Simon Rattle

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Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic.
Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic.

Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE, FRSA, (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 (BPO).

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Rattle was born in Liverpool, the son of Pauline Lila Violet (Greening) and Denis Guttridge Rattle, a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves.[1] He 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, his teachers included John Carewe. In 1974, his graduation year, Rattle won the John Player Conductor Competition. After organising and conducting a performance of Mahler's Second Symphony whilst still at the Academy, he was talent-spotted by the music agent Martin Campell-White, of Harold Holt Ltd. (now Askonas Holt Ltd.), who has since managed Rattle's career.[2] He spent the academic year 1980/81 at St Anne's College, Oxford studying English Language and Literature.[3] He had been attracted to the college by the reputation of Dorothy Bednarowska, Fellow and Tutor in English.[4] He was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Anne's in 1991.[5] He was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Music honoris causa of the University of Oxford in 1999.[6]

[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.

His time with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) from 1980 to 1998 drew him to the attention of critics and the public. In 1980, Rattle became the CBSO's Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser, and in 1990, Music Director. Rattle increased both his profile and that of the orchestra over his tenure. One of his long-term concert projects was the series of concerts of 20th century music titled "Towards the Millennium". One other major achievement during his time was the move of the CBSO from its former venue, the Town Hall, to a newly built concert hall, Symphony Hall, in 1991. 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 and made a Knight Bachelor in 1994. In 1992, Rattle was named a Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE), along with Frans Brüggen. Rattle now has the title of Principal Artist with the OAE. In 2001, Rattle conducted the OAE at Glyndebourne in their first production of Fidelio with a period-instrument orchestra.[7]

In May 2006 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Arts.

[edit] Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Rattle made his conducting debut with the Berlin Philharmonic (BPO) in 1987, in a performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6. In 1999, Rattle was appointed as successor to Claudio Abbado as the orchestra's principal conductor.[8] The appointment, decided on in a June 23 vote by the orchestra's members, was somewhat controversial, as several members of the orchestra were earlier reported to have preferred Daniel Barenboim for the post.[9] 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, and also that the orchestra would gain artistic independence from the Berlin Senate.[10]

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,[11] together with the state funding of culture in the UK.[12] He was attacked in return for his poor understanding of conceptual and visual art.[citation needed]

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.[13] 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[14] and were recorded for CD and DVD release by EMI. Early collaborative projects in the Berlin community with Rattle and the BPO involved a choreographed performance of Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps and a film project with Mark-Anthony Turnage's Blood on the Floor.[15] He has also continued to champion contemporary music in Berlin.[16] The orchestra has established its first education department during Rattle's tenure.[17]

Criticism of Rattle's tenure with the Berlin Philharmonic began to appear after their first season together,[18] and continued in their second season.[19] The German critic Klaus Geitel was reported in 2004 to have described Rattle as "the weakest musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic he's ever seen".[20] Rattle himself stated in 2005 that his relationship with the BPO musicians could sometimes be "turbulent", but also "never destructively so".[21]

In 2006, a new controversy began in the German press as to the quality of Rattle's concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, with criticism from the German critic Manuel Brug in Die Welt.[22] One musician who wrote to the press to defend Rattle was the pianist Alfred Brendel.[23] In 2007, the BPO/Rattle recording of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem received the Classic FM Gramophone best choral disc award.[24]

UNICEF appointed Rattle and the BPO as Goodwill Ambassadors in November 2007.[25]

Rattle is currently contracted to the BPO through 2012. Negotiations on the status of Rattle with the orchestra beyond 2012 began in the spring of 2008.[26] This culminated in an April 2008 vote by the BPO musicians in favour of retaining Rattle as their chief conductor.[27]

[edit] Conducting in North America

Rattle made his North American conducting debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP) in 1979, and was their Principal Guest Conductor from 1981-1994. He also guest-conducted the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Boston Symphony Orchestra. His New York City debut was with the LAP in 1985.

In 1993, Rattle made his conducting debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra.[28] He returned for guest conducting engagements in 1999[29] and 2000.[30]. The musical relationship between Rattle and The Philadelphia Orchestra was reported to be such that Philadelphia wanted to hire Rattle as its next music director after Wolfgang Sawallisch, but Rattle declined.[31] However, Rattle continues to guest-conduct with The Philadelphia Orchestra in what is currently his sole North American guest-conducting engagement,[32] including appearances in 2006[33] and the Philadelphia Orchestra's first performances of Robert Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri in November 2007.[34] [35]

[edit] Musical styles and recordings

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 late-19th and early 20th century composers such as Mahler, with a recording of Mahler's Second Symphony winning several awards on its release[citation needed] and being regarded by some[who?] as Rattle's finest recording to date. He has also championed much contemporary music, an example of this being the TV series Leaving Home, where he presents a 7-part survey of musical styles and conductors with excerpts recorded by the CBSO. 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 Toronto Children's Chorus. Rattle and the BPO also 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. Rattle's 2007 recording of Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem received praise from BBC Music Magazine, as "Disc of the Month" for April 2007, "as probably the best new version of the Requiem I've heard in quite some years." Rattle and the BPO have also released recordings of Bruckner's Fourth Symphony, Romantic, and Haydn's Symphonies Nos. 88-92 and Sinfonia concertante, and Mahler's Ninth Symphony.

Simon Rattle's recording of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with the BPO received the Choral Performance Grammy Award in 2008.

[edit] Personal life

Rattle's 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.[36] This second marriage ended after Rattle and the Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená began a relationship.[37] Kožená and Rattle have a son, Jonas.

