Berliner Philharmoniker Stories

It should never have worked

The genesis of Alban Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra

Mozart’s last three symphonies

In the jungle of myths

The Fragility of Love

Gustav and Alma Mahler

Dvořák’s path to fame

From orchestral musician to national composer – Antonín Dvořák had an unprecedented career. Thanks to his musical genius and his mentor.

Richard Strauss’s “Metamorphosen”

An introduction

“To hear my own music more vibrant than expected”

Composer in Residence Jörg Widmann in conversation

Richard Strauss – a hero?

In »Ein Heldenleben« – A Hero’s Life – Strauss portrayed no one but himself. What was so heroic about him, however, the composer did not reveal. So, how heroic was he in real life?

What is actually... the ondes Martenot?

Interesting facts about a bizarre instrument

“Your friendship is as indispensable to me now as the air I breathe”

The remarkable friendship of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda von Meck

The Springtime of Love

For Robert Schumann, the early years of his marriage to Clara Wieck were a time of happiness and exuberant creativity. Some of his finest works date from this period.

The Man Who Knows No Fear

A portrait of the young Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä.

If I were not a musician ...

Violist Martin von der Nahmer can really relax while cooking.

“It’s never enough, it can never be too much”

Emmanuelle Haïm in portrait

Arnold Schönerg: Premiere op. 31

Schönberg’s Variations for Orchestra are among the most demanding works ever composed for a large symphony orchestra. The premiere, however, turned into a fiasco.

If I were not a musician ...

The violinist could possibly have pursued a career as a professional athlete.

The German California

An intellectual elite fled from the Nazis into American exile, including Arnold Schönberg, Thomas Mann and many others.

In celebration of Hans Scharoun

A declaration of love to his most famous building: the Philharmonie Berlin.

Korngold and the Berliner Philharmoniker

What a start! Erich Wolfgang Korngold was just 15 years young when the Berliner Philharmoniker performed his Schauspiel Overture op. 4 in December 1912.

Christoph Hartmann: If I were not a musician ...

In this section, we introduce members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and their extramusical passions. Today: Christoph Hartmann, who designs bicycles.