “Là ci darem la mano”. The orchestra plays Tchaikovsky (the Onegin Polonaise and the finale of the Fourth Symphony), Mozart (the Figaro overture), Puccini and Mascagni (the intermezzi from Manon Lescaut and Cavalleria rusticana), Bizet (the Carmen Prelude), Verdi and Rossini (the overtures to La forza del destino and La gazza ladra) and Dvořák (a Slavonic Dance). Zequinha de Abreu’s “Tico Tico no fubá” and the Brindisi from La traviata close the evening.
The venue is the 2,440-seat Großer Saal, designed by Hans Scharoun and opened in 1963 – the hall whose terraced layout has been copied by concert halls from Tokyo to Los Angeles. It stands at the Kulturforum, a short walk from Potsdamer Platz. The concert begins at 20:00; tickets from €26.50 are available via Eventim.
EVENT INFORMATION
Operngala-Nacht – Opera Gala at the Philharmonie Berlin
Monday, 2 November 2026, 20:00
Philharmonie Berlin – Großer Saal
Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1, 10785 Berlin, Germany
Conductor: Maestro Arkady Beryn
Soloists: René Barbera, tenor; Florian Sempey, baritone; Alisa Medvedeva, soprano
Orchestra: Filharmonie Brno (Brno Philharmonic)
Programme: Arias, duets, overtures and intermezzi by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Puccini, Bizet, Verdi, Mascagni, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Dvořák and Zequinha de Abreu
Tickets: from €26.50 via Eventim – eventim.de/artist/philharmonie-berlin/operngala-nacht-philhamonie-berlin-4122419
Event page: Philharmonie Berlin – berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/concert/calendar/57371
Event listing: visitBerlin – visitberlin.de/en/event/brno-philharmonic-opera-gala-night
