Claudio Abbado in rehearsal with the Berliner Philharmoniker

Full-length video available at www.digitalconcerthall.com/con...
The documentary "Claudio Abbado -- The silence that follows the music" from the year 1996 is as much a journey through the recent history of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Director Paul Smaczny shows how the orchestra re-adjusted itself after the end of the Karajan era -- such as in electing Abbado as chief conductor, whose friendly approach redefined communication and the artistic work of the orchestra.
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[@RafaelPiccolottodeLima]

Thank you BerlinPhil for posting rehearsals!! It´s so important to young students/conductors see excerpts of how the great masters work with the orchestra!!

[@veradekleva2158]

Immenso

[@emmanuelagudo4918]

when Transparency brings the hundred of musicians on the same page. what a master.

[@MagoLerio]

Maestro Claudio, mi manchi da matti 😭😭😭

[@berlinphil]

@qhubbles It is the 4th movement ("Thunderstorm - Storm") from Beethoven’s 6th Symphony

[@jialincao4220]

RIP Maestro Claudio

[@katrinat.3032]

Please post as many videos like this as possible!! I just love this kind of stuff

[@zeptimp]

Oswald Vogler doesn't want his timpani roll messed with. Brother I've been there. LOL Abbado is right to want it his own way though. Still sounds unbelievable.

[@Polythenepiper11]

Requiescat in pace, Maestro Abbado! Yours was a life in music well spent.

[@hannepetersen1783]

Thank you for rehearsal postings. Educational for anyone interested! Love to watch . . .

[@noirvalentin]

What a treasure!

[@olgapapachristou2574]

Thank you Claudio, thank you so much...

[@matzek.9119]

Ein Gentleman und eines der besten Orchester der Welt.

[@henrykaspar3634]

Ich finde ja unglaublich wie Abbado deutsch spricht. Wie eine zweite Muttersprache.

[@AlevtinaKaden]

GENIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SIE SIND GENIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you BerlinPhil for posting rehearsals!! It´s so important to young students/conductors see excerpts of how the great masters work with the orchestra!!

[@SibylleLeon]

Was für ein Juwel. Vielen Dank fürs Uploaden (auch wenn's schon einige Jahre her ist)!

[@zeptimp]

He is a legendary tympanist. It would be like telling Heifitz to add a diminuendo he didn't want to add. (or that wasn't in the manuscript to begin with) He is in almost every filmed performance that Karajan produced with the Berlin Philharmonic. Since tympanists are often considered the "conductor in the back" - this conflict is inevitable. But again, Abbado is right to want it his own way. I just happen to be a tympanist so I can feel Oswalds vexation when you just want to play LOUD LOL.

[@novagerio9244]

If one doesn't use the ears on the podium it's all noise. That's called balancing. Nothing to do with interpretation.

[@wardropper]

A legendary timpanist, but this isn't a concerto for timpani and orchestra; one must respect the wishes of the conductor. Before Abbado persuaded him to cooperate, what we got was a timpanist showing us what he can do - other instruments were simply drowned out. Beethoven didn't write notes with the intention of having them drowned out. All the players in this orchestra are 'legendary', anyway, but only a conductor can balance 100 Heifetzes... Yes, I know LOUD is fun...😃

[@paratimp]

If this is the first rehearsal you don't know how the conductor wants to have it, so you play what is written.

[@lmt3777]

no matter what, as a orchestra, it sounded better after making that diminuendo.

[@obiwan88]

What a joker, speaking with faked authority, it's not about a timpanist's ego, it's about balancing the music. He's just playing the way Karajan wanted, for the past 38 years, conductor and players just need some time getting used to each other. No big deal. 43 tone deaf egoists and counting...

[@yhkee1]

abbado's beating is sharp~~ good~~~

[@raffaelecaltagirone]

Grande Maestro. Grazie 🙏🏼

[@hswunno]

Abbado - Amazing. Film editor - unenlightened non musician. For the sake of putting the downbeat where the film editor thinks it should be, he has 100 musicians all playing 1/16th note out from the soundtrack. Time and time again I see this. Impossible to watch and enjoy the mastery of the maestro.

[@wardropper]

It's not really like that. The post-shoot processing of video footage often causes video and audio to go out of sync with each other. It's a pain to fix it, but of course it can, and should, be done. I have posted video to KZbin myself which was perfectly in sync on my own equipment, but not here. That often means I have to put my own video deliberately out of sync on my equipment, so that it comes out correctly on KZbin. Very fiddly, and editing software is variable too.

