Ollikainen & Shaham

Ollikainen & Shaham takes you on a sonic journey through the tumultuous 20th century, united on a single stage by the Deutsches Symphonie‑Orchester Berlin under conductor Eva Ollikainen and world‑renowned violinist Gil Shaham. The program opens with Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, a work born of exile and longing that contrasts the composer’s earlier, dissonant First Symphony. Amid the oppressive Stalinist regime, Prokofiev sought a “new simplicity,” crafting music that remains, above all, melodic and daring, yet safe for the Soviet cultural climate. Next, Gil Shaham will convey the haunting beauty of John Williams’s “Theme from Schindler’s List.” Williams once doubted the request to score the Spielberg‑produced film, but ultimately the music captures both the cruelty of the Nazi crimes and the fragile solidarity of the Jewish protagonists. The program closes with Thomas Larcher’s Symphony No. 2, “Cenotaph,” a tribute to the countless refugees who have vanished across the Mediterranean. Larcher explores varied musical energies—bundled, scattered, balanced, kinetic—searching for a contemporary language that honors those lost. Experience these masterpieces performed live, and explore the profound histories they echo on the official program page.