Interviews
13/05/2017free
Gautier Capuçon in conversation with Sarah Willis
Gautier Capuçon in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
22/04/2017free
Live Lounge 2017 from the Baden-Baden Easter Festival
Live Lounge 2017 from the Baden-Baden Easter Festival Watch interview
23/03/2017free
Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Olaf Maninger
On 21 June 2015, the Berliner Philharmoniker elected Kirill Petrenko as their future chief conductor by a large majority. In the spring of 2017, the programme of his first acclaimed concert since his election included works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and John Adams....
Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Olaf Maninger Watch interview
18/03/2017free
HK Gruber in conversation with Knut Weber
When HK Gruber’s Frankenstein!! was performed for the first time in 1978, the just 23-year-old Simon Rattle was standing at the conductor’s desk. In Gruber’s career, the acclaimed world premiere of his “Pandämonium”, which was performed with the composer himself at one of the Late Night concerts...
12/03/2017free
Pinchas Zukerman in conversation with Aleksandar Ivić
The Israeli violinist, violist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman whose teachers included the legendary Ivan Galamian, has been celebrated in major concert halls for his impeccable technique and powerful yet nuanced playing since his youth. He has appeared on many occasions with the Berliner...
Pinchas Zukerman in conversation with Aleksandar Ivić Watch interview
12/03/2017free
The concerts of the German Federal President – A success story since 1988
The Berliner Philharmoniker have provided many highlights of the annual benefit concert of the German Federal President since it was launched in 1988: Richard von Weizsäcker, for example, head of state from 1984 to 1994, initiated the highly acclaimed Philharmoniker debut of the legendary...
The concerts of the German Federal President – A success story since 1988 Watch interview
12/03/2017free
Michelle Breedt in conversation with David Panzer
Michelle Breedt in conversation with David Panzer Watch interview
05/03/2017free
Anoushka Shankar in conversation with Andreas Ottensamer
Anoushka Shankar was born in 1981 – the same year the Second Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra by her father, Ravi Shankar, was premiered in New York. The conductor then was Zubin Mehta, who also commissioned the work. Anoushka Shankar is now one of the best-known virtuosos on the sitar, an Asian...
Anoushka Shankar in conversation with Andreas Ottensamer Watch interview
18/02/2017free
Sir Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars on Ligeti's “Le Grand Macabre”
Le Grand Macabre, György Ligeti’s only opera received its premiere in 1978 and was later streamlined and revised by the composer for a production by Peter Sellars at the Salzburg Festival in 1996. In February 2017, the Berliner Philharmoniker together with chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle and a...
Sir Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars on Ligeti's “Le Grand Macabre” Watch interview
11/02/2017free
Patricia Kopatchinskaja in conversation with Paolo Mendes
György Ligeti’s only violin concerto is one of the Hungarian composer’s most captivating pieces not least because of its anarchic humour. In conversation with horn player Paolo Mendes who became a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2016, the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja explains why...
Patricia Kopatchinskaja in conversation with Paolo Mendes Watch interview
28/01/2017free
John Adams in conversation with Noah Bendix-Balgley
John Adams’s time as Composer in Residence included not only his debut conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker and a concert together with the Orchestra Academy, but also the performance of a number of the composer’s older and newer works under the direction of a variety of conductors. In January...
John Adams in conversation with Noah Bendix-Balgley Watch interview
21/01/2017free
Herbert Blomstedt on Béla Bartók and Johannes Brahms
In January 2017, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert Blomstedt paired a farewell work with a symphonic debut: Béla Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto – one of his last compositions – followed by Johannes Brahms’s First Symphony. The evening’s soloist was the Hungarian pianist András Schiff. In...
Herbert Blomstedt on Béla Bartók and Johannes Brahms Watch interview
14/01/2017free
Marek Janowski in conversation with Christian Stadelmann
For a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s famous Requiem in January 2017, the Berliner Philharmoniker secured the services of conductor Marek Janowski to replace the indisposed Riccardo Chailly. Janowski had already performed the work not long before with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, whose highly...
Marek Janowski in conversation with Christian Stadelmann Watch interview
31/12/2016free
Daniil Trifonov in conversation with Sarah Willis
The music world has raved for years about the young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, winner at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow to name but two. At the age of 25, he made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker as the soloist in Sergei...
Daniil Trifonov in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
31/12/2016free
Sir Simon Rattle on the New Year’s Concert 2016
Among the unmissable dates in the Berliner Philharmoniker’s calendar is the New Year’s Eve Concert, an event that has been televised since 1977. For the 2016 concert, the orchestra under the baton of its chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle prepared a musical feast for the public of rare and popular...
Sir Simon Rattle on the New Year’s Concert 2016 Watch interview
22/12/2016free
Sir Simon Rattle on the first act of Wagner’s “Walküre”
Richard Wagner’s cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, which consists of 4 music dramas and lasts over 16 hours, has in the first act of Die Walküre an opera en miniature. In one breathtaking arc, Wagner gives musical expression to his thoughts on power, violence, passion and love here. Events focus on...
Sir Simon Rattle on the first act of Wagner’s “Walküre” Watch interview
17/12/2016free
Christian Thielemann in conversation with Christoph Streuli
Christian Thielemann has been celebrated for his performances of works by Anton Bruckner for many years. In December 2016, he conducted the Seventh Symphony, probably the composer’s most popular work. With Christoph Streuli, violinist with the Philharmoniker since 1997, Thielemann talks about...
Christian Thielemann in conversation with Christoph Streuli Watch interview
10/12/2016free
Gidon Kremer in conversation with Walter Küssner
The violinist Gidon Kremer is one of the great musicians of our time. He returned to the Berliner Philharmoniker in December 2016 after an absence of almost ten years, and in doing so, also celebrated his 40th anniversary as a soloist with the orchestra (plus his first appearance in the Digital...
Gidon Kremer in conversation with Walter Küssner Watch interview
03/12/2016free
Alan Gilbert in conversation with Andreas Ottensamer
Alan Gilbert performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker for the first time in 2006, and he has returned to the orchestra on a regular basis since then with an unusually versatile repertoire. When, in December 2016, he conducted works by John Adams, Béla Bartók and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s...
Alan Gilbert in conversation with Andreas Ottensamer Watch interview
04/11/2016free
Sir Simon Rattle on Brahms and the Second Viennese School
“I am a conservative who was forced to become a radical,” as the composer Arnold Schoenberg once said about himself. While contemporaries regarded him as a subverter of musical tradition, Schoenberg saw himself quite naturally as the successor of the great composers of the past. Surprisingly, he...
Sir Simon Rattle on Brahms and the Second Viennese School Watch interview
28/10/2016free
Iván Fischer in conversation with Stephan Koncz
For his concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker in October 2016, conductor Iván Fischer programmed the famous Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta by his fellow Hungarian Béla Bartók alongside works by Enescu and Mozart. The composition, commissioned by the Swiss conductor and patron Paul...
Iván Fischer in conversation with Stephan Koncz Watch interview
15/10/2016free
Nikolai Lugansky in conversation with Christoph Igelbrink
Nikolai Lugansky is one of the most technically and musically accomplished pianists of his generation. His resumé includes major awards such as first prize at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow as well as performances with the world’s top orchestras. In October 2016, he finally...
Nikolai Lugansky in conversation with Christoph Igelbrink Watch interview
08/10/2016free
Christian Gerhaher in conversation with Knut Weber
Hardly any other singer appears more regularly as a guest with the Berliner Philharmoniker than the baritone Christian Gerhaher. Following unforgettable performances in the Bach Passions, Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust and Pelléas and Melisande, the singer returned in October 2016 for...
Christian Gerhaher in conversation with Knut Weber Watch interview
01/10/2016free
Manfred Honeck in conversation with Martin Menking
The Austrian Manfred Honeck is one of those conductors who themselves have extensive experience as an orchestral musician: For many years, he was a member of the Vienna Philharmonic as a violist. His successful career as a conductor has taken him from positions in Zurich, Prague and Stuttgart to...
Manfred Honeck in conversation with Martin Menking Watch interview
24/09/2016free
Daniele Gatti in conversation with Bruno Delepelaire
Daniele Gatti, who took over the direction of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in the 2016/2017 season, enjoys success as both an opera and concert conductor. The music of the Austro-German tradition is as close to his heart as the repertoire of his Italian homeland. Plus, his...
Daniele Gatti in conversation with Bruno Delepelaire Watch interview
17/09/2016free
John Adams in conversation with Sarah Willis
For the 2016/2017 season, the Berliner Philharmoniker appointed the American John Adams as their Artist in Residence, the first composer to hold the position. To start their year of intensive work together, Adams conducted two of his own works as part of Musikfest Berlin 2016 and, at the same...
John Adams in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
26/08/2016free
Welcome to the 2016/2017 season!
After returning from their summer holidays, members of the Berliner Philharmoniker welcome audiences to the 2016/2017 season and tell us which projects in the concert calendar they are most looking forward to. A wide variety of new discoveries will be provided by works of the American composer...
26/08/2016free
Sir Simon Rattle on Mahler’s Seventh Symphony
Of all Gustav Mahler’s symphonies, the composer’s seventh was always the “black sheep”, says Sir Simon Rattle in this introduction. However, for the chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker the Seventh Symphony, with its combination of serenade-like, folkloric atmosphere in the second and...
Sir Simon Rattle on Mahler’s Seventh Symphony Watch interview
23/06/2016free
Yannick Nézet-Séguin in conversation with Sarah Willis
In concerts at the Philharmonie, the Berlin Waldbühne and on a subsequent tour, the Berliner Philharmoniker performed three programmes under the baton of Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the summer of 2016. Here, the artist speaks with horn player Sarah Willis about Shostakovich’s 13th...
Yannick Nézet-Séguin in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
18/06/2016free
Betsy Jolas in conversation with Fergus McWilliam
In June 2016, there was a belated, but for that all the more rewarding encounter between the Berliner Philharmoniker and Betsy Jolas. After Sir Simon Rattle got to know the composer, born in 1926, and her music, he commissioned a new work from her which was given its premiere by the...
Betsy Jolas in conversation with Fergus McWilliam Watch interview
04/06/2016free
John Eliot Gardiner in conversation with Jonathan Kelly
John Eliot Gardiner enjoys legendary status in the music world, due in part to his recordings of Bach’s Passions and Mozart operas, among others. However, for many classical music fans, he has yet to be discovered as a conductor of Igor Stravinsky. In June 2016, he conducted the Berliner...
John Eliot Gardiner in conversation with Jonathan Kelly Watch interview
28/05/2016free
Marie-Pierre Langlamet on the art of harp playing
There can hardly be another instrument that has a technique as complicated or as difficult to learn as the harp. This is especially due to the seven pedals which are used to alter the pitch of each of the strings one semitone higher or lower. The harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet, who has been a...
Marie-Pierre Langlamet on the art of harp playing Watch interview
28/05/2016free
Joaquín Riquelme García in conversation with Juanjo Mena
In May 2016, the Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in a concert with works by Debussy, Ginastera and Falla. Chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester since 2011, Mena’s teachers included Sergiu Celibidache, who had a turbulent history with...