[@veradekleva2158]

Immenso

[@PianistDanielFritzen]

fascinating

[@zeptimp]

That is why the Berlin Phil chose Abbado after Karajan. They could question him or even confront him without expecting a vendetta in return.

[@MrDukeSilverr]

Also Karajan was a Nazi

[@ASclassical]

In the score there is no diminuendo. Just a fact, fully respect Professor vogler and maestro Abbado

[@nikollmerdhoci2018]

Wanderful

[@BERTRAMCAT]

Amore 🙏

[@WHITECK9]

2:22 look at those basses fakin' it; they don't even fake it together

[@davids5652]

WHITECK9 haha! That’s hilarious!

[@rorycraig]

Sorry, why don't you try playing it?

[@yang7728]

noob

[@wardropper]

It's a storm. The rumbling thunder isn't interested in synchronization, and the way Beethoven has written for the basses means you can't hear the individual notes anyway. They're just too fast and low-down for that. It's one of the few moments in classical music when players can just do their thing and BE a thunderstorm. Fabulous.

[@thiagosivila]

É por isso que o Claudio Abbado é o Claudio Abbado.

[@Zepperitz]

It is made before 1996. Prof. Rainer Zepperitz ist still playing principal double bass, and he retired 1st september 1995

[@TheFriejo]

4th: "Gewitter". After "Erwachen heiterer Gefühle...", "Szenen am Bach" and the Scherzo. And bevor the Finale.

[@ArtisticElegance]

By the way, Konradin Groth sounds heavenly here.

[@paolomartina9665]

Beh, spocchiosetti sti vecchi Berliner...no?!

[@warrenwilson4818]

Oh, these Europeans are to be admired. I'll bet Abbado is fluent in French as well as German and Italian--and English.

[@jefolson6989]

His English was never too good.

[@dagmarvandoren9364]

Richtig

[@manuelspcool]

Great "PASTORALE" symphony,,, the Berliner Philharmoniker is the "Titan" between the world orchestras =)

[@MrAkihiros]

@rafaelpdelima Not only to the students etc. but also to us listening public who are curious how a conductor can communicate his interpretation and reach a compromise visavis the stubborness if not outright arrogance of some musicians.(Argggh!!!!}

[@clausclausmann7542]

Oswald Vogler. Der beste Paukist.

[@wardropper]

Doch nur der Paukist... Nicht der Solist...

[@celloburnslongerthanviola3156]

@@wardropper Bei Gewitter ist der Donner immer Solist.😁

[@clausclausmann7542]

Es gibt kein Diminuendo in der autographen Paukenstimme in der Partitur sondern 2x2 Takte Fortissimo-Tremoli. (Analogstelle genau so.) Oswald Vogler hat richtig gespielt.

[@themanamana81]

aber es macht schon Sinn was der Abbado sagt, wie sollen denn die Streicher denn da durchkommen! Dirigent entscheidet, und Musiker kann was dazu sagen ...nicht aber in diesem Ton!

[@jovetter1]

@@themanamana81 - das Zwiegespraech geht von Abbado aus: "Aber wir haben schon in Berlin gespielt", worauf Vogler ihm klar zu verstehen gibt, dass er die 6. nie unter Abbado spielen musste (sondern immer nur unter Karajan). Was zaehlt ist Voglers Professionalitaet - das folgende Diminuendo ist unglaublich: problem solved!

[@wardropper]

@@themanamana81 - Genau. "Konzert fuer Pauke und Orkester nach Ludwig van Beethoven" gibt's nicht.

[@wardropper]

He played 'correctly' but insensitively, not caring about the overall balance. But it's Abbado's job to care about that.

[@sebastian9445]

@@wardropper he played correctly and that’s all, balance is already there

[@yusukeundisolde]

ティンパニすげえな

[@erickotlyarov2724]

What is the timpani player's name?

[@afrofinka]

Eric Kotlyarov Oswald Vogler

[@diu8]

Whats the piece in 1:10 ?

[@nuraksatranadhif6037]

Beethoven 6th sympony 4th movement?

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

Lustig. Man hört, dass er lange Jahre in Wien Chef war, so wie er deutsch spricht.

[@winrx]

Who is the concertmaster here and during which years did he serve? Thanks in advance.

[@cdtj1265]

I believe it is Rainer Kussmaul.

[@christiangeller1414]

Rainer Kussmaul. He followed Leon Spierer as 1. concertmaster, together with Kolja Blacher. In that time the Berliners had 4 first concertmasters (the other were Toru Yasunaga and Daniel Stabrawa). I think it was about 1994. I think Rainer Kussmaul didn' t pass the probationary year, he left in 1996 or so...

