Opinion

Britain’s greatest living conductor has fled to Berlin – it’s a loss to us all

Simon Heffer
Sat, 4 May 2024 

Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2004 - United Archives GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Simon Rattle is perhaps Britain’s greatest living conductor. He achieved eminence at an age when many in his profession are struggling to feed themselves, becoming assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at 19, and joining Glyndebourne the following year. 

He was still only 25 when, in 1980, he was appointed conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He became principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in 2002, and then music director of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Now he is back in Germany, conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Rattle has not lacked critics. Some musicians have questioned his interpretations of the classics, and he caused upset on the eve of his departure for Berlin by attacking the British attitude to culture and to public funding of the arts. His appointment in Berlin was mildly controversial. It was made by a vote of the orchestral players, a substantial minority of whom wanted Daniel Barenboim in the role. 

Rattle’s achievements in Berlin, notably his championship of new music, were considerable, but it took several years for the orchestra to get used to him. The conductor himself described his relationship with the players as “turbulent”. However, he was doing something right: in 2008 the orchestra decided not to wait until 2012 to renew his 10-year contract, but did so at once. 

One reason for his growing popularity was that he ensured the orchestra was better paid, and that it was controlled by a foundation rather than by the Berlin Senate. He also set up an education department, renewing a commitment to young musicians that had been the hallmark of his time at Birmingham.

In his long career, he has shown a catholicity of taste; this was seldom more visible than in his recent tenure of the LSO. Part of his legacy there is captured on a new disc in the LSO Live series, which contains recordings of three works by Benjamin Britten.

To my mind, Rattle’s golden age as a recording artist coincided with his time at Birmingham – the repertoire included some fine recordings of British music, a canon the Germans in particular seem not to recognise exists. He recorded numerous works by Britten with the CBSO, not least the explosive Sinfonia da Requiem, a piece that defines the composer’s genius. An equally outstanding account of that work is on the LSO Live disc; it is worth buying for that alone.

However, it also includes the only performance of Britten’s Spring Symphony that I have heard that matches, and in some respects exceeds, the recording made by the composer himself more than 60 years ago. Rattle creates a clarity, intensity and, eventually, exuberance that are utterly mesmerising. The disc ends with a performance of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra that richly demonstrates Rattle’s command of his players. Any admirer of Rattle, and indeed of Britten, should own this recording.