German Film Orchestra Babelsberg

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The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg is an orchestra based in the Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam .

history

The roots of the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg go back to 1918. The Universum Film AG (Ufa) founded in Babelsberg with Ufa Symphony Orchestra, the first film in Germany. Legendary silent films such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1926), Carl Mayer's Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920) and Walter Ruttmanns Berlin - The Symphony of the Big City (1927) were accompanied by the orchestra. After the introduction of the sound film, the recording room, which is still in operation today, was built in 1932. Milestones in film history such as Joseph von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930), Wilhelm Thiele's Die Drei von der Gasstelle (1930) or Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944) by Helmut Weiss as well as box office hits, revue and music films with stars from the 1930s and 40s were created like Marlene Dietrich , Lilian Harvey , Zarah Leander , Marika Rökk , Hans Albers , Johannes Heesters or Heinz Rühmann . Lots of Ufa hits, including the world hits " I know a miracle will happen one day ", " That won't put the world under " " Can love be a sin ", " I am dashing Lola " and " A friend, a good friend «were recorded and produced by the orchestra.

The orchestra survived the Second World War almost unscathed and was able to continue its work at the old location in Babelsberg as the DEFA music department's own orchestra in 1946 with the establishment of Deutsche Film AG (DEFA) . Almost all DEFA productions were recorded with the orchestra, including film classics such as Wolfgang Staudte's Die Mörder sind unter Uns (1946), Heiner Carow's Die Legende von Paul und Paula (1973), Peter Schamoni's Spring Symphony (1983) and all episodes of the TV series Police call 110 .

After German reunification , the DEFA Symphony Orchestra and the Radio Berlin Dance Orchestra under Klaus Peter Beyer merged into the new ensemble in 1993 , operating under the current name of the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg (DFOB). The DFOB thus continues the tradition of its predecessors. Recordings and rehearsals took place from 1993 to 2007 in the Funkhaus Nalepastraße . In 2007 the orchestra moved back into the original building from the 1930s, including the historic recording room. New rooms for rehearsals and administration as well as further studios with the latest technical standards are also located in the buildings on the film area of Studio Babelsberg .

In 2018 the orchestra celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Due to considerable construction work in the media city of Babelsberg in the direct vicinity of the DFOB recording studios, they could not be used for sound recordings for a short time in 2019. The state of Brandenburg and the state capital Potsdam therefore supported the orchestra in 2019 with EUR 100,000 each to avert resignation from musicians.

The work

In the field of film and television, the orchestra has participated in over 1000 film music productions such as Die Apothekerin , Solo for clarinet , Otto - Der Katastrofenfilm , Der Tanz mit dem Teufel , The Musketeer , Lauras Stern , 7 Zwerge - Men alone in the forest , The Clown , Anonymus , He's back , everyone dies for himself , The cold heart , Tabaluga , Jim Knopf and Lukas the engine driver , The Collini case .

The DFOB plays opera projects, crossover programs and symphonic concerts. It also presents a large repertoire of well-known silent films as "film live concerts".

There is cooperation with the neighboring Film University Babelsberg , so that film students come into contact with the orchestra at an early stage when making their first work and short films.

The José Carreras Gala ( MDR ) in Leipzig has been accompanied by the film orchestra for years . The orchestra has also been a permanent partner at the Elbland Festival in Wittenberge since it was founded in 2000, with annual television recordings ( RBB , all other third programs on ARD and 3sat ). In recent years, recordings of orchestral accompaniments for Peter Fox's solo album Stadtaffe and albums by Silbermond , Söhne Mannheims , Udo Lindenberg , Rammstein and Polarkreis 18 followed . From 2007 to 2010 the film orchestra took part in the Ost-Rock Klassik project together with numerous bands and soloists from the former GDR . Besides organized radioeins 2010 Radio concerts with the orchestra and film Keimzeit and Selig . In 2009 they played on the album Low Voltage by The BossHoss and the following tour.

The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg is now involved in the production of well over 500 sound carriers.

Artistic director is Klaus-Peter Beyer, orchestra director Hartmut Zell. Scott Lawton has been the chief conductor since 1999 , even though Günther Joseck often conducts the orchestra during recordings. Lawton's predecessors were Frank Strobel (1995 to 1998) and Bernd Wefelmeyer (until 1995).

Popular music discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Resonance - Music For Orchestra Vol.1 (with VNV Nation )
  DE 7th 05/22/2015 (2 weeks)
  AT 73 05/29/2015 (1 week)
A winter fairy tale - Christmas carols from Germany (with Max Raabe , Gregor Meyle , Katharina Thalbach , Cassandra Steen , Thomas Quasthoff , Albrecht Mayer & Christoph Israel )
  DE 25th 12/02/2016 (5 weeks)

Albums

Singles

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Berliner Zeitung: "Babelsberg Film Orchestra before 100 years of existence" , berliner-zeitung.de of August 31, 2017, accessed on February 6, 2020
  2. ↑ Potsdam's latest news: "66 musicians were threatened with dismissal - Brandenburg and Potsdam support Babelsberg film orchestra" , pnn.de from November 23, 2018, accessed on February 6, 2020
  3. ↑ [1] filmorchester.de, accessed on February 3, 2020
  4. ^ Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg: Credits , DFOB / Filmorchester.de, accessed on February 6, 2020
  5. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT
  6. ^ Year of publication of the CD. cd-lexikon.de; accessed on January 1, 2016.
  7. ^ Rhonda "Wire": Neosoul for the heart . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . ( fr.de [accessed on May 17, 2017]).