The allegorical statues of fire, water, earth and air form a magical circle around the great fountain at the bottom of the terraces below Sanssouci palace. It is in a garden like this where humans create and enjoy the harmonious interplay of the elements. Yet one storm, one ground frost or one torrential downpour suffices to remind us that the elementary forces are more powerful than we are.

The image of the four elements unites several millennia of human self- and world-experience. The Music Festival Potsdam Sanssouci 2017 strikes a chord with the mythical quadriga and offers many exciting discoveries. Because fire, water, earth and air have not only given wings to composers' imagination during all ages, they have also inspired the creativity of all the participating artists from all over the world who have approached the topic in a variety of fascinatingly diverse manners.

Experience floods and thunder, singing rocks and whirling winds, listen to the voice of a whale and to spherical harmony. Whether you attend a fiery Spanish baroque opera in the Orangery palace, an airy jazz night in Sanssouci or concerts in Park Babelsberg where Prince Pückler's water magic is in flow again - ­music is always in its element at the festival in Potsdam's parks and palaces.