Rattle’s (not) on his last American leg

Rattle’s (not) on his last American leg

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norman lebrecht

November 07, 2016

The Berlin Phil has announced its final US tour with its outgoing music director (see press release below).

Sad as that may be, two US orchestras are (we hear) showing interest in his downtime – especially if his London music directorship is foreshortened by the lack of a new concert hall.

Berliner Philharmoniker Embark on Last North American Tour with Sir Simon Rattle as Chief Conductor

Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle on Tour from 7 to 25 November with Eleven Concerts in Seven Cities in the US and Canada

The Berliner Philharmoniker set out on their last North American tour with Simon Rattle as Chief Conductor today. During eleven concerts in seven cities in the US and Canada they will play works by Anton Webern, Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez.

rattle screen grab

 

Comments

  • Ben says:

    Los Angeles Phil has way way too much money to throw away to please Sir Rattle’s bigger-than-life artistic vision. Match made in heaven.

    Chicago could be the another.

  • Peter Phillips says:

    Interesting mis-spelling in the BBC screen shot above. “Principle” seems somewhat inappropriate in this context.

    • Peter Phillips says:

      As soon as I posted the above the BBC screen shot disappeared. It read: Sir Simon Rattle, Principle Conductor, Berlin Philharmonic.

      • V.Lind says:

        Was it replaced by “Chief”? Do you think they do not know how to spell “principal”?

        Today’s professionals, not just the young people in what passes for schools, do not any longer have ANY of the three R’s.

        We used to shrug them off as so basic as to be beneath notice as we moved on into geography and history and literature and languages…but as I read not only newspapers but books I realise that the “editors” are devoid of any training in spelling or grammar. And who is teaching the teachers?

        And there will soon be no newspapers for Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells and his ilk to nark at about it all.

        • Alexander Hall says:

          How valid your comments are. The standards of caption-writers at the BBC are as low as they have ever been (“chaplin” instead of “chaplain” is just one small instance). However, mispronunciations are also the order of the day: one BBC news presenter thinks Oban in Scotland is pronounced Obaaan, and another on the breakfast show had obviously never come across the word “arboretum” on the tele-prompter before, giving it a second-syllable stress. But far worse are the constant solecisms used by interviewees, then gleefully adopted by others in the media who think they can make English more colourful and therefore more meaningful. A senior social worker stressed she needed “agreeance” before her staff could collectively make a decision and an HR consultant talked about the “precarcity” (precariousness) of a situation. Before we start celebrating Media Studies and the hifalutin subjects now offered in secondary schools and at the tertiary level, we should ensure that teachers know how to teach the basic essentials of our common language.

        • Florestan says:

          It would be nice if the “three Rs” were even three Rs.

      • Ray Richardson says:

        I saw untill and carefull, both on the same web page on the BBC site recently.

  • herrera says:

    His appointment at the LSO is conditioned on building a concert hall. He’ll get out of his contract before it begins, decamp to America, take over the NY Phil, get his new concert hall after all, along with engagements at the Met, and at Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Orchestra, 3 venues and 3 orchestras at his disposal.

    • John Kelly says:

      If he can get a NEW concert hall for the NYPO I would be all for it. Unfortunately it’s even less likely than a new hall in London. As long as he keeps coming to Philly as a guest I will be happy (sensational Mahler 6 a few weeks back, I’ve never seen an orchestra applaud a conductor so unanimously and enthusastically). Mahler 7 with the Berliners at Carnegie tomorrow. Good stuff.

  • Dave says:

    You have to admit, Rattle has big brass balls. He won’t conduct unless he has a new concert hall built, basically in his honor. It’s a long way from Birmingham, don’t you think?

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