0:00:15 > 0:00:19Simon Rattle is the British conductor who conquered the world.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Simon...
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Rattle!
0:00:24 > 0:00:29From all my musicians and myself, we send you our love. Bless you.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31From opera to oratorio,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33early music to modernism,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Rattle has always led from the front.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47If you just watch him, you can tell he's a great conductor.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52He is both a master, and, at the same time,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55he has the openness of a child.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01His ears are enormous, like an elephant!
0:01:02 > 0:01:07And his genius is his sympathy with all the players in front of him.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14He has been a cultural dynamo in cities from Birmingham to Berlin.
0:01:15 > 0:01:21This is a conducted tour of Simon Rattle's 60th year.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26'It's actually... What bargain do you make with the devil?'
0:01:26 > 0:01:30APPLAUSE
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Sir Simon Rattle is the music director and chief conductor
0:01:38 > 0:01:43of the orchestra many consider the ultimate classical music machine -
0:01:43 > 0:01:45the Berlin Philharmonic.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09Berlin is a city on the faultline of history.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Largely destroyed at the end of the Second World War,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19divided for more than a generation by the Berlin Wall,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22a towering, grey symbol of the Cold War,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25and over the last quarter of a century,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29rebuilt and re-established as capital of one Germany.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31When I first used to come here,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35people would say, "Oh, the saxophone player,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37"he's coming from Germany to here." They didn't say,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41"He's coming from Frankfurt." Because it was such an island.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43It's a very different shared history,
0:02:43 > 0:02:48and I wonder what we would be like, tested to that degree.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50I wouldn't be very optimistic.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53The nearest to tyranny my generation has gone through
0:02:53 > 0:02:56is Margaret Thatcher. HE LAUGHS
0:02:56 > 0:02:57We've led a very protected life!
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Rattle is on his way to the home of his orchestra,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06the Philharmonie, purpose built in the 1950s, hard up against
0:03:06 > 0:03:09the Berlin Wall on the Western side,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12a striking Cold War political statement.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Just by the Phil, there was the East and here is the West.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21That was no-man's-land.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26I can just about remember, but only just.
0:03:26 > 0:03:32It makes no sense, so it's hard to keep in the mind.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Rattle has always pushed the boundaries of music
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and this evening he is due to conduct a staged version
0:03:38 > 0:03:40of Bach's St John Passion -
0:03:40 > 0:03:43one of the masterpieces of church music
0:03:43 > 0:03:48that some people consider too sacred to be dramatised.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52CHORAL SINGING
0:04:05 > 0:04:08This is Germany, everything is sacred here,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10so you can always upset some people.
0:04:10 > 0:04:16But, certainly, the whole idea of staging a Bach Passion was very hard.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18It took two years to persuade the orchestra,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22with still some people begging me not to do it.
0:04:22 > 0:04:23THEY SPEAK IN GERMAN
0:04:23 > 0:04:25For a lot of people, it is a holy piece,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28where you are supposed to stand and sing, as in a concert.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Rattle's controversial vision for the Passion involves orchestra,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36choir and soloists all acting out the Gospel story
0:04:36 > 0:04:38on the stage of the Philharmonie.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43The orchestra were quite nervous of what they'd been asked to do,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47um, and Simon has got great daring
0:04:47 > 0:04:51and never seemed to panic about sort of negative feedback he got,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55and really created something that went into the piece in a much
0:04:55 > 0:04:57deeper way than normal.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59He took something so sacred
0:04:59 > 0:05:02that people were afraid of touching,
0:05:02 > 0:05:08and said, actually, not only is nothing sacred,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12but the very attempt to grasp it is the noblest thing we can do.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18If you've never heard this, you are completely unprepared.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20It changes your life.
0:05:20 > 0:05:21'It was a good argument to have.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25'I'm glad we didn't back down, because it has brought the orchestra
0:05:25 > 0:05:26'and the singers together in a way
0:05:26 > 0:05:29'that almost nothing else does, because it gives them'
0:05:29 > 0:05:33the right level of responsibility, which is almost everything.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38'Simon is not one of those conductors who is into
0:05:38 > 0:05:39'the contest of wills.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43'It's not me versus you and I win, cos I have the stick!
0:05:43 > 0:05:49'Simon genuinely is interested in the possibility of democracy,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53'and he has this incredible sense of, "What's the best way
0:05:53 > 0:05:57'"to get a whole group of people to have'
0:05:57 > 0:05:59"an amazing moment of discovery together?"
0:06:00 > 0:06:05You can sing in the chorus, you can be a soloist, you can be
0:06:05 > 0:06:08a musician from the orchestra, we are all the same to him.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14'If Bach doesn't teach you humility, kind of, nothing will.'
0:06:15 > 0:06:20Our world divides into people
0:06:20 > 0:06:23who are supremely confident,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25and those who have doubts every day.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29'And I'm on the doubts-every-day team.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34'Probably just as well. It means you don't take too much for granted.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39'But sometimes it makes it... Well, of course it makes it hard.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43'This is a hard profession, and it doesn't get any easier,
0:06:43 > 0:06:49'you have to get used to that and you have to do the best you can
0:06:49 > 0:06:53'and realise that that is the best you can do.'
0:06:57 > 0:07:01APPLAUSE
0:07:09 > 0:07:11The music pours out of him.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15But that wouldn't work if it wasn't for the integrity,
0:07:15 > 0:07:21the personality, the chemistry that goes on when Simon Rattle's about.