Joaquín Riquelme García in conversation with Juanjo Mena Watch interview
29/04/2016free
Andris Nelsons in conversation with Gunars Upatnieks
In the spring of 2016, Andris Nelsons conducted a work by Anton Bruckner with the Berliner Phiharmoniker for the first time: his Third Symphony. The first half of the concert included excerpts from Richard Wagner’s Parsifal. In conversation with his fellow Latvian Gunars Upatnieks who has played...
Andris Nelsons in conversation with Gunars Upatnieks Watch interview
29/04/2016free
Wagner and Bruckner: an introduction by Susanne Stähr
In April 2016, Andris Nelsons appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker to conduct Bruckner’s Third Symphony. The concert opened with the Prelude to the first act and the famous Karfreitagszauber from Richard Wagner’s final music drama Parsifal. Bruckner famously admired Wagner above all others,...
Wagner and Bruckner: an introduction by Susanne Stähr Watch interview
29/04/2016free
Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker talk about Anton Bruckner
For all conductors, performing Bruckner’s symphonies is among the most demanding of tasks. It is easy to forget that due to their sheer duration alone, they also pose a great, physical challenge for orchestral musicians. Here, Matthew Hunter (viola), Thomas Leyendecker (trombone), Albrecht Mayer...
Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker talk about Anton Bruckner Watch interview
23/04/2016free
Jean-Yves Thibaudet in conversation with Andreas Ottensamer
Following Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker playing Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, the programme for his second appearance with the orchestra in April 2016 included the G Major Concerto by the same composer. The French pianist feels particularly connected to...
Jean-Yves Thibaudet in conversation with Andreas Ottensamer Watch interview
16/04/2016free
Kirill Gerstein in conversation with Raphael Haeger
In April 2016, Kirill Gerstein made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker performing Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto. With subtle musicality and seemingly effortless technique, Gerstein received an enthusiastic response from press and public alike. The American pianist of Russian origin...
Kirill Gerstein in conversation with Raphael Haeger Watch interview
10/04/2016free
Seiji Ozawa becomes honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker
In a concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker in the spring of 2016, Seiji Ozawa made his first appearance outside his Japanese homeland since recovering from a serious illness. The Philharmoniker took the occasion of the 50th anniversary of their work together to appoint Ozawa an honorary...
Seiji Ozawa becomes honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker Watch interview
10/04/2016free
Seiji Ozawa in conversation with Daishin Kashimoto
The multi-national make-up of the Berliner Philharmoniker means that international guest soloists and conductors regularly encounter fellow countrymen within the ranks of the orchestra. As a result, interviews such as this one from April 2016 with Seiji Ozawa and Daishin Kashimoto, 1st...
Seiji Ozawa in conversation with Daishin Kashimoto Watch interview
03/04/2016free
Sir Simon Rattle on Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”
In addition to the cycle of the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle’s programme for the 2015/2016 season included Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, one of the greatest challenges in music history. The most recent performances of the...
Sir Simon Rattle on Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” Watch interview
21/03/2016free
Live Lounge 2016 from the Baden-Baden Easter Festival
As at all previous Easter Festivals, the online audience had the opportunity to meet the Berliner Philharmoniker in Baden-Baden this year too. Here is the recording of this special “Meet and Greet” of 19 March. Horn player and presenter Sarah Willis invited 1st Concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley...
Live Lounge 2016 from the Baden-Baden Easter Festival Watch interview
20/03/2016free
Manfred Honeck in conversation with Albrecht Mayer
The Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck, whose debut in 2013 left a strong impression on the orchestra, stood in at short notice for an indisposed Yannick Nézet-Séguin for a Berliner Philharmoniker concert at the Easter Festival at Baden-Baden. Honeck grew up in a musical family and gained...
Manfred Honeck in conversation with Albrecht Mayer Watch interview
05/03/2016free
Truls Mørk in conversation with Ludwig Quandt
2016 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the French composer Henri Dutilleux. Not least for this reason, Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain... was programmed in a Berliner Philharmoniker concert in March 2016. The soloist was the Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk, who made his debut with the...
Truls Mørk in conversation with Ludwig Quandt Watch interview
01/03/2016free
Statements by Daniel Barenboim, Iván Fischer and Sir Simon Rattle
With works by Mozart, Beethoven and Prokofiev, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker welcomed refugees and aid workers at a special concert in the Philharmonie on 1 March 2016. The performance was an overwhelming success and was a moving event,...
Statements by Daniel Barenboim, Iván Fischer and Sir Simon Rattle Watch interview
27/02/2016free
Daniel Stabrawa in conversation with Rainer Seegers
Daniel Stabrawa joined the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1983 and was appointed 1st concertmaster three years later. Including Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle is the third of the orchestra’s chief conductors he has worked with. Stabrawa, who also performs as a chamber...
Daniel Stabrawa in conversation with Rainer Seegers Watch interview
20/02/2016free
Stefan Dohr on Richard Ayres’s NONcerto
The English composer Richard Ayres, born in 1965, has already written a whole series of NONcertos, works which use humour and respectful irony to question the tradition of the solo concerto. At a Late Night concert in February 2016, members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle...
13/02/2016free
Herbert Blomstedt on Franz Berwald and Antonín Dvořák
In his performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt has repeatedly enchanted audiences with interpretations of works of Beethoven and Bruckner. However, in February 2016, the programme included symphonies from the north and east of Europe: With Franz...
Herbert Blomstedt on Franz Berwald and Antonín Dvořák Watch interview
29/01/2016free
Iván Fischer about Mahler’s Third Symphony
Iván Fischer is a regular guest of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In January 2016, he conducted a work by Gustav Mahler with the orchestra for the first time: The Third Symphony, in which Mahler captivatingly gives musical expression to flowers, birds, landscapes and seasons. This magnificent...
23/01/2016free
Magnus Lindberg in conversation with Frank Peter Zimmermann
Since his debut in 1985, Frank Peter Zimmermann has been one of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s closest artistic partners. In early 2016, the violinist made a guest appearance with the orchestra with a new piece – and with a new instrument: the Stradivarius “General Duport” which had just recently...
Magnus Lindberg in conversation with Frank Peter Zimmermann Watch interview
23/01/2016free
Daniel Harding in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
At the beginning of 2016, the music world mourned the passing of Pierre Boulez, who had close ties with the Berliner Philharmoniker both as a composer and conductor. Shortly after his death, a work by Boulez had already been programmed for a concert under the direction of Daniel Harding: The...
Daniel Harding in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
16/01/2016free
Christian Thielemann in conversation with Albrecht Mayer
Since his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1996, Christian Thielemann has performed a fascinatingly wide-ranging repertoire with the orchestra, with music from the First Viennese School to the present day, including works by German, Austrian, Italian, Russian and French composers. Time...
Christian Thielemann in conversation with Albrecht Mayer Watch interview
09/01/2016free
Gijs Leenaars in conversation with Matthew Hunter
The young Dutch conductor Gijs Leenaars had big shoes to fill when he took over from Simon Halsey as choir master of the Berliner Rundfunkchor at the beginning of the 2015/2016 season. Since then, he has convinced audiences and musicians with meticulous work and unerringly self-confident...
Gijs Leenaars in conversation with Matthew Hunter Watch interview
31/12/2015free
The Berliner Philharmonikers New Year’s Eve Party
The members of the Berliner Philharmoniker are not only experts when it comes to music; they also have considerable insider knowledge of a range of cultural festive customs. As a warm-up act for the 2015/2016 New Year’s Eve Concert, some of the musicians demonstrated the festive rituals from...
The Berliner Philharmonikers New Year’s Eve Party Watch interview
20/12/2015free
Peter Sellars in conversation with Sarah Willis
The staging of the two Bach Passions with the Berliner Philharmoniker by Peter Sellars already enjoy legendary status. So it was no great surprise that the American was chosen when the orchestra appointed a director for the first time as its Artist in Residence. The central project of this...
Peter Sellars in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
06/12/2015free
Till Fellner in conversation with Knut Weber
In December 2015, the Austrian pianist Till Fellner made his Berliner Philharmoniker debut with Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C major, K. 503. Fellner has won, among others, first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in 1993, and has performed with numerous world-class...
Till Fellner in conversation with Knut Weber Watch interview
01/12/2015free
François-Xavier Roth in conversation with Sebastian Krunnies
In this interview, the violist Sebastian Krunnies meets the French conductor François-Xavier Roth who made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in December 2015. Roth is Generalmusikdirektor of the city of Cologne and has been chief conductor of the SWR Sinfonieorchester since 2011. With...
François-Xavier Roth in conversation with Sebastian Krunnies Watch interview
30/10/2015free
Baiba Skride in conversation with Philipp Bohnen
The Latvian violinist Baiba Skride made a successful debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2010 with Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto. Her compatriot Andris Nelsons, who was also celebrating his debut with the orchestra at that time, was on the podium when the violinist returned to Berlin in...
Baiba Skride in conversation with Philipp Bohnen Watch interview
24/10/2015free
Piotr Anderszewski in conversation with Krzysztof Polonek
As a performer of works by Bach, Mozart, Schumann and Bartók to name but a few, Piotr Anderszewski is regarded as one of the most distinguished and insightful pianists of our time. He has a particular affection for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor which he performed together...
Piotr Anderszewski in conversation with Krzysztof Polonek Watch interview
19/10/2015free
Behind the scenes: The 12 Cellists play tango
Tangos have been a part of the repertoire of the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker for many years. The works of Astor Piazzolla in particular are the perfect combination of melancholy and verve, cantabile and rhythmic conciseness, entertainment value and compositional demands. The...
Behind the scenes: The 12 Cellists play tango Watch interview
16/10/2015free
Simon Rattle talks about Beethoven’s symphonies
The performance of all nine symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven was the outstanding artistic project of the Berliner Philharmoniker and their chief conductor, Sir Simon Rattle in the 2015/2016 season. To celebrate the cycle, he talks to the journalist Shirley Apthorp about his view of the works:...
Simon Rattle talks about Beethoven’s symphonies Watch interview
26/09/2015free
Gil Shaham in conversation with Julia Gartemann
The Israeli-American violinist Gil Shaham made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1988 when he was 17, and since then he has returned to play with the orchestra on many occasions. He has had an even longer connection with Zubin Mehta with whom he performed as an 11-year-old prodigy....
Gil Shaham in conversation with Julia Gartemann Watch interview
20/09/2015free
Tomi Mäkelä on Carl Nielsen and Arnold Schoenberg
As 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Carl Nielsen, the works of the Danish composer formed a central theme of Musikfest Berlin. Under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, the Berliner Philharmoniker performed his Fourth Symphony, known as “The Inextinguishable”. The concert also...
Tomi Mäkelä on Carl Nielsen and Arnold Schoenberg Watch interview
13/09/2015free
Matthias Pintscher in conversation with Raphael Haeger
The composer Matthias Pintscher, who received a commission from Claudio Abbado at the age of only 25, has had many of his works performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker. As a conductor, Pintscher made his debut with the orchestra in September 2015. In addition to his own Violin Concerto mar’eh...
Matthias Pintscher in conversation with Raphael Haeger Watch interview
28/08/2015free
Greeting the new season
In the traditional welcome video to the Berliner Philharmoniker’s new season, Sir Simon Rattle and members of the orchestra talk about the highlights of the coming year. Of course, there is considerable excitement about one particular key project of the season: the cycle of the complete...
