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Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE , FRSA , (born January 19 , 1955 ) is an English Conductor . He rose to prominence as conductor of the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra , and is currently principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic (BPO). BIOGRAPHY Early life Rattle was born in ''honoris causa'' of the University Of Oxford in 1999. ''Oxford University Gazette'', Encaenia 1999, Supplement (1) to Gazette No. 4517 (25 June 1999) UK career '' with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road in 1988, aged 33.]] In 1974, he was made assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra , and in 1977 assistant conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic . His time with the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) from 1980 to 1998 drew him to the attention of critics and the public. In 1980, Rattle became the CBSO's Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser, and in 1990, Music Director. Rattle increased both his profile and that of the orchestra over his tenure. One of his long-term concert projects was the series of concerts of 20th century music titled "Towards the Millennium". One other major achievement during his time was the move of the CBSO from its former venue, the Town Hall, to a newly built concert hall, Symphony Hall, in 1991. The BBC commissioned film director Jaine Green to follow him in his final year with the CBSO to make ''Simon Rattle — Moving On''. Rattle was awarded a CBE in 1987 and made a Knight Bachelor in 1994. In 1992, Rattle was named a Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment (OAE), along with Frans Brüggen . Rattle now has the title of Principal Artist with the OAE. In 2001 , Rattle conducted the OAE at Glyndebourne in their first production of ''Fidelio'' with a period-instrument orchestra. Peter Conrad, "What's so funny about Beethoven?" ''The Observer'', 29 April 2001. In May 2006 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Society Of Arts . Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Carmina Burana on New Year's Eve 2004, aged 49.]] Rattle made his conducting debut with the for the post. Fiachra Gibbons and Kate Connolly, "Rattle set for classic music's top job". ''The Guardian'', 12 June 1999. Nevertheless, Rattle won the post and proceeded to win over his detractors by refusing to sign the contract until he had ensured that every member of the orchestra was paid fairly, and also that the orchestra would gain artistic independence from the Berlin Senate. Ivan Hewett, "Wilkommen Sir Simon!". ''Telegraph'', 7 September 2002. Before leaving for Germany and on his arrival, Rattle controversially attacked the British attitude to .2 He was attacked in return for his poor understanding of Conceptual and Visual art. Since his appointment, Rattle has reorganized the Berlin Philharmonic into a foundation, meaning its activities are more under the control of the members rather than politicians. He has also ensured that orchestra members' wages have increased quite dramatically, having fallen over the past few years.3 He gave his first concert as principal conductor of the BPO on 's ''Blood on the Floor''. Martin Kettle, "My crazy idea". ''The Guardian'', 30 August 2002. He has also continued to champion contemporary music in Berlin. Peter G. Davis, "German Reengineering". ''New York'', 13 February 2006. Criticism of Rattle's tenure with the Berlin Philharmonic began to appear after their first season together, Stephen Everson, "The end of the affair". ''The Guardian'', 20 September 2003. and continued in their second season. Charlotte Higgins and Ben Aris, "Is Rattle's Berlin honeymoon over?" ''The Guardian'', 29 April 2004. The German critic Klaus Geitel was reported in 2004 to have described Rattle as "the weakest musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic he's ever seen". Ivan Hewett, "Can Rattle rival the greats?". ''Telegraph'', 21 December 2004. Rattle himself stated in 2005 that his relationship with the BPO musicians could sometimes be "turbulent", but also "never destructively so". Charlotte Higgins, "Karaoke, wild tigers, hysteria: Rattle on his turbulent affair with the Berlin Philharmonic". ''The Guardian'', 7 January 2005. In 2006, a new controversy began in the German press as to the quality of Rattle's concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, with criticism from the German critic Manuel Brug in ''Die Welt''.4 One musician who wrote to the press to defend Rattle was the pianist Alfred Brendel .5 Conducting in North America Rattle made his North American conducting debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP) in 1979 , and was their Principal Guest Conductor from 1981-1994. He also guest-conducted the Cleveland Orchestra , Chicago Symphony Orchestra , San Francisco Symphony , Toronto Symphony Orchestra , and Boston Symphony Orchestra . His New York City debut was with the LAP in 1985. In 1993, Rattle made his conducting debut with The , and will return in late 2007 to conduct Schumann 's '' Das Paradies Und Die Peri ''. The musical relationship between Rattle and The Philadelphia Orchestra was reported to be such that Philadelphia wanted to hire Rattle as its next music director after Wolfgang Sawallisch , but Rattle declined. Allan Kozinn, "Top Conductors, Top Orchestras, Brahms in Common". ''New York Times'', 30 January 2004. However, Rattle continues to guest-conduct with The Philadelphia Orchestra in what is currently his sole North American guest-conducting engagement.6 Musical styles and recordings Rattle has conducted a wide variety of music, including some with period instruments ( Musical Instrument s contemporary with the music being played), but he is best known for his interpretations of early 20th century Composer s such as Mahler, with a recording of Mahler's Second Symphony winning several awards on its release and being regarded by some as Rattle's finest recording to date. He has also championed much Contemporary Music , including the tv series ''Leaving Home'', where he presents a 7-part survey of musical styles and conductors with excerpts recorded by the Birmingham Symphony. His meticulous realization of some of the great Romantic works has forged a somewhat intense style. This is exemplified in his new cycle of the Beethoven Symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic – although the orchestral playing is recognisably Viennese, there is a noticeable "period-instrument" quality to the sound. His newest recordings with the Berlin orchestra (as of 2006) have, on the whole, been favourably received, notably his recordings of the Dvorak tone poems and Debussy's ''La Mer''. The '' Gramophone Magazine '' praised the latter as a "magnificent disc" and drew favourable comparisons with interpretations of the piece by Rattle's immediate predecessors, Claudio Abbado and Herbert Von Karajan . He has also worked with the world famous Toronto Children's Chorus . Recently Rattle and the BPO recorded Holst's ''Planets'' (EMI), which was the ''BBC Music Magazine'' Orchestra Choice. In addition, Rattle's complete 1989 recording of George Gershwin 's Opera '' Porgy And Bess '' was used as the soundtrack for the 1993 Television production of the work. It was the first made-for-television production of ''Porgy and Bess'' ever presented. Recently, Rattle issued Brahms 's '' Ein Deutsches Requiem ''. ''BBC Music Magazine'' chose this disc as the Disc of the Month (April 2007 ), praising that "this strikes me as probably the best new version of the '' Requiem '' I've heard in quite some years." Sir Simon and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra recently released Bruckner 's Fourth Symphony , ''Romantic'', and Haydn 's Symphonies Nos. 88-92 and sinfonia concertante. Personal life Rattle's first marriage was to Elise Ross, an American soprano, with whom he had two sons. They were divorced in 1995 after 15 years of marriage. His second wife was Candace Allen, a Boston-born writer. Jan Moir, 'I hate to see myself conducting'. ''Telegraph'', 21 March 2003. This second marriage ended after Rattle and the Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená began a relationship. Kožená and Rattle have a son, Jonas. DISCOGRAPHY See Also: Simon Rattle discography REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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