On the positive side, since he took over in 1989 Mr Abbado has widened the Berliners' repertoire to include modern composers such as Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio and Alfred Schnittke that von Karajan shunned.
Lit, first, by flares on the steps and then by the reddening sky on the horizon from which the original Achaeans came 2, 700 years ago, a young flautist dressed in white played pieces by Bach and Debussy, Honegger and Berio.