Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall
Sun, Jan 30 2011, 9:13PM
A day or two ago I took out a subscription to the Berlin Philharmonic's digital concert hall site, with options (so far) on 79 very recent complete concerts and future concerts to come (live if I choose). The year-long subscription (the one I took) is pricey, but the monthly one seems to me very good value if people would be able and willing to watch a lot of material in 30 days.
I wonder whether others have taken out a subscription? I must say I'm so far enjoying mine greatly. I'm not really able to get to concerts easily, and they're not terribly convenient or practical in my present circumstances, so this has been a happy alternative for me, shot as the site is in HD and with good sound (though of course sound via an average pc system isn't the real thing by any stretch...). I think the BPO has done well in adopting the methods of other orchestras (LSO and CSO Live, etc) and going one stage further. The visual element does add something.
A few thoughts. Music seen live, even if not actually 'live' (although as I say there is a live 'live' option), often has a frisson beyond a recording - to see musicians interacting with total commitment (as the players of the BPO habitually do) is a wonderful thing. There's a visual element to music-making not to be sniffed at.
That connects with how exciting it can be to follow a performance delivered in front of an audience. One of the main things which attracted me to the site was the prospect of a complete Sibelius cycle conducted by Simon Rattle last year. I started with the 2nd, and it's a fabulous performance, never overplayed but direct, fiery and assured in a way which seems to me a significant advance on Rattle's old CBSO recording. It generates a very considerable charge. (We hear the grumbles about Rattle in Berlin: but watch a performance like this and what comes across is a conductor and orchestra very much of like mind and heart, both passionate about the music. I can see why they like him.)
I'm struck, too, by the variety of music within the 79-odd concerts here, with many programmes including unusual works or premieres alongside established classics. What an education I'm hoping this will be.
It would be great to hear from anyone who's also a subscriber. Tips for which concerts to go for first?
Sun, Feb 27 2011, 2:10AM
#2
RE: Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall
I too got the years subscription last fall. I have been jumping around listening to the Shumann synphonies which the BSO with Levine performed this fall, I have listened to the Mahler which the BSO was also doing and continues though Levine is now out again for the forseeable future. I really enjoyed contrasting the performances. Now I am just scrolling through the list and listening. Since my parentcare duties have made me much more housebound during my nonwork hours the Digital concert hall has been wonderful. For me, my listening experience is enhanced when I can hear and see the players. I will definitely renew.
Fri, Mar 4 2011, 7:23AM
#3
RE: Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall
The 'semi-dramatised' performance of the St Matthew Passion (11. 04. 2010) is simply one of the greatest and most profound performances of anything I have ever seen or heard. I have sat through it twice now, and will be watching it again.
Mark Padmore as a sublime narrator, Christian Gerhaher as Jesus, Magdelena Kozena, Camilla Tilling, Topi Lehtipuu (giving a performance of "O Schmerz! . . . Ich will bei meinen Jesu wachen" that pulverised me into awe), Thomas Quastoff, all give performances that are truly, awesomely, great.
The BPO musicians and the Baroque instrumentalists who join them give superlative performances, as does the wonderful Rundfunk Chor Berlin. You get the sense that all the performers, and Rattle as conductor, are deeply committed to an occassion of profound significance.
This has alone justified the cost of my year's subscription.
Mon, Feb 13 2012, 10:08AM
#4
RE: Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall
I've subscribed to the BPO for 2 years and I've been very pleased. The programs are eclectic: the pairings of old music with each Mahler symphony in this season's cycle, for example, has been fascinating. Who ever programmed Purcell's Funeral Music for Queen Mary as a prelude to the 5th symphony? The chance to hear Ligeti, Berio, Szymanowski's 4th symphony with the piano part performed by MA Hamelin...the list goes on but the point is clear-this is a chance to hear new music, bold programming and, needless to say, superb musicianship in one encounter marks this as a "vaut le voyage" to borrow Michelin's phrase.
The concert programmes in Washington, D.C. are extremely conventional and this is an added inducement for long time listeners who want to break out of the ordinary constraints. I think Sir Simon and his colleagues and the BPO organization should be very proud of this series. I will continue to subscribe.
Sat, Mar 3 2012, 10:55AM
#5
RE: Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall
I am also a long-time subscriber to the DCH and am very satisfied. I can only agree with Rexmannz that the Matthew Passion performance is wonderful. It is one of the most moving musical experiences of my life (live or recorded). The performance of the newly-completed 4 movement Bruckner 9 is very interesting, and I look forward to it's CD release later this year.
However having recently watched Sir Rattle in performances of Bruckner and Schubert via the DCH, isn't it a real shame that he has often fallen into the (i would call rookie) trap of thinking that louder means faster in German music? It prevents what are good performances from becoming truly great. There is no law that says louder cannot be faster, but it has to follow from the internal logic of the performance. At present it often feels 'applied' from the outside. Having said that, he has evolved immensely from the so-so Beethoven cycle with the VPO a few years ago, so the signs for the future are good! The playing of the BPO remains a thing of wonder.
Sat, Mar 3 2012, 12:25PM
#6
RE: Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall
Yes, I was very interested in the Bruckner: will it be released on CD? I do hope so. One of the bonuses of the website is the interview facility. I was struck by Rattle's comment that there's more Bruckner in this completed 9th than there is Mozart in the conventionally accepted 'Mozart Requiem'.
Sat, Mar 3 2012, 2:03PM
#7
Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall
Gramophone has reported that Rattle/Bruckner 9 will be released in May this year:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/gallery/highlights-of-the-year-ahead
I am very much looking forward to it also. On early hearings, the 'new' fourth movement is rather strange and - like much of the rest of the work - unlike anything Bruckner composed previously. Traditional opinion is that the 3 movements are a magnificent statement by themselves and the lack of a 4th in itself is telling. However if there are indeed only 37 of 647 bars that had no Bruckner music available to the musicologists then this completion should to be taken very seriously.
So another great benefit of subscribing to the DCH - I can watch the performance as often as I want until the music has sunk in!
Sat, Mar 3 2012, 10:07PM
#8
RE: Berlin Philharmonic digital concert hall
Thanks for that Brendan. That's very good to hear. I agree with you about the finale, and about how I'll be revisiting it very soon on the website. I sense myself on the verge of being persuaded - and that's as someone who has previously always been satisfied with the three movement structure.
Hi - I enjoyed some of the concerts with unusual repertoire too. I would recommend Schreker's Chamber symphony (with the training orchestra), any of the concerts featuring Zimmermann works, the concert featuring Shostakovich 4/Rattle, the concert with Strauss's Alpine Symphony/Bychkov and the Bach Concert with Koopman.
Ted