Happy Birthday to youuuuuu!!!!!!!

We know we’re one day late, but still…

Happy Birthday Simon!!!!! Enjoy your cake!!!!

And the crowd goes wild!!!!!!

Oh yes!!!! super wild!!!!! Our man certainly has an effect on people:

OK!!! Let’s see the wave everybody!!!

Christmas with Magdalena

.. and her friends from the early czech music gang:

The cello boys

Their official name is The 12 Cellists -from the Berliner Philharmoniker.  And yes, they have their own band, perform their separate repertoire and of course, kick ass in their own special way.

Their C.D’s are a great exploration of all the possibilities of their instrument and they know no limitations: rap, bossa nova, tango, chamber music.. you name it, they can play it. And now, you can add gospel and choir music:

More than music

Is that possible? The Berlin Phil and Simon find that yes, it is possible:

Simon, the athlete

Believe it or not, here it goes:

Oh yes. That's him, all right..

From the book “Simon Rattle: The making of a conductor” by his friend Nicholas Kenyon, I take this little blast from the past… So, who wants to go and ask him for a few sets of ping-pong?

The Schoenberg collection

And we know that he was more than thrilled to pieces… jumping with joy… maybe even indulging in celebratory dance  :)

The Berliners + Simon in Spain

If you remember this concert, then you remember the Berliners and their conductor going all spanish on an already spanish audience… and some of them were not too happy about it, they were expecting something new. But for the berliners, spanish repertoire is kind of new…

Simon the BPhil in Spain: they played the Aranjuez concerto...

But if you want to know what it meant for our man, then this is the place to go: click!!!!

 

Concert Dates!!!

I’M BAAAAAAACK!!!!

And I come bearing concert dates!! Behold!!:

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	3 Oct 2011
Venue	Oper
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Aus einem Totenhaus

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	6 Oct 2011
Venue	Oper
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Aus einem Totenhaus

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	9 Oct 2011
Venue	Oper
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Aus einem Totenhaus

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	11 Oct 2011
Venue	Oper
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Aus einem Totenhaus

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	13 Oct 2011
Venue	Philhamonie
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Jonathan Harvey: Weltethos
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Rundfunkchor

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	14 Oct 2011
Venue	Oper
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Aus einem Totenhaus

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	15 Oct 2011
Venue	Philhamonie
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Jonathan Harvey: Weltethos
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Rundfunkchor

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	17 Oct 2011
Venue	Oper
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Aus einem Totenhaus

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	23 Oct 2011
Venue	Philharmonie
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Anton Bruckner: Symphonie Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Berlin Bundesjugendorchester

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	28 Oct 2011
Venue	Philharmonie
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Manuel de Falla:Psyche / Luciano Berio: Sequenza V / Folk Songs
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Magdalena Ko

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	29 Oct 2011
Venue	Philharmonie
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Manuel de Falla:Psyche / Luciano Berio: Sequenza V / Folk Songs
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Magdalena Ko

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	3 Nov 2011
Venue	Philhamonie
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Lachenmann: Tableau / Mahler: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	4 Nov 2011
Venue	Philhamonie
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Lachenmann: Tableau / Mahler: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	5 Nov 2011
Venue	Philhamonie
City	Berlin
Country	Germany
Repertoire	Lachenmann: Tableau / Mahler: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	10 Nov 2011
Venue	National Centre for the Performing Arts
City	Beijing
Country	China
Repertoire	Ravel: Alborada / Hosokawa / Bruckner: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Stephan Dohr

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	11 Nov 2011
Venue	National Centre for the Performing Arts
City	Beijing
Country	China
Repertoire	Mahler: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	13 Nov 2011
Venue	The Shanghai Grand Theatre
City	Shanghai
Country	China
Repertoire	Ravel: Alborada / Hosokawa / Bruckner: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Stephan Dohr

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	15 Nov 2011
Venue	Seoul Arts Center
City	Seoul
Country	South Korea
Repertoire	Mahler: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	16 Nov 2011
Venue	Seoul Arts Center
City	Seoul
Country	South Korea
Repertoire	Ravel: Alborada / Hosokawa / Bruckner: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Stephan Dohr

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	18 Nov 2011
Venue	National Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Center
City	Taipei
Country	Taiwan
Repertoire	Mahler: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	19 Nov 2011
Venue	National Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Center
City	Taipei
Country	Taiwan
Repertoire	Ravel: Alborada / Hosokawa / Bruckner: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Stephan Dohr

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	22 Nov 2011
Venue	Suntory Hall
City	Kawasaki
Country	Japan
Repertoire	Mahler: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	23 Nov 2011
Venue	Suntory Hall
City	Tokyo
Country	Japan
Repertoire	Ravel: Alborada / Hosokawa / Bruckner: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker / Stephan Dohr

Name	Simon Rattle
Date	24 Nov 2011
Venue	Suntory Hall
City	Tokyo
Country	Japan
Repertoire	Mahler: Symphony Nr.9
Other details	Berliner Philharmoniker

Breaking the wall inside your mind

As we reported a few days ago, maestro Baremboim has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And as everyone knows, the nomination is supported by many intellectual, political and cultural heavy-weights that see in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra a great example of what can be done when culture becomes relevant to the world we live in.

The documentary “Knowledge is the beginning” was one of the first public presentations of this fantastic project in which Baremboim joined forces with historian Edward Said; we see and hear how these two men and the young musicians involved in this venture, find each other through music and also are challenged by the fact of music-making.

Now, someone had the happy idea to post it on Youtube, so we all can see it again… and learn again, and again, and again, and again.. because knowledge is the beginning.