Simon Rattle, who has been Music Director of the Berlin Philharmonic since September 2002, was born in Liverpool in 1955. Following studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Rattle began his close relationship with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) in 1980, first as Principal Conductor and then, between 1990 and 1998, as Music Director. Through his ongoing efforts on numerous tours and CD recordings, the CBSO earned its reputation as one of the leading international orchestras. Rattle is additionally Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and conducts the leading orchestras of Europe and the United States. Rattle made his operatic debut in 1977 at the Glyndebourne Festival. Since then, he has led productions at the Paris Opera, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Netherlands Opera, the Vienna Staatsoper, and the Metropolitan Opera. Before beginning his tenure as its Music Director, Simon Rattle had already enjoyed a 15-year partnership with the Berlin Philharmonic. He has carefully expanded its repertoire, not only integrating contemporary music but also introducing baroque works and rarities from music history. In the 2010-11 season Rattle and the Philharmonic have been making a complete traversal of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies. They have released numerous recordings in recent years which have won multiple international awards. Every year Rattle and the Philharmonic take part in an opera production: since 2003 at the Salzburg Easter Festival and, starting in 2013, at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden. Through the Zukunft@BPhil education program he is actively engaged in youth outreach and has received the Golden Camera Award and the Urania Medal for this work. In 1994 Rattle was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II; he has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal republic of Germany and is a Knight of the French Legion of Honor.
LUCERNE FESTIVAL (IMF) debut on 8 September 1996 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in works by Berlioz, Beethoven, Tippett, and Haydn.
August 2011
Link to Interview with Sir Simon Rattle
Trailer with Sir Simon Rattle