25/06/2015free
Unsuk Chin and Barbara Hannigan about “Le Silence des Sirènes”
Hardly any singer works together as intensively or as regularly with contemporary composers as the Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan. The audience of the Berliner Philharmoniker has heard her in recent years in – among other things – works by Henri Dutilleux, Hans Abrahamsen and György Ligeti....
Unsuk Chin and Barbara Hannigan about “Le Silence des Sirènes” Watch interview
20/06/2015free
Christian Tetzlaff on his season as Artist in Residence
In this video, Christian Tetzlaff discusses the 2014/2015 season when he was Artist in Residence with the Berliner Philharmoniker. His performances ranged from a solo recital to chamber music concerts with members of the orchestra and a programme with the Orchestra Academy to a performance of...
Christian Tetzlaff on his season as Artist in Residence Watch interview
12/06/2015free
Barbara Hannigan about Kurt Weill and William Walton
In June 2015, the Canadian singer Barbara Hannigan gave another concert in the popular Late Night series together with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle. Accompanied by Rattle, who also makes an appearance as a pianist, she sang not only three songs by Kurt Weill, but...
Barbara Hannigan about Kurt Weill and William Walton Watch interview
06/06/2015free
Jörg Widmann about “Teufel Amor”
Jörg Widmann is one of the most successful composers of the younger generation, also, as a clarinetist who performs all over the world, he is unusually well acquainted with the technical and tonal possibilities of orchestral instruments. After the Berliner Philharmoniker premiered Widmann’s...
06/06/2015free
Daniel Barenboim in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
After Daniel Barenboim conducted Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony with the Berliner Philharmoniker for the 2014 European Concert, another work by the Russian composer was programmed for his next concert with the orchestra in June 2015: With the “Pathétique”, Tchaikovsky’s sixth and final...
Daniel Barenboim in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
30/05/2015free
Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker remember Lorin Maazel
The American Lorin Maazel was one of the very few child prodigy conductors – at the age of only nine, he stood before an orchestra at a public concert for the first time. Born in 1930, he also had a career as a violinist and composer, but above all, he became one of the most successful maestros...
Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker remember Lorin Maazel Watch interview
24/05/2015free
Gianandrea Noseda in conversation with Stanley Dodds
Gianandrea Noseda is one of the many distinguished conductors who the classical music business has Italy, the motherland of music, to thank for. Noseda made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in May of 2015 with a programme that demonstrated the maestro’s versatility. With the famous...
Gianandrea Noseda in conversation with Stanley Dodds Watch interview
16/05/2015free
Yuja Wang in conversation with Andreas Ottensamer
For years, audiences and critics have raved about Yuja Wang, about the extreme virtuosity and unusual sense of timbre the Chinese pianist possesses. It was therefore only a matter of time before she was invited to perform with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and in May 2015, the moment had come:...
Yuja Wang in conversation with Andreas Ottensamer Watch interview
10/05/2015free
Mariss Jansons in conversation with Gábor Tarkövi
Since Mariss Jansons won the Herbert von Karajan Competition in 1971, the career of Latvian maestro has been closely linked with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In the early summer of 2015, the conductor led the orchestra in works by Béla Bartók, Dmitri Shostakovich and Maurice Ravel. To mark the...
Mariss Jansons in conversation with Gábor Tarkövi Watch interview
10/05/2015free
Frank Peter Zimmermann in conversation with Rüdiger Liebermann
Over the years, Frank Peter Zimmermann has performed almost all of the major violin concertos with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and in the Digital Concert Hall alone you can find the musician playing works by Mozart, Brahms, Hindemith and Martinů. When, in May 2015, the violinist performed...
Frank Peter Zimmermann in conversation with Rüdiger Liebermann Watch interview
25/04/2015free
Andris Nelsons and Håkan Hardenberger in conversation with Sarah Willis
Since 2010, the Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons has been invited to appear with the Berliner Philharmoniker every season, while the famous Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger celebrated his debut with the orchestra in April of 2015. What makes this combination of conductor and soloist so...
Andris Nelsons and Håkan Hardenberger in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
17/04/2015free
Riccardo Muti in conversation with Daniele Damiano
A relatively rarely seen – but always very much looked forward to – guest of the Berliner Philharmoniker is Riccardo Muti who, like his colleague Claudio Abbado who died in 2014, is able to express himself as masterfully in the Italian as in the Austro-German musical idiom. For his appearance in...
Riccardo Muti in conversation with Daniele Damiano Watch interview
11/04/2015free
Joyce DiDonato in conversation with Tobias Möller
The American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has been one of the most famous singers for a number of years and yet she has never been tempted to succumb to the airs of a diva, as the likeable superstar relates in this conversation. The interview marked a concert performance of Hector Berlioz’s La...
Joyce DiDonato in conversation with Tobias Möller Watch interview
12/03/2015free
Introduction by Simon Halsey
In Donald Runnicles’s wide-ranging repertoire, French music occupies an important position. In February of 2015, the Scottish conductor made a guest appearance with an evening à la française with the Berliner Philharmoniker. The programme included works by Olivier Messiaen, Claude Debussy and...
06/03/2015free
Isabelle Faust in conversation with Wieland Welzel
Ludwig van Beethoven did not write a cadenza for his violin concerto, but he did write one for the version for piano and orchestra which he himself created. The violinist Isabelle Faust performed the violin concerto in a concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker in March 2015 and decided to play...
Isabelle Faust in conversation with Wieland Welzel Watch interview
06/03/2015free
Bernard Haitink in conversation with Klaus Wallendorf
There are few conductors who enjoy such great respect worldwide as Bernard Haitink, who has maintained a musical agility despite his age, and remains incredibly modest despite his great success. In a concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker in March of 2015, the chief conductor of many years of...
Bernard Haitink in conversation with Klaus Wallendorf Watch interview
28/02/2015free
Valery Gergiev in conversation with Matthew Hunter
In February 2015, the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev returned as a guest to the Philharmonie in Berlin to present Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with soloist Hélène Grimaud and Sergei Prokofiev’s rarely heard Sixth Symphony. On the occasion of this performance, the artist spoke to Matthew...
Valery Gergiev in conversation with Matthew Hunter Watch interview
05/02/2015free
Simon Rattle in conversation with Vesa Sirén
In this extensive interview, Sir Simon Rattle talks to the Finnish music journalist Vesa Sirén about Jean Sibelius, who Rattle considers to be among the most important symphonic composers in music history. The conversation took place in February 2015 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of...
Simon Rattle in conversation with Vesa Sirén Watch interview
27/01/2015free
Amnon Weinstein on the Violins of Hope
On the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, an emotional concert was given under the title Violins of Hope in the Chamber Music Hall. Sir Simon Rattle conducted the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, and the programme included other works by Johann Sebastian...
24/01/2015free
Christian Gerhaher, Gijs Leenaars and Christian Thielemann about Brahms’s “Deutsches Requiem”
Johannes Brahms’s German Requiem is one of the most famous sacred works of the 19th century – not least because due to its Protestant basis, it differs so significantly from the settings of the Latin mass by Mozart or Verdi. The Berliner Philharmoniker performed the work in January 2015 under...
17/01/2015free
Christian Thielemann in conversation with Amadeus Heutling
In January 2015, Christian Thielemann conducted a work by Ludwig van Beethoven with the Berliner Philharmoniker for the first time – the “Eroica” – almost twenty years after he made his debut here. In this interview given to mark this occasion, the conductor discusses among other things his...
Christian Thielemann in conversation with Amadeus Heutling Watch interview
10/01/2015free
Herbert Blomstedt about Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony
Bruckner’s symphonies are considered an area of expertise of experienced conductors; Firstly, because their interpretation benefits from the patience that comes with age, and secondly because understanding the dimensions of their depths requires decades of study. Herbert Blomstedt is not only...
Herbert Blomstedt about Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony Watch interview
20/12/2014free
Jörg Widmann in conversation with Dominik Wollenweber
The flute and the violin concerto by Jörg Widmann had already been performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker when the orchestra premiered the first piano concerto by the composer under the direction of Simon Rattle in December 2014. To mark this event, Widmann was interviewed by Dominik...
Jörg Widmann in conversation with Dominik Wollenweber Watch interview
13/12/2014free
Tugan Sokhiev in conversation with Stanley Dodds
Since his debut in 2010, the Ossetian conductor Tugan Sokhiev has made regular guest appearances with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In December 2014, the programme was a Russian evening with works by Liadov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. To mark the event, Sokhiev spoke with...
Tugan Sokhiev in conversation with Stanley Dodds Watch interview
29/11/2014free
Sir Simon Rattle on Schubert’s “Winterreise”
Sir Simon Rattle sees Franz Schubert’s famous song cycle Winterreise as a major inspiration for later composers such as Mahler and Schoenberg. In its subjective yet sensitive treatment, Hans Zender’s adaptation of the work for voice and 24 instrumentalists brings out the latently modern aspects...
Sir Simon Rattle on Schubert’s “Winterreise” Watch interview
29/11/2014free
Christian Elsner on Schubert’s “Winterreise”
Anyone who was there will remember the concert performance of Wagner’s Die Walküre in the summer of 2012 and the persuasive interpretation of the role of Siegmund by the tenor Christian Elsner. For Hans Zender’s adaptation of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise, Elsner returned to the Philharmonie in...
Christian Elsner on Schubert’s “Winterreise” Watch interview
22/11/2014free
Alan Gilbert in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
A Bach cantata and the third symphonies of Felix Mendelssohn and Carl Nielsen respectively were heard in a concert which the Berliner Philharmoniker gave in November 2014 under the baton of Alan Gilbert. The chief conductor of the New York Philharmonic can be regarded as a specialist in...
Alan Gilbert in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
09/11/2014free
The Fall of the Berlin Wall - Memories of Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Many current members of the Berliner Philharmoniker were playing in the orchestra before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. They include first concertmaster Daniel Stabrawa, violinist Madeleine Caruzzo, violinist Peter Brem, oboist Andreas Wittmann and horn player...
The Fall of the Berlin Wall - Memories of Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker Watch interview
09/11/2014free
The Fall of the Berlin Wall - Memories of Sir Simon Rattle
On 9 November 2014, Sir Simon Rattle conducted a gala concert for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The programme included Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat mater and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In this short video, Sir Simon tells of his memories of the day the wall opened.The Fall of the Berlin Wall - Memories of Sir Simon Rattle Watch interview
31/10/2014free
Emmanuelle Haïm in conversation with Jonathan Kelly
The French Emmanuelle Haïm played with the Berliner Philharmoniker as long ago as 2002, when she took over the harpsichord part in performances of Bach’s St. John Passion under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. This was followed in 2008 by Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day with which she made her...
Emmanuelle Haïm in conversation with Jonathan Kelly Watch interview
25/10/2014free
Daniele Gatti in conversation with Tobias Möller
Daniele Gatti, who has held senior positions at such major addresses as Zurich Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, takes up his new position as chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in the...
Daniele Gatti in conversation with Tobias Möller Watch interview
18/10/2014free
Emanuel Ax in conversation with Matthew Hunter
Since 1988, the American pianist of Polish origin Emanuel Ax has appeared as a guest with the Berliner Philharmoniker, where he was Pianist in Residence in the 2005/2006 season. In many of their concerts together, he impressed audiences with his sensitive yet unsentimental Mozart playing. In...
