Exclusive: Berlin Philharmonic fixes date for music director vote

We hear from several trustworthy sources that the orchestra wants to get on with making an appointment.

Although Simon Rattle remains music director until the summer of 2018, the players want to end speculation and will announce a decision in the middle of May.

Given the paucity of available top flight candidates, that somewhat limits their options.

They could go for a short-term appointment, such as Daniel Barenboim, who has indicated he would be available to hold the fort for 3-4 years. Or they could take the plunge and start negotiating to release their chosen one early from his present commitments.

On the basis of general soundings, the present favourites would be:

1 Andris Nelsons, newly signed with Boston.

2 Riccardo Chailly, who is committed to Leipzig and La Scala

3 Yannick Nezet-Seguin, under contract with Philadelphia, Rotterdam and Montreal.

4 Kirill Petrenko, Bavarian State Opera

5 Christian Thielemann, Dresden

6 Others including Semyon Bychkov, Ivan Fischer, Paavo Järvi, Gustavo Dudamel.