Rattle In Berlin: No Sparks Just Yet

When Simon Rattle, the most heralded young conductor of the last several decades, signed on to head the Berlin Philharmonic, widely considered to be the best orchestra in the world, it seemed like a failure-proof partnership. Rattle could shake up the stodgy Berlin establishment, while at the same time gaining the support of the musicians with his undeniable talent with the baton. But more than a year into the Rattle era, Stephen Everson isn’t seeing much to back up all the hype. At this year’s Proms, “it was very striking how little attention the players seemed to pay to their director, and how little his gestures seemed to demand of them.”