0:07:47 > 0:07:53Working with Simon is intriguing, because he is both a master,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57and at the same time, he has the openness of a child.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03I've sung this role many times in concert performances.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05I thought I knew the St John Passion.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07But he wants me to listen to it differently.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10SINGING IN GERMAN
0:08:32 > 0:08:33CHORAL SINGING
0:08:38 > 0:08:40He loves fresh interpretations.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45He always gives us the feeling, the world has to hear this music,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49and the world has to see us doing this piece.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56He seems to be in a perpetual state of wonder.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01He knows what he wants, that's very clear,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05but he also loves working in the moment with what is in front of him.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16With this type of staging, there was even more emotions going on,
0:09:16 > 0:09:17not only from the performance,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20but also from the people in the audience.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27It didn't necessarily have to be about their relationship with
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Jesus or religion, but it was all about actually human beings,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36about their lives - they all left the hall with tears in their eyes.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38He's wonderful.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40I think he's wonderful.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I'm really astonished, this is just amazing.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46I was really impressed. I thought the singers were talking to me.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49It was great, this was really a privilege.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Of course, it was very British!
0:09:54 > 0:09:57# Sie liebt dich, yeah, yeah, yeah... #
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Simon Rattle was born and grew up in Liverpool.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06There's a kind of narrative I'm supposed to give, isn't there?
0:10:06 > 0:10:13About the Beatles, yeah, and swinging Liverpool and all that stuff,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and having a house near Penny Lane,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20which actually we did,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24going to The Cavern, which actually I didn't...
0:10:24 > 0:10:26And, look, the peculiar thing is, there was
0:10:26 > 0:10:30so much going on in Liverpool at the time, that it was actually
0:10:30 > 0:10:32kind of possible to miss most of that.
0:10:36 > 0:10:42He came from a very musical and supportive family,
0:10:42 > 0:10:47and one of the first things that he did was to learn to read scores.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51And then he would put on little concerts at home, where
0:10:51 > 0:10:55everybody was assigned a percussion instrument and had to play along.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59'When I was 15, I heard Liverpool Philharmonic
0:10:59 > 0:11:01'in their ongoing Mahler cycle.'
0:11:01 > 0:11:07I suppose that was such a powerful, life-changing event for me.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11I can remember everything about the three or four days around it,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15just because it was as though it had been tattooed onto my skin.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24'And it sounds tremendously ridiculous and pretentious
0:11:24 > 0:11:26'and over the top,
0:11:26 > 0:11:30'but all the colours of the flowers seemed brighter -
0:11:30 > 0:11:34'from that moment on, I wasn't going to be the same.'
0:11:35 > 0:11:42And I would certainly put that at the centre of why I became a conductor.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50His natural affinity with music is, basically, shall we say, God-given.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Simon was already, at 19, winning competitions
0:11:54 > 0:11:58and conducting orchestras. The opportunities came so young.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03After he won a conducting competition at the seaside
0:12:03 > 0:12:06in Bournemouth in 1974,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09he was appointed assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12This wonderful chamber orchestra that no longer exists -
0:12:12 > 0:12:16what they must have had to have put up with!
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Together, they toured the south coast
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and he had his first experiences with opera at Glyndebourne.
0:12:24 > 0:12:30There was a point where in 14 days, I conducted 20 concerts with them.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33And...oh, God, they must have been terrible!
0:12:36 > 0:12:39His breakthrough came two years later
0:12:39 > 0:12:42with his appointment as assistant conductor
0:12:42 > 0:12:45of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47He was 22 years old.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Are there any special problems, do you think,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53in conducting a major orchestra when you are so young?
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Well, the first problem is that however old or young you are,
0:12:56 > 0:12:58if you are under 40, you are still a young conductor,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00and therefore perhaps slightly suspect!
0:13:00 > 0:13:06I was utterly not ready for it, but, I mean, looking back...
0:13:07 > 0:13:12..I do wonder, who is ready to start conducting?
0:13:12 > 0:13:17There's this wonderful thing in a Woody Allen film where he says,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20"You know, actually I'm one of the world's greatest lovers,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24"but normally I only get to practise it on my own."
0:13:24 > 0:13:27And it's a rather similar thing, because, actually,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30without doing it, you don't know how to do it!
0:13:30 > 0:13:32And so where do you practise?
0:13:33 > 0:13:36I couldn't find an orchestra in my bedroom,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40however hard I waved a baton at the mirror.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56The BBC job in Glasgow, I conducted so much
0:13:56 > 0:13:59and I was given the opportunity to litter the floor with mistakes,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and what an incredible privilege,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07to have so many rough edges knocked off, so fast.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11It was tough. I can remember thinking, you know,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15if this is really what it's like, this is no place for me.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23It's actually...
0:14:24 > 0:14:28..what bargain do you make with the devil?
0:14:28 > 0:14:31'As a young musician, you have to sort out really who you are,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35'and is the musician the same person as the everyday person,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37'can they be linked together?
0:14:37 > 0:14:41'Are you always going to be Jekyll and Hyde?'
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Conductors are the last autocrats left.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48I hope, actually, that the day of the autocrat is over for us.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51It's much easier for me to have a cheerful relationship.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55'What percentage of Jekyll
0:14:55 > 0:14:59'and what percentage of Hyde there is, God only knows.'
0:15:03 > 0:15:07'You have to see what you are, and you also have to decide,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09'what is music to you?
0:15:09 > 0:15:12'Does music mean life?
0:15:12 > 0:15:13'Which is dangerous.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17'Or can you really decide,'
0:15:17 > 0:15:19"OK, I have a life,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22"of which music is an incredibly enriching part"?
0:15:22 > 0:15:25And I think one of my faults is that I can often love music to death.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27It's a lovely way to go!
