Rattle, no harm

A joint success

We previously reported on the planned Concert by the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras conducted by Simon Rattle - if one can believe the press, the audience ate it up and the critics were mild in their criticism. The Austrian Press Agency remarks that playing was of a high quality, but failed to rise above the standards set by each individual ensemble. Germany's biggest serious news paper, Frankfurter Allgemeine, reported that things had, however, not been running quite that smoothly in the forerun: After a disastrous public rehearsal (which the public loved as well), quite a decent amount of fine-tuning had to be done in order to achieve a sound that was distinctly its own and did not derail. It seems to have worked, as everyone agreed the performance displayed a great deal of enthusiasm among the musicians - which is definitely not always the case. Critical remarks remained: The Frankfurter Allgemeine still wasn't quite sure who benefited most from the event: Karajan, who, from his grave, finally saw this collaboration happen? Or Sir Simon Rattle, who basically received this as a birthday present? Or the Deutsche Bank, who sponsored the event and had some executives over to listen to the music?

In an Interview after the performance, Clemens Hellsberg, management of the Vienna Philharmonics, praised the amicable co-operation. He also stated that the goal of art was a humanitarian one and that an orchestra had to define its role in society over and over again. With regards to the Crisis of Classical Music, he claimed that there was none - but if there was a problem, it was a problem of society. It was the task of society to live up to the great masters, not the other way round.

There are no concrete plans for a renewal of the co-operation

Source: Tirol.com
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Source: Die Presse