SYMPHONIES COMING TO THEATERS — IN 3D

Employing a strategy that could prove to be a boon to struggling symphony orchestras elsewhere, the Berlin Philharmonic, under the baton on Sir Simon Rattle, will stage a performance that will be beamed in 3D to hundreds of movie theaters around the world. Reporting on the planned screening, Britain’s Guardian newspaper said today (Tuesday): “The technology aims to give cinemagoers the sensation of not only sitting in the front rows but right among the orchestra.” The satellite presentation comes on the heels of similar ones by the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York, whose live performances onscreen sold 2.4 million tickets and raised $48 million last year. The Berlin Philharmonic’s performance, featuring Mahler’s First Symphony and Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, was taped in Singapore, but the Guardian said that future performances may be presented live. Musicians in the orchestra said that they were thrilled with the 3D result. Stanley Dodds, a violinist, told the Guardian: “Nothing of its kind has ever been done before. It gives the feeling of being in an orchestra. … You can observe the concentration and intensity of the musicians’ facial expressions and body language.”