Emanuel Ax in conversation with Matthew Hunter Watch interview
26/09/2014free
Winrich Hopp in conversation with Benedikt von Bernstorff
Since 2006, the musicologist Winrich Hopp has been the artistic director of Musikfest Berlin whose programming has captivated press and public alike due to the way it constantly sheds new light on the symphony orchestra’s Classical-Romantic core repertoire by juxtaposing it with contemporary...
Winrich Hopp in conversation with Benedikt von Bernstorff Watch interview
25/09/2014free
Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker on the Brahms/Schumann cycle
The four symphonies of both Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms belong of course to the core repertoire played by the Berliner Philharmoniker on a regular basis. But over four evenings during the 2014 Musikfest Berlin, the numerically corresponding symphonies of both composers were juxtaposed –...
Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker on the Brahms/Schumann cycle Watch interview
19/09/2014free
Introducing Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings – The label of the Berliner Philharmoniker
The audiovisual “Declaration of Independence” by the Berliner Philharmoniker with the Digital Concert Hall which started in 2008 was followed in 2014 by the founding of their own CD label with the name Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings. In a rapidly changing classical music market, the...
18/09/2014free
Sir Simon Rattle about the Brahms/Schumann cycle
Robert Schumann was committed to supporting the young Johannes Brahms who, in turn, honoured Schumann’s memory after his death. They also both held Clara Schumann in great affection, without doubt the great love in the lives of both composers. As an early highlight of the 2014/2015 season and at...
Sir Simon Rattle about the Brahms/Schumann cycle Watch interview
13/09/2014free
Patricia Kopatchinskaja in conversation with Ulrich Knörzer
Patricia Kopatchinskaja is considered one of the younger generation’s most exciting violinists. Both her unconventional and idiosyncratic interpretations of well-known classical repertoire and her commitment to contemporary music have caused a sensation and enthralled audiences. She has a close...
Patricia Kopatchinskaja in conversation with Ulrich Knörzer Watch interview
30/08/2014free
Greeting the new season
It has become a tradition that members of the Berliner Philharmoniker welcome the audience of the Digital Concert Hall at the beginning of a new season in a short film. To start the 2014/2015 season, the musicians of the orchestra put on record what concerts they were especially looking forward...
18/06/2014free
“The Unanswered Question” – A musical introduction
The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives lasts less than six minutes and yet is one of the landmarks of modern music as well as one of the most original American contributions to music history. In the piece, composed between 1906 and 1908, an increasingly confused and excited offstage ensemble...
“The Unanswered Question” – A musical introduction Watch interview
18/06/2014free
Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker about Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim debuted as pianist with the Berliner Philharmoniker in June 1964. Conducted by Pierre Boulez, the programme included Béla Bartók’s First Piano Concerto. Fifty years later, Barenboim and the orchestra celebrated a half century of intense and exhilarating collaboration with a...
Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker about Daniel Barenboim Watch interview
07/06/2014free
Bruno Delepelaire and Máté Szücs in conversation with Sarah Willis
As the Berliner Philharmoniker are a collection of outstanding virtuosos, every concert where a member of the orchestra appears as a soloist, is looked forward to by audiences with eager anticipation. In June 2014, Semyon Bychkov conducted this concert which in addition to Schubert’s “Great”...
Bruno Delepelaire and Máté Szücs in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
31/05/2014free
Hilary Hahn in conversation with Albrecht Mayer
Despite her youth, the violinist Hilary Hahn can already look back on a long and extraordinary career. The artist has played with all the renowned orchestras of the world; since her debut in 1999, she has performed numerous times with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Almost no other violinist has so...
Hilary Hahn in conversation with Albrecht Mayer Watch interview
24/05/2014free
Sol Gabetta in conversation with Stephan Koncz
Cellist Sol Gabetta is not only one of the most successful musicians of her generation, but also one of the most cosmopolitan. Her family roots extend to France and Russia; Gabetta grew up in Argentina; her musical training brought her to Europe when she was just ten years old, where she studied...
Sol Gabetta in conversation with Stephan Koncz Watch interview
24/05/2014free
Krzysztof Urbański in conversation with Krzysztof Polonek
Krzysztof Urbański is one of the most successful conductors of his generation. At a young age he took on leading positions, including with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In May 2014, he celebrated his debut with the...
Krzysztof Urbański in conversation with Krzysztof Polonek Watch interview
17/05/2014free
Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker remember Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado died on 20 January 2014. He was the principal conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker from 1990 to 2002, and every May since then he had returned to the orchestral rostrum. On the occasion of the memorial concert with works by Schubert, Mozart and Bruckner, orchestra musicians...
Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker remember Claudio Abbado Watch interview
10/05/2014free
Unsuk Chin in conversation with Helge Grünewald
The Korean Unsuk Chin is among the most significant composers of our time. A pupil of Ligeti, who has received many awards and has been living in Berlin since 1988, her work is appreciated by conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel and Kent Nagano; the latter conducted the...
Unsuk Chin in conversation with Helge Grünewald Watch interview
16/04/2014free
Live Lounge from the 2014 Baden-Baden Easter Festival
Music fans question the musicians: In our live Hangout at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival 2014, the global audience were again able to put fascinating, funny and thoughtful questions to members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and soprano Eva-Marie Westbroek. The recording of this event is now...
Live Lounge from the 2014 Baden-Baden Easter Festival Watch interview
22/03/2014free
Yannick Nézet-Séguin in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
The Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin is one of the most gifted and successful conductors of the younger generation. He has already taken up a significant number of important posts with great orchestras in Canada, North America and Europe, including as principal conductor of the Philadelphia...
Yannick Nézet-Séguin in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
22/03/2014free
Andreas Blau in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
Andreas Blau, whose father was also a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker, took the position of principal flutist with the orchestra at the age of 20 after brief studies. After Karajan and Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle is now the third principal conductor he has experienced in his orchestra career....
Andreas Blau in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
15/03/2014free
Bernard Haitink in conversation with Peter Brem
Since his debut in 1964, the Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink has collaborated particularly closely with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In conversation with the violinist Peter Brem, a member of the orchestra since 1970, Haitink recounts his encounters with Claudio Abbado and Herbert von Karajan,...
Bernard Haitink in conversation with Peter Brem Watch interview
28/02/2014free
Sir Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars in conversation with Andy King-Dabbs
Sir Simon Rattle got to know the St John Passion only at 30; for a long time Peter Sellars considered the work a mere preliminary study to St Matthew Passion. In conversation with English music film director Andy King-Dabbs the composer and director tell how they each discovered the music’s...
Sir Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars in conversation with Andy King-Dabbs Watch interview
22/02/2014free
Georg Friedrich Haas in conversation with Götz Teutsch
In conversation with Götz Teutsch, formerly principal cellist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas tells of his collaboration with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker to premiere his work dark dreams. In addition, we learn how his childhood memories...
Georg Friedrich Haas in conversation with Götz Teutsch Watch interview
15/02/2014free
Mitsuko Uchida in conversation with Ludwig Quandt
Hardly any other soloist performs as regularly with the Berliner Philharmoniker as Mitsuko Uchida, who is represented in the Digital Concert Hall, for instance, with a complete cycle of Ludwig van Beethoven’s piano concertos. The mainstays of her repertoire are in Austro-German and French music,...
Mitsuko Uchida in conversation with Ludwig Quandt Watch interview
08/02/2014free
Herbert Blomstedt talks about Paul Hindemith´s Mathis der Maler
Every year the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt is guest conductor with the Berliner Philharmoniker; his interpretations of works by Beethoven and Bruckner in particular have made unforgettable impressions on the audience. But also more rarely played, underappreciated composers like Paul...
Herbert Blomstedt talks about Paul Hindemith´s Mathis der Maler Watch interview
01/02/2014free
Alan Gilbert and Magnus Lindberg in conversation with Sarah Willis
“Kraft is coming home!” the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg declares in conversation with conductor Alan Gilbert and French horn player Sarah Willis. Gilbert has already performed the experimental composition in different locations. The Berlin audience has a chance to hear the piece for the...
Alan Gilbert and Magnus Lindberg in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
25/01/2014free
Zubin Mehta in conversation with Martin Stegner
Zubin Mehta and Claudio Abbado knew each other for more than half a century, and a close friendship developed between the two musicians over this time. The first concert after the former principal conductor’s death was dedicated to Abbado’s memory. In the interview for the interval, Mehta tells...
Zubin Mehta in conversation with Martin Stegner Watch interview
18/01/2014free
Marlis Petersen in conversation with Eva-Maria Tomasi
Marlis Petersen became internationally known as the temperamental and virtuoso title heroine in Alban Berg’s opera Lulu. In January 2014 she debuted with the Berliner Philharmoniker with George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children. On this occasion, Petersen speaks here with the violinist...
Marlis Petersen in conversation with Eva-Maria Tomasi Watch interview
11/01/2014free
Menahem Pressler in conversation with Carolin Pirich
The 90-year old Menahem Pressler recounts in conversation with the journalist Carolin Pirich the great importance that Mozart’s music has had in his life (“without Mozart we couldn’t fly”). Furthermore, we learn that even as a soloist the most important thing is not “to shine”, of encounters...
Menahem Pressler in conversation with Carolin Pirich Watch interview
11/01/2014free
Semyon Bychkov in conversation with Madeleine Carruzzo
The conductor Semyon Bychkov has been invited to work with the Berliner Philharmoniker on a regular basis. In his interview with violinist Madeleine Carruzzo, Bychkov tells of memories of his Russian homeland, which he left when he was 22. In addition, the conductor talks about his affinity with...
Semyon Bychkov in conversation with Madeleine Carruzzo Watch interview
21/12/2013free
Barbara Hannigan in conversation with Hans Abrahamsen and Paul Griffiths
Hans Abraham’s three-part song cycle Let me tell you shows emotional states such as love, hope, desperation and mania in fascinating soundscapes that the composer seems to have learned about by listening directly to nature. The text is from writer Paul Griffiths, who composed a monologue using...
Barbara Hannigan in conversation with Hans Abrahamsen and Paul Griffiths Watch interview
15/12/2013free
Daniel Harding in conversation with Matthew Hunter
The English conductor Daniel Harding admires Robert Schumann more than most other composers, and considers Scenes from Goethe’s Faust one of his favourite works. In the dialogue in the interval with violist Matthew Hunter, Harding speaks of his attachment to Schumann and the challenges that life...
Daniel Harding in conversation with Matthew Hunter Watch interview
06/12/2013free
Gustavo Dudamel in conversation with Sarah Willis
Sarah Willis brings along two bags of popcorn to this conversation with the conductor Gustavo Dudamel – no wonder, given that the concert was broadcast live to movie theaters. Both of them turn out to be accomplished amateur pianists, playing music by Igor Stravinsky. Finally, the conductor...
Gustavo Dudamel in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
06/12/2013free
Gustavo Dudamel in conversation with Edicson Ruiz
Like Edicson Ruiz, double-bass player with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Gustavo Dudamel is originally from Venezuela, and both of them received their first musical inspiration in the legendary education project El Systema. The musician friends take this concert, consisting of works by Beethoven,...
