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5 unusual facts about Berlin Philharmonic


Assia Zlatkowa

Since then she was often invited to Germany, both East- and West-, and aged 17 she played together with the Berlin Philharmonic the Beethoven Op37, after which she toured in Poland, Italy, East- and West Germany and in Denmark.

Heniot Levy

He made his debut touring with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1898; he came to the United States in 1905, settling in Chicago, Illinois.

Parker Johnstone

An accomplished musician, he was the principal trumpet of the International Youth Orchestra, touring Europe, playing with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, and famed pianist Van Cliburn.

Piotr Anderszewski

Orchestras with whom Anderszewski has performed include the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Richard Lert

His base of operations during that period was Berlin and he appeared as a guest conductor frequently with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.


Benjamin Bilse

After a fierce quarrel with Bilse about another fourth-class concert trip to Warsaw, 54 musicians in 1882 split to found the "Former Bilse's Band" under conductor Ludwig von Brenner, shortly afterwards renamed Berlin Philharmonic, today one of the world's leading orchestras.

Douglas Metcalf

He has performed under the baton of James Conlon, Peter Oundjian, Hans Vonk, David Zinman, Robert Stern and chamber music performances with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and many others.

Ernst Ottensamer

His eldest son Daniel Ottensamer is also principal clarinet with the Vienna Philharmonic and youngest son Andreas Ottensamer is principal clarinet with the Berlin Philharmonic.

Götterdämmerung

According to Albert Speer, the Berlin Philharmonic's last performance before their evacuation from Berlin at the end of World War II was of Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene at the end of the opera.

Hans Abrahamsen

Abrahamsen's Let me tell you, for soprano and orchestra, was premiered on 20 December 2013 by the Berlin Philharmonic, with soprano soloist Barbara Hannigan (whom the work is dedicated to), conducted by Andris Nelsons.

Hans Scharoun

After the war he was able to realise his architectural understanding, both ambitious and humanistic, in exemplary buildings; e.g., in the Stuttgart apartment towers of Romeo and Julia (1954–59), in the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in Lünen (1956–62) and in the famed Philharmonic concert hall in Berlin (1956–63).

Julio Medaglia

He wrote his "Belle Epoque en Sud-America", a Suite for Wind Quintet for the Bläserquintett of the Berlin Philharmonic, who have recorded the work and play it on tour.

Leipziger Straße

Around the corner a Concerthaus was erected in the 1860s, the concert hall of the Benjamin Bilse orchestra, predecessor of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Lucerne Festival

Since its foundation the festival features concerts by the Festival's resident orchestra, recitals by soloists and concerts by guest orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic.

Morten Schuldt-Jensen

Schuldt-Jensen has also worked as choir master with conductors such as Simon Rattle, Colin Davis, John Eliot Gardiner, Herbert Blomstedt, Lothar Zagrosek, Riccardo Chailly, René Jacobs, Philippe Herreweghe, Peter Schreier and Marcello Viotti, and worked on performances with these conductors with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Freiburger Barockorchester and the National Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Olav Kielland

He was guest conductor for a number of other orchestras, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.

Oralia Domínguez

She performed the role of Erda in von Karajan's recording of Wagner's Ring with the Berlin Philharmonic.


see also

Arthur Nikisch

On November 10, 1913, Nikisch made one of the earliest recordings of a complete symphony, Beethoven's 5th, with the Berlin Philharmonic, a performance later reissued on LP and CD by DGG and other modern labels.

Gerhard Taschner

In the dying days of the Second World War, the sacked German munitions minister Albert Speer devised a plan to protect the players of the Berlin Philharmonic from the invading Soviet forces.

Henrik Schaefer

Since then he has conducted the orchestra on many occasions in Berlin and Salzburg (Falstaff, Parsifal) and took the dress rehearsal for Claudio Abbado’s last concert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with Gustav Mahler's symphony no. 7 in Vienna in May 2002.

In May 2000 he was chosen from numerous applicants to become Claudio Abbado’s assistant with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and already in December 2000 he led all rehearsals for the production of Richard Wagner's Tristan in Tokyo, due to Abbado’s ailing health.

Max Fiedler

He recorded the Academic Festival Overture, Symphony No. 2, two movements from the Piano Concerto No. 2 and the Symphony No. 4 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.