Silhouettes of the Metropolis

"I've been to Paris, I've been to London, I've been to Rome - and I think every time: 'There's no city like New York'. New York is the most exciting city in the world. That's just the way it is. That's exactly how it is." This confession comes from Robert de Niro, a New Yorker who is so obviously committed to the city. The magic of the metropolis is simply incomparable: the pull of the big city, which is so much more than just the sum of its individual urban aspects.

"Berlin, the greatest cultural extravaganza you can imagine" - as David Bowie, who lived in Schöneberg for two years in the 1970s, put it. The conglomerate of a heterogeneous metropolis, shaped by the dazzling, exciting, terrible and beautiful traits of the 20th century, feeds on the warmth of the nest and the avant-garde, sophisticated boulevards and the pulsating life of the backyards.

Our first 'Silhouettes of Metropolis' program is dedicated to the legendary metropolises of New York and Berlin - each associated with a fascinating personality who represents the respective city and who emerged from it: Marlene Dietrich and Lady Gaga. Incidentally, both have roots in classical music: Marlene Dietrich began private studies as a violinist in 1920, and Lady Gaga is an outstanding pianist.

We undertake our metropolitan studies under the inspiring baton of Wayne Marshall as a kaleidoscope through the ages - from 1920s New York with music from the Capitol Theater to contemporary paraphrases of clever pop music from the 'Big Apple'. From Berlin, we experience charismatic music from the 1920s as well as Meret Becker's "Ein Tag wie Gold" from "Babylon Berlin".

Eduard Künneke
KURFÜRSTENDAMM [1932]
(HAPPY JOURNEY) [OVERTURE]

Kurt Weill
MAGIC NIGHT [1923]

Gottfried Huppertz
FRAGMENT FROM METROPOLIS [1927]

Marlene Dietrich
I AM THE PRETTY LOLA
FROM HEAD TO TOE | RUINS OF BERLIN

Charles Koechlin
'MARLENE DIETRICH'
from 'SEVEN STARS SYMPHONY' OP. 132 [1933]

Meret Becker
A DAY LIKE GOLD [2022]

Ennio Morricone
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA [1984]

Leo Ornstein
PRÉLUDE TRAGIQUE [1924]

Lady Gaga
BAD ROMANCE | POKERFACE
ALEJANDRO

Leonard Cohen
SISTERS OF MERCY
[1967/2014 - INSPIRED BY CAMERON CARPENTER]

Burt Bacharach
ALFIE
[1965/2014 - INSPIRED BY CAMERON CARPENTER]

Leonard Bernstein
THREE DANCESCENES FROM 'ON THE TOWN'

N.N., voice
CAPITOL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Conductor: Wayne Marshall