Following a construction period lasting ten years, the the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) Elbphilharmonie Symphony Orchestra under its Principal Conductor Thomas Hengelbrok opened the spectacular Big Concert Hall in Hamburg’s new landmark building in January. The concert was recorded and broadcast by German public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk from an audio control room in the same building as the performance using a Lawo mc²66 audio production console for the mix.

Soloists Pavol Breslik, Sir Bryn Terfel and Philippe Jaroussky joined the choirs of the NDR and the Bavarian public broadcaster in a musical programme that included works from Beethoven, Britten, Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Richard Wagner – as well as the premiere of a piece by contemporary composer, Wolfgang Rihm.

Sound for both live transmission and recording were mixed in the NDR audio control room within the Elbphilharmonie facilities. This studio forms part of an audio concept that networks this mc²66 console with five further Lawo mc²36 consoles – used for the sound mix in the Big and the Small Concert Hall and in Hall 3 – as well as Dallis I/O Systems, via a Nova73 router using Ravenna. This infrastructure allows all audio consoles to have access to all of the Dallis units in the building, and gives coordinated access rights management. For parallel live broadcasts from multiple halls, this concept allows the link-up of an NDR OB van – currently NDR Ü42 – with the Ravenna network in the Elbphilharmonie complex.

Among the guests of honour for the première were German President Joachim Gauck, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hamburg’s Governing Mayor, Olaf Scholz. The NDR broadcast this festive event and the concert live to a combined TV and radio audience and via its website.