0:15:42 > 0:15:43As for all great orchestras,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47touring for the Berlin Philharmonic is important and demanding.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Rattle and the orchestra have just arrived in Taiwan.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56In the capital city, Taipei,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59a vast metropolis of more than seven million people,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02the orchestra are scheduled to give two performances here
0:16:02 > 0:16:04at the ornate National Concert Hall,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07and, naturally, expectations are riding high.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12There is a kind of passion for classical music here,
0:16:12 > 0:16:18which is so unusual, and it has to be cultural,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20because unlike in mainland China,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23classical music is continuous here.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28Obviously, Mao Tse-tung stopped it in the most dramatic and brutal way.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Here, it stayed, and it's one of the things that makes them
0:16:32 > 0:16:36different from the mainland, of which they are very proud.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40And they are a particularly thoughtful island.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46They know this can be lost, they know it could be destroyed.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Maybe we take it too much for granted.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Here, they know what can happen,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54and so they've grabbed on to it with a passion which is very,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58very moving, and you really feel it, playing to them.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Here in the National Concert Hall of Taiwan, there's only going
0:17:23 > 0:17:27to be time for one rehearsal before tonight's concert.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32So, conductor and orchestra have to make every second count.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Today, we needed to rehearse quite hard,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44because you have to get used to a very different, very bright hall.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46So, sometimes it's useful,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48particularly on the first day of a tour,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50when people haven't played for a few days.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55It's part of our job.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58All that's important is that the evening really works.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Simon has brought this orchestra incredible presence.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13If you just watch him, you can tell he's a great conductor -
0:18:13 > 0:18:16he's in the music, he's leading the orchestra, he's passionate,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18his expression is fantastic,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20he has the genius of the music inside him, and also
0:18:20 > 0:18:25the ability to express it through his hands, his body and his face.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32I admire most his absolute concentration
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and awareness of everything which happens,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38maybe far away in another part of the orchestra.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41His ears are enormous, like an elephant!
0:18:44 > 0:18:47He brings dedication to work and
0:18:47 > 0:18:50to the work, the piece that we play.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55He brings musical inspiration from his knowledge
0:18:55 > 0:19:00and from his understanding and a fantastic enthusiasm for music.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Tonight's concert will be relayed live to a big screen
0:19:08 > 0:19:11set up in the square outside the concert hall,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14and tens of thousands of people are expected to turn up.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31It's nearly showtime, the square is packed full to capacity
0:19:31 > 0:19:34and inside the hall, the concert is sold out.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40FRENCH HORN TUNES UP
0:19:41 > 0:19:44APPLAUSE It's funny, though, we're so used to this
0:19:44 > 0:19:47bass clapping of the German audiences...
0:19:47 > 0:19:49HE CLAPS DEEPLY But here, it's...
0:19:50 > 0:19:51Yeah, but it's - WHAM!
0:19:51 > 0:19:54It's fantastic, it has its own fantastic spirit.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Come on. Have fun, you guys.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Well, the thing about the audiences here is that, actually,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28they're very sophisticated.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33And there might be places where you would be
0:20:33 > 0:20:38a little bit loath to take a programme of Boulez's Notations
0:20:38 > 0:20:41and Bruckner's 7th Symphony, but not in Taiwan.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:20:54 > 0:20:56I'm thrilled to be able to bring this to them,
0:20:56 > 0:20:57and in a way, it's what we do.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01We want to take a great big Austrian romantic piece
0:21:01 > 0:21:05and one of the greatest works written in the last 30 years.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07It is characteristic of what we're trying to do.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:22:09 > 0:22:10As soon as the concert finishes,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Rattle and the players make their way outside,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16where the people of Taipei are waiting.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- Don't leave me alone, you bastards!- No, no, no.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23Going out onto that stage afterwards to meet our audience,
0:22:23 > 0:22:25it was the most incredible experience.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27The way they just go crazy at the end.
0:22:27 > 0:22:28CHEERING
0:22:28 > 0:22:32'We came out of the concert and there were 40,000 people outside there.'
0:22:32 > 0:22:36From all my musicians and myself, we send you our love. Bless you.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:22:38 > 0:22:41I was standing directly next to Simon, and he said,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43in all this noise, he said,
0:22:43 > 0:22:46"Oh, now I know what Robbie Williams must feel like!"
0:22:47 > 0:22:49HE SPEAKS MANDARIN
0:22:49 > 0:22:53For them, it's still surprising to see one of those "long noses",
0:22:53 > 0:22:58as they say in Chinese, to see somebody speak Chinese.
0:22:59 > 0:23:00My wife is Chinese,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04and I learned some Chinese to survive in my family.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:23:09 > 0:23:12For us, we know it's a privilege when we go out there
0:23:12 > 0:23:14and we see all those guys.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19The amount of applause can be a wonderful thing,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22but you'd better not believe it.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24You'd better not believe it too much.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27And you always realise that there's always going to be
0:23:27 > 0:23:28differing opinions.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33But every now and then, you can say, "OK.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38"That was a moment we really did our best."
0:23:38 > 0:23:40"Maybe we deserve some of this."
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Before he faces the orchestra, Rattle spends hours alone
0:23:45 > 0:23:49in the conductor's study at the Philharmonie, working on the score.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55It's extraordinary - every other art form,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57you can look at a painting and it's there,
0:23:57 > 0:23:58you can read a book and it's there.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01This requires people to interpret it.
0:24:05 > 0:24:11A relatively simple score, I can hear immediately in my head.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16Sometimes, there's just nothing for it but to check it yourself.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Wagner wrote it for such a huge string group.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24I just have to make sure which version...
0:24:25 > 0:24:29..of this kind of extraordinary bit of clouds.
0:24:29 > 0:24:30HE PLAYS
0:24:37 > 0:24:41That's unbelievable, because all the parts cross over each other,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45so you really do get the idea of clouds.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Ever since I was a kid, I've had an absolute non-stop soundtrack
0:24:53 > 0:24:56of music going through my head. I thought everybody did,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58and I was rather stunned to realise later in life
0:24:58 > 0:25:02that that's actually not normal, but it never stops.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10Three, and they're playing the long notes. That's confusing.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18I used to find it hard to go to sleep with the music in there,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20and I remember having to kind of bash my head backwards
0:25:20 > 0:25:22and forwards almost to kind of...
