So who will be the Berlin Phil.'s music director once Sir Simon leaves?

[Petrushka]

We have to think 5 years ahead, assuming that Rattle sees out his contract. By that time, some of the younger names mentioned so far will either have matured or burnt out while the older ones will be, well, too old.

Thielemann has to be ahead of the pack but he isn't much known outside Germany or Austria and that might be a disadvantage, Barenboim will be too old, Dudamel will most likely have burnt out, ditto Gergiev.

The one name I keep coming back to is Andris Nelsons. He will have matured well in 5 years and has to be seriously considered. Alison's odds of 6/1 will suit me fine. Any bookies taking bets?

[ardcarp]

Dudamel will most likely have burnt out, ditto Gergiev.

I can well believe Gergiev might self-combust before 2018, but Dudamel? Surely not. The question will be whether he's acquired enough gravitas. In any event, the 5-year wait is preposterous and if I were a betting man, my money would be on something happening sooner.

[Petrushka]

I can well believe Gergiev might self-combust before 2018, but Dudamel? Surely not. The question will be whether he's acquired enough gravitas. In any event, the 5-year wait is preposterous and if I were a betting man, my money would be on something happening sooner.

Yes, the 5 year hiatus is indeed preposterous. It's surely no more than an opening gambit from Rattle and I'd expect the succession to have been resolved a lot sooner. As for SR himself, he could well be looking at Abbado's option of having an orchestra of his own staffed by the people who want to work with him. Whether at Lucerne or elsewhere, Rattle could have made a very astute move indeed. He could well take half of the BPO with him.

[Mandryka]

I have one very vivid memory that I associate with Rattle's ascendancy to the top job in conducting:

on the day it was announced, in 1999, a friend and I attended a Barbican concert of Haitink conducting the LSO in Eine Alpensinfonie and a Mozart Concerto (I forget which). There was a young man - around 22, I'd guess - sitting in the row in front of us, who was terribly excited about something and wished to share his excitement with his felllow concertgoers. At one point, he turned round to us and announced his attention of 'moving to Berlin' as it was sure to be THE place to be 'now that Simon Rattle is in charge of the BPO.'

I can't say I was all that surprised at the news: indeed, the more I thought about it, the more inevitable it seemed. Young-ish conductor, golden EMI contract, international reputation - yes, the whole package, as they say, looked good.

I remember the concert being good, too: at the end of the Strauss, the young Rattle enthusiast stood up to give Haitink and co a standing ovation. 'Orgasmic!' he announced, to the world in general. It was pretty plain to see that any orgasms he might have experienced in his young life thus far had been musical ones.

[DublinJimbo]

Hopefully not Thielemann or Gergiev or Dudamel.

Names not mentioned yet (I think): Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Osmo Vänskä, David Zinman, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jiří Bělohlávek, Edward Gardner, François-Xavier Roth, Jakub Hrusa, Peter Oundjian, Lionel Bringuier ...

This is a great game!

[jayne lee wilson]

19:00 Hrs, Friday 11/01/13:
Berlin Phil Digital Concert Hall.
Mendelssohn Symphony No.4
Bruckner Symphony No.6
Berlin Phil/Chailly

(DCH recently upgraded its basic audio bitrate to 256 kbps AAC. Not quite matching R3 but A for effort...)

Did anyone else take this? Miraculous lightness, buoyancy and transparency on the Mendelssohn, only driven hard in the tarantella, made you fall in love with an old flame once again... these qualities carried into the Bruckner, avoiding all bombast or excess fat on the tone, fluidly phrased, and glowing, never overbearing in climaxes.

Marvellous concert, orchestra full of smiles at the end! - do try it if you ever have a DCH pass. Rattle's doing some contemporary/20thC late nights in Berlin soon, 21:30 Fridays, and taking on Tippett, Child of Our Time later this Spring too. Check out the schedule!

[Hornspieler]

Who's opening the book on his successor? 2018's a boringly long way off though.

Wish it was 2013

A rather unnecessary announcement IMV. The next incumbant is probably still studying for his A levels.

I wonder which of the two parties involved issued this gem of information?

HS

[Mr Pee]

A rather unnecessary announcement IMV. The next incumbant is probably still studying for his A levels.

I wonder which of the two parties involved issued this gem of information?

HS

Well I'm surprised you haven't seen that Rattle made the announcement himself; it's been widely reported on the BBC and elsewhere. And of course the next incumbent is not studying for his a levels! Silly boy.

Rattle is employed on a 5 year contract; he has simply said that at the end of the contract ending in 2018, he will not be continuing. This gives the orchestra and Sir Simon plenty of time to finalise their plans, in the BPO's case deciding on a successor, and in Rattle's case, mapping out his future.

[Mr Pee]

Thielemann has to be ahead of the pack but he isn't much known outside Germany or Austria

Really? If we've never heard of him, we seem to be talking about him an awful lot, don't we?

[scottycelt]

Really? If we've never heard of him, we seem to be talking about him an awful lot, don't we?

He's maybe not a familiar name to the 'average' music-lover in the UK. The first time I came across him was on YouTube.

I have to say (as a non-musician) that his conducting style comes across as self-conscious and stilted-looking to me which I find rather unusual for a professional.

[aeolium]

Names not mentioned yet (I think): Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Osmo Vänskä, David Zinman, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jiří Bělohlávek, Edward Gardner, François-Xavier Roth, Jakub Hrusa, Peter Oundjian, Lionel Bringuier ...

And AMcG mentioned on CDR this morning another name that doesn't seem to have cropped up - that of Franz Welser-Möst.

[Mr Pee]

He's maybe not a familiar name to the 'average' music-lover in the UK. The first time I came across him was on YouTube.

I have to say (as a non-musician) that his conducting style comes across as self-conscious and stilted-looking to me which I find rather unusual for a professional.

If the BPO want to appoint their next Chief Conductor purely on how famous he is, they might as well go for Andre Rieu.....

I understand what you mean about his conducting style; I recently watched him through a Beethoven Symphony cycle with the VPO on Sky Arts and he does have an unsual style of conducting; but postively run of the mill compared to some- Gergiev, for example.

[pastoralguy]

If the BPO want to appoint their next Chief Conductor purely on how famous he is, they might as well go for Andre Rieu.....

I doubt the Berlin Phil. (or any other orchestra) could afford him.

[Petrushka]

Thielemann has to be ahead of the pack but he isn't much known outside Germany or Austria

Really? If we've never heard of him, we seem to be talking about him an awful lot, don't we?

Could have phrased that slightly differently to mean that Thielemann isn't seen much outside Germany and Austria.

[Mr Pee]

I doubt the Berlin Phil. (or any other orchestra) could afford him.

Very true! Have you seen his humble abode? :-

http://www.andrerieutranslations.com/pictures/Castle.html