[@zeptimp]

I think there are no printed diminuendi in the timpani music and Abbado wants to add some at the end of the drumrolls. Looks like Vogler didn't like this idea.

[@wardropper]

This exchange detracts from the timpanist's musicianship. Following Beethoven's dynamics did not mean switching off common sense. He often wrote 'forte' to indicate an accent as well as a general dynamic level, and judgement is required. Think of a falling phrase of two notes slurred together in practically any music from the Classical-Romantic era - it wouldn't occur to any musician to play the two notes identically, but rather "Heavy-light" or "Long-short". It's musicianship.

[@marcvdbosch1802]

I hope you are more experienced now because its very common that a conductor asks you to do a diminuendo on a long roll. Or sometimes even an accent on one and the rest mezzoforte. When its a full bar or even 4 or 6 bars. Why?? because mostly it is togheter with a long chord of the brass. But .... somewhere there are woodwinds or strings with and entrance. Sure there is NO diminuendo in the score but you simply could drown the others and the entrance is unheard. It could be that from your place high up there in the back it isnt. But thats why you got a conductor sitting in the front. Like a director of traffic in the tower of an airport. Also in the old days in an early symphony the trumpets and timpani didnt "phrase". V-I was in FF bang bang. Nowadays you should phrase and put an slight accent. Or four repetitive notes. Slight crescendo or slight diminuendo. Or not al of them the same lenght etc. phrase along with the winds THAT makes a good timpanist. Not just bang the shit out of your drums when you see FF on your score.

[@annalawrence91]

what piece are they playing?

[@berlinphil]

It's Beethoven‘s 6th Symphony.

[@Quim141]

Beethoven 6th symphony - 4th movement

[@atddd]

Joaquim Méndez it's the 4th movement, in fact

[@Quim141]

True, my bad!

[@WHITECK9]

Imagine what that timpanist would have said on the subject of editing Beethoven to Gustav Mahler.

[@gardenphoto]

Mahler would have literally - although emphatically, in the most severe VERBAL terminology - taken his head clean off; one did not dare trifle with Gustav M!

[@nebekermichael]

@BerlinPhil Third movement.

[@ibizaking]

nope, 4th. Berliner know their Beethoven, no worries.

[@culturehorse]

What is the composition they are rehearsing pleaes bitte..

[@berlinphil]

Hello, thanks for your question. They are rehearsing the fourth movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in the video.

[@culturehorse]

@@berlinphil Really.. I must rehear.. best regards & thanks, Berlin!

[@ClassicHolic]

woww he speaks fine german

[@dagmarvandoren9364]

Ja. Es sind die Berliner phylamoniker....die sprechen. Deutsch....nun in London. Spricht man wahrscheinlich English. Oder?

[@ASclassical]

The timpanist thought it was fortissimo throughout. Abbado wants diminuendo. Timpanist says he thought It was fortísimo. Abbado says that ok but he wants the diminuendo. Timpanist does diminuendo. That’s it!!

[@rogermetzger7335]

My wife says, when she was a child, the thing she did to enjoy this type of music better was to pretend she was watching cartoons.

[@wardropper]

A lot of cartoons of course did use classical music. I loved that when I was a child.

[@jamesneilsongrahamloveinth1301]

It's kind of messy, this passage, even with Abbado. There's so much going on. Musicians who've played it a hundred times get into bad habits. I kind of wish orchestras/conductors would use sectional rehearsals more, taking the music apart with an eye for detail - preferably at a slower tempo. It pays dividends . . .

[@dialecticsjunkie7653]

Unfortunately for profitability reasons orchestras have less rehearsal time than before. It's sad. I'm sure if it was up to the conductor, they'd love to have more sectional rehearsals.

[@wardropper]

Oh, how true!

[@Oblomov18]

when things are getting more superficial they need less time to be explained

[@nightsintherut1]

THE BERLIN PHILHARMONICA CHOSE CARLOS KLIEBER FIRST BEFORE CLAUDIO ABBADO. SINCE KLIEBER TURNED IT DOWN THEN IT WAS OFFERED TO CLAUDIO.

[@tobiasseeger3187]

hier muss man doch den weg nach vorne sehen. wir brauchen nicht 2 geiger. wir brauchen nur einen. diesen 1 mal.

[@maxcohen13]

Not to pick on the timpanist, but his skins sound like paper when he hits them. There's no body to the sound. Very odd sound.