0:25:22 > 0:25:26at nights, to try and get it out of the ear.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30You get a kind of little fricassee of Brahms.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33And a bit of the music from Harry Potter.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37It's utterly undenominational.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40It's an equal opportunities barrel of garbage going on up there.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Music has the possibility of saying to people, "You're not alone.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55"Somebody else understands - there's somebody else has felt this.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59"This interprets where you are in the world."
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Another life, I could have imagined being an actor.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10And, of course, in some ways, you are an actor doing this.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15# As I wandered down a street
0:26:15 > 0:26:17# As used to be in Brummagem
0:26:17 > 0:26:19# I knowed nobody I did meet
0:26:19 > 0:26:22# They've changed their faces in Brummagem... #
0:26:22 > 0:26:25The city that really made Simon Rattle's reputation
0:26:25 > 0:26:28was Birmingham, where he arrived in 1980,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32at the age of 25, and fired up with enthusiasm.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33It's a vocation. It's crazy.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37It's like Werner Herzog pushing a ship over a mountain.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41You have to do it, because you are desperate to do it.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Otherwise, don't bother, because it's...
0:26:44 > 0:26:46It's tough. It's like sleeping outside.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48It's wonderful, but it's cold at night as well.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52When he left 18 years later, Birmingham was transformed,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54and he was a household name.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56- Simon Rattle.- Simon Rattle. - Simon Rattle.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59- Simon.- Simon. - He's a highly-thought-of conductor.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00Simon Rattle.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Now, he has returned to the city for the day,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07to rehearse for a benefit concert with the orchestra
0:27:07 > 0:27:10he took to world status, the CBSO -
0:27:10 > 0:27:12the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31It was the first musical family, really, I had,
0:27:31 > 0:27:33and it still feels like it.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36They were telling me yesterday, there are a few people who were here
0:27:36 > 0:27:40before I came, and they call them the "pre-Rattleites".
0:27:44 > 0:27:46'There's such a lot of history.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49'We built this place together, and we build what the orchestra is.'
0:27:51 > 0:27:52Hush, hush, hush.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57'When I came here, I was 25, and lots of people were 25,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00'and we put it together...
0:28:00 > 0:28:03'together, if you can say that in English.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09'The orchestra had lost its principal conductor.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13I mean, it was kind of an extraordinary story,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17that the manager of the orchestra was also the principal conductor's agent,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21and the orchestra had a vote of no confidence in the manager.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23The manager stayed and the conductor walked out,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27and so they really needed someone to look after them,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30and I remember when I came, we started working.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32They said, "Oh, God, we're just so happy to say,
0:28:32 > 0:28:34"'Are we going to play this short or long,'
0:28:34 > 0:28:36"or, 'On the string or off the string,'
0:28:36 > 0:28:39"or, 'When are we going to breathe on these chords?'"
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Just all this, what I'd call,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44the dental hygiene of the conductor and orchestra's relationship.
0:28:46 > 0:28:51Yeah. Now, can I take the violins, this orchestra, one before 23?
0:28:51 > 0:28:53The long notes, could you use very, very little bow,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55so we're in a good place for the off-the-string thing?
0:28:55 > 0:28:58'Almost a year ago, I became principal conductor
0:28:58 > 0:29:00'of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,'
0:29:00 > 0:29:03and the BBC came up with the rather alarming idea
0:29:03 > 0:29:06of filming our first day's work together.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09HE SINGS A SEQUENCE
0:29:09 > 0:29:11And so the B-flat particularly is light.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13I thought it would be a good opportunity
0:29:13 > 0:29:16to show you how a conductor and an orchestra work together
0:29:16 > 0:29:17'to prepare a performance.'
0:29:17 > 0:29:19Yes, stop. Yeah, stop, please.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22'They wanted to put themselves back on track.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25'God knows why they thought I could be the person to do it,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27'because I had so much to learn.'
0:29:27 > 0:29:29So we hear the difference. OK.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35He's been described as one of the world's most brilliant conductors,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38while remaining an impossibly, unbelievably normal chap.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42Of course, the conductor is the only person who doesn't play
0:29:42 > 0:29:45wrong notes, and who nobody actually hears.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49The only thing that I could say in my defence is -
0:29:49 > 0:29:51conductors only really start becoming halfway competent
0:29:51 > 0:29:53by the time they're 60.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56So I've got a few more years to go.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Together, he and the CBSO will develop
0:29:58 > 0:30:02until it's rightly recognised as a world-class orchestra.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05He was conducting every work for the first time,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07and he was making experiments with them,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11and as a similarly young man, I was so nervous with everybody,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14and I just watched him open-mouthed
0:30:14 > 0:30:18as, even at the age of 25, he could command the room.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20And this is something he's carried with him all his life.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33He set a model when he came to Birmingham.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38The '60s and '70s, music directors of orchestras were flying
0:30:38 > 0:30:40in and out. The age of the jumbo jet,
0:30:40 > 0:30:41so you weren't a proper conductor
0:30:41 > 0:30:44unless you were in and out of a jumbo jet every other week.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47MUSIC DROWNS INSTRUCTIONS
0:30:47 > 0:30:49He lived in Birmingham.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51He spent an enormous amount of time
0:30:51 > 0:30:53seriously working with the orchestra,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56and without many changes in terms of personnel,
0:30:56 > 0:30:58turned them into something very special,
0:30:58 > 0:31:00and it's an example of the famous phrase
0:31:00 > 0:31:03that there's no such thing as bad orchestras,
0:31:03 > 0:31:04there's only bad conductors.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08All the players were behind what Simon was trying to do,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11and were prepared to work their socks off
0:31:11 > 0:31:13until the last minute of rehearsal.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19But since we were never going to sound like the Berlin Philharmonic,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23and the orchestra had always this lightness on its feet,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26we decided basically that we would make ourselves into
0:31:26 > 0:31:29the best white wine we could possibly be.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34Simon Rattle, this highly distinguished conductor,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36who really could have the choice of any orchestra in the world,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39but he chooses the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45Rattle's belief in the potential of his orchestra,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48and the growing recognition that these players needed
0:31:48 > 0:31:50a new concert hall worthy of their status,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52would have a profound effect.
