Dr. Sanna Pederson, University of Oklahoma
Orchestra in Berlin
On the 25th Anniversary concert of the Berlin Philharmonic this evening, Jeanette Grumbacher-de Jong and Anton Sistermans are the soloists for the Brahms Requiem. The second concert tomorrow will have all the pomp and circumstance of a “Festgedicht” by Carl Wittkowsky, declaimed by the actress Rosa Poppe. Arthur Nikisch conducts the Brahms Symphony no. 1 … Read more
The Berlin Philharmonic is 25 years old The last major event of the year starts today at noon, with the first of two concerts commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Philharmonic Orchestra. Today is the Hauptprobe matinée; the soloists will be different for the performance tomorrow evening. The program is made up of the 3 … Read more
The last Philharmonic popular concert of the season is tonight. It includes Beethoven’s 5th and Tchaikovsky’s 5th. The conductor August Scharrer is stepping down after three years. Arthur Abell speculates that during that time Scharrer has conducted 1000 concerts. Ernst Kunwald will be his successor, and after five years, he too will move on. It … Read more
In order to survive in their first decades, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra had to play concerts almost every day during the concert season of October through April. Their four months of summer season in Holland at the seaside was even more rigorous, with concerts twice a day. After reading that the conductor Joseph Rebicek died … Read more
Joachim’s students as orchestral players Joachim was a critical force in the first decades of the Berlin Philharmonic. He contributed important administrative and organizational assistance and served as one of the <strong><a href=”https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/geschichte/anfang/#event-joseph-joachim-dirigiert”>main conductors</a> </strong>of the orchestra from 1882-1887. Perhaps just as importantly, his fame attracted string players to Berlin at a time when there … Read more
The price of a “popular” ticket was cheap and held remarkably steady. Tickets less than 1 mark could still be found in 1907, and only the premium seats of a popular concert would cost more than 2 M. This held from about 1880 to at least 1907, with a regular ticket usually not more than … Read more
The first season of the Philharmonic began in 1887 with ten subscription concerts conducted by Hans von Bülow. The popular concerts also began at this time. Not only did the orchestra play these three times a week, but they were often hired by soloists who wanted to play concertos, or by conductors wanting to conduct.The … Read more