| New chief conductor Kirill Petrenko conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker philharmonic orchestra performing the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven during a free of charge, open-air concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany Aug. 24, 2019. Reuters |
The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and its new principal conductor, Kirill Petrenko, played Beethoven's Symphony No 9 for crowds in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday night.
The concert was part of celebrations marking 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. An estimated 35,000 people turned up for the performance under open skies on the central Strasse des 17 Juni.
After the final chorus with Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy," the crowd celebrated Petrenko and the orchestra with a long applause.
The concert, the first time the philharmonic has played in front of the historic gate, was broadcast live by German TV station RBB.
Petrenko had already began his time at the helm of the philharmonic on Friday by conducting Beethoven's Ninth. He is only the orchestra's seventh chief conductor in its 137-year history. (DPA)