Live from the Philharmonie

After the disappointment of the broadcast from Bayreuth on 14th August, this evening's live videocast from the Philharmonie in Berlin of the opening concert of the Berlin Philharmonic's new season was a great experience, even allowing for occasional less-than-perfect picture quality.

This was via the Digital Concert Hall, which I subscribe to but haven't up to now taken advantage of in terms of live streaming. An email invitation to sign up for a free ticket for this evening arrived a couple of days ago, so I took up the offer. This being Mahler's centenary year (he died a hundred years ago), the Berlin Phil kicked off the new season with a performance of the Seventh Symphony. It isn't among my favourites of the Mahler canon, but it makes a big difference to experience a performance like this evening's, especially when the video coverage is as musically sympathetic as this was (BBC, eat your heart out). Add to that a wonderful performance, and I might just change my mind about the Seventh.

The email invite definitely had the required effect anyway, since I'll now shell out some real money for a few more virtual visits to the Philharmonie. Great stuff.