Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall Celebrates 15 Years 

The streaming platform has released an anniversary broadcast amongst an impressive archive

Created in 2008, the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall showcases regular live broadcasts and now has an archive of over 750 concerts, films, interviews, and playlists.

Celebrating 15 years since the launch of the Digital Concert Hall, the platform has shared an anniversary broadcast, including performances of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique” with Herbert von Karajan, as well as the debut of composer John Williams.

The anniversary playlist also features interviews with horn players Sarah Willis and Stefan Dohr, cellists Solène Kermarrec and Knut Weber, double bassist Matthew McDonald, and Digital Concert Hall experts on the creation of the platform. 

The Digital Concert Hall was the brainchild of the Berlin Phil’s principal cellist and media chairman Olaf Maninger and co-managing director until 2019, Robert Zimmermann. 

With an unbroken 15 years’ worth of documenting performances, the platform comprises a number of historic productions, and also enabled the orchestra to maintain communication with its audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Additionally, the platform’s audio and video quality of recordings have steadily improved in the last decade — the standard for picture quality is now in a high-contrast 4K-HDR format, and sound reproduction has been offered in Immersive Audio (Dolby Atmos). 

“In the Digital Concert Hall, the Berliner Philharmoniker has realized a bold vision which reflects the vital qualities that distinguish this orchestra: moving with the times while staying true to its essential core,” its website reads.