After Paris, Olivier Benoit turned to an exploration of Berlin for the second chapter of Europa. Paying even more heed to its architecture, this time the composer centred his efforts on history and memory of the city with a population that was young, creative and cosmopolitan. Declined in dense compositions with lyrical imprints, this shimmering portrait questions the various manners in which the Germans have confronted their recent past. Olivier Benoit captured the heterogeneous spirit of the city with contrasted music that makes brilliant use of all the orchestra’s resources. Faithful to his singular compositional methods associating the dynamics of timbres with a true “feel” for architecture in motion and a hypnotic rhythmical pulse, with Europa Berlin the composer opened up new perspectives in both sound and form, and which drew on the different musical currents that “inhabit” the German capital: minimalist music, free jazz, progressive rock and electronic music.