Berlin Philharmonic at the Waldbühne 2026 — Everything You Need to Know
Every summer, the Berliner Philharmoniker close their season at the Waldbühne — Berlin’s open-air amphitheatre tucked into the forest near the Olympic Stadium. It is one of the most beloved annual events in the city, and in 2026 it is bigger than usual: Jonas Kaufmann, widely considered the finest dramatic tenor of his generation, performs Italian opera arias under conductor Kirill Petrenko on Saturday, June 27, starting at 20:15.
The program is called Viva Italia!, and it earns the name. Respighi’s tone poems Pini di Roma and Fontane di Roma open the evening, conjuring Rome’s pines and fountains in orchestral color. Then Kaufmann takes the stage for arias by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Cilea, and Giordano — music built to carry in the open air, music with the kind of weight that makes 22,000 people go quiet.
This is not a niche classical event. It is Berlin treating summer as an opportunity for something genuinely extraordinary.
About the Waldbühne
The Waldbühne holds 22,000 people and was built for the 1936 Olympics. It sits at the western end of the Tiergarten forest district, surrounded by trees, and has near-perfect acoustics for an outdoor venue. The seating is tiered stone and concrete — bring a cushion or rent one at the venue, because two and a half hours on a stone bench is a long time regardless of how good the music is. The stage has a natural backdrop of trees that makes every outdoor concert feel slightly cinematic.
Doors typically open 90 minutes before the concert. The audience tradition is to light candles and hold them up during the final encore — the Waldbühne ends its concerts this way every year, and 22,000 small flames in a forest amphitheatre is one of the more quietly spectacular things Berlin does.
Tickets
This concert sold out the day it went on sale. If you do not already have a ticket, your options are:
The official resale platform connected to the venue sometimes releases returned tickets in the weeks before the event — check waldbuehne-berlin.de and the Berliner Philharmoniker concert page directly. Tour operators including m-tours.de and hoerzu-reisen.de offer package deals that include accommodation and a concert ticket, which sometimes provides access after the direct sale is over. The secondary market exists but runs at a significant premium.
If you cannot get a ticket: the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Digital Concert Hall streams major performances, and selected broadcast partners air Waldbühne concerts — check rbb’s programming schedule for whether the June 27 concert will be televised or streamed.
Getting there
The Waldbühne is best reached by S-Bahn. Take the S5 or S7 to Pichelsberg station, from which it is a 10–15 minute walk through the forest. Special shuttle buses also run from Olympiastadion U-Bahn and S-Bahn station on concert nights. Do not drive — parking near the venue is extremely limited, and the post-concert walk back through the forest in summer light is one of the better parts of the experience.
Plan to arrive at least 45 minutes before the doors open if you want to find a good spot for food and drinks before the concert. The venue has food and drink stalls that operate before and during the performance.
What to bring
Blankets or a cushion for the stone seats. A light jacket — June evenings in Berlin cool off faster than they seem like they should. The candles for the encore are traditionally provided or lit collectively; you can bring your own tealight if you want to participate without waiting for a distribution. The venue sells wine, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks; bringing your own is also common practice for the terraced lawn sections.
The artists
Jonas Kaufmann is the defining dramatic tenor of his era. He has sung the major Verdi and Verismo roles at every leading opera house — La Scala, the Met, Covent Garden, Vienna — and his voice carries the kind of dark baritonal weight that makes arias from Pagliacci and La forza del destino feel genuinely visceral rather than merely beautiful.
Kirill Petrenko has been Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2019. His rapport with the orchestra is exceptional, and his interpretations of Respighi’s tone poems — expansive, color-saturated, rhythmically alive — are a strong match for what the Waldbühne setting demands from the opening half of the program.
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Sources: Berliner Philharmoniker concert page, Waldbühne Berlin official site.