Elevate June 2019 | Air Serbia

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W hen the Belgrade Philhar- monic asked people what they would like to listen to three years ago, no one could have imagined how high the re- sponse would be, or that tens of thou- sands of music lovers would listen to its newly-appointed chief conductor, Gabriel Feltz, under an open sky. He was joined on stage at the time by the legendary Zubin Mehta, and the next year would see the conuence of the rivers Sava and Danube resound with the music of the Odyssey, and for the year 2019, our Philharmonic, and now our Feltz, are preparing a new treat – Disney’s Fantasia. But that’s not the end of the musical joy. That’s because the Belgrade Philhar- monic will join forces with its Dortmund counterpart, also headed by Gabriel Feltz, to jointly stage magnicent concerts in Belgrade and Dortmund in celebration of the birthday of the great Beethoven. Speaking for Elevate this month, the chief conductor discusses this project, but also Disney at Ušće, his Germany, Berlin and Stuttgart... What are the dierences and similar- ities between Serbia and Germany? Well, in the languages, there is noth- ing similar. My language is easy [laughs]. But otherwise, yes – both countries have a long and rich history in the centre of Eu- rope. Serbia and Germany should stay to- gether in many ways and I’m pretty proud to say this: we are doing exactly that! In June 2020, Belgrade and Dortmund will celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday with two spectacular Sunday concerts, at which we will perform all nine symphonies to- gether in both cities. You were born in Berlin in the early ‘70s, so you had to endure some dif- cult times. How do you remember those years in East Germany? My childhood was part of the last years of Soviet inuence. Even as a little boy, I could see and understood that this sys- tem was about to collapse. But I also can’t ignore the fact that in some areas there we still had good standards – for exam- ple, my school education. Unforgettable, of course, was that 9 th November, when the wall came down. For the rst time in my life, I went – with a girlfriend – to the western part of Berlin and we stayed the whole night. Thousands of thousands of people danced on the streets and on car roofs. The restaurants oered drinks for free. So Berlin means, for me, the time I started my own personal life, of being a serious and adult person. I’m grateful for all the possibilities I had after the Cold War ended.

GABRIJELOV TOP 5 1) Slušajte uživo Berlinsku filhar- moniju. 2) Provedite sunčani dan napo-

4) Naoružajte se gradskom ma- pom i kreirajte sopstvenu tu- ru sa svim poznatim zdanjima. Istorija Berlina je bogata, ali ne propustite Bendlerblok, nemač- ki memorijalni centar otpora, u čijem dvorištu je pogubljen grof Klaus Šenk fon Štaufenberg, za mene jedan od najvećih hero- ja svih vremena koji je 20. jula 1944. pokušao da ubije Hitlera. 5) Idite na trčanje u Tirgarten u 5 ujutru. Slušajte kako četiri i po miliona ljudi u gradu započinje novi dan.

lju da vidite jezera Lipnicze ili Vanze. Takav dan mi nazivamo „ins grune fahren“ što znači – voziti se u zeleno. To su neve- rovatna mesta. Tako mirna! 3) Pogledajte predstavu u Ko- mičnoj operi. Najmanja berlin- ska operska kuća, ali za me- ne najbolja. Vrlo dobri režiseri, uvek sjajan Bari Koski, odlič- ni pevači, fleksibilni orkestar i uvek topla i lepa atmosfera.

GABRIEL’S TOP 5

1) Listen live (!) to the sound of the Berlin Philharmonic 2) Go outside on a sunny day to see Liepnitzsee (Liepnitz-lake) or Wannsee (also a lake). We call this “ins Grüne fahren”, which means “drive into the green”. These are amazing places. So peaceful! 3) Watch a show at the Komisc- he Oper. The smallest opera ho- use in Berlin, but for me the best. Very good directors, of co- urse headed by theatre mana- ger Barry Kossky, great singers, a flexible orchestra and always a warm and nice atmosphere.

4) Buy a city map and create your own tour, with all the famous and historic buildings. Berlin’s history is rich, but don’t miss Bendlerblock, the German Resistance Memorial Center where Graf (Duke) Claus Sc- henk von Stauffenberg was execu- ted, for me one of the greatest he- roes of all time. He tried a to save Germany from a total military, eco- nomic and moral disaster when he tried to kill Hitler on 20 th July 1944. 5) Go for a run in Tiergarten Park at 5am. Listen to how four and a half million people in the city start a new day.

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