Simon says: Give me my hall
NewsThe conductor Simon Rattle has been out in Munich today with his next orchestra, demanding bricks and mortar.
Last time we heard that tune, it was in London.
Watch his pitch here.
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Just because he got one in Brum, he thinks he can demand one pretty much anywhere he goes. Munich should call his bluff and give him an outside space, that way when covid or other viruses are on the rampage as now, people can still gather for his concerts and a picnic. Enough from this soupstirrer, let a better conductor have a break.
So bitter and negative. Thankfully SSR is not like that and keeps the spirit up.
Who the fuck does he think he is?
A sports franchise, apparently.
he is just one of the most overrated conductors around
absolutely hideous the way he is behaving – thank God the Berliner got rid of him and no one London misses him either
only in a western european country can one demand, while its east european neighbor is dying for european independence, a concert hall
western bourgeois decadence is the cause of its own downfall
Based on this „logic“, we all should still live in cages and straw huts, while the world engaged in wars over the centuries.
In Munich we heard it earlier from Mariss Jansons. The politicians are not keeping their word. Munich is a top centre of classical music without a proper concert hall. Sir Simon’s request and Mariss Jansons’ request before him are perfectly understandable.
Well, “without a proper concert hall” is a bit exaggerated. They have Gasteig and Herkulessaal. But indeed the new Konzerthaus would be the home of Rattle’s BRSO, and other Munich-based artists like AS Mutter or Christian Gerhaher demand it being built, too.
Did Klemperer, Abbado, Muti, Kletzki, Toscanini, Bohm, Haitink, Barbirolli, Ormandy, Beecham, Monteux or Kleiber (father or son) ever demand their very own concert halls? I’m not belittling Rattle by mentioning all these undoubtedly great maestros alongside him – only his incredible arrogance, in which he even outdoes Karajan.
Will anyone explain to him that it’s the music that counts – not the bricks and mortar. I would suggest that London and Munich already have plenty of good concert halls. Whom does he think would pay for this concert hall, other than himself?
Maybe he would be content to salve his colossal ego with a statue or life peerage – either or both of these could be purchased for a lot less than the cost of building a concert hall using public funding.
I’ve been told Birmingham has a dazzling concert hall. Maybe he should apply for the CBSO.
“I WANT, I WANT, I WANT; You Promised!”
I’m not sure Sir Simon understands the idea of a flash mob….
How this doubtless competent but over-rated Kapellmeister has so much influence is quite extraordinary.
Some will no doubt see this as self-serving his own interest. However, Simon passionately believes that classical music deserves to be heard in the best possible conditions. Is that such a crime? Of course there will be those who think the money could be better spent elsewhere, but if Simon doesn’t say these things, will anyone else?
“Is that such a crime?”
In the cynical world of SD, yes.
Why do cities need so many new football stadiums? Why do the Olympic Games need new facilities every four years? And why do bureaucracies like the EU need so many office buildings? That’s all money well spent, apparently.
The European Commission is actually planning to reduce its offices in Brussels by 50% by 2030. Just sayin’ …
Goodness knows I agree and my heart is always with the musicians……but at the current time, it appears it’s the conductor who is tone-deaf.
This is hardly the moment to rattle your rattle – Rattle.
“Keep your eyes open
And prick up your ears
Rehearse your loudest cry.
There’s folk out there
Who would do you harm
So I’ll sing you no lullaby.
There’s a lock on the window;
There’s a chain on the door:
A big dog in the hall.
But there’s dragons and beasties
Out there in the night
To snatch you if you fall.
So come out fighting
With your RATTLE in hand.
Thrust and parry. Light
A match to catch the devil’s eye.
Bring a cross of fire to the fight.
And let no sleep bring false relief
From the tension of the fray.
Come wake the dead with the scream of life.
Do battle with ghosts at play.
Gather your toys at the call-to-arms
And swing your big bear down.
Upon our necks when we come to set
You sleeping safe and sound.
It’s as well we tell no lie
To chase the face that cries.
And little birds can’t fly
So keep an open eye.
It’s as well we tell no lie
So I’ll sing you no lullaby.”
Ian Anderson – “No Lullaby”
We do not know if he was asked to leave the BPO.
Or did he choose to leave. ?
A new hall had been planned for some time (for Jansons). A temporary hall (said to have great sound) was built and opened last year. Current times call for review of all budgets so maybe the authorities have changed their tune…
The vitriol in these comments is astonishing and sad.
SSR is the designated chief conductor of the very orchestra seeking that new concert hall for decades.
It is his obligation to lobby for it, it is expected.
Yet if he does, the “Wadenbeisser” accuse him of narcissism and ignoring the world’s ills.
Doomed if you do, doomed if you don’t.
Sad and bitter crowd here.
“Naturlich, brauchen wir ein Gebäude auch”, which is what he actually said, is not exactly a demand, and quite witty as a preface to an outdoor concert.
He’ll be running back to London when the new Corbyn Philharmonic Hall opens