In 1882, a group of 54 ambitious musicians in Berlin got together to form an orchestra and began to institute their own series of concerts, thus giving birth to the Berlin Philharmonic. As a leader they chose Hans von Bülow, one of the finest conductors of the era, who laid the foundation for the Philharmonic’s focus on distinguished playing. His successors have included Arthur Nikisch (1895–1922), Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922–54), and Herbert von Karajan (1955–89), all of whom developed the signature Berlin sound and guided the players to achieve a matchless level of perfection. It was in the Karajan years that the Berlin Philharmonic attained worldwide fame with its tours and many prize-winning recordings. Since October 1963 the Philharmonic has made its home at the Philharmonie in Berlin, a 2,400-seat concert hall designed by Hans Scharoun. After Karajan’s death in 1989, they elected Claudio Abbado to succeed him. He expanded the traditional repertoire with numerous contemporary works and introduced program cycles that focused on specific themes. Since September 2002, Simon Rattle has occupied the position of Music Director of the Berlin Philharmonic. Under Rattle’s tenure the organization of the Philharmonic—now numbering 128 players—was converted into a foundation governed by public law that is generously supported by the involvement of Deutsche Bank as chief sponsor. A major focus of this support is the educational program known as Zukunft@BPhil, which is geared toward developing a new generation of audiences as well as new ways of bringing music to them. In June 2011 the Philharmonic was awarded the Glashütte Prize of the Dresden Music Festival for this project. In 2009 the Philharmonic introduced its “Digital Concert Hall”, which streams concerts over the internet and to which music lovers from around the world can subscribe.
LUCERNE FESTIVAL (IMF) debut on 30 August 1958 with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Herbert von Karajan.
August 2011