Jena Philharmonic's Christmas Concert for the Whole Family

The curmudgeonly businessman Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas: after all, he has to give this day off to his employee Bob Cratchit, whom he relentlessly exploits all year round. His behavior is anything but merciful: he brusquely rejects two gentlemen asking for donations for the poor, as well as his nephew Fred, who invites him to Christmas dinner. Only the sudden appearance of his long-deceased partner Jacob Marley, who wanders among people as a ghost punished for his greed, sparks a change of heart in Scrooge. When three more spirits finally confront him with scenes from his past and future, he realizes he must fundamentally change …

Composer Henrik Albrecht has turned Charles Dickens’ world-famous mid-19th-century Christmas classic into an exciting orchestral radio drama for today’s ears. Narrator Patrick Rohbeck and the Jena Philharmonic under the direction of Friederike Kienle serve up this musical Christmas punch, stirred with sounds from Hollywood movies, a touch of reconciliatory strings, solemn brass chorales, and familiar Christmas carols in ever-new arrangements on the first and second days of Christmas. /JN

Program

Henrik Albrecht:

"A Christmas Carol," orchestral radio drama based on the story by Charles Dickens

Participants

Patrick Rohbeck, narrator

Jena Philharmonic

Friederike Kienle, conductor

Notes

Recommended for families with children aged 6 and up

Additional performance

FRI. December 25, 2026, 5:00 pm

Presented by Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Holzland