From the mauerfall website:
The ‘Festival of Freedom’ will begin at 7 pm with an open-air concert at Pariser Platz by the Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim. After the concert, the fall of the Berlin Wall will be symbolised by knocking over the designed dominos, which will be broadcast live in ZDF from 7.25 until ca. 8.15 pm. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend this extraordinary event.
Under musical direction of Daniel Barenboim the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor (choir study: Eberhard Friedrich) play the following programme:
- Richard Wagner: Lohengrin, Prelude to Act III
- Arnold Schönberg: A Survivor from Warsaw, op. 46 (Speaker: Klaus Maria Brandauer)
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 A major, op. 92, IV: Allegro con brio
- Friedrich Goldmann: Es ist, als habe einer die Fenster aufgestoßen (Fragment, 2009)
Ca. 7.25 pm Entrance of the guests of honour (heads of states and governments) through the Brandenburg Gate from East to West
Ca. 7.30 pm Greetings and speeches by Klaus Wowereit and Angela Merkel and representatives of the former Allies Nicolas Sarkozy, Dmitry Medvedev, Gordon Brown and Hillary Clinton. Speech by Marianne Birthler in the company of Katrin Hattenhauer and Roland Jahn.
Ca. 8 pm Statements by Lech Walesa and Miklós Németh in discussion with moderator Guido Knopp and fall of the first dominos at the Reichstagsufer, followed by music from ADORO. Appearance of Mikhail Gorbachev and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, brief discussion with moderator Thomas Gottschalk. Followed by Bon Jovi presenting the song “We Weren’t Born To Follow”
Ca. 8.25 pm Berlin pupils and Jerzy Buzek and José Manuel Barroso in discussion with moderator Klaas Heufer-Umlauf at the Potsdamer Platz. Fall of the longest row of dominos, almost all the way to the Brandenburg Gate, accompanied by the band Stamping Feet. Statements by Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus and young artist Ahn Kyu-Chul from the divided Korea in discussion with moderator Thomas Gottschalk.
Ca. 8.40 pm Finale: Paul van Dyk presents the hymn “We are One”. Fall of the last domino in the presence of everyone involved and the guests of honour at the Brandenburg Gate.
We’re just back from Berlin, after this fantastic long week-end dedicated to the fall of the wall. Our digital camera is in ER, so let’s hope that our reflex did a good job…photos in a few days, like in 1989!
