The Berlin Philharmonic Hall of Fame

34 years: no other chief conductor headed the Berlin Philharmonic as long as Herbert von Karajan, who saw himself as the father of his big "orchestra family." He imagined how he wanted the music to sound, and they played it. These days, the orchestra operates more democratically. On May 11, the musicians vote on a principal conductor to follow in the footsteps of Sir Simon Rattle in 2018.

British conductor Sir Simon Rattle has managed to interest a wider audience, in particular younger people, for classical music. Rattle found this somewhat lacking with the Berlin Philharmonic, but he has always treasured its traditional sound, and has said that he still feels the ghosts of his predecessors.

The Berlin orchestra elects its chief conductor, a tradition that allegedly goes back to a dispute in its founding year. Due to meager wages, members of the "Bilsesche Kapelle" dismissed their conductor and founded their own orchestra. Hans von Bülow became its principal conductor in 1889 - and introduced a few new rules.

Food and drink, smoking or talking - all customary back then - were forbidden in his concerts. Hans von Bülow kept his audience and his musicians on a short leash. With his iron discipline and musical interpretations based on a precise analysis of the works, the Berlin Philharmonic gained fame nationwide.

Arthur Nikisch took over in 1895 and stayed for 27 years. Stars from all over Europe flocked to Berlin to play with the Philharmonic. The orchestra's "warm" sound evolved. Nikisch, who tended to conduct with minimal gestures, felt it was important to let his musicians develop qualities as solo artists. To this very day, the Berlin Philharmonic is an "Allstars" orchestra.

After Nikisch's death in 1922, Wilhelm Furtwängler became principal conductor - and completely enthralled both musicians and audience. As far as he was concerned, the compositions were incomplete, and it was up to him to fill them with life. Performing works from the Classical and Romantic periods, the Berlin Philharmonic became what many called the world's finest orchestra.

During the Nazi era, Furtwängler fell out of favor for playing works by Jewish and other composers deemed "degenerate," but he stayed on in Germany as a guest conductor. That decision turned out to have been misguided. Only after "denazification" was Furtwängler allowed back to the conductor's stand, in 1947. From 1952 to 1954, he served again as the Berlin Philharmonic's principal conductor.

As a young man, Herbert von Karajan was a member of the NSDAP - but that didn't prevent his illustrious post-war career. The Berlin "Philharmonie" concert hall was built during the Karajan era, and the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Orchestra Academy were founded. Most classical music collections are likely to include the nine Beethoven symphonies with Karajan conducting.

Tempo was his thing, and not just the musical kind: Herbert von Karajan loved fast cars and had a pilot's license. He drove his musicians to the utmost virtuosity and perfection. Karajan was also good at creating a stir: in 1982, he introduced violinist Madeleine Carruzzo, the first female artist to perform in the orchestra in almost 100 years.

Unlike Karajan, Claudio Abbado chose to be neither maestro nor principal. Instead, he would discuss the interpretation and sound of individual works with the musicians. During his leadership from 1989 to 2002, he impressed the orchestra with his powers of persuasion and inspired interest in new sounds. Abbado devised a motto for every concert season, for instance "Music is Fun on Earth".

In concert halls or prison, for children or senior citizens: since 2002, Sir Simon Rattle has had the orchestra play wherever he could reach people with classical music, including digital downloads from the Internet. The charismatic Brit - knighted by the Queen - hopes his successor will keep the orchestra open to the world.