0:31:53 > 0:31:58The redevelopment of Birmingham in the 1980s
0:31:58 > 0:32:00is due to Simon being at the CBSO.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04The creation of tens of thousands of jobs,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07transforming the cityscape through the arts,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10this all comes down to the regeneration of
0:32:10 > 0:32:12the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Now, I am not exaggerating.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17The car industry had basically collapsed, and they had to say,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20"Well, how do we make now a new Birmingham?"
0:32:20 > 0:32:22The city fathers realised they have this gift.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26They'd got one of those people who can change the world,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30and he was literally the best-known figure in Birmingham.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32People saw him in the street, didn't bother him,
0:32:32 > 0:32:36but, truly, the man in the street, everybody,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39everybody, everybody, everybody knew who he was.
0:32:39 > 0:32:40Simon Rattle.
0:32:40 > 0:32:41Simon Rattle.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43Simon Rattle.
0:32:43 > 0:32:44Rattle? Simon Rattle.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48It took more than five years and £160 million
0:32:48 > 0:32:50to build Symphony Hall,
0:32:50 > 0:32:54one of the most acoustically friendly concert halls in the world,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57and the cornerstone of a new Birmingham.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59I remembered being together in the room
0:32:59 > 0:33:02with the Labour bigwigs and the Conservative bigwigs and saying,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06"Look, we'll fight like cat and dog over all kinds of things,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10"but where, actually, the future of Birmingham is,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13"and the arts and the culture and that, no-one's going to divide us.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17"Whoever gets voted in will make the new hall happen,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20"because we know this is the only way to change the city."
0:33:23 > 0:33:26At last, on June 12th, 1991,
0:33:26 > 0:33:28the Queen attended a gala concert
0:33:28 > 0:33:32to show off this fantastic orchestra in their shiny new home.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42I remember going to the opening at Symphony Hall,
0:33:42 > 0:33:47being part of the sheer excitement of that opening, and feeling,
0:33:47 > 0:33:49"This is one of the best places
0:33:49 > 0:33:50"I have ever encountered
0:33:50 > 0:33:51"for music-making."
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Some people found it too live.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00The phrase "you could hear a pin drop" was actually true.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03You could hear a pin drop, and you could hear people coughing
0:34:03 > 0:34:07and so on, but I think Simon knew immediately
0:34:07 > 0:34:09how to manage the hall,
0:34:09 > 0:34:13and just made the most of this incredible liveness and vividness.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25It was just a moment that transformed Birmingham's status
0:34:25 > 0:34:27in the whole world of music,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30and it transformed the orchestra's status as well,
0:34:30 > 0:34:31because now they had a room
0:34:31 > 0:34:34in which they sounded really, really wonderful.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39But all this phenomenal success would bring its own problems.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43There was a time in the latter part of Simon's period in Birmingham
0:34:43 > 0:34:47where we were so closely associated as orchestra and conductor
0:34:47 > 0:34:49that he was both the orchestra's greatest strength
0:34:49 > 0:34:51and also its greatest weakness.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54It became very difficult to promote the qualities of the orchestra,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57which were indeed very fine, without Simon.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01Well, it's been a dramatic week for the orchestra,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04a week in which its music director, Sir Simon Rattle,
0:35:04 > 0:35:06announced he's quitting the post.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08He's a hard act to follow,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10and a figure dear to the hearts of the Birmingham public.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Just ask anyone in the city centre to name a conductor.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15Sir Simon Rattle, I think.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17And he's got great hair.
0:35:17 > 0:35:18Wonderful chap.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21I'm not a classical music person myself.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23I do know he's got a very good reputation.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26It was the right time to leave, so that they could then...
0:35:26 > 0:35:28they could go further,
0:35:28 > 0:35:33because there's a limit to what one person can give an orchestra.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40When I went back to do the benevolent fund concerts,
0:35:40 > 0:35:42within about five minutes, we could have almost laughed,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45thinking, "Oh, this is so easy,"
0:35:45 > 0:35:49because, basically, we're still speaking the same language.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Some things get better with time, and it...
0:35:55 > 0:35:59Let's hope...let's hope it's not all just a kind of downward spiral.
0:35:59 > 0:36:06Sometimes, all of us wish we had the airy confidence
0:36:06 > 0:36:10of when we started, but that's not always to be.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15HE SINGS ALONG VIGOROUSLY
0:36:22 > 0:36:25But there is something in a little bit of experience. I think, "OK...
0:36:27 > 0:36:29"..this landmine I've already stepped on,
0:36:29 > 0:36:31"and I lost a limb because of that.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34"Maybe this time, I'll walk round it."
0:36:46 > 0:36:49'What's interesting, you know, you can be in your 50s and 60s
0:36:49 > 0:36:52'and there's still plenty more landmines to discover.'
0:36:52 > 0:36:54It's less.
0:36:54 > 0:36:55# Dah-da... #
0:36:55 > 0:36:57And down. Yeah. And it's not a different tempo.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00And the CBSO has, I must say,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03I'm so proud to have been involved with them,
0:37:03 > 0:37:07and I'm so happy that they're in such wonderful shape
0:37:07 > 0:37:10and have kept their own particular
0:37:10 > 0:37:13..Sauvignon blanc colour.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21# I always wanted to waltz in Berlin
0:37:21 > 0:37:23# Waltz in Berlin
0:37:24 > 0:37:26# Waltz in Berlin
0:37:26 > 0:37:29# The way things look, we'll be waltzing right in... #
0:37:31 > 0:37:34For more than a century, the Berlin Philharmonic have been
0:37:34 > 0:37:36at the pinnacle of German music-making,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39so when the players elected a British conductor
0:37:39 > 0:37:43to lead them at the threshold of the new century...
