Berlin Philharmonic offers free concert webcast
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Have the folks at the Berlin Philharmonic been paying attention to what’s been happening in L.A. recently? It certainly seems so, judging by the orchestra’s latest online initiative.
Earlier this month, the L.A. Philharmonic hosted its first free webcast on the occasion of Gustavo Dudamel’s debut as music director at the Hollywood Bowl. Now, the Berlin Philharmonic will be following suit by offering its own free webcast on Nov. 9, just before kicking off its latest U.S. tour.
The webcast will feature the Berlin Philharmonic performing Brahms’ Symphonies No. 3 and 4. The concert, which is conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, will begin online Monday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m., PST. To register for the free webcast -- yes, you have to sign up in advance in order to view it -- you should visit www.db.com, which is the official site of the event’s corporate sponsor, Deutsche Bank.
Once you register, you should receive an e-mail containing a special hyperlink that will take you to the live webcast.
Rattle recently renewed his contract as artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic through 2018. He and the orchestra will start their U.S. tour in November, visiting New York; Boston; Chicago; Ann Arbor, Mich.; San Francisco; and L.A.
The orchestra’s concerts in L.A., which are scheduled for Nov. 23 and 24, will include Brahms’ Symphonies No. 1 and 2 as well as pieces by Wagner and Schoenberg.
The Berlin Philharmonic already offers pay webcasts on its site through the ‘Digital Concert Hall’ series. Those webcasts cost around $15 to view.
It seems that it’s only a matter of time before more major orchestras jump on the webcast bandwagon. It may not be the same as experiencing a concert live -- and it may not even be the next best thing depending on the quality of your Internet connection -- but in terms of recession-friendly cultural consumption, you can’t beat it.
-- David Ng
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L.A. Phil eyes future webcasts following Gustavo Dudamel’s Hollywood Bowl concert
