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).

Music

Rattle has conducted a wide variety of music, including some with period instruments (musical instruments contemporary with the music being played), but he is best known for his interpretations of early 20th century composers like Mahler, with a recording of Mahler's Second Symphony winning several awards on its release and being regarded by some as Rattle's finest recording to date. He has also championed much contemporary music. His meticulous realization of some of the great Romantic works has forged a somewhat intense style. This is exemplified in his new cycle of the Beethoven Symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic - although the orchestral playing is recognisably Viennese, there is a noticeable 'period-instrument' quality to the sound, making the cycle one of the freshest and most incandescent of recent years. His newest recordings with the Berlin orchestra have, on the whole, been favourably received, notably his recordings of the Dvorak tone poems and Debussy's La Mer. The Gramophone Magazine praised the latter as a 'magnificent disc' and drew favourable comparisons with interpretations of the piece by Rattle's immediate predecessors, Claudio Abbado and Herbert von Karajan.

Related Topics:
Musical instrument - 20th century - Composer - Second Symphony - Contemporary music

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