György Ligeti was one of the musical beacons of the post-war avant-garde. Curious, adventurous, often humorous, he explored new, unexpected worlds. For the opening of the Biennale of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Kirill Petrenko conducts two of Ligeti’s key works, Atmosphères and Lontano, whose shimmering sound masses are typical of the composer’s style. They will be mirrored at this concert by Claude Debussy’s dazzling soundscape La Mer – a masterpiece of musical Impressionism. There will also be a new work by Miroslav Srnka, whose opera South Pole Kirill Petrenko premiered with great success in Munich in 2016.