Simon Rattle

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Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE (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).

1 Early life
2 UK career
3 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
4 Music
5 Personal life
6 Discography
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Early life

Rattle was born in Liverpool, and studied at Liverpool College. He learned the piano and violin, but his early work with orchestras was as a percussionist. He entered the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1971. There he was able to frequently conduct, and in 1974, his graduation year, he won the John Player Conductor Competition. After organising and conducting a stunning account of Mahler's Second Symphony whilst still at the Academy, he was talent spotted by the music agent Martin Campell-White (source: [1]) and has since been managed by him.

[edit] UK career

In 1974, he was made assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and in 1977 assistant conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. It was his stint with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1998, however, which drew him to the attention of critics and the public. Not only did he himself become much more prominent in this period, he also raised the orchestra to become one of the most famous in Britain. By the time he left his position there, he was one of the most recognisable of all conductors and the CBSO one of the world's finest orchestras.

The BBC commissioned film director Jaine Green to follow him in his final year with the CBSO to make Simon Rattle — Moving On.

Rattle was awarded a CBE in 1987<ref>The London Gazette, 30 December 1987, p8</ref> and made a Knight Bachelor in 1994.<ref>The London Gazette, 10 June 1994, p2</ref>

[edit] Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Image:Carmina Burana 2004 (Simon Rattle) 2.jpg

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.

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.

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.

[edit] 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 such as 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, including the tv series Leaving Home, where he presents a 7-part survey of musical styles and conductors with excerpts recorded by the Birmingham Symphony. 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. His newest recordings with the Berlin orchestra (as of 2006) 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. He has also worked with the world famous Toronto Children's Chorus. Recently Rattle and the BPO recorded Holst's Planets (EMI), which was the BBC Music Magazine Orchestra Choice. In addition, Rattle's complete 1989 recording of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess was used as the soundtrack for the 1993 television production of the work. It was the first made-for-television production of Porgy and Bess ever presented.

[edit] Personal life

Rattle has been married three times. His first marriage was to Elise Ross, an American soprano, with whom he had two sons. They were divorced in 1995 after 15 years of marriage. His second wife was Candace Allen, a Boston-born writer. His third wife is the Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená with whom he has a son Jonas.

[edit] Discography

See Simon Rattle discography.

[edit] See also

Lonsdale Square

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Official website
BPO website, also in English
Website of the film and education project "Rhythm is it!, German/English
EMI Classics website
The Planets microsite
Simon Rattle audio and video podcasts on iTunes

Preceded by: Louis Frémaux	Principal Conductor and Music Director, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 1980–1998	Succeeded by: Sakari Oramo
Preceded by: Claudio Abbado	Music Director, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 2002–	Succeeded by: incumbent