The Berlin Philharmonic, opened in October 1963, is one of the most famous concert halls in the world due to the highest level of the team and the orchestra working in it. The architecture of the Philharmonic Society also contributes to popularity. Photos of the Berlin Philharmonic are of no less interest to people than the announcements and descriptions of events taking place on its stage.
History of the Philharmonic
The need for a new building for the main musical group of Germany arose after the end of World War II, during which the former Philharmonic building was wiped off the face of the city by British bombers.
The greatest representative of the organic style in architecture Hans Sharun, who also built the German Embassy in Brazil, worked on the implementation of the new comprehensive project in the Tiergarten Garden.
The entire Berlin Philharmonic is the only hall in the form of a pentagon, in the center of which there is a stage, surrounded on all sides by spectators' rows, which are located on terraces hanging over one another, like grapes. A feature is also the fact that the distances between the rows are not the same and vary with distance from the scene.
Philharmonic Architecture
The architectural design of the auditorium of the Berlin Philharmonic served as a model for many later buildings of a similar purpose. For example, for the Sydney Opera House, built in 1973, the 1978 Denver Concert Hall, and the new Paris Philharmonic, opened in 2014.
Thanks to the highest acoustic qualities of the hall, it has become a place for recording the best world groups. The merit was appreciated by such musicians as Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck and many others.
Over the long history of the Philharmonic, extraordinary incidents occurred in it. In May 2008, a fire broke out in the building of the Berlin Philharmonic. Inaccurate welding was recognized as its cause. During the fire extinguishing, a special foam was used, however, despite the firefighters' attempts to reduce damage, a quarter of the building’s roof was damaged and the hall was recognized as “badly damaged”. However, the repair was carried out promptly and the next concert was held, as planned, on June 20. The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra played that day.
Philharmonic Orchestra: The Beginning
However, no matter how beautiful the building of the Berlin Philharmonic was, it is only a worthy concert hall for one of the best musical groups in Europe. In 2006, the leading European media put the orchestra on the third line in the list of ten best music groups in Europe. In 2008, the Philharmonic Orchestra entered the top three best orchestras according to the association of musical critics.
All of these ratings reflect the rich history of the collective itself, created in 1882. It is believed that the beginning of a new musical group was laid when 54 musicians from the Bilze group had a conflict with the administration. The reason for the quarrel was the fact that tickets to the fourth class of the train were bought for the tour of the group to Warsaw. So one of the most famous musical groups in Europe appeared.
First concert hall
The first own concert hall at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra appeared in 1882 in the Kreuzberg district. The first philharmonic hall appeared thanks to the genius of the German architect Franz Herbert Schwechten, who managed to organically adapt the building of the former ice rink to the needs of a fastidious creative team. This building was used until January 3, 1944, when it was destroyed as a result of the Allied bombing.
The conductor Ludwig von Brenner, the then-famous conductor, became the first director of the new orchestra. A graduate of the Leipzig Conservatory managed to work in the Russian Empire, as well as in various cities of his homeland, at the time of his appointment in Berlin.
In 1887, he was replaced by Hans von BĂĽlow. Until 1887, Bulov managed to earn a reputation as a musical prodigy, a talented leader and director. However, in 1893 he left this honorary post, and Arthur Nikish replaced him.
The era of von Karayan
In 1954, Herbert von Karajan took over as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic, becoming one of the greatest conductors and artistic directors in the history of the philharmonic.
As a member of the NSDAP, Karayan worked actively in Germany, which subsequently affected his post-war career, when the Soviet authorities who liberated Austria banned his activities in Vienna. Soon, however, the conductor returned to his main activity when in 1948 he headed the Vienna Society of Friends of Music. At the same time, he conducted in La Scala, Milan.
However, the truly great period of von Karayan’s work began when he was appointed lifelong leader of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, as the successor to Wilhelm Furtwengler.
In addition to the very high-quality performance of the most complex musical works, sound recording brought glory to Karayan, whose active ascetic he remained until his death, striving to contribute as much as possible to the dissemination of quality music performed by his orchestra. Von Karajan became one of the best conductors of the Berlin Philharmonic.