Göttingen

Make yourself comfortable in the cinema seat: experience the Berliner Philharmoniker live on the big screen! The year-end concert with Kirill Petrenko and Alexander Malofeev Can "serious music" be humorous? Absolutely! The Berliner Philharmoniker and chief conductor Kirill Petrenko prove it in the 2026 New Year’s Eve Concert: in his sparkling Symphonie classique, Sergei Prokofiev parodies the music of Haydn and Mozart. Viennese Classicism was also on Dmitri Shostakovich’s mind when he wrote his witty Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra. Alongside solo trumpeter David Guerrier, pianist Alexander Malofeev, born in 2001, makes his debut here. Kirill Petrenko also unleashes a fireworks display of mischief with Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. Experience this lively turn of the year live in the cinema! Berliner Philharmoniker Kirill Petrenko conductor Alexander Malofeev piano David Guerrier trumpet Otto Nicolai The Merry Wives of Windsor: Overture Dmitri Shostakovich Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra in C minor, Op. 35 Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 "Symphonie classique" Richard Strauss Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Op. 28 Johann Strauss (Son) The Gypsy Baron: Overture

THE ORIGINAL, ALWAYS NEW! Best of Musicals - live in Göttingen GÖTTINGEN HAS EVERY REASON TO LOOK FORWARD TO IT: On Sunday, January 3, 2027, the Stadthalle Göttingen will become the stage for big emotions: Best of Musicals will guest in the city as part of the new 2026/27 tour. From December to March, the successful show will be touring all over Germany and will bring the most beautiful musical highlights to Göttingen at the start of the new year. Best of Musicals stands for an exhilarating evening full of energy, emotion and entertainment. The show combines the most beautiful songs and most impressive moments from the world of musicals – from classics such as The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera and Dance of the Vampires to newer successes such as Frozen or The Greatest Showman. A top-class ensemble brings this variety to the stage live with strong stage presence and impressive voices. The result is far more than a classic musical gala: charming hosting, humorous scenes and surprising staging create a lively overall experience in which the audience does not just watch, but becomes part of the evening. An evening that connects, inspires and resonates long after it ends: when great musical hits meet joy of performance, closeness and a genuine live atmosphere, an experience is created for all generations. Tickets for Best of Musicals in Göttingen are available now.

What do eight classical musicians from the Merlin Ensemble Vienna do with astrophysicist Harald Lesch? A journey through space and time. Antonio Vivaldi’s "The Four Seasons," composed 300 years ago, equip us with an annual pass and an environmental ticket between Earth and orbit. Lesch and Vivaldi take us on a musical and scientific journey through time, beginning with the formation of the Earth and its seasons and leading up to today’s climate change. In the end, Harald Lesch looks at the dramatic changes to the Earth and our climate from orbit – all the way to the apocalypse? Current politics do not escape unscathed either. Harald Lesch Narrator / Merlin Ensemble Vienna / Martin Walch Violin & Direction

Former boxer and still quick-witted: Stefan Schöttler is a man like a tree, and although life has often tried to fell him, the former heavyweight boxer has always gotten back up again. In his show “arschvollglück,” the 1.98 m giant with the big heart offers an insight into the soul of a person who can laugh about his setbacks. Stefan doesn’t tell jokes; he humorously and with plenty of punchlines tells you his life story and how it can work to face your own defeats with humor and still be happy in the end. With pure joie de vivre, he inspires you to keep going, to believe in yourself, and to take your own life into your hands. The questions “What do I really want in life, and what makes me truly happy?” occupied him for a long time. What Stefan really wants is above all one thing: to put a hearty, carefree smile on your face!

Three debuts, one linguistically furious evening: In Muri Darida’s “King Cobra” (dtv 2026), Lazi travels to Hungary in pursuit of a rifle and a family history made up of silence, liquor, and secrets. In Son Lewandowski’s “The Routines” (Klett-Cotta 2026), elite sport reveals itself as a system between discipline and hairspray, one that wears people down more than it celebrates them. And in Sophia Merwald’s “Bulky Waste” (park x ullstein 2026), a vacant lot becomes a utopia: a women’s shared flat, astro TV, and paprika soup — until the demolition notice comes knocking at the front door of Lusthansa. Together with literary mediator Amelie May, the three talk about their debuts, which pleasantly crash into the far too cozy bookshelf.

At last the time has come: The Smurfs are conquering the musical stage. Everyone knows them, the cheerful blue creatures created in Belgium in 1958 who went on to conquer the world from there.  The brand-new musical “The Smurfs” will be live on large and small stages from spring 2027. And exclusively from Why Not Events! Look forward to an exciting adventure with Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and the little blue friends with their  endearing quirks and abilities – and of course their adversary Gargamel, whose only goal is to destroy the cheerful Smurfs together with their village Smurf Village. Brand-new songs and an original stage show will win over the hearts of musical fans, evoke beautiful childhood memories across generations, and captivate young and old alike. Look forward to the smurfiest family musical of all time! The world premiere LIVE on a major tour. Tickets available at www.eventim.de and at all Eventim advance booking offices.

While Michael Kohlhaas exacts bloody revenge, “Michaela Kohlhaas” (Suhrkamp 2026) fights with words, sabotage, and exaggeration. Faced with the injustice done to her, she travels through the country cursing, only to keep running up against the same limits: resistance is not tolerated — least of all that of a woman. Heike Geißler’s rewriting of Kleist’s famous novella searches for atonement, restitution, and a wholly different ordering of the world. With support from the Deutsches Theater Göttingen, the author takes aim at the loving rebel at the Literaturhaus at the start of Kleist Year 2027. In cooperation with the Deutsches Theater Göttingen.