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The concert hall that's home to the Berlin Philharmonic.
The concert hall that's home to the Berlin Philharmonic. (WNYC)

Berlin Without Walls: Inside the Philharmonic

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Berlin without Walls
In this series, we examine various aspects of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, in both modern and historical context. From the players themselves to the legendary conductors, WNYC takes you behind the scenes to discover what makes the BPO one of the world's greatest ensembles.

This series was produced by Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler with production assistance from Lila Dobbs, Hilke Schellmann and Amber Cortes; edited by Amanda Aronczyk and engineered by Damon Whittemore, with special thanks to George Preston. WNYC’s Executive Producer for Music is Limor Tomer. "Berlin Without Walls" is made possible, in part, by the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

players of the Berlin Philharmonic

Berlin Without Walls: The Players

Evening Music

November 05, 2007

The Berlin Philharmonic is made up of virtuoso players from around the world; in this segment of Berlin Without Walls, we hear from the instrumentalists themselves, as they describe their experiences from the initial audition to performing with one of the world's great orchestras.

Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic

Berlin Without Walls: The Sound

Evening Music

November 06, 2007

In describing the rich sonic color of the Berlin Philharmonic, conductor Simon Rattle says that it "comes from the center of the Earth." We deconstruct the orchestra section by section, and then put it all back together again to hear just how they make that incredible sound.

Berlin Philharmonic performing for Hitler's birthday

Berlin Without Walls: The Homecoming

Evening Music

November 07, 2007

We view the Berlin Philharmonic within the context of Nazi Germany, through the story of Jewish violinist Hellmut Stern. Stern, who fled Germany at the start of the war, returned to his homeland afterwards to join the Philharmonic — under former Nazi party member Herbert von Karajan.

Furtwängler and the Berlin Philharmonic

Berlin Without Walls: The Conductors

Evening Music

November 08, 2007

Furtwängler; von Karajan; Celibidache; Abbado — and the list goes on. These are just some of the forceful personalities that have led the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra during its long and storied history. We examine how each maestro brought his own particular style to bear on the ensemble, and how the Philharmonic always managed to maintain its own separate identity in spite of the man on the podium.

Sir Simon Rattle - photo by Theresia Lin

Berlin Without Walls: Just Simon

Evening Music

November 09, 2007

To the world, he's known as Sir Simon Rattle. To the Berlin public, he's considered a real "Mench." If you ask the conductor himself, he'd prefer to be known as "just Simon." We go behind the scenes with the Berlin Philharmonic's music director, and hear from his friends and colleagues just what makes this particular maestro so well-respected and loved.