Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker

The performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony not only reflects the irrepressible passion for music-making that Rattle awakened in the Philharmoniker. It was also released as part of the first edition of the orchestra’s own label, Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings. Another classic composer particularly admired by Rattle for his humour is Joseph Haydn. The conductor once described himself as a “Haydn maniac”, saying that “inventiveness, curiosity and a willingness to improvise” were central to the performance of his music – something that is also evident in their joint reading of the Oxford Symphony.

The Late Night concert series created by Sir Simon Rattle is a place for musical experimentation. As a “dessert” to the main symphony concert, he and members of the Berliner Philharmoniker presented the audience with entertaining and bizarre pieces from the Baroque to the present day. One of the unforgettable moments was the performance of Hans Werner Henze’s cantata Being Beauteous, with the wonderfully versatile soprano Barbara Hannigan.

For Simon Rattle, the semi-staged performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion is one of the “most important things we ever did”. In 2013, together with star director Peter Sellars and top-class singers, he created an incredibly visually stunning performance, the first part of which you can enjoy in our playlist. Another captivating combination of music and movement: Igor Stravinsky’s Sacre du printemps – arguably Rattle’s signature piece par excellence – as a large-scale dance project and the start of the Education Programme.

Simon Rattle also bids farewell to our playlist with Paul Lincke’s Berliner Luft, the traditional Waldbühne concert encore: not, however, from the conductor’s desk, but – in the spirit of forging connections – as part of “his” orchestra.