Doppelgänger – The Stranger Within
Song Recital
Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein, mezzo-soprano
Maria Yulin, piano
At the heart of this programme is Franz Schubert's song "Der Doppelgänger" – a piece about the shattering encounter with one's own self. In the light of night, a figure looks at the person opposite and recognises its own self, marked by pain. It is a moment of dismay and stillness, an instant of existential division. The doppelgänger is more than a literary figure: it is a timeless image of those moments when we no longer recognise ourselves.
Aren't such moments familiar to all of us? We remain the same person, and yet we are no longer who we were. How often does our identity change over the course of a life? After life-changing events, after relationships, after a war, in old age or after losing someone we love, the same question returns: what of ourselves survives all these changes? In a world where identities are constantly redefined and mirrored, in digital spaces too, the self seems less a fixed state than a process. Losing oneself and staging oneself are often closer than they first appear.
The programme explores the many transformations of the self, bringing together songs by Hugo Wolf, Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Claude Debussy, Josephine Lang, Hanns Eisler, Rebecca Clarke, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Samuel Barber and Ethel Smyth – with tonality and atonality deliberately placed side by side.
About the Artists
Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein and Maria Yulin have worked together since 2019, having met at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTM). As a duo they won the Prix de Lied at the Nadia et Lili Boulanger Competition in Paris, as well as top prizes at the International Art Song Competition Stuttgart (Hugo Wolf), the International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch (IVC) and the Josephine Lang Competition. Together they have appeared at festivals such as the Schubertiade Hohenems and the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, and their concerts have been broadcast by NDR, WDR, SWR and French television.
Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein has been a member of the ensemble at the Semperoper Dresden since the 2026/27 season and appears as a guest at houses and festivals such as the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Glyndebourne Festival and the Salzburg Festival. She has worked with conductors including Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle and Christian Thielemann.
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Maria Yulin – refined playing and bold interpretations are the hallmarks of this Israeli pianist. She has performed in halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Semperoper Dresden and Wigmore Hall in London, and has won numerous international competitions, as a soloist and as a chamber musician.
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Doors open: 7:30 PM
Concert begins: 8:00 PM
🎟️ Tickets As our concerts are strictly limited to 35 seats, we highly recommend booking your tickets in advance right here. (Note: We now offer discounted €10 U18 tickets for young music lovers).
🍷 The Piano Insel Experience As always, we will have a selection of fine wine, beer, and other refreshments ready for you before, during, and after the performance. You are warmly invited to stay after the concert to converse with the artist and other guests. Much like the historic musical salons, we gather for the music, but meeting other people and getting to know the musicians personally is just as much a part of the Piano Insel experience. Our doors will remain open until midnight!
PianoInsel • Martin-Luther-Straße 78, 10825 Berlin, Berlin, Germany
