The Berliner Philharmoniker Launches Full Season Of Live Webcast Concerts August 28

The Berliner Philharmoniker will launch a full season of live webcasts August 28, in what it calls the Digital Concert Hall.

Many music lovers will remember the dramatic circumstances the last time Berlioz's Sympnonie fantastique was performed by Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker. After welding work had set fire to the roof of the Philharmonic resulting it its temporary closure, a hangar at Berlin's Tempelhof airport was used as an alternative venue. Despite the adverse conditions it was a thrilling interpretation. The Berliner Zeitung wrote: "Even given the acoustic difficulties of the hangar, it became clear how much the Symphonie fantastique suits Rattle, how he not only gets to the heart of its more bizarre aspects , but also manages to combine them." It will be all the more exciting to experience this interpretation with the acoustics in the Philharmonie.

This opening concert of the 2009/10 season starts, however, with two other works. First, Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" - a sequence of virtuoso variations based on a rondo by Purcell, which gives the different sections of the orchestra the opportunity to shine. And a premiere, with a work by Kaija Saariaho, promisingly entitled "Laterna Magica," which brings together two themes central to this Finnish composers oeuvre: the creation of magical moments and the rendering of light audible.

The Berlin Philharmonie sees the beginning of a new era in concert broadcasting. High-definition cameras will be recording all the concerts by the Berliner Philharmoniker and broadcasting them on a new Web platform: the Digital Concert Hall. Here you can find the world-famous orchestra and its musical partners - Artistic Director Sir Simon Rattle as well as renowned guest conductors and soloists. Beginning this season, concerts will be streamed live.

Prices for the Digital Concert Hall are as follows:

The Season Pass for € 149.00
As an online subscriber you have unlimited access to all live broadcasts and archive recordings.

30-Day Subscription for € 39.00
This ticket offers all the above benefits for a period of 30 days.

The Live Ticket for € 9.90
This enables you to attend the live concert of your choice.

The Archive Ticket for € 9.90
With an on-demand ticket you can choose a recording from the concert archive and watch it as often as you want for two days.

Simon Rattle will conduct 12 of the 33 digital concerts this season. Guest conductors include Gustavo Dudamel (who will lead a program including Gubaidulina's "Glorious Percussion" and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 12 on Sept. 19), Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, David Robertson and Seiji Ozawa. Guest artists include Mitsuko Uchida, Thomas Quasthoff, Daniel Barenboim, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Janine Jansen, Hélène Grimaud and András Schiff.

The Digital Concert Hall is only possible through the exclusive partnership with Deutsche Bank, who have been supporting the Berliner Philharmoniker since 1989.

For more information on the Digital Concert Hall, as well as sample videos, visit dch.berliner-philharmoniker.de/#/en.