Berlin's 'Festival of Freedom'
20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION of the FALL of the BERLIN WALL on NOVEMBER 9 is STAR-STUDDED, BEGINS with OPEN-AIR CONCERT by the STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN CONDUCTED by DANIEL BARENBOIM and CULMINATES with SYMBOLIC TOPPLING of 1000 GIANT DOMINOS; HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS EXPECTED TO ATTEND
Star statesmen, politicians, Nobel peace laureates and musicians from all over the world are among the guests of honor and participants in the 'FESTIVAL OF FREEDOM' celebration which begins at 7 pm with the open-air concert at Pariser Platz. The concert program opens with Richard Wagner's celebratory "Prelude
to Act III" of his opera Lohengrin, followed by Arnold
Schönberg's "A Survivor from Warsaw, op. 46" featuring the
actor Klaus Maria Brandauer as Speaker,
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 A major, op. 92 (4th movement- Allegro
con brio), and Friedrich Goldmann's "Es ist, als habe einer die Fenster
aufgestoßen" (Fragment, 2009).
The celebration continues with laudatory greetings and speeches, followed
by statements and moderated discussions to be held at various nearby venues,
and more music from ADORO and BON JOVI who will present "We Weren't Born
To Follow."
The highlight of this extraordinary event will be the toppling of over 1000
GIANT DOMINOS (see photo above), symbolic of the Wall, lined up between Berlin's
Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz along a portion of the strip that once
separated East and West Berlin. The dominos are made from eight-foot tall
styrofoam slabs and decorated mostly by young Berlin residents. The
dominos are scheduled to fall at 8 pm from the Reichstagsufer all the way
to the Brandenburg Gate, accompanied by the band Stamping Feet. The last domino
will fall at 8:40 pm at the Brandenburg Gate in the presence of guests of
honor and everyone involved in the celebration, and with German Disc Jockey
Paul van Dyk presenting the hymn "We are One."
The topling of the dominos will be broadcast live by ZDF (Zweites Deutsches
Fernsehen), Germany's national public television.
Design and Original Content: FanFaire LLC © 1997-2009. All rights reserved.
