Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born January 19, 1955) is an English conductor. He rose to prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and is currently principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO).

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

In 1999, Rattle was appointed as successor to Claudio Abbado as principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, widely seen as the most prestigious conducting post in the world. The appointment, decided on in a vote by the orchestra's members, was somewhat controversial, with several members of the normally conservative orchestra preferring Daniel Barenboim for the post. Nevertheless, Rattle won the post and proceeded to win over his detractors by refusing to sign the contract until he had ensured that every member of the orchestra was paid fairly.

Related Topics:
Claudio Abbado - Daniel Barenboim

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Before leaving for Germany and on his arrival, Rattle controversially attacked the British attitude to culture in general, and in particular the artists of the Britart movement, together with the poor state funding of culture in the UK. He was attacked in return for his poor understanding of conceptual and visual art.

Related Topics:
Culture - Britart - UK - Conceptual - Visual

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since his appointment, Rattle has reorganized the Berlin Philharmonic into a foundation, meaning its activities are more under the control of the members rather than politicians. He has also ensured that orchestra members' wages have increased quite dramatically, having fallen over the past few years. He gave his first concert as principal conductor of the BPO on September 7, 2002, leading performances of Thomas Adès' Asyla and Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5, performances which received rave reviews from the press worldwide and were recorded onto CD and DVD by EMI.

Related Topics:
September 7 - 2002 - Thomas Adès - Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~