Berliner 2024

Even more “impressive” than her powerful playing are “the quiet passages when Marie-Pierre Langlamet elicits a song from her 47 strings that is so atmospheric, and has such subtle dynamic shadings that you would never expect from this plucked string instrument”, according to Der Tagesspiegel. Since 1993, the musician has played as principal harp in the ranks of the Berliner Philharmoniker, frequently taking her place in front of the orchestra as a soloist.

Simon Rattle recorded Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's festive ballet the Nutcracker in 2009 with the Berlin Philharmonic, and this double-disc package is a first-rate presentation of the beloved holiday favorite. Rattle's approach is warm and inviting, and the music is played with brilliant flair and playful buoyancy. A late-comer to appreciating other works by Tchaikovsky, Rattle claims he always had a special affection for the ballets, and found the Nutcracker especially interesting when he learned of its influence on Igor Stravinsky's Petrushka. This is not to say that Rattle conducts this work in a revisionist or ironic manner, à la Stravinsky, for there is a richness here that is pure Tchaikovsky. Yet a case could be made that Rattle interprets the work with little sentimentality and with an ear for the piquant, and in that manner makes a connection between the two great Russian composers. The Berlin Philharmonic is exceptional in its radiant colors, full textures, and cohesive playing, and the Nutcracker is a delight with such a superb ensemble. EMI's reproduction is also deserving of praise, for the digital sound is as close to state-of-the-art as possible in a regular CD format, and the audio range is wide and deep, with every note easy to hear.

Since its foundation in 2013, the Berlin opera group has made a name for itself with Berlin premieres such as Donizetti’s Deux Hommes et une Femme and Betly and other operatic rarities.

In early June 2023, Daniel Barenboim conducted this French program in the Berlin Philharmonie; it was a concert that inspired the present recording for DG. In 2024 we celebrate the great French composer Gabriel Fauré 100 years after he died with this recording of the incidental music for ‘Pelléas et Mélisande’. Almost 50 years after his first DG recording of Franck's symphony with the Orchestre de Paris

Herbert von Karajan was the most renowned conductor to emerge from Europe in the post-World War II era – and through fortuitous timing throughout his career, and in spite of controversy that dogged his early years, he was the most recorded conductor of the 20th century, and is likely to remain one of the most visible (and biggest-selling) conductors well into the 21st century.

Amihai Grosz’s new album featuring Walton’s Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (revised version from 1962) and Martinů’s Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra. Recorded with the Berliner Philharmoniker and conductor Sir Simon Rattle and Matthias Pintscher respectively, is available now as part of the Soloist Series on the orchestra’s label.

In early June 2023, Daniel Barenboim conducted this French program in the Berlin Philharmonie; it was a concert that inspired the present recording for DG.

Few other conductors had or have a relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker to match Seiji Ozawa’s. His musical abilities earned him the orchestra’s respect from the very outset. He knew his scores down to the smallest detail and knew precisely what he wanted. However — and this is what made working with him so wonderful — he never imposed his views on us but rather integrated them into a partnership on equal terms. That led not only to personally rewarding encounters: it also made possible the kind of music making in which freedom and spontaneity always had a place.

Die Berliner Barock Solisten sind ein exzellentes Ensemble, das 1995 von Rainer Kussmaul, Raimar Orlovsky und anderen Mitgliedern der Berliner Philharmoniker als Spezialensemble für Musik des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts gegründet wurde. Ihre letzte Einspielung von Bachs Brandenburgischen Konzerten erhielt hervorragende Kritiken und wurde mit einem OPUS KLASSIK als beste Konzerteinspielung ausgezeichnet. Für ihre neue Aufnahme bei Sony Classical haben sie sich mit den exzellenten Solisten der Berliner Philharmoniker zusammengetan, der Solobratschistin Diyang Mei und dem Geiger Noah Bendix-Balgley, dem ersten Konzertmeister der Berliner Philharmoniker.

Few other conductors had or have a relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker to match Seiji Ozawa’s. His musical abilities earned him the orchestra’s respect from the very outset. He knew his scores down to the smallest detail and knew precisely what he wanted. However — and this is what made working with him so wonderful — he never imposed his views on us but rather integrated them into a partnership on equal terms. That led not only to personally rewarding encounters: it also made possible the kind of music making in which freedom and spontaneity always had a place.