0:37:43 > 0:37:45HE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:37:45 > 0:37:46..Sir Simon Rattle.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50..no-one could have been more surprised than Simon Rattle himself.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53'Sir Simon Rattle has been chosen as the new chief conductor
0:37:53 > 0:37:55'of the Berlin Philharmonic,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59'which is widely regarded as the world's leading orchestra.'
0:37:59 > 0:38:01Who knows what they wanted?
0:38:01 > 0:38:05But I do think they saw that I could expand their repertoire,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08and that I had a different view of what their future could be.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10I remember some of the players said to me before,
0:38:10 > 0:38:14"You won't completely neglect our old favourites, will you?"
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Traditionally, the orchestra was famous
0:38:18 > 0:38:21for its rich repertoire of classical and romantic music.
0:38:23 > 0:38:28They wanted something else, and we'd try and decide together,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32"Well, what does an orchestra mean in this new century?"
0:38:35 > 0:38:38For his first concert as chief conductor,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Rattle made a bold statement,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44asking the Berlin Philharmonic to embrace,
0:38:44 > 0:38:46alongside Mahler, the contemporary.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59To begin his tenure at Berlin
0:38:59 > 0:39:02with a piece by me,
0:39:02 > 0:39:05by a young - if I may say that -
0:39:05 > 0:39:08British, not German, composer,
0:39:08 > 0:39:10and in a certain kind of language,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13was certainly a statement, and a very bold statement.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18The orchestra found Asyla very, very hard.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21I mean, really hard.
0:39:25 > 0:39:31It was very tough for an orchestra that is used to dancing their music.
0:39:31 > 0:39:36I mean, if you danced a lot of Asyla, you'd break your leg pretty quickly.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45I probably allowed myself to push the boat out a bit further
0:39:45 > 0:39:47in terms of the structure, because I knew that
0:39:47 > 0:39:50something in the way he controls the line of the piece
0:39:50 > 0:39:54would bring out aspects I probably wasn't consciously aware of
0:39:54 > 0:39:56when I was writing it.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01For the new principal conductor of the Berlin Phil
0:40:01 > 0:40:03to bring a piece that was based on techno music
0:40:03 > 0:40:05to the Philharmonie for his inauguration,
0:40:05 > 0:40:07it was typical Simon.
0:40:22 > 0:40:27We are, in our understanding, the most famous orchestra in Berlin,
0:40:27 > 0:40:28and in the world.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33The orchestra is always open
0:40:33 > 0:40:34for new ideas,
0:40:34 > 0:40:36but you have to convince them.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40And you have to make the best with your ideas -
0:40:40 > 0:40:42and this is what Simon has done.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47I haven't liked ALL the stuff he's brought,
0:40:47 > 0:40:51but who likes all the stuff you have to play all the time?
0:40:51 > 0:40:53It's just so exciting
0:40:53 > 0:40:55and fascinating to see what he does.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59As he's always been,
0:40:59 > 0:41:01you have to be very steadfast in your beliefs,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04and have some kind of human touch
0:41:04 > 0:41:05and also an authority,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07at the same time.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16For the more than a dozen years now,
0:41:16 > 0:41:20Rattle has consistently led the Berlin Philharmonic away
0:41:20 > 0:41:21from its comfort zone...
0:41:23 > 0:41:25..taking the players into the unfamiliar world
0:41:25 > 0:41:28of the orchestra pit to explore opera.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35You tell a story in a different way,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38and that's a difficult thing working with an orchestra
0:41:38 > 0:41:40that's not always playing opera.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47They don't always realise that you have to make a different sound.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49And sometimes, yes, it does have to be ugly,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52and sometimes, yes, it does have to be violent.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56It's great for an orchestra
0:41:56 > 0:41:58which is as sure of itself
0:41:58 > 0:41:59as the Berlin Philharmonic,
0:41:59 > 0:42:01to have to be so flexible.
0:42:05 > 0:42:11Normally, everybody can deliver in orchestral concerts,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14but every night a singer is different.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16They need a bit more breath,
0:42:16 > 0:42:17they need a bit less breath,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20and you must be there at their service at every moment.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34This orchestra can very easily -
0:42:34 > 0:42:36not exactly ignore the conductor -
0:42:36 > 0:42:39but they don't need a lot of help
0:42:39 > 0:42:41once they know a piece.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44But, actually, a few of them said,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47"Wow, Puccini? We REALLY need you!"
0:42:49 > 0:42:52And it's a matter of making it all balance.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55In some ways...
0:42:55 > 0:42:58erm...I know I once said that a conductor's like being
0:42:58 > 0:43:02a kind of plug - an adapter plug - between the music and the audience,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05but, in this, it's more like you're a catcher at the circus.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08You have to be ready - "OK, what do they need?"
0:43:08 > 0:43:10SOLOIST SINGS
0:43:27 > 0:43:28CHORUS SINGS
0:43:31 > 0:43:34There is not so many conductors who knows about singing -
0:43:34 > 0:43:36what we need - where we need to breathe -
0:43:36 > 0:43:39why, suddenly, we slow down,
0:43:39 > 0:43:40why are we now suddenly faster?
0:43:40 > 0:43:42So, that's the art
0:43:42 > 0:43:44of the conductor to let people breathe
0:43:44 > 0:43:46and breathe with them.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54What is, I think, amazing about him,
0:43:54 > 0:43:59that he builds all his strength and all this incredible power he has,
0:43:59 > 0:44:01on trust to other people.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05So he is not, in a way, the boss who is imposing his rules,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08but he really lets everybody feel that they are really good.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16I think it's very special for conductors,
0:44:16 > 0:44:18because they don't make any sound
0:44:18 > 0:44:20and they would love to, as well!
