Claudio Abbado + all-star cast = the classiest party you weren't invited to.
The annual New Year’s Eve Concert is one of the highlights in the calendar of every classical music fan in Berlin and beyond. On New Year‘s Eve, the Berliner Philharmoniker invite an exceptional soloist for a festive gala. Together, the musicians bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new. The 1997 concert was conducted by Claudio Abbado and featured Roberto Alagna (tenor), Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzosoprano), Bryn Terfel (baritone), Gil Shaham (violin), Mikhail Petnev (piano) performing: Georges Bizet: Carmen (Excerpts), Sergej Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Pablo de Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25, Maurice Ravel: Rhapsody Espagnole, Manuel de Falla: El Amor Brujo - Ritual Fire Dance, Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5.
Direction
Abbado's warmth makes the orchestra breathe as one.
Score
Rachmaninov to Ravel—no filler, all killers.
Acting
Terfel and Alagna duke it out for your heart.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Abbado's penultimate New Year's Eve with the Berliners; his 1989 appointment had revolutionized their sound with Mediterranean warmth.
The 1997 soloist lineup reads like a 90s classical supergroup—Alagna and Terfel were both skyrocketing to fame, while Gil Shaham was already the violin world's golden boy.
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