Prof. Monika Grütters MdB
“A well-dressed lady in a box stood up and slapped the face of a young man in the next box over who was hissing. Her male companion then stood and exchanged calling cards with the other man. The two men duelled the next day.”
This is how the Hungarian dancer Romola de Pulszky described what she witnessed at the scandalous and much-awaited premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet “The Rite of Spring” at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on 29 May 1913. I hope that this year’s Musikfest Berlin, which is marking the 50th anniversary of Stravinsky’s death by devoting particular attention to his work, will prove less dramatic. But as the kick-off event of this year’s concert season, it too is being awaited with great anticipation and excitement.
Igor Stravinsky is considered a brilliant avant-garde composer. In the 1960s he regularly attended the Berliner Festwochen, where he was a celebrated guest. He experimented with a range of styles and took inspiration from both the past and the present. In this 70th anniversary year of the Berliner Festspiele, the Musikfest Berlin also represents this kind of musical diversity. Starting from Stravinsky’s work, the festival invites attendees to get to know more than 100 pieces by 52 different composers, ranging from music of the 16th and 17th centuries to new compositions. I am especially looking forward to the opening event with the world premiere of Heiner Goebbels’ work “A House of Call”, a promising project created for the Beethoven anniversary year in 2020; due to the pandemic, it is now being heard for the first time.
It has become painfully clear that digital formats are no substitute for the collective experience of live music. This makes me all the more grateful to the musicians and all of those responsible for the Musikfest Berlin – for the perseverance and stamina that they have long demonstrated. I hope that federal coronavirus assistance and the funding from the programme NEUSTART KULTUR is supporting a fresh start for musical life.
I also hope that the Musikfest Berlin audiences will find the concerts inspiring and that all the performing artists will at long last once again hear the thunderous applause of an enthusiastic crowd.
Prof. Monika Grütters
Member of the German Bundestag
Minister of State for Culture and the Media