0:44:20 > 0:44:22So it must be hard for them.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24You know, they want to produce the sound,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27and they have only the people to lead.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31In the year leading up to his 60th birthday,
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Rattle has taken 202 rehearsals for 84 performances
0:44:35 > 0:44:37with six different orchestras.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Today it's the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment -
0:44:40 > 0:44:44they play all their music on authentic period instruments.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53They're rehearsing Joseph Haydn's Creation -
0:44:53 > 0:44:55just as it would have been heard
0:44:55 > 0:44:57in the late 18th century.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11Working with period instruments is very different
0:45:11 > 0:45:14from a modern symphony orchestra
0:45:14 > 0:45:17but Rattle delights in the sounds that they produce.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19Yeah, good.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21Just aaah-pah-raa, pa-rah...
0:45:21 > 0:45:22We just have to get... OK.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24FLUTE PLAYS
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Aaah-pah-raa, pa-rah...
0:45:27 > 0:45:30'So much of what I'd seen in classical scores,
0:45:30 > 0:45:32'I was not hearing.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36And the problems I had often had
0:45:36 > 0:45:39with really dealing with this music,
0:45:39 > 0:45:42were to do with a matter of simply...
0:45:42 > 0:45:45What did this mean on the page?
0:45:45 > 0:45:49'And a realisation of what we've lost with a lot of modern instruments.'
0:45:49 > 0:45:52Take your time over the first note would be beautiful.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02No, it's fantastic, it's got all that direction.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06It'd be great if it was very stable, within the direction.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19You get the feeling as a member of the orchestra
0:46:19 > 0:46:20that he can see and hear exactly
0:46:20 > 0:46:22what every single member is doing
0:46:22 > 0:46:24at any given moment.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29I go by for bars and bars without realising
0:46:29 > 0:46:30I've been playing from memory.
0:46:30 > 0:46:31"Help!" You know?
0:46:31 > 0:46:33So it's thrilling
0:46:33 > 0:46:35and it's a little dangerous, too.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38Even when I sometimes don't entirely see eye to eye
0:46:38 > 0:46:39with what Simon wants to do,
0:46:39 > 0:46:43there is, nevertheless, that wonderful spark.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Could you make your diminuendo a bit little later, so...
0:46:46 > 0:46:48Mm-pa-pa-pa-pa...
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Ta-ta-ta-ta...
0:46:59 > 0:47:03He really understands the expressive quality of these instruments
0:47:03 > 0:47:06and how it relates to the music we play.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11I think he's always liked the sound of the wooden flute.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14I mean, he was sold on that right at the start,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16which was nice for me to hear.
0:47:20 > 0:47:21HE SINGS ALONG
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Yeah, great. Good. Yeah, good.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29The horns, could you be a bit less in 26, and a bit longer?
0:47:29 > 0:47:31Pahh-pahh-pahh-pahh...
0:47:31 > 0:47:33And could we not go down too much after...
0:47:33 > 0:47:37da-da-dut-dut dai-ya pah-pah pa-ra pup-pup-pup?
0:47:37 > 0:47:41Over the years, there've been incredible surprises.
0:47:41 > 0:47:46I mean, simply unbelievable revelation of how it could sound.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Could we make the first one like, da-da-pup-pup-par-rup-pup
0:47:49 > 0:47:51pum-pum-pum-pum...each time,
0:47:51 > 0:47:53and then it can be a bit crisper,
0:47:53 > 0:47:55and have a bit more character?
0:47:55 > 0:47:56It is a bit strange, isn't it?
0:47:56 > 0:47:58So, again, yeah, 23.
0:48:00 > 0:48:01Three...and...
0:48:03 > 0:48:05Simon has a very...
0:48:05 > 0:48:07emotional connection with it.
0:48:07 > 0:48:08Whatever you're playing with him,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11you do get the feeling that this piece of music
0:48:11 > 0:48:12matters so much to him
0:48:12 > 0:48:15and it's one of his favourite pieces of music.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22Simon does trust us, hugely.
0:48:22 > 0:48:27He's humble enough to allow us to play
0:48:27 > 0:48:29and mould us...
0:48:29 > 0:48:33I mean, if he doesn't like it, he's quite capable
0:48:33 > 0:48:34of letting us know!
0:48:34 > 0:48:37Could you... There is a little bit of excess personality.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40Yeah.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Oh, and...because they do this beautiful character,
0:48:47 > 0:48:50let's do something else in the third bar.
0:48:50 > 0:48:51Let's be a little bit less,
0:48:51 > 0:48:53and a little bit less gluey there.
0:49:02 > 0:49:03Oh, yeah.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10He was completely brilliant the way he rehearsed it -
0:49:10 > 0:49:12he knew exactly when to unpick something
0:49:12 > 0:49:14in order to put it back together,
0:49:14 > 0:49:16and when to leave well alone.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19And he just made us feel confident
0:49:19 > 0:49:22but at the edge of our seats at the same time.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Legato.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39'The orchestra is such an unusual organism anyway.'
0:49:39 > 0:49:41Fabulous!
0:49:41 > 0:49:43'Is there any other area of life
0:49:43 > 0:49:46where so many incredibly skilled people
0:49:46 > 0:49:49have to subsume themselves to a greater whole?