Gustavo Dudamel in conversation with Edicson Ruiz Watch interview
02/11/2013free
Sir Simon Rattle talks about Schumann’s symphonies
The performance of all the Schumann symphonies was a core project of the Berliner Philharmoniker and their principal conductor in 2013. In this introduction, Simon Rattle speaks about the four works and why he thinks it’s wrong to interpret them in the style of Brahms or even Wagner – while...
Sir Simon Rattle talks about Schumann’s symphonies Watch interview
27/10/2013free
Thomas Quasthoff in conversation with Christoph Franke
The great bass baritone Thomas Quasthoff sang with the Berliner Philharmoniker over a period of many years before retiring from the stage as singer in 2012. He uses his return to the orchestra in October 2013 in the role of speaker in Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder as an occasion to speak about the...
Thomas Quasthoff in conversation with Christoph Franke Watch interview
20/10/2013free
The opening of the Berlin Philharmonie in 1963 - recollections of Rudolf Weinsheimer
The cellist Rudolf Weinsheimer was a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker from 1956 to 1996, and he experienced the building of the Philharmonie first-hand. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the official opening, he tells here about the origins of this unique concert hall, about the...
The opening of the Berlin Philharmonie in 1963 - recollections of Rudolf Weinsheimer Watch interview
19/10/2013free
Introduction by Simon Halsey
On the occasion of the revival of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Simon Halsey, principal conductor of the Rundfunkchor Berlin, speaks in his accustomed eloquent and entertaining manner about the never-ending search for the “right” Bach interpretation and about the particular challenges for his choir...
19/10/2013free
Peter Sellars in conversation with Mark Padmore
The American director Peter Sellars and the English tenor Mark Padmore speak about their joint work on the St Matthew Passion. It was such an exhilarating experience for both performers and audience that in 2013, three years after the premiere, it was decided to stage a revival.Peter Sellars in conversation with Mark Padmore Watch interview
11/10/2013free
Karl-Heinz Steffens in conversation with Walter Seyfarth
Karl-Heinz Steffens and Walter Seyfarth played clarinet jointly with the Berliner Philharmoniker for many years before Steffens decided to give up his position as principal and embark upon a career as conductor. On the occasion of his debut as conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Steffens...
Karl-Heinz Steffens in conversation with Walter Seyfarth Watch interview
04/10/2013free
Reinhard Goebel in conversation with Raimar Orlovsky
Reinhard Goebel has been leading the Ensemble Musica Antiqua Köln, which he founded, for more than 30 years – and it has been a global success. In the meanwhile he has also made a name for himself as conductor with national and international symphony orchestras. In conversation with Reimar...
Reinhard Goebel in conversation with Raimar Orlovsky Watch interview
28/09/2013free
Daniel Harding in conversation with Rachel Helleur
The Berliner Philharmoniker are well acquainted with Daniel Harding, ever since his debut here at the age of just 21. The former assistant to Claudio Abbado and Sir Simon Rattle shares with the two of them their great passion for Mahler’s music, especially his last works. Music lovers debate...
Daniel Harding in conversation with Rachel Helleur Watch interview
21/09/2013free
Antoni Wit in conversation with Krzysztof Polonek
Krzysztof Penderecki’s monumental St Luke Passion fascinates us with its successful fusion of tradition and avantgarde compositional techniques, ranging from twelve-tone rows to clusters to noisy and spoken passages. In September 2013 the Berliner Philharmoniker applied themselves to the work,...
Antoni Wit in conversation with Krzysztof Polonek Watch interview
14/09/2013free
Thomas Zehetmair in conversation with Eva-Maria Tomasi
Leoš Janáček’s Violin Concerto with the poetic sobriquet “Pilgrimage of the Soul” remained unfinished, but the version compiled based on the composer’s sketches reveals all his music’s typical characteristics: uncompromisingly repeated motivic cells, surprising sound effects and abrupt lyrical...
Thomas Zehetmair in conversation with Eva-Maria Tomasi Watch interview
08/09/2013free
Christian Gerhaher in conversation with Albrecht Mayer
Known in equal measure as concert singer, opera singer and Lieder singer, Christian Gerhaher is one of the most prominent musicians of our time. For the 2013-14 season, he was appointed Artist in Residence with the Berliner Philharmoniker. To kick off the year of collaboration, the baritone...
Christian Gerhaher in conversation with Albrecht Mayer Watch interview
08/09/2013free
Sir Simon Rattle talks about Witold Lutosławski
Sir Simon Rattle talks about Witold Lutosławski Watch interview
23/08/2013
Sir Simon Rattle talks about the new season
At this press conference, music director Sir Simon Rattle presents the plans for the 2013-14 season. The home base of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Hans Scharoun’s inspired concert hall, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its opening. Which is why in a festive concert all the building’s...
15/06/2013free
Sir Simon Rattle in conversation with James Jolly
There are some works musicians feel particularly close to for the whole of their lives, and for Simon Rattle, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem has been such a work, especially in the early years of his career. On the occasion of a performance for the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s birth...
Sir Simon Rattle in conversation with James Jolly Watch interview
31/05/2013free
Albrecht Dümling on Boulez' [Notations]
Pierre Boulez’s Notations which were conceived as piano works and later orchestrated by the composer himself, are among the most important works of contemporary music. Sir Simon Rattle has felt a deep reverence for Boulez since his student days, and the Notations in particular belong to the...
31/05/2013free
Albrecht Dümling on Bruckners Symphony No. 7
After years of failure, Anton Bruckner succeeded in establishing his reputation as a symphonic composer with the acclaimed premiere of his Seventh Symphony. The popularity of the work continues to this day, most likely due in part to the wealth of melody in the first movement and the massive...
Albrecht Dümling on Bruckners Symphony No. 7 Watch interview
25/05/2013free
Herbert Blomstedt on Beethoven and Nielsen
Herbert Blomstedt, who still radiates an unusual youthfulness and curiosity at more than 80 years of age, is one of the great conductors of our time. Moreover, hardly anyone talks about music as so vividly and entertainingly as he does. Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, perhaps because of its...
19/05/2013free
Konstantia Gourzi on working with Claudio Abbado
“It is an honour and a pleasure to rehearse something for Claudio Abbado,” says the Greek composer and conductor Konstantia Gourzi in this concert introduction. For the performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, the musician prepared the choral passages with the ladies of the...
Konstantia Gourzi on working with Claudio Abbado Watch interview
19/05/2013free
Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique: A little organology with Philipp Bohnen
Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique is a score of excesses, a musical portrayal of drug-induced fantasies. Nevertheless, it is a very artfully constructed work in which the composer employs the instruments of his time in a virtuoso and innovative way. In our video, Philipp Bohnen, violinist...
Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique: A little organology with Philipp Bohnen Watch interview
10/05/2013free
Jaap van Zweden in conversation with Christoph Streuli
Jaap van Zweden began his musical career as a 19-year-old with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam – not as a conductor but as a concertmaster. In 1996, he exchanged his violin for a baton and launched an international career as a conductor. Currently head of the Dallas Symphony...
Jaap van Zweden in conversation with Christoph Streuli Watch interview
27/04/2013free
Brett Dean: Composing Socrates
Two exciting approaches to instilling new life into the genre of oratorio were presented by the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Rundfunkchor Berlin and Sir Simon Rattle in April 2013. One of the works – Brett Dean’s The Last Days of Socrates – was given its world premiere, the other – Michael...
27/04/2013free
Simon Halsey on Michael Tippett's "A Child of Our Time"
Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time has established itself since the 1940s as one of the outstanding British choral works. At the concert in the Berlin Philharmonie in April 2013, Brett Dean’s The Last Days of Socrates was paired with Tippett’s work. For the listener, it was particularly...
Simon Halsey on Michael Tippett's "A Child of Our Time" Watch interview
20/04/2013free
Leonidas Kavakos on Dutilleux’s Violin Concerto
In the 2012/2013 season, the Berliner Philharmoniker invited a violinist as Artist in Residence for the first time: Leonidas Kavakos, who made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker with Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in 2003. In the following years, he was also heard with the orchestra as the...
Leonidas Kavakos on Dutilleux’s Violin Concerto Watch interview
13/04/2013free
Paavo Järvi on his work with the Berliner Philharmoniker
In the concert in April 2013, Paavo Järvi revealed a range of different qualities: In Beethoven’s First Symphony, he succeeded in making a core work of the symphonic repertoire sound as fresh and new as if it had just come from the composer’s pen. But Järvi also showed himself to be the...
Paavo Järvi on his work with the Berliner Philharmoniker Watch interview
07/04/2013free
Sir Simon Rattle on Mozart’s “Magic Flute”
Concert performances of opera can be tricky things. Can the action, the drama, really come across without sets or costumes? The recent performance of Mozartʼs Magic Flute in the Berlin Philharmonie with Simon Rattle at the podium showed just how wonderfully – and wonderfully dramatic – the...
01/04/2013free
Robert Carsen on the staging of [The Magic Flute]
Robert Carsen on the staging of [The Magic Flute] Watch interview
22/02/2013free
Miklós Perényi on Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto
The 20th century was rich in ingeniously devised music. More rarely, there were works whose substance unfolds in more of a playful rather than an intellectual way which, while still ingenious, are also sensuous and spontaneous. One of these sumptuous creations – Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto –...
Miklós Perényi on Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto Watch interview
16/02/2013free
Barbara Hannigan on her work with Henri Dutilleux
The works of Henri Dutilleux lead rather a shadowy existence in the music world. Unjustly so, as shown by his Correspondances for soprano and orchestra, premièred in 2003 by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle. In February 2012, this virtually fully Romantic-sounding work was...
Barbara Hannigan on her work with Henri Dutilleux Watch interview
09/02/2013free
Manfred Honeck in conversation with Stephan Koncz
To this day, guest appearances by Anne-Sophie Mutter with the Berliner Philharmoniker are an event. After all, there is no other musician of our time whose career has been more closely linked with the orchestra. In early February, the violinist interpreted Dvořák’s Violin Concerto at the...
Manfred Honeck in conversation with Stephan Koncz Watch interview
02/02/2013free
Gustavo Dudamel in conversation with Sarah Willis
For his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker – an open-air concert at the Waldbühne in 2008 – Gustavo Dudamel presented the music of his homeland in an exclusively “South American Night”. This was followed by appearances in the Philharmonie with more of a Russian flavour, then for his most...
Gustavo Dudamel in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
25/01/2013free
Louis Langrée in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
A look at Louis Langréeʼs current commitments demonstrate clearly just how passionate a performer of Mozart he is. He is chief conductor of the Camerata Salzburg from the birthplace of the composer, and he has served as music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York since 2002. But it...
Louis Langrée in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
18/01/2013free
Sir Simon Rattle talks about [in vain] by Georg Friedrich Haas
Sir Simon Rattle talks about [in vain] by Georg Friedrich Haas Watch interview
18/01/2013free
Murray Perahia in conversation with Sarah Willis
“Come, dear May, and make the trees green again.” With the theme of this song, Wolfgang Amadeus ended his Piano Concerto No. 27, which Murray Perahia and the Berliner Philharmoniker performed last weekend. Many of the audience in a wintry, frosty Berlin would surely have agreed with this wish –...
