Lebrecht on Rattle

[antongould]

Indeed - some of us would prefer not to pay any money to Mr M

Agreed OG - IMVVHO we need to be very wary of these oligarchs ….. to this end I have just left X/Twitter, something, obviously, from which Mr. Musk and his balance sheet will never recover

[Old Grumpy]

Agreed OG - IMVVHO we need to be very wary of these oligarchs ….. to this end I have just left X/Twitter, something, obviously, from which Mr. Musk and his balance sheet will never recover

Never joined, missel'

[oliver sudden]

Anyway it’s quite a nice article and you’d never really guess that Mr L had a hand in it.

I also hope Rattle is happier in Munich than in Berlin. As far as I’m concerned it’s by no means an inferior orchestra and there’s quite a lot of repertoire I would rather hear them in than the BPO.

[LMcD]

Agreed OG - IMVVHO we need to be very wary of these oligarchs ….. to this end I have just left X/Twitter, something, obviously, from which Mr. Musk and his balance sheet will never recover

Does that make you 'Ex-X'?

[antongould]

Does that make you 'Ex-X'?

yes, me and quite a few more ……

[gradus]

Re the BPO, odd that he should have been the orchestra's choice only to find them difficult to work with.

[Petrushka]

Re the BPO, odd that he should have been the orchestra's choice only to find them difficult to work with.

Presumably, the difficulties came from those, and it wouldn't need many to cause trouble, who didn't vote for him? Personally, I think that at that time Barenboim would indeed have been the better choice. It's also my opinion that Karajan would have done better to have spent more time with the Vienna Philharmonic.

As one who went to many of Rattle's CBSO concerts he's dead right when he says that we didn't know how lucky we were.

[richardfinegold]

Anyway it’s quite a nice article and you’d never really guess that Mr L had a hand in it.

I also hope Rattle is happier in Munich than in Berlin. As far as I’m concerned it’s by no means an inferior orchestra and there’s quite a lot of repertoire I would rather hear them in than the BPO.

I think that the Bavarians are second to none. I would love to hear them in person

[Maclintick]

Presumably, the difficulties came from those, and it wouldn't need many to cause trouble, who didn't vote for him? Personally, I think that at that time Barenboim would indeed have been the better choice. It's also my opinion that Karajan would have done better to have spent more time with the Vienna Philharmonic.

That orchestra famously, of course, decided to dispense with the post of chief conductor over 90 years ago, and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm. I was intrigued to read of Sir Simon's encounter, on being appointed to the Berlin job, with the widow of HvK who rather melodramatically suggested that the orchestra had killed him, and would have done for Abbado as well had he not retired with ill-health. Since HvK was at the helm for 34 years, these orchestral hit-men must have been extraordinarily incompetent assassins ...

[CallMePaul]

Anyway it’s quite a nice article and you’d never really guess that Mr L had a hand in it.

I also hope Rattle is happier in Munich than in Berlin. As far as I’m concerned it’s by no means an inferior orchestra and there’s quite a lot of repertoire I would rather hear them in than the BPO.

They are one of the candidates for "Orchestra of the Year", for which you can vote on the Gramophone website (I've not yet decided which one to vote for).

[oddoneout]

Presumably, the difficulties came from those, and it wouldn't need many to cause trouble, who didn't vote for him? Personally, I think that at that time Barenboim would indeed have been the better choice. It's also my opinion that Karajan would have done better to have spent more time with the Vienna Philharmonic.

As one who went to many of Rattle's CBSO concerts he's dead right when he says that we didn't know how lucky we were.

I was brought up in Cheltenham and the CBSO made a fair few visits there to give concerts in the pre-Rattle years. There was a running joke that they played well in Cheltenham Town Hall, unlike in Brum... I was always fascinated by the viola player who was the "wrong" way round, necessitating some careful seating arrangements.
Following on from Rattle's comment about how lucky we were and, linking to the CBSO, I enjoyed the free music provision of those times, including residential courses for the County Youth orchestra tutored by the likes of Felix Kok, his brother Bobby, and Harry Danks for the strings.

[french frank]

Since HvK was at the helm for 34 years, these orchestral hit-men must have been extraordinarily incompetent assassins ...

Bloomin' amateurs!

[LMcD]

I think that the Bavarians are second to none. I would love to hear them in person

[duncan]

That orchestra famously, of course, decided to dispense with the post of chief conductor over 90 years ago, and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm. I was intrigued to read of Sir Simon's encounter, on being appointed to the Berlin job, with the widow of HvK who rather melodramatically suggested that the orchestra had killed him, and would have done for Abbado as well had he not retired with ill-health. Since HvK was at the helm for 34 years, these orchestral hit-men must have been extraordinarily incompetent assassins ...

'Melodramatically' is putting it politely!

In an elite status organisation of 120+ people like the BPO there are going to be a lot of large personalities. Rattle suggests it was a vocal minority that gave him grief. The orchestra extended his initial contract so presumably the majority of them regarded him positively but a recalcitrant 20-30 could still create a lot of trouble.

Regarding his development as a conductor and whether he has fulfilled his early promise, he made his name initially with repertoire outside the traditional 19th century Austro-German stalwarts (Mahler wasn't one in the 1970s). He's not quite hit the highest of heights in the likes of Beethoven but any 21st century conductor has the problem of comparison with 100 years of recordings in this repertoire. More generally it is perhaps unrealistic to expect conductors to excel in a very wide repertoire although this doesn't stop some trying.

[Pulcinella]

Bumping this thread as the interview is broadcast tonight.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00224gb