Simon Rattle turns 69
NewsThe conductor was born in Liverpool on January 19, 1955.
Next year’s the big one.
Here’s a reminder of happy days in London.
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Happy Birthday Sir Simon!! And thanks for all you achieved here in Birmingham! Happy days!
Great orchestral trainer, but when it comes to interpretation, he’s only ever been any good in Stravinsky.
I enjoy his Mahler and (particularly) his Janacek. His performances of Beethoven with the OAE and CBSO some years ago now were very striking. Agree about Stravinsky
I’m by no means uncritical of Rattle but he’s also a superb interpreter of Janacek. His performances last year of Kata Kabanova and this year of Jenufa together with LSO forces have been quite extraordinarily good.
Kata Kabanova newly released on LSO Live
Gosh,you seem to be such an expert.
most overrated around and awful what he did to the Berliner
You obviously played under him in performances of many of the “other composers” works you allude to, so do tell us the criteria for your assessment in all of these other composers.
As far as interpretation goes, I am particularly fond of the Szymanowski series he did in Brum. But that’s all of what I can think of; admittedly I did not feel a need to follow him to closely after hearing a few of his later performances. But I will try his Stravinsky and Janacek.
I heard him conduct the Berlin Philharmonic in Mahler’s 6th in 1987 and thought then he’d make a good replacement for Karajan.
Well, unfortunately he didn’t.
Karajan´s Mahler 5 and 6 recordings are horrible. The 9th is slightly better,but also to Mantonviesque.
Wasn’t this performance released on CD years ago by the orchestra’s own label? Anyone heard it?
He will be conducting Roy Harris’ 3rd Symphony at the Barbican in March with the LSO. Potentially it will be a superb rendition, and we don’t get many opportunities to hear this great American symphony in the UK. Rattle is most successful in 20th century music I think.
I was at the concert and it was very good. Available on BBC Sounds for the next 20 odd days… I also heard him perform this same symphony with the CBSO almost 30 years to the day earlier at the RFH when he was doing his 10 year “Towards the Millenium” festival.
I saw a lot of him live up until about a decade ago and thought that he was at his best when he was still young – up until around the turn of the century. Some of those early concerts are among the most memorable I’ve ever attended (mostly with Philadelphia). His interpretive style became increasingly off-putting later on.
He nailed his considerable colours to the CBSO/Birmingham mast. Eighteen glorious years with the orchestral standard immeasurably raised, repertoire vastly expanded, the building of Symphony Hall – all a result of his pioneering, questing spirit. How many conductors make that sort of commitment these days? Honoured to have lived in Birmingham during these halcyon days.
I thought I would never go to another Rattle concert again after seeing him twice with the BPO but his Jenufa in London last Sunday was a complete triumph; how wonderful to hear what he can really do.
So what’s the consensus on his LSO tenure? Seems like it went by in a flash, and the recordings made there are not great. I know more about the Berlin years, and unlike many I thought he made some terrific stuff, German and other
nice.
I respect his talent, but I genuinely can’t think back on his Berlin tenure with any great fondness…he IS very good in twentieth century music but he’s lost in Brahms etc.
Lovely gesture from orchestra and choir!! Happy birthday maestro!!
Happy Birthday, indeed. I don’t know that Sir Simon is the best interpreter of anything, but really, who cares? He is a great institutional leader, inspired programmer, and has a joy for music-making that we should all embrace. I’m also glad that in his post-BPO life he seems to have become a long-term friend (and neighbor in nearby Munich) of my beloved Czech Philharmonic.
Sir Simon’s crusty bust!
I have found Simon Rattle’s career to be quite uneven, but some wonderful Stravinsky, including of the two symphonies of the 1940’s, the C Major and the three-movement with the LSO and the best Mahler I have ever heard Rattle do was with the same ensemble, of the Ninth this past year from (broadcasts of) the Proms. His Bartok, Shostakovich Fourth, Prokofiev Fifth and Mahler 7 with the CBSO was generally very fine as well, the disc out of his Beethoven cycle with the VPO of the Fourth and Sixth is not to be denied, and I trust the judgment on the Janacek operas with the LSO. Happy Birthday, Sir Simon!