Murray Perahia in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
11/01/2013free
Riccardo Chailly in conversation with Albrecht Mayer
At first glance, the most recent guest performance by Riccardo Chailly with the Berliner Philharmoniker was an evening of symphonic contrasts. Felix Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony, referred to by the composer himself as “Italian”, paired with the Sixth by Anton Bruckner, whose music is always...
Riccardo Chailly in conversation with Albrecht Mayer Watch interview
21/12/2012free
Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Alexander Bader
Kirill Petrenko, born in Omsk in Siberia, received international acclaim following a performance of Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen over four consecutive evenings in Meiningen. Subsequently, as chief conductor of the Komische Oper in Berlin between 2002 and 2007, he returned the opera house to its...
Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Alexander Bader Watch interview
08/12/2012free
Christian Thielemann in conversation with Eva-Maria Tomasi
An entire evening of Verdi with the Berliner Philharmoniker: If you exclude performances of the Requiem, this is a rare treat. The last time it occurred, Claudio Abbado performed highlights from Verdi’s operas for the New Year’s Eve concert in 2000. In December 2012 Christian Thielemann also...
Christian Thielemann in conversation with Eva-Maria Tomasi Watch interview
09/11/2012free
Interviews with Sir Simon Rattle and Simon Halsey
Both works were composed in 1913: Stravinsky’s ballet music Le Sacre du printemps and Rachmaninoff’s tone poem The Bells. And yet they convey completely different sound and intellectual worlds. In November 2012 the Berliner Philharmoniker and Simon Rattle excitingly juxtaposed both works in a...
Interviews with Sir Simon Rattle and Simon Halsey Watch interview
03/11/2012free
Iván Fischer in conversation with Simon Halsey
There are many prejudices about the music of the 20th century – for example, that it is always complicated or ponderous, or in the worst case, both. In early November 2012, the Berliner Philharmoniker, conductor Iván Fischer and the violinist Lisa Batiashvili proved the opposite to be the case...
Iván Fischer in conversation with Simon Halsey Watch interview
26/10/2012free
Andris Nelsons in conversation with Esko Laine
He was a “miracle conductor”, wrote the Sueddeutsche Zeitung about Andris Nelsons, who has impressed concert-goers around the world with interpretations full of passion and excitement. The fact that he is also able to put together an exciting concert programme was demonstrated by Nelsons at a...
Andris Nelsons in conversation with Esko Laine Watch interview
20/10/2012free
Kristjan Järvi in conversation with Philipp Bohnen
It is probably a unique situation for a young conductor to make his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker following directly in the footsteps of his father and brother. Under these auspicious circumstances, Kristjan Järvi – son of Neeme Järvi and younger brother of Paavo Järvi – replaced...
Kristjan Järvi in conversation with Philipp Bohnen Watch interview
13/10/2012free
Andrea Marcon in conversation with Albrecht Mayer
It is always doubly exciting when an Early Music expert stands on the podium of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Firstly, because the fusion of historical performance practice and the characteristic sound of the orchestra produces unexpected, delightful results, and secondly because there is the...
Andrea Marcon in conversation with Albrecht Mayer Watch interview
06/10/2012free
Bernard Haitink in conversation with Matthew Hunter
The heroism in Beethoven’s “heroic” Symphony No. 3 can take many forms. Often the music is interpreted brashly and tensely, bursting with boundless energy. Bernard Haitink’s reading in a performance from October 2012 was dominated by a different characteristic: an energy that comes from inner...
Bernard Haitink in conversation with Matthew Hunter Watch interview
24/09/2012free
Cameron Carpenter and Sarah Willis introduce the organ of the Berlin Philharmonie
Many may have seen it, but only the very few have ever heard it: The Karl Schuke organ in the Berlin Philharmonie. The instrument has been extensively renovated and equipped with a state-of-the-art console in 2012. In September of that year, the outstanding qualities of the restored organ were...
Cameron Carpenter and Sarah Willis introduce the organ of the Berlin Philharmonie Watch interview
23/09/2012free
Jörg Widmann in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
The European premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Flûte en suite was eagerly awaited in September 2012. The piece received its world premiere in Cleveland in 2011. At the concert in Berlin the soloist was Emmanuel Pahud, who confidently brought together all the virtuosity, changes of mood and the many...
Jörg Widmann in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
15/09/2012free
Sir Simon Rattle and Sir Willard White in conversation with Sarah Willis
Almost every music lover can whistle at least one or two tunes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Yet very few are aware of just how much outstanding music there is in the rest of the opera alongside hits such as “Summertime” or “I got plenty o’ nuttin’”. Only a complete performance of the score...
Sir Simon Rattle and Sir Willard White in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
15/09/2012free
Behind the scenes of “Porgy and Bess”
08/09/2012free
Introductions by Ingo Metzmacher and Winrich Hopp
Hard to believe, but true: Until September 2012, the Berliner Philharmoniker had never played the Symphonic Dances from Bernstein’s West Side Story. They constituted the culmination of an American evening with Ingo Metzmacher, who took to the conductor’s stand of the Berliner Philharmoniker for...
Introductions by Ingo Metzmacher and Winrich Hopp Watch interview
24/08/2012free
Sir Simon Rattle on Witold Lutosławski
The second half of the concert that celebrated the start of the 2012/13 season was dedicated to the composer Witold Lutosławski. The concert included his Third Symphony, whose premiere Simon Rattle had followed on the radio in his younger years. According to Rattle, he realised immediately that...
22/06/2012free
Andris Nelsons on his work with the Berliner Philharmoniker
The Berliner Philharmoniker brought their 2012/2013 season to a close together with Andris Nelsons, a conductor who enjoys the esteem of the orchestra like few other young conductors. The programme included works from the late 19th century. Firstly, Mahler’s songs based on folk poems from the...
Andris Nelsons on his work with the Berliner Philharmoniker Watch interview
16/06/2012free
Yannick Nézet-Séguin on Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé”
The press wrote of a “memorable evening” with a “rising star in the conducting firmament” when Yannick Nézet-Séguin, chief conductor designate of the Philadelphia Orchestra made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in October 2010. For his return to the podium of the Philharmonie, he has...
Yannick Nézet-Séguin on Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé” Watch interview
10/06/2012free
Mariss Jansons on Smetana, Dvořák and Martinů
The fact that Czech music has more to offer than folklore – rather, that it encompasses an infinite range of colours, styles and emotional worlds – was amply demonstrated in June 2012 with the concert by the Berliner Philharmoniker with Mariss Jansons and Frank Peter Zimmermann. Another...
Mariss Jansons on Smetana, Dvořák and Martinů Watch interview
03/06/2012free
Herbert Blomstedt on Beethoven’s Missa solemnis
We know that Wilhelm Furtwängler stopped conducting Beethoven’s Missa solemnis when he was 44 years old. Not because he regarded the work as inferior, but on the contrary, because he thought it too great and grand for any earthly performance. Although Herbert Blomstedtʼs regard for the Missa is...
Herbert Blomstedt on Beethoven’s Missa solemnis Watch interview
27/05/2012free
Sir Simon Rattle on Wagner’s “Die Walküre” · Part 1
When the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Simon Rattle, performed Wagner’s Die Walküre at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence in the summer of 2007, they had not played the work for four decades. “You do not know what an orchestra is until you have heard the Berliner Philharmoniker,” Le Monde...
Sir Simon Rattle on Wagner’s “Die Walküre” · Part 1 Watch interview
27/05/2012free
Sir Simon Rattle on Wagner’s “Die Walküre” · Part 2
When the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Simon Rattle, performed Wagner’s Die Walküre at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence in the summer of 2007, they had not played the work for four decades. “You do not know what an orchestra is until you have heard the Berliner Philharmoniker,” Le Monde...
Sir Simon Rattle on Wagner’s “Die Walküre” · Part 2 Watch interview
11/05/2012free
Isabelle Faust on Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto
Alban Berg dedicated his violin concerto “To the Memory of an Angel”, to Manon Gropius, the daughter of Alma Mahler, who died in the spring of 1935 at the age of only 18. “I do not attempt … to find the words where language fails by letter,” Berg wrote to Alma Mahler, “but yet: one day … may you...
Isabelle Faust on Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto Watch interview
09/05/2012free
The 12 Cellists: past and presence
The 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker are a prominent institution on the international music scene – and have been now for four decades! No matter what genre the musicians turn their hands to, their performances are a unique chamber music collaboration by twelve soloists, who through...
28/04/2012free
Gustavo Dudamel on Ravel, Korngold and Richard Strauss
In his acclaimed concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Gustavo Dudamel has for a long time focused mainly on Russian, French and Latin American composers. However, the programme of his guest appearance in April 2012 included a work from the orchestra’s core German repertoire for the first...
Gustavo Dudamel on Ravel, Korngold and Richard Strauss Watch interview
21/04/2012free
“Carmen” at the Berlin Philharmonie
Probably no other opera has so many “hits” as Carmen – from the orchestral preludes to the Habanera and the Toreador Song. But despite its popularity, Carmen can always be discovered anew, as was also the case at this performance by the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle on 21 April...
14/04/2012free
Murray Perahia on his thoughts and feelings about music
“The soul of a poet, the mind of a thinker, the hands of a virtuoso,” was how an American critic succinctly and accurately described the qualities of Murray Perahia. As Pianist in Residence with the Berliner Philharmoniker for the 2011/2012 season, he was heard regularly in solo and chamber...
Murray Perahia on his thoughts and feelings about music Watch interview
21/03/2012free
Mark Padmore and Bernhard Forck in conversation and in rehearsal
Orchestral musicians do not often have the opportunity to pursue a love of music from the Baroque period. As a result, members of the Berliner Philharmoniker took the logical step and founded the Berliner Barock Solisten in 1995 – an ensemble that is now among the best in the field of early...
Mark Padmore and Bernhard Forck in conversation and in rehearsal Watch interview
17/03/2012free
Zubin Mehta on Bruckner’s Eighth: an introduction to the work with excerpts from rehearsals
Zubin Mehta and Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony: This is a long-term love affair, with the Berliner Philharmoniker playing a not insignificant role – to be precise, with a recording of the work by Wilhelm Furtwängler which deeply affected Mehta at young age. Yet, for many years, the symphony was not...
11/03/2012free
Christian Thielemann on passion and nobility in Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony
Whether he is performing Wagner in Bayreuth or Bruckner with the world’s major orchestras, Christian Thielemann’s interpretations of late German Romanticism always receive high praise from the critics. It was all the more exciting when, in March 2012, he conducted a work which illuminates this...
Christian Thielemann on passion and nobility in Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony Watch interview
04/03/2012free
Albrecht Mayer on the oboe concerto by Richard Strauss
Albrecht Mayer is not only principal oboist with the Berliner Philharmoniker, but has also made a name for himself as a guest soloist with orchestras around the world. In March 2012, he performed the Oboe Concerto by Richard Strauss together with the Berliner Philharmoniker and conductor...
Albrecht Mayer on the oboe concerto by Richard Strauss Watch interview
04/03/2012free
Christian Thielemann on Strauss’s Oboe Concerto and Bruckner’s Fourth, including excerpts from rehearsals
The concept that underlies Christian Thielemann’s concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker is a captivating one. The conductor wanted to juxtapose two works which go well together – while remaining in contrast to each other. And so here we have an evening of late Romantic music, in which the...
