The Operngala-Nacht on 2 November 2026 puts three international soloists and a renowned symphony orchestra in the world’s most imitated concert hall.
Premium live entertainment comes down to one thing: the right cast in the right room. On Monday, 2 November 2026, the Operngala-Nacht at the Philharmonie Berlin delivers exactly that, placing the Filharmonie Brno, Maestro Arkady Beryn and three international soloists – tenor René Barbera, baritone Florian Sempey and soprano Alisa Medvedeva – in the Großer Saal of the world’s most imitated concert hall.
The format is the classic gala: no single opera, but a sequence of the arias, duets, overtures and intermezzi that audiences everywhere know by heart, delivered by artists who sing these roles at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Opéra de Paris and Covent Garden. It is the kind of evening that anchors a city break – a full symphony orchestra, three star voices and a building worth the visit on its own.
The room is the first asset. Hans Scharoun’s Philharmonie, opened in 1963, is home to the Berliner Philharmoniker and the original of the “vineyard” hall – 2,440 seats rising in terraces around the stage. The Philharmonie lists the Operngala-Nacht as a guest event, the format under which visiting orchestras appear in the hall.
The cast is the second. Barbera, from Texas, was the first singer ever to win all three top prizes at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition; he sings at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Opéra de Paris and the Arena di Verona. Sempey, French and a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, is the Figaro of his generation, with the role behind him at the Opéra de Paris, Covent Garden and Pesaro, and appears this season at the Vienna State Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Medvedeva, a Saint Petersburg Conservatoire graduate now based in Geneva, has shared stages with Andrea Bocelli and Il Divo. Maestro Prof. Arkady Beryn, with more than forty years on the podium, was Chief Conductor of the Internationale Symphoniker Deutschland from 2003 to 2011 and has conducted in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Philharmonie Berlin; his stage partners have included Aida Garifullina, José Carreras, Roberto Alagna and Maxim Vengerov, he holds the Grand Prix of an international competition in Luxembourg, and a German headline once called him simply the star: “Dirigent Beryn ist der Star”. The Filharmonie Brno has been one of the Czech Republic’s leading orchestras since 1956.
The product is a programme of guaranteed recognition: “Largo al factotum”, the Toreador Song, “Che gelida manina”, “Una furtiva lagrima”, “Là ci darem la mano”, Musetta’s waltz, Bellini’s “Oh! quante volte” and the Brindisi from La traviata, framed by the Onegin Polonaise, the finale of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, the overtures to Le nozze di Figaro, La forza del destino and La gazza ladra, the intermezzi from Manon Lescaut and Cavalleria rusticana, a Dvořák Slavonic Dance and “Tico Tico no fubá”.
The concert begins at 20:00. Tickets from €26.50 are available via Eventim.
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