0:49:52 > 0:49:54I can't really... I can't really think of it.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06The Easter Festival in Baden-Baden in the German Black Forest
0:50:06 > 0:50:09is one of the Berlin Philharmonic's annual events.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13We are in the last three days of the festival.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16I have four concerts and two general rehearsals.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19You wake up in the morning feeling you're running on empty,
0:50:19 > 0:50:21but actually the music really helps.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23Yeah, we're knackered.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26But it's worth being knackered, if it's good.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29And what's the festival for? When everybody else has the holiday,
0:50:29 > 0:50:31then we're on parade.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45The festival brings visitors to Baden-Baden from across the world,
0:50:45 > 0:50:50eager to see artistes of the stature of Rattle and today's soloist,
0:50:50 > 0:50:53the superstar violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter,
0:50:53 > 0:50:56who has a morning rehearsal with the orchestra.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59We've known each other since we were kids,
0:50:59 > 0:51:01only she still looks like a kid.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03We've never done the Brahms together,
0:51:03 > 0:51:05so this will be fascinating,
0:51:05 > 0:51:07and it's relatively little time.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10But sometimes fast cooking is great, you see.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12It keeps the vitamins.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Yeah, I remember when he was also
0:51:17 > 0:51:19the young and up-and-coming.
0:51:19 > 0:51:24It's very difficult to comprehend that he is turning 60.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26I've just turned 50, so...
0:51:26 > 0:51:27Time is a strange thing.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39Making music is a very interesting conversation,
0:51:39 > 0:51:41if it is a good concert, of course.
0:51:41 > 0:51:43There are boring concerts, as well!
0:51:43 > 0:51:46But, in a good concert, it still has a very fresh and
0:51:46 > 0:51:50totally believable emotional message.
0:51:50 > 0:51:55Particularly for Sir Simon who is a fresh mentally
0:51:55 > 0:51:58and, dare I say, physically - his wife knows better -
0:51:58 > 0:52:02but he is just as fresh as the daisy.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05He's as innocent, but much better informed,
0:52:05 > 0:52:08as he used to be as a younger musician.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27It's wonderful to be witness of his development
0:52:27 > 0:52:29as a conductor, if I may say.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32Because more and more do I realise
0:52:32 > 0:52:34when we work together
0:52:34 > 0:52:38how much he has an incredibly in-depth understanding of the score.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41That gives you really the feeling you can go anywhere,
0:52:41 > 0:52:44musically speaking, and he and the orchestra will follow.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13APPLAUSE
0:53:19 > 0:53:22Simon Rattle has flown to London for the day.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27He's been summoned to Buckingham Palace to receive a rare honour -
0:53:27 > 0:53:30membership of the Order of Merit from the Queen.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32I am in no sense a royalist,
0:53:32 > 0:53:36but I have enormous respect for what they do.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40I suppose I'm not even sure really what the OM involves
0:53:40 > 0:53:42but I did look back at the list and...
0:53:45 > 0:53:47..humbled is the word!
0:53:49 > 0:53:51By my early 20s I realised, OK,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53I seem to have a career here,
0:53:53 > 0:53:55much to my surprise.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57I'd always meant to go to university.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00I remember feeling, "Well, am I only going to be a musician, then?"
0:54:00 > 0:54:03What else is there? Could I be anything else?
0:54:03 > 0:54:04Could anything...
0:54:04 > 0:54:07Even, actually, could anything take the place of music?
0:54:07 > 0:54:11And so the idea came that maybe I could take a year
0:54:11 > 0:54:15and I simply got in touch with some colleges in Oxford...
0:54:15 > 0:54:18I was able to do the three university terms,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21and I made myself a promise
0:54:21 > 0:54:26that I would not listen to music at all in those weeks,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29I would simply just deal with poetry and literature
0:54:29 > 0:54:31and everything else.
0:54:31 > 0:54:32It was wonderful.
0:54:52 > 0:54:53Hello. Nice to see you.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57OK, Cheers, guys. See you later.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04Her Majesty said, "For goodness' sake don't worry when you're conducting,
0:55:04 > 0:55:06"you'll lose an eye."
0:55:06 > 0:55:09My eldest son - who is now 30 -
0:55:09 > 0:55:12when he was little he used to say something, a lovely phrase...
0:55:12 > 0:55:14"I'm very up-cited."
0:55:14 > 0:55:16So, actually, it was very up-citing!
0:55:16 > 0:55:18Very sweet.
0:55:18 > 0:55:19And now I feel a bit like
0:55:19 > 0:55:20David Attenborough saying,
0:55:20 > 0:55:22"A rather shy little thing here."
0:55:37 > 0:55:39To mark the 100th anniversary
0:55:39 > 0:55:41of the start of the First World War
0:55:41 > 0:55:43a ceremony was held at the military
0:55:43 > 0:55:45cemetery near Mons in Belgium.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52The music for the event was a special recording,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54symbolically bringing together
0:55:54 > 0:55:57some of the greatest musicians from Britain and from Germany.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02Who is involved with two of the greatest orchestras on the planet -
0:56:02 > 0:56:03the London Symphony Orchestra
0:56:03 > 0:56:05and the Berlin Philharmonic?
0:56:05 > 0:56:06Simon Rattle.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09And so players - some whom had never met each other before -
0:56:09 > 0:56:13came together and collaborated on a recording which was then
0:56:13 > 0:56:15used in the cemetery at Mons.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28He chose George Butterworth's Shropshire Lad -
0:56:28 > 0:56:31Butterworth died in the trenches,
0:56:31 > 0:56:33and I think what Simon Rattle
0:56:33 > 0:56:36always wants is to take people on a journey.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58Simon manages to make the serious stuff plenty serious,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00but, immediately,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03the human stuff is everywhere.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06And you hear that in the music-making.
0:57:06 > 0:57:07His whole body is in it,
0:57:07 > 0:57:11And so that sense that music is engaging ALL of you...
0:57:11 > 0:57:13not SOME of you...?
0:57:13 > 0:57:15Hello!
0:57:15 > 0:57:17Bless you, Simon Rattle.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30