Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

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The Berlin Philharmonic rehearsing in the Berliner Philharmonie.

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

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

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

[edit] History

Entrance to the concert hall.

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

In 1895, Arthur Nikisch became chief conductor, and was succeeded in 1923 by Wilhelm Furtwängler. The orchestra continued to perform throughout World War II, despite several changes in leadership. After Furtwängler fled to Switzerland in 1945, Leo Borchard became conductor. This arrangement lasted only a few months, however; he was accidentally shot and killed by American forces occupying Berlin, and Sergiu Celibidache took over. Furtwängler returned in 1947 and conducted the orchestra until his death in 1954.

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

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

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

[edit] Principal conductors

Ludwig von Brenner (1882-1887)
Hans von Bülow (1887–1892)
Arthur Nikisch (1895–1922)
Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922–1945)
Leo Borchard (June–August 1945)
Sergiu Celibidache (1945–1952)
Wilhelm Furtwängler (1947–1954)
Herbert von Karajan (1954–1989)
Claudio Abbado (1989–2002)
Sir Simon Rattle (2002– )

[edit] Recognition

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

Classical Brit Awards

2001 - "Ensemble/Orchestral Album of the Year" - Sir Simon Rattle, Mahler: Symphony No. 10
2003 - "Ensemble/Orchestral Album of the Year" - Sir Simon Rattle, Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Grammy Awards

1970 - "Best Opera Recording" - Herbert von Karajan, Helga Dernesch, Thomas Stolze, Jess Thomas, Wagner: Siegfried
1979 - "Best Orchestral Performance" - Herbert von Karajan, Beethoven: Symphonies (9) (Complete)
1993 - "Best Orchestral Recording" - Leonard Bernstein, Mahler: Symphony No. 9
1993 - "Best Classical Album" - Leonard Bernstein, Mahler: Symphony No. 9
1995 - "Best Chamber Music Performance" - Daniel Barenboim, Dale Clevenger, Larry Combs, Daniele Damiano, Hansjorg Schellenberger, Beethoven/Mozart: Quintets (Chicago-Berlin)
2001 - "Best Orchestral Performance" - Sir Simon Rattle, Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (EMI, 2000)

Gramophone Awards

1981 - "Orchestral Record of the Year" - Herbert von Karajan, Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (DG, 1980)
1984 - "Record of the Year" - Herbert von Karajan, Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (DG, 1984) (live recording 1982)
2000 - "Orchestral Record of the Year" - Sir Simon Rattle, Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (EMI, 2000)
2004 - "Concerto" - Mariss Jansons, Leif Ove Andsnes, Grieg: Piano Concerto and Schumann: Piano Concerto (EMI, 2004)
2006 - "Record of the Year" - Claudio Abbado, Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (DG, 2005)

Timbre de Platine (Platinum Stamp) awarded by Opéra International magazine [1]

1987 - Riccardo Muti, Mozart: Requiem (EMI, 1987)

[edit] In popular culture

The soundtrack album for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey offers a version of Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra performed by the BPO conducted by Karl Böhm. (The version used in the movie itself was by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karajan, uncredited, but copyright owner Decca Records didn't want to be associated with science-fiction.)