Berlin

From an artistic point of view, Germany was the most important country for Grieg. His music enjoyed great popularity here among musicians and audiences, particularly when conducted or performed by the composer himself. With many good orchestras, opera houses and theatres in German cities, Grieg willingly and frequently performed here. He visited Stuttgart, Munich, Frankfurt am Main, Arnhem, Cologne, Karlsruhe, Breslau/Wrocław, Meiningen, Dresden, Weimar, Rudolstadt, Bayreuth, Kiel and Berlin. He gave his last concerts in Kiel and Berlin in 1907 – a few months before his death. At that time, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and for two weeks gave a series of chamber concerts. Grieg’s popularity can be gauged from his fees. For those concerts in Berlin, he received 300 Norwegian crowns, the equivalent of 300,000 euro today.

Grieg liked to conduct his works with a full string section of at least sixteen violins, as in the orchestras in Weimar and Breslau/Wrocław.