18/02/2012free
Simon Halsey on Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony and his friendship with Hugo Wolf
Hans von Bülow, chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, was somewhat disturbed when Gustav Mahler played him the first movement of his Second Symphony. Mahler wrote in a letter that “he went into a nervous shock and declared Tristan to be like a Haydn symphony compared to my piece”....
Simon Halsey on Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony and his friendship with Hugo Wolf Watch interview
09/02/2012free
Sir Simon Rattle on the completed Ninth Symphony of Anton Bruckner
Sir Simon Rattle is certain: If Anton Bruckner had lived just two months longer, he would have been able to complete the finale of his Ninth Symphony. When he died in October 1896, the work on this movement was so far advanced that the original intentions of the composer can be reconstructed...
Sir Simon Rattle on the completed Ninth Symphony of Anton Bruckner Watch interview
02/02/2012free
Guy Braunstein reveals how the Brahms’s Violin Concerto brought him to the Berliner Philharmoniker
The famous dictum that Johannes Brahms’s Violin Concerto is a concerto “against the violin” is attributed to Hans von Bülow – simply because the work gives the soloist little opportunity for virtuoso showmanship. In a concert from February 2012, soloist Guy Braunstein, the Berliner...
27/01/2012free
Magdalena Kožená and Sir Simon Rattle in conversation and in rehearsal
In January 2012, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle presented a concert which conveyed delicate melancholy in a variety of forms. In addition to orchestral works by Ravel and Schubert – including Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony – the programme included late songs by Dvořák and...
Magdalena Kožená and Sir Simon Rattle in conversation and in rehearsal Watch interview
21/01/2012free
Boris Berezovsky on Liszt’s First Piano Concerto
For Gramophone magazine, Boris Berezovski is “surely the true successor to the great Russian pianists of the past.” In January 2012, he performed Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside conductor Tugan Sokhiev – a work that alternates masterfully between effervescent furore and delicate...
Boris Berezovsky on Liszt’s First Piano Concerto Watch interview
14/01/2012free
Simon Halsey on Edward Elgar’s “The Dream of Gerontius”
You could almost talk of an “Elgar Festival” which took place in the Berlin Philharmonie and the Digital Concert Hall in winter 2011/12. In December, Donald Runnicles conducted the First Symphony, and in February, the famous Enigma Variations followed under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle. The...
Simon Halsey on Edward Elgar’s “The Dream of Gerontius” Watch interview
23/12/2011free
Nicola Luisotti in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
Nicola Luisotti in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
17/12/2011free
Anne Sofie von Otter in conversation with Christoph Hartmann
Anne Sofie von Otter in conversation with Christoph Hartmann Watch interview
10/12/2011free
Ludwig Quandt in conversation with Götz Teutsch
Ludwig Quandt in conversation with Götz Teutsch Watch interview
04/12/2011free
Daniel Stabrawa in conversation with Christoph Streuli
Daniel Stabrawa in conversation with Christoph Streuli Watch interview
05/11/2011free
Helmut Lachenmann in conversation with Catherine Milliken
The conclusion of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is no jubilant finale – but resolution, even annihilation, become music. And so the audience at first remained silent when the Berliner Philharmoniker and Simon Rattle performed the work in November 2011. Only gradually did the roaring applause rise in...
Helmut Lachenmann in conversation with Catherine Milliken Watch interview
29/10/2011free
Nikolaus Harnoncourt in conversation with Olaf Wilhelmer
Anyone listening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony inevitably imagines the composer as a revolutionary firebrand. In October 2011, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Berliner Philharmoniker showed that this is only half the truth when they performed Beethoven’s symphony alongside the Mass in C major,...
Nikolaus Harnoncourt in conversation with Olaf Wilhelmer Watch interview
22/10/2011free
Pablo Heras-Casado in conversation with Madeleine Carruzzo
For over a decade, no Spanish conductor has stood at the podium of the Berliner Philharmoniker – until October 2011 when Pablo Heras-Casado made his debut with the orchestra. In his young career, he has attracted particular attention due to his versatility, enabling Heras-Casado to work together...
Pablo Heras-Casado in conversation with Madeleine Carruzzo Watch interview
15/10/2011free
Simon Halsey on the premiere of [Weltethos] by Jonathan Harvey
To give expression to the common values of world religions with spoken and sung words – this is the ambitious goal of the choral work Weltethos, realised by the composer Jonathan Harvey and the theologian Hans Küng as librettist. The work, which will be part of the cultural programme of the...
Simon Halsey on the premiere of [Weltethos] by Jonathan Harvey Watch interview
08/10/2011free
Nikolaj Znaider in conversation with Amihai Grosz
The fact that Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto should one day become one of the most famous of its kind was by no means foreseeable at the premiere in 1904; with an overtaxed soloist and an uninspired orchestra, it was a complete failure. It took top-class musicians such as Jascha Heifetz and David...
Nikolaj Znaider in conversation with Amihai Grosz Watch interview
02/10/2011free
Johannes Moser in conversation with Walter Küssner
In September 2011 the Berliner Philharmoniker and Semyon Bychkov presented a concert of wide-ranging dynamics: from Luciano Berio’s Sequenza No. 7 for solo oboe, to a chamber orchestra Schubert collage by the same composer, to the unbridled force of the full orchestra in William Walton’s First...
Johannes Moser in conversation with Walter Küssner Watch interview
24/09/2011free
Semyon Bychkov in conversation with Sarah Willis
In September 2011 the Berliner Philharmoniker and Semyon Bychkov presented a concert of wide-ranging dynamics: from Luciano Berio’s Sequenza No. 7 for solo oboe, to a chamber orchestra Schubert collage by the same composer, to the unbridled force of the full orchestra in William Walton’s First...
Semyon Bychkov in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
18/09/2011free
Sir Simon Rattle on Mahlers Symphony No. 8
Of all Gustav Mahler’s symphonies, the Eighth is probably the least often performed – not because of any doubts regarding its quality, but because of the forces required in terms of instrumentalists and singers which only a few orchestras are in a position to meet. With such large numbers...
11/09/2011free
Dr. Winrich Hopp in conversation with Dr. Helge Grünewald
Dr. Winrich Hopp in conversation with Dr. Helge Grünewald Watch interview
26/08/2011free
The Berliner Philharmoniker prepare for the 2011/12 season
The Berliner Philharmoniker prepare for the 2011/12 season Watch interview
23/06/2011free
Emmanuelle Haïm in conversation with Catherine Milliken
For her concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker in June 2011 Emmanuelle Haïm has programmed some of the most beautiful and varied orchestral suites of the Baroque. The most famous of them is undoubtedly George Frideric Handel’s Water Music. Jean-Philippe Rameau stands alongside Handel as the...
Emmanuelle Haïm in conversation with Catherine Milliken Watch interview
18/06/2011free
Peter Eötvös in conversation with Sarah Willis
In previous centuries it was quite natural that a conductor would sometimes perform his own compositions, and vice versa: that a composer would be responsible for conducting the premieres of his own works. There is now a division of labour between musicians who compose and conduct, but this...
Peter Eötvös in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
12/06/2011free
Simon Halsey on Mahler, Bach, Stravinsky
It was not Gustav Mahler’s destiny to become a composer of opera. But listening to his early work Das klagende Lied gives us an idea of just how a stage work from Mahler’s pen might have sounded – a fairy-tale of enormous dimensions, which has been performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker and...
02/06/2011free
Sir Simon Rattle on the Berliner Philharmoniker’s 2011/2012 season
Our video documents the annual press conference of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2011, with chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle presenting the upcoming season. From August 2011, he himself continued his Mahler cycle which he had started in the 2010/2011 season, and he also had two opera highlights...
Sir Simon Rattle on the Berliner Philharmoniker’s 2011/2012 season Watch interview
28/05/2011free
Stanisław Skrowaczewski – a life in music
After 25 years, the 87-year-old Stanisław Skrowaczewski stood once again at the desk of the Berliner Philharmoniker at the end of May 2011 – and celebrated an “overwhelming success met by standing ovations” (Berliner Zeitung). The renowned Bruckner expert included the composer’s Third Symphony...
22/05/2011free
Yutaka Sado on the fulfilment of his musical dream
Seldom had quite so many Japanese television teams and journalists been seen in the Philharmonie as at the end of May 2011. The concentrated media interest was all for one of the country’s best-known musicians: Yutaka Sado, who even as a child had dreamed of conducting the Berliner...
Yutaka Sado on the fulfilment of his musical dream Watch interview
15/05/2011free
Claudio Abbado, Maurizio Pollini and Anna Prohaska on old and new musical friendships
Claudio Abbado and Maurizio Pollini have been performing together for half a century: a unique friendship among artists that continues to reveal new facets. As happened in the middle of May 2011, when the two musicians performed their first joint interpretation of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17...
07/05/2011free
Christian Thielemann, Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson on Richard Strauss
It does not often happen that the Berliner Philharmoniker present a whole bouquet of works by a single composer in one concert. At the beginning of May 2011, however, they – together with conductor Christian Thielemann and the singers Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson – devoted themselves...
Christian Thielemann, Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson on Richard Strauss Watch interview
07/05/2011free
Thomas Hampson on classical music in digital media
How will new media change classical music? What possibilities will digital communication offer to gain new audiences for symphony concerts, operas and recitals? For many years now, the internationally acclaimed baritone Thomas Hampson has been involved in these issues. In our video, he talked...
Thomas Hampson on classical music in digital media Watch interview
26/04/2011free
Benefit concert for the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
One choir, two orchestras, two readers and one conductor: a wealth of artists came together in the Philharmonie at the end of April 2011 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the nuclear reactor disaster in Chernobyl which was again in the headlines following events in the Fukushima reactor in...
Benefit concert for the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster Watch interview
07/04/2011free
Sir Simon Rattle on performing Mahler’s symphonies (Part 2)
Among other things, the second part of the interview with Sir Simon Rattle about the performance of the complete Mahler symphonies looks at Sir Simon’s first encounters with these works in his youth. Another important theme is the programmatic approach of this cycle – the coupling of the...
Sir Simon Rattle on performing Mahler’s symphonies (Part 2) Watch interview
03/04/2011free
Alan Gilbert on his work as a conductor and musician
When artists cancel an appearance, it is normally for unfortunate reasons. Not so in the case of Gustavo Dudamel, who was to conduct the Berliner Philharmoniker on 1 April 2011, but had to cancel due to a happy event: the birth of his son two days before. Instead, Alan Gilbert conducted with the...
Alan Gilbert on his work as a conductor and musician Watch interview
29/03/2011free
Christian Schneider (UNICEF Germany) in conversation with Andreas Wittmann
As a result of numerous concert tours and personal contact, the Berliner Philharmoniker and chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle feel a close connection to the Japanese people. The musicians were therefore extremely saddened to heard about the impact of the tsunami in March 2011. In order to raise...
Christian Schneider (UNICEF Germany) in conversation with Andreas Wittmann Watch interview
18/03/2011free
Bernard Haitink and Leif Ove Andsnes about making music in the name of Fukushima
In March 2011, a Berliner Philharmoniker concert marked the terrible events after the tsunami in Fukushima. The orchestra, conductor Bernard Haitink and pianist Leif Ove Andsnes dedicated the evening to the victims in Japan. In their memory, the musicians performed Witold Lutosławski’s Funeral...
