Opening concert

Berlin Philharmonic

• Opening Concert of the 2012-2013 season (August 24, 2012)

I am still a person who does not take the Internet for granted! I am still totally delighted when I am able to get on my computer at 10 AM, as I did yesterday, and find myself at the major concert hall in Berlin, Germany. The hall is called the “Philharmonie”, and 10 AM California time is 7 PM in Berlin. That’s when the opening concert took place on August 24th, 2012

On the program were two works:

• The Piano Concerto #2 by Johannes Brahms
• The Symphony #3 by Polish-born composer Witold Lutoslawsky

The Brahms concerto is a great favorite of mine. It was beautifully played by Yefim Bronfman. This amazing music is in reality a symphony of orchestra with piano. It seems to me that the composer wrote this amazingly rich and powerful music as a piece that shows us a dialog between many instruments. The concerto contains very powerful orchestration, as well as many solo sections for the Horn section, for winds, and particularly for the First-chair Cello player in the third movement.

The orchestra’s conductor, Sir Simon Rattle, was in charge, and he pulled off a wonderfully lyrical performance with the orchestra and soloist. The Berlin Philharmonic is – in my view – the number one orchestra on the planet now. Yes, yes… there are three of four other orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic that are excellent; I just feel that the BPO is at the top. AND… I am really not biased, even though I was able to attend their opening concert without going to the airport, going through security, or fighting the jet-lag.

🙂

The video craftsmanship added to my enjoyment: As an example, at the start of the third movement, when this wonderful Cello solo takes place, there was one of the many cameras, focused on the principal Cello player as he began. And at the end of the third movement, he returns to remind us of Brahms’ hauntingly beautiful opening theme again.

Many of the BPO’s principal players are outstanding soloists in their own right: Emanuel Pahud, Flute, as one example. Others include the concertmaster (originally from Tel Aviv), as well as the first horn player, first Oboe, and first Viola.

Oh, yes… one other thing I did occasionally: I did “Print Screen” during the performance and collected some candid shots of the performers. One of these is shown in this Post.

All in all: One top notch performance by a world-class orchestra and by pianist Yefim Bronfman.

Here is another performance with the BPO and Mr. Bronfman:

Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle, Yefim Bronfman perform the Rachmaninov piano concerto #3 in an outdoor setting

And here is the Berlin Philharmonic Horn section in Concert

Tags: Berlin Philharmonic orchestra, Yefim Bronfman, opening concert, 2012-2013 season