The Berlin Philharmonic is to perform in the open air on Saturday after a fire scarred its landmark building, the Philharmonie, orchestra chief executive Pamela Rosenberg said Wednesday in the German capital, according to dpa. Firefighters used chemical foam to put out the last of the smouldering fire in the roof in Wednesday morning, a day after the fire broke out, probably as a result of an error in welding work. Parts of the sheet-metal roof were sawed off in the emergency, but the hall inside was undamaged. Rosenberg said she expected a June 2 concert to take place as planned in the main concert hall. However a guest appearance by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra on Thursday has been moved to another city theatre. The Berlin Philharmonic, which had been set to perform Te Deum by Hector Berlioz with Claudio Abbado conducting on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, would perform it on Saturday only in a tree-lined, 20,000-seat amphitheatre next to Berlin's Olympic Stadium. The Philharmonic normally does an outdoor concert at the venue, the Waldstadion, every year. The fire brigade said it had left the site, where contractors must now repair water and soot damage, replace burned parts and close the torn roof. The fire damaged 1,600 square metres of the roof, which is made of wooden planking topped with tar-paper, insulation and metal. Firefighters spent hours ripping off parts of the golden roof to gain access to the burning insulation layer The state of Berlin, which owns the building, voiced relief that that the firefighters had used as little water as possible and saved the concert hall from water damage. The iconic building, dating from 1963, is insured, a senior culture official, Andre Schmitz, said. The 2,200-seat building, designed by Hans Scharoun to house one of the world's best known orchestras, opened in 1963 on the West Berlin side of the Berlin Wall. Abbado was permanent conductor until 2002. Sir Simon Rattle, the present conductor, was in France this week.
