Komische Oper Berlin, season 2025/2026
“A THOUSAND IN TEMPELHOF”
Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major for eight soloists, two mixed choirs, a boys’ choir and large orchestra by Gustav Mahler
Soprano I (Magna Peccatrix) CHRISTINA NILSSON
Soprano II (Una poenitentium) PENNY SOFRONIADOU
Soprano III (Mater gloriosa) ELISA MAAYESHI
Contralto I (Mulier Samaritana) KAROLINA GUMOS
Contralto II (Maria Aegyptiaca) RACHAEL WILSON
Tenor (Doctor Marianus) ANDREW STAPLES
Baritone (Pater Ecstaticus) HUBERT ZAPIÓR
Basso (Pater Profundus) ANDREAS BAUER KANABAS
Chorsolisten der Komischen Oper Berlin
Vocalconsort Berlin
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Kinderchor der Komischen Oper Berlin
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin
Conductor James Gaffigan
Choirs David Cavelius
Children’s Choir Dagmar Barbara Fiebach
Berlin, 25 September 2025
The Komische Oper Berlin building has been undergoing renovation and expansion since 2023, forcing the ensemble to relocate to various venues throughout the city. The Schillertheater, once the temporary home of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden when its historic building was reconstructed, has become a kind of home base for the Komische Oper. However, its last two seasons were opened in Hangar 4 of the former Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, with Hans Werner Henze’s ‘Das Floß der Medusa’ in 2023 and Handel’s Messiah in 2024. During this year’s new production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, the Komische Oper’s first concert of the season also took place in Hangar 4, featuring Symphony No. 8 by Gustav Mahler. Its sheer size alone makes the venue ideal for this work, which is known as the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ despite the composer’s disapproval. It requires two orchestras, extra brass players, two large choirs, a boys’ choir and eight soloists. The audience sits on stands mainly on either side of the musicians, who are positioned in the centre of the huge hangar, while the third stand opposite the conductor and soloists is occupied by the choirs. This arrangement allows the audience to become part of Mahler’s gigantic sound universe, which, given the bare industrial building, might lead one to expect problematic acoustics rather than the extremely enjoyable homogeneous listening experience in which musicians and listeners practically merge into Mahler’s universe, which begins to resonate and sound. James Gaffigan, General Music Director of the Komische Oper since the 2023/24 season, took on the difficult task of conducting this monumental and complex work. To cut a long story short: he pulled it off! At first, I found the sound somewhat muffled and the conductor slightly sluggish, but the sound quickly developed into something magnificent, homogeneous, and precise, both transparent and grandiose, dynamic, and rhythmic. The choirs were excellent: the renowned Rundfunkchor Berlin and Chorsolisten der Komischen Oper Berlin, reinforced by the Vocalconsort Berlin, and it was wonderful how well the KOB children’s choir was integrated, conducted by Dagmar Barbara Fiebach. The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Orchester der Komischen Oper captivated with their extreme presence in all instrumental groups, the brass triumphed, the woodwinds shone, and the strings enchanted. I admit that my key to Mahler’s 8th symphony lies with the vocal soloists. The sopranos and the tenor are extremely challenged with partially demanding vocal range requirements. While the voices in the first part stand out from the choirs and blend in with them, the solo singing in part II is a little patchy but it gives space for more vocal characterisation. The vocal performances of the eight soloists were masterful. They could cope with the difficult passages of the Pentecost hymn and the final scene from Goethe’s Faust II with ease and performed their tasks excellently. It would be unfair to single out individual performances: the sopranos Christina Nilsson, Penny Sofroniadou and Elisa Maayeshi were as excellent as their contralto counterparts Karolina Gumos and Rachel Wilson. The tenor Andrew Staples stood out as Doctor Marianus, Hubert Zapiór was a convincing  Pater Ecstaticus and Andreas Bauer Kanabas excelled as Pater Profundus. I am grateful to the Komische Oper Berlin for giving me the opportunity to experience this rarely performed work live for the first time. It became clear to me that recordings are hardly able to capture the complexity of the work, Mahler’s overwhelming soundscape and the power of the choirs. Only in a larger acoustic space does Mahler’s vision become tangible: ‘Try to imagine the whole world in the process of sounding and resonating – these are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving.’ (From a letter to his publisher Emil Gutmann) Photos Jan Windszus Photography