On this CD we encounter Schubert in the music of his main oeuvre - the huge number of his songs, but also his extensive collection of chamber music and piano pieces - so we frequently come across a trait of the composer's that presents itself again and again and very centrally: his tendency towards deep melancholy in all its manifestations and in particular his constant return to the confrontation with death. The experience of musical expression in almost all of his overtures is all the more surprising: we encounter a light-hearted, unclouded lightness of being, a positive, joyful feeling in which we experience liberation and an opening of the soul, which shows a completely different side of Schubert the genius: the strong sense of hope and unrestrained vitality. Throughout, all these overtures avoid painful passages and are suffused with light and sunshine.

For over five decades, the Berliner Symphoniker have been an integral part of Berlin's musical and cultural life and have enriched the German orchestral landscape; since 1990, they have been the orchestra for all Berliners. In addition to the classical, wide-ranging and popular concert programme, the repertoire of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra also includes special rarities - unknown and forgotten works as well as contemporary compositions.