Vienna, Milan, Paris, Prague, St Petersburg – the Operngala-Nacht on 2 November 2026 travels the continent’s great musical capitals with the Filharmonie Brno.


Few art forms carry Europe’s shared history as audibly as opera. A single evening can move from Mozart’s Vienna to Verdi’s Milan, from Bizet’s Paris to Tchaikovsky’s St Petersburg – and that is precisely what the Operngala-Nacht at the Philharmonie Berlin sets out to do on 2 November 2026, with the Filharmonie Brno under Maestro Arkady Beryn and three soloists: tenor René Barbera, baritone Florian Sempey and soprano Alisa Medvedeva.

Vienna and the Classical era open the programme: the overture to Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni’s “Fin ch’han dal vino” and the duet “Là ci darem la mano” – Mozart at his most theatrical.

Italy, inevitably, claims the largest share: Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini, Verdi. France enters with Bizet’s Carmen – the Prelude and the Toreador Song. The Slavic east provides the orchestral backbone: the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, the finale of his Fourth Symphony and a Slavonic Dance by Dvořák, home territory for a Czech orchestra. As a wink beyond Europe’s borders, the programme adds the Brazilian showpiece “Tico Tico no fubá”.

The three soloists bring established international careers to the Berlin stage. French baritone Florian Sempey has appeared at the Opéra national de Paris, the Royal Opera House in London and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, and is particularly known for his interpretation of Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. In 2022, he was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

American tenor René Barbera made international headlines in 2011 as the first singer to win all three top prizes at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition. He has since appeared at major houses including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Opéra national de Paris, the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera.

Soprano Alisa Medvedeva, a graduate of the Saint Petersburg Conservatoire, has performed at Dubai Opera, Wiener Stadthalle and Mozarthaus Vienna, as well as in Paris, Monaco, Porto Cervo, St. Moritz and Bucharest, and has shared the stage with artists including Andrea Bocelli and Il Divo.

The evening will be conducted by Maestro Prof. Arkady Beryn, a conductor with more than forty years on the podium whose interpretations are known for architectural clarity, stylistic precision and a deep command of the score. Chief Conductor of the Internationale Symphoniker Deutschland from 2003 to 2011, he has worked with the Berliner Symphoniker, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, the Camerata Salzburg, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and has conducted in the Philharmonie Berlin, the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Among the artists he has partnered are Aida Garifullina, José Carreras, Mischa Maisky and Daniel Hope. The Filharmonie Brno, founded in 1956, is one of the Czech Republic’s principal orchestras and has developed an extensive international presence through concerts, tours and festival appearances.

The stage for this journey is Hans Scharoun’s Großer Saal – the 2,440-seat hall, opened in 1963, whose terraced “vineyard” layout places performers and audience in unusually close relationship.

Tickets from €26.50 are available through Eventim, and the concert begins at 20:00.

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