Bernard Haitink and Leif Ove Andsnes about making music in the name of Fukushima Watch interview
06/03/2011free
Herbert Blomstedt on Hindemith’s “Nobilissima visione” and Bruckner’s Mass in F minor
Paul Hindemith’s ballet music Nobilissima visione is at once both archaically austere and sensuous. The work reflects Giotto’s medieval frescos depicting the life of Francis of Assisi, which Hindemith discovered for himself in Florence. At the beginning of March 2011, the Berliner Philharmoniker...
18/02/2011free
Sir Simon Rattle on performing Mahler’s symphonies (Part 1)
On the occasion of the performance of the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler, Sir Simon Rattle talks about the music and the characteristics of their interpretation. In addition, he explores the Mahler tradition of the Berliner Philharmoniker which took shape in particular under Claudio...
Sir Simon Rattle on performing Mahler’s symphonies (Part 1) Watch interview
12/02/2011free
Toshio Hosokawa on his career and the images in his music
In a highly individual manner, the Hiroshima born Toshio Hosokawa seeks to revitalize traditional forms of composition. Moment of Blossoming is the title of his horn concerto – a tribute to the mythically revered lotus flower of Hosokawa’s homeland. The work is a musical portrayal of the lotus...
Toshio Hosokawa on his career and the images in his music Watch interview
12/02/2011free
Stefan Dohr on Toshio Hosokawa and his Horn Concerto
Since 1993, Stefan Dohr has been a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker – as principal horn within the orchestra’s brass section, and also sometimes as the soloist in horn concertos, for example those by Mozart or Strauss. In February 2011, Dohr gave the premiere of Moment of Blossoming, a work...
Stefan Dohr on Toshio Hosokawa and his Horn Concerto Watch interview
05/02/2011free
Simon Halsey on Mahler’s Third Symphony
Almost everything in Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony is out of the ordinary: its length, its instrumentation, its number of movements. There is however in particular a remarkable wealth of stylistic levels where both the grandiose and the simple, the other-wordly and the everyday cross paths. In...
15/01/2011free
Anders Hillborg on his composition “Cold Heat”
Anders Hillborg is one of the leading Swedish composers of our time, and is at home in many styles of music, from symphonic and choral music to film music and pop. Many renowned orchestras have entrusted him with commissions for compositions – including the Berliner Philharmoniker, who premiered...
Anders Hillborg on his composition “Cold Heat” Watch interview
15/01/2011free
David Zinman and Yo-Yo Ma on melancholy, life and death in Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto
You could almost say that Dmitri Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto was a present to himself. Given its premiere on his 60th birthday, the work seems to be a nuanced reflection on Shostakovich’s own life. Only the best cellists are able to hit the mark with the ever-shifting tone of this...
22/12/2010free
Valery Gergiev in conversation with Wilfried Strehle
Valery Gergiev in conversation with Wilfried Strehle Watch interview
11/12/2010free
Neeme Järvi in conversation with Stanley Dodds
Neeme Järvi in conversation with Stanley Dodds Watch interview
05/11/2010free
An introduction by Sir Simon Rattle
23/10/2010free
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Yefim Bronfman in conversation with Sarah Willis
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Yefim Bronfman in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
16/10/2010free
Baiba Skride and Andris Nelsons in conversation with Stanley Dodds
Baiba Skride and Andris Nelsons in conversation with Stanley Dodds Watch interview
09/10/2010free
Eivind Gullberg Jensen and Vadim Repin in conversation with Sarah Willis
Eivind Gullberg Jensen and Vadim Repin in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
02/10/2010free
Magdalena Kožená in conversation with Jonathan Kelly
Magdalena Kožená in conversation with Jonathan Kelly Watch interview
23/09/2010free
Giovanni Antonini in conversation with Raimar Orlovsky
Giovanni Antonini in conversation with Raimar Orlovsky Watch interview
18/09/2010free
Pierre Boulez in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
Pierre Boulez in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
12/09/2010free
Winrich Hopp in conversation with Helge Grünewald
Winrich Hopp in conversation with Helge Grünewald Watch interview
04/09/2010free
Intermission documentary: “Schoenberg and his circle”
Intermission documentary: “Schoenberg and his circle” Watch interview
27/08/2010free
Sir Simon Rattle introduces Beethoven's Symphony No. 4
Sir Simon Rattle introduces Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 Watch interview
27/08/2010free
Sir Simon Rattle introduces Mahler's Symphony No. 1
Sir Simon Rattle introduces Mahler's Symphony No. 1 Watch interview
19/06/2010free
Tabea Zimmermann in conversation with Helge Grünewald (in German)
Tabea Zimmermann in conversation with Helge Grünewald (in German) Watch interview
10/06/2010free
Sir Simon Rattle and Wynton Marsalis in conversation with Catherine Milliken
Sir Simon Rattle and Wynton Marsalis in conversation with Catherine Milliken Watch interview
04/06/2010free
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 – An introduction by Herbert Blomstedt (in German)
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 – An introduction by Herbert Blomstedt (in German) Watch interview
22/05/2010free
Sir Simon Rattle in conversation with Harri Kuusisaari
Sir Simon Rattle in conversation with Harri Kuusisaari Watch interview
08/05/2010free
Renaud Capuçon in conversation with Matthew Hunter
Renaud Capuçon in conversation with Matthew Hunter Watch interview
27/04/2010free
Alisa Weilerstein in conversation with Ludwig Quandt
Alisa Weilerstein in conversation with Ludwig Quandt Watch interview
24/04/2010free
Pierre-Laurent Aimard in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
Pierre-Laurent Aimard in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
17/04/2010free
András Schiff in conversation with Jonathan Kelly
András Schiff in conversation with Jonathan Kelly Watch interview
11/04/2010free
Peter Sellars in conversation with Simon Halsey
Peter Sellars in conversation with Simon Halsey Watch interview
20/02/2010free
The Berliner Philharmoniker support UNICEF's Haiti emergency assistance – a round table discussion
14/02/2010free
“It's a Venture - an Adventure” – Mitsuko Uchida and the Beethoven Piano Concertos Part II
10/02/2010free
“A Venture - an Adventure” – Mitsuko Uchida and the Beethoven Concertos Part I
“A Venture - an Adventure” – Mitsuko Uchida and the Beethoven Concertos Part I Watch interview
04/02/2010free
Mitsuko Uchida in conversation with Gerhard Forck
Mitsuko Uchida in conversation with Gerhard Forck Watch interview
23/01/2010free
Frank Peter Zimmermann in conversation with Christoph Streuli
Frank Peter Zimmermann in conversation with Christoph Streuli Watch interview
10/01/2010free
Hélène Grimaud and Tugan Sokhiev in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
Hélène Grimaud and Tugan Sokhiev in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
20/12/2009free
Donald Runnicles in conversation with Fergus McWilliam
Donald Runnicles in conversation with Fergus McWilliam Watch interview
12/12/2009free
Christian Thielemann interviewed by Sarah Willis
Christian Thielemann interviewed by Sarah Willis Watch interview
06/12/2009free
Leonidas Kavakos in conversation with Walter Küssner
Leonidas Kavakos in conversation with Walter Küssner Watch interview
07/11/2009free
John Carewe talking about Schoenberg's “Erwartung” (Expectation)
John Carewe talking about Schoenberg's “Erwartung” (Expectation) Watch interview
24/10/2009free
Iván Fischer in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
Iván Fischer in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
17/10/2009free
Janine Jansen and Daniel Harding in conversation with Sarah Willis
Janine Jansen and Daniel Harding in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
10/10/2009free
Guy Braunstein and Semyon Bychkov in conversation with Terry Martin
Guy Braunstein and Semyon Bychkov in conversation with Terry Martin Watch interview
04/10/2009free
Daniel Barenboim and Asher Fisch in conversation with Stanley Dodds
Daniel Barenboim and Asher Fisch in conversation with Stanley Dodds Watch interview
19/09/2009free
Sofia Gubaidulina in conversation with Margarete Zander
Sofia Gubaidulina in conversation with Margarete Zander Watch interview
13/09/2009free
Angela Denoke and Lars Vogt in conversation with Helge Grünewald
Angela Denoke and Lars Vogt in conversation with Helge Grünewald Watch interview
09/09/2009free
Simon Halsey talking about Haydn's “The Seasons”
Simon Halsey talking about Haydn's “The Seasons” Watch interview
28/08/2009free
Sir Simon Rattle in conversation with Claus Spahn
Sir Simon Rattle in conversation with Claus Spahn Watch interview
13/06/2009free
Emmanuel Pahud in conversation with Lydia Rilling
Emmanuel Pahud in conversation with Lydia Rilling Watch interview
06/06/2009free
Pierre Boulez and Pierre-Laurent Aimard in conversation with Christoph Franke
Pierre Boulez and Pierre-Laurent Aimard in conversation with Christoph Franke Watch interview
28/05/2009free
Siegfried Matthus in conversation with Tobias Möller (in German only)
Siegfried Matthus in conversation with Tobias Möller (in German only) Watch interview
24/05/2009free
Simon Halsey talks about Schubert, Mahler, Debussy and Claudio Abbado
Simon Halsey talks about Schubert, Mahler, Debussy and Claudio Abbado Watch interview
17/05/2009free
Seiji Ozawa in conversation with Fergus McWilliam
Seiji Ozawa in conversation with Fergus McWilliam Watch interview
10/05/2009free
Kirill Petrenko and Lars Vogt in conversation with Sarah Willis
Following Kirill Petrenko’s debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in February 2008, the press wrote of a “grandiose pilgrimage of the soul”. The orchestra members discussed not whether, but simply when they wanted to invite Petrenko back to Berlin, according to horn player Sarah Willis in this...
Kirill Petrenko and Lars Vogt in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
19/04/2009free
Alan Gilbert in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud
Alan Gilbert in conversation with Emmanuel Pahud Watch interview
22/03/2009free
Nikolaus Harnoncourt talks about Haydn’s “Orlando Paladino”
Nikolaus Harnoncourt talks about Haydn’s “Orlando Paladino” Watch interview
14/03/2009free
Michael Boder in conversation with Fergus McWilliam
Michael Boder in conversation with Fergus McWilliam Watch interview
07/03/2009free
Gustavo Dudamel in conversation with Edicson Ruiz
Gustavo Dudamel in conversation with Edicson Ruiz Watch interview
01/03/2009free
Heinz Holliger in conversation with Götz Teutsch
Heinz Holliger in conversation with Götz Teutsch Watch interview
13/02/2009free
Mitsuko Uchida in conversation with Sarah Willis
Mitsuko Uchida in conversation with Sarah Willis Watch interview
08/02/2009free
Simon Halsey talks about Schumann’s “Paradise and the Peri”
Simon Halsey talks about Schumann’s “Paradise and the Peri” Watch interview
11/01/2009free
Zubin Mehta in conversation with Tobias Möller
Zubin Mehta in conversation with Tobias Möller Watch interview
12/11/1989free
Daniel Barenboim on the concert for people from the GDR
Daniel Barenboim on the concert for people from the GDR Watch interview
30/10/1986free
30 years of Suntory Hall – Memories of musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker
30 years of Suntory Hall – Memories of musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker Watch interview
02/02/1968free
Sir Simon Rattle about Herbert von Karajan