[edit] Discography

Main article: Simon Rattle discography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nick Barratt. "Family detective", Telegraph, 1 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-27. 
  2. ^ Artist Details: Sir Simon Rattle. Askonas Holt. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
  3. ^ Sholto Byrnes. "Simon Rattle: Marching to a revolutionary beat", The Independent, 4 August 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. 
  4. ^ Elisabeth Jay, 'Obituary: Dorothy Bednarowska', The Independent (17 January 2003), paragraph 6
  5. ^ "Muriel Spark and Simon Rattle in honorands list", Oxford University Gazette, 21 January 1999. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. 
  6. ^ "Conferment of Honorary Degrees: Degree of Doctor of Music, Sir Simon Rattle, CBE", Oxford University Gazette (Encaenia 1999, Supplement (1) to Gazette No. 4517), 25 June 1999. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. 
  7. ^ Peter Conrad. "What's so funny about Beethoven?", The Observer, 29 April 2001. Retrieved on 2007-03-29. 
  8. ^ Andrew Clements. "Picking up the baton", The Guardian, 24 June 1999. Retrieved on 2007-03-22. 
  9. ^ Fiachra Gibbons and Kate Connolly. "Rattle set for classic music's top job", The Guardian, 12 June 1999. Retrieved on 2007-03-22. 
  10. ^ Ivan Hewett. "Wilkommen Sir Simon!", Telegraph, 7 September 2002. Retrieved on 2007-02-23. 
  11. ^ Kate Connolly and Amelia Hill. "Rattle fires parting shot at Brit Art bratpack", The Observer, 25 August 2002. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  12. ^ Vanessa Thorpe. "Rattle's rage at 'amateur' Arts Council", The Observer, 30 Sept 2001. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  13. ^ Kate Connolly. "Roll over Beethoven, here comes Sir Simon", The Guardian, 8 Sep 2002. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. 
  14. ^ Kate Connolly. "Rattle's rapturous debut", The Guardian, 9 September 2002. Retrieved on 2007-03-22. 
  15. ^ Martin Kettle. "My crazy idea", The Guardian, 30 August 2002. Retrieved on 2007-03-22. 
  16. ^ Peter G. Davis. "German Reengineering", New York, 13 February 2006. Retrieved on 2007-04-03. 
  17. ^ Tom Service. "The mighty 'wuah'", The Guardian, 11 May 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  18. ^ Stephen Everson. "The end of the affair", The Guardian, 20 September 2003. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  19. ^ Charlotte Higgins and Ben Aris. "Is Rattle's Berlin honeymoon over?", The Guardian, 29 April 2004. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  20. ^ Ivan Hewett. "Can Rattle rival the greats?"", Telegraph, 21 December 2004. Retrieved on 2007-02-23. 
  21. ^ Charlotte Higgins. "Karaoke, wild tigers, hysteria: Rattle on his turbulent affair with the Berlin Philharmonic", The Guardian, 7 January 2005. Retrieved on 2007-03-22. 
  22. ^ Manuel Brug. "Überwältigungsmusik, aber kaum Durchdringung", Die Welt, 11 May 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. (German)  (English)
  23. ^ Alfred Brendel. "Criticism of Rattle is really out of tune", The Guardian, 31 May 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. 
  24. ^ Erica Jeal. "Batons at dawn", The Guardian, 5 October 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-22. 
  25. ^ UNICEF: UNICEF appoints Berliner Philharmoniker Goodwill Ambassador 2007-11-17.
  26. ^ Arifa Akbar. "Berlin orchestra may force Rattle to drop the baton", The Independent, 25 April 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  27. ^ Charlotte Higgins. "Berlin Philharmonic keeps Rattle", The Guardian, 29 April 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-30. 
  28. ^ Allan Kozinn. "Rattle Leads the Philadelphia In Mahler's Ninth Symphony", New York Times, 16 December 1993. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  29. ^ Anthony Tommasini. "Did Briton, Wielding Sibelius, Audition For a Job?", New York Times, 28 January 1999. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  30. ^ Bernard Holland. "A Sense of Gluttony But an Easy Surrender", New York Times, 26 January 2000. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  31. ^ Allan Kozinn. "Top Conductors, Top Orchestras, Brahms in Common", New York Times, 30 January 2004. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  32. ^ David Patrick Stearns, "Rattle's rocky road". Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 February 2006.
  33. ^ Allan Kozinn. "Bruckner's Seventh and Painterly Tableaus in Song", New York Times, 9 February 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  34. ^ Peter Dobrin. "Passionate about Paradise", Philadelphia Inquirer, 25 November 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  35. ^ Bernard Holland. "Repentance as the Key to Open Pearly Gates", New York Times, 3 December 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  36. ^ Jan Moir. "I hate to see myself conducting", Telegraph, 21 March 2003. Retrieved on 2007-02-24. 
  37. ^ Neil Fisher. "Magdalena and the men in her life", The Times, 21 October 2006. Retrieved on 2007-11-22. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Music Directors

Appleby Matthews (1920) · Adrian Boult (1924) · Leslie Heward (1930) · George Weldon (1944) · Rudolf Schwarz (1951) · Andrzej Panufnik (1957) · Adrian Boult (1959) · Hugo Rignold (1960) · Louis Frémaux (1969) · Simon Rattle (1980) · Sakari Oramo (1998)
v • d • e
Berliner Philharmoniker Principal Conductors

Ludwig von Brenner (1882) · Hans von Bülow (1887) · Arthur Nikisch (1895) · Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922) · Leo Borchard (1945) · Sergiu Celibidache (1945) · Wilhelm Furtwängler (1952) · Herbert von Karajan (1954) · Claudio Abbado (1989) · Simon Rattle (2002)
Persondata
NAME Rattle, Simon Dennis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Conductor
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH