Sir simon rattle biography of christopher

  • In 2006 he assisted Sir Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic during a production of Wagner's Rheingold.
  • Rattle was born in Liverpool in 1955.
  • A formative experience also involved assisting Sir Simon Rattle with the Berliner Philharmonic in a production of Wagner's Das Rheingold at the Aix-en.
  • Q&A Special: Conductor Sir Simon Rattle

    Of the orchestra’s several other guest conductors, including Iván Fischer and, until his death, Sir Charles Mackerras, none has had a stronger or longer link.

    There have since been many highlights in the relationship, some of them forays away from the Age of Enlightenment and deep into the 19th century repertoire. “There is no one else on this planet who is like him,” says Chi-chi Nwanoku, principal double bass and a founding member of the orchestra. “Very few conductors can really make you feel that they’re playing every note with you. His hunger and passion is just pouring out and you just get pulled in.”

    There has been only one glitch, when conductor and string section clashed over Rattle’s desire to render Bach’s St John Passion a little less Lutheran and a little more dramatic. In practice it came down to a disagreement over period technique. Despite some musicians’ worry that they had blown it, the relationship was unimpaired. A cycle of Schumann symphonies in late 2008 took past 100 the number of times Sir Simon has stood in front of the OAE on the concert platform, all manic rictus and shaking curls, levitating in that distinct responsive style of his.

    In slightly nasal traces of Liverpool still unerased after his 18 years in B

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    At home with Simon Rattle: ‘There are still things I feel are beyond me’

    The instruction was straightforward: “10.30am at home. Coffee and croissants.” Since timing, at least in part, is a conductor’s priority, a visitor feels the pressure – especially with the siren call of coffee – to be prompt. Simon Rattle lives on the edge of Grunewald, the expanse of forest and lakes to the west of Berlin, a haven for the prosperous who built villas there at the end of the 19th century, and a green lung for all Berliners today. I arrive a few minutes early – long enough to take issue with Christopher Isherwood who, in his Berlin Stories, complained about the “expensive ugliness” of the properties here, ranging from “the eccentric-rococo folly to the cubist flat-roofed steel-and-glass box”. Gables and turrets turn suburban houses into small castles, a reminder of Germany’s romantic folklore past. Fairy lights – we meet shortly before Christmas – accentuate that impression, with Rattle’s own front garden entering the spirit, complete with illuminated Bambis and skeins of bulbs winding round railings, gate and shrubbery.

    Rattle is on the steps to greet me. Somewhat awed by the exterior’s gothic grandeur I jest: “Mad King Ludwig II?”, referring to Wagner’s patron, famous for building

  • sir simon rattle biography of christopher