Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

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The Berlin Philharmonic rehearsing in the Berliner Philharmonie.

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (also known as Berlin Philharmonic or BPO; in German Berliner Philharmoniker), is one of the world's leading orchestras. Its current principal/Chief conductor is Sir Simon Rattle, who is known for his championing of contemporary classical music. The BPO also supports several chamber music ensembles.

The funding for the organization is subsidized by the city-state of Berlin and a partnership with Deutsche Bank.

Contents

1 History
2 Principal conductors
3 Recognition
4 In popular culture
5 See also
6 External links

History

Entrance to the concert hall.

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in Berlin in spring 1882 by 54 musicians under the name Frühere Bilsesche Kapelle (former Bilse's Band), because Benjamin Bilse has before announces the intention of taking on the train to Warsaw in fourth class for a concert, that's the last straw for this musicians. Then given its current name and reorganized under the financial management of Hermann Wolff in 1887. Its first conductor under the new organization was Ludwig von Brenner; in 1887 Hans von Bülow, one of the most esteemed conductors in the world, joined, and from then on, the orchestra's reputation became established, with guests Hans Richter, Felix von Weingartner, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms and Edvard Grieg conducting the orchestra over the next few years.

In 1895, Arthur Nikisch became chief conductor. He was succeeded in 1923 by Wilhelm Furtwängler. The orchestra continued to perform throughout World War II, and continued with barely a break under the baton of Leo Borchard. When he was accidentally killed, Sergiu Celibidache took over. Furtwängler returned in 1952 until his death in 1954.

His successor was the legendary Herbert von Karajan, who remained with the orchestra until 1989, resigning only months before his death. Under him the orchestra made a vast number of recordings and toured widely. Claudio Abbado became principal conductor after him, expanding the orchestra's repertoire beyond the core classical and romantic works into more modern 20th century works.

Simon Rattle made it a condition of his signing with the Berlin Philharmonic that it be turned into a self-governing public foundation, with the power to make its own artistic and financial decisions. This required a change to state law, which was approved in 2001, allowing him to join the organization in 2002.

The first concert hall of the orchestra was destroyed during WWII in 1944. The new Berliner Philharmonie was built in 1963 by architect Hans Scharoun.

Principal conductors

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Current conductor as of 2006

(2002-present) Sir Simon Rattle

Past conductors, chronologically

(1887-1892) Hans von Bülow
(1895-1922) Arthur Nikisch
(1922-1945) Wilhelm Furtwängler
(1945-1945) Leo Borchard
(1945-1952) Sergiu Celibidache
(1952-1954) Wilhelm Furtwängler (bis)
(1954-1989) Herbert von Karajan
(1989-2002) Claudio Abbado

Recognition

The orchestra's recordings have received numerous awards and recognitions. They include, alphabetically:

Classical Brit Awards

* 2001 "Ensemble/Orchestral Album of the Year" - Sir Simon Rattle & the BPO for Mahler: Symphony No. 10

* 2003 "Ensemble/Orchestral Album of the Year" - Sir Simon Rattle & the BPO for Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Grammy Awards

* 1970 "Best Opera Recording" - Herbert von Karajan, Helga Dernesch, Thomas Stolze, Jess Thomas & the BPO for Wagner: Siegfried

* 1979 "Best Orchestral Performance" - Herbert von Karajan & the BPO for Beethoven: Symphonies (9) (Complete)

* 1993 "Best Orchestral Recording" - Leonard Bernstein & the BPO for Mahler: Symphony No. 9

* 1993 "Best Classical Album" - Leonard Bernstein & the BPO for Mahler: Symphony No. 9

* 1995 "Best Chamber Music Performance" - Daniel Barenboim, Dale Clevenger, Larry Combs, Daniele Damiano, Hansjorg Schellenberger & the BPO for Beethoven/Mozart: Quintets (Chicago-Berlin)

* 2001 "Best Orchestral Performance" - Sir Simon Rattle & the BPO for Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (EMI, 2000)

Gramophone Awards

* 2000 "Orchestral Record of the Year" - Sir Simon Rattle & the BPO for Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (EMI, 2000)

* 2004 "Concerto" - Mariss Jansons, Leif Ove Andsnes & the BPO for Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto and Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto (EMI)

Timbre de Platine (Platinum Stamp) awarded by Opéra International magazine [link]

* 1987 - Riccardo Muti & the BPO for Mozart: Requiem (EMI, 1987)

In popular culture

The soundtrack album for the movie offers a version of Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra performed by the BPO conducted by Karl Böhm. (The version used in the movie itself was by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karajan, uncredited, but copyright owner Decca Records didn't want to be associated with science-fiction.)

The BPO participated to heavy metal music with the German band Scorpions, on their 2000 album Moment of Glory.

External links

[Official website] (English version)
["Economic Crisis Puts the Squeeze on Arts"], a 2003 Deutsche Welle article