Simon Rattle

Simon Rattle was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Pauline Lila Violet (née Greening) and Denis Guttridge Rattle, a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II.[4] He was educated at Liverpool College. Although Rattle studied piano and violin, his early work with orchestras was as a percussionist for the Merseyside Youth Orchestra (now the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra). He entered the Royal Academy of Music (now part of the University of London) in 1971. There, his teachers included John Carewe. In 1974, his graduation year, Rattle won the John Player International Conducting Competition.

After organising and conducting a performance of Mahler's Second Symphony while he was still at the academy, he was talent-spotted by the music agent Martin Campbell-White, of Harold Holt Ltd (now Askonas Holt Ltd), who has since managed Rattle's career.[5] He spent the academic year 1980–81 at St Anne's College, Oxford studying English Language and Literature.[6] He had been attracted to the college by the reputation of Dorothy Bednarowska, fellow and tutor in English.[7] He was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Anne's in 1991.[8] He was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Music honoris causa of the University of Oxford in 1999.[9]

In 1974, he was made assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

He joined the Glyndebourne music staff at the age of 20 in 1975. He went on to conduct over 200 performances of 13 different operas at Glyndebourne and on tour during the subsequent 28 years.

His first Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, conducting the London Sinfonietta, was, according to the BBC Proms Archive website, on 9 August 1976. The programme included Harrison Birtwistle's Meridian and Arnold Schoenberg's First Chamber Symphony. In 1977, he became 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, Birmingham 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 appointed 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, he conducted the OAE at Glyndebourne in their first production of Fidelio with a period-instrument orchestra.[10]

Rattle strongly supported youth music. He led two attempts at gaining the record for the World's Largest Orchestra, both designed to raise awareness of youth music in schools. The first, in 1996, was unsuccessful. The second, in 1998, did succeed and the record held at nearly 4,000 musicians[11] until it was broken in 2000 by a group in Vancouver.[12]

In 2000, Rattle was presented with the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society. From 29 April to 17 May 2002, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, making live recordings of the complete Beethoven symphonies.[13] In May 2006, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Arts. In 2011, the Royal Academy of Music presented him with an honorary doctorate. He was appointed member of the Order of Merit (OM) in the 2014 New Year Honours.[14]

Rattle conducted the London Symphony Orchestra at the Opening of the London Olympics 2012, performing "Chariots of Fire" with guest Rowan Atkinson playing his Mr. Bean character.

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.[15] The appointment, was decided on in a 23 June vote by the orchestra's members. At the time the vote was considered somewhat controversial, as several members of the orchestra were earlier reported to have preferred Daniel Barenboim for the post.[16] 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.[17]

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,[18] together with the state funding of culture in the UK.[19]

Since his appointment, Rattle has reorganised 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, after falling over the previous few years.[20] He gave his first concert as principal conductor of the BPO on 7 September 2002, leading performances of Thomas Adès' Asyla and Mahler's Symphony No. 5, performances which received rave reviews from the press worldwide[21] 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 The Rite of Spring danced by school children, documented in Rhythm Is It!, and a film project with Mark-Anthony Turnage's Blood on the Floor.[22] He has also continued to champion contemporary music in Berlin.[23] The orchestra has established its first education department during Rattle's tenure.[24]

Criticism of Rattle's tenure with the Berlin Philharmonic began to appear after their first season together,[25] and continued in their second season.[26] Rattle himself stated in 2005 that his relationship with the BPO musicians could sometimes be "turbulent", but also "never destructively so".[27]

Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 2006

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.[28] One musician who wrote to the press to defend Rattle was the pianist Alfred Brendel.[29] In 2007, the BPO/Rattle recording of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem received the Classic FM Gramophone best choral disc award.[30]

Rattle was originally contracted to lead the BPO through 2012, but in April 2008 the BPO musicians voted to extend his contract as chief conductor for an additional ten years past the next season, to 2018.[31] In January 2013, he announced his scheduled departure from the Berlin Philharmonic at the close of the 2017–2018 season.[32] His final Berlin Philharmonic concert as chief conductor was at the Waldbühne on 24 June 2018.[33][34]

UNICEF appointed Rattle and the BPO as Goodwill Ambassadors in November 2007.[35] He is a patron of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.[36]

Rattle made his North American debut in 1976, conducting the London Schools Symphony Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. He first conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1979 during the music directorship of Carlo Maria Giulini, and was their principal guest conductor from 1981 to 1994.[37] He has 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 Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1985. In 2000, Rattle was the music director of the Ojai Music Festival.

In 1993, Rattle made his conducting debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra.[38] He returned for guest conducting engagements in 1999[39] and 2000.[40] 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.[41] Rattle has continued to guest-conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra, including appearances in 2006[42] and the Philadelphia Orchestra's first performances of Robert Schumann's cantata Das Paradies und die Peri in November 2007.[43][44]

In March 2015, the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) announced the appointment of Rattle as its next music director, effective with the 2017–2018 season, with an initial contract of five seasons.[45] He has recorded commercially for the LSO Live label.[46] In January 2021 the LSO announced an extension of his contract to 2023. Rattle stood down as music director of the LSO at the close of the 2022–2023 season,[47] and now has the title of Conductor Emeritus with the LSO for life.[48] His last LSO performance came on 27 August the BBC Proms, conducting Mahler's Symphony No. 9.[49]

In 2010, Rattle first guest-conducted the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO). In January 2021, the BRSO announced the appointment of Rattle as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2023–2024 season, with an initial contract of five years.[50] On 21 September 2023, Rattle conducted Haydn's The Creation with Bavarian Radio Choir and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at Herkulessaal, Munich Residenz.[51]