The Berlin Philharmonic has made its Digital Concert Hall free for everyone

While the bricks-and-mortar home of the Berlin Philharmonic will be closed until at least April 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the legendary orchestra has announced that it will drop the subscription fee to its online video streaming service, known as its Digital Concert Hall.

"The Philharmonie Berlin is closed until 19 April to help contain the coronavirus," reads a statement on the orchestra's website. "But the orchestra will continue to play for you — in the Digital Concert Hall. The Berliner Philharmoniker invite you to visit their virtual concert hall free of charge."

Olaf Maninger, principal cellist and chair of the orchestra's media board, says the rationale behind this decision is to continue giving pleasure to as many people as possible. "We already miss our public very much and hope that in this way we can remain in contact with our audience, at least virtually."

The Digital Concert Hall offers 600-plus concerts spanning more than 10 seasons, 15 of which are conducted by the Berlin Phil's new chief conductor, Kirill Petrenko.

There are also documentaries on the history of the orchestra and portraits of conductors and orchestra members.

"We need music in times like these so my orchestra decided to open up the Digital Concert Hall for the next weeks for free to help keep spirits high," posted hornist Sarah Willis on Facebook. "There is so much fantastic stuff in there — have fun looking around.... Stay healthy! Elbow bumps from Berlin," she added.

To take advantage of the offer, log on to the Digital Concert Hall ticket page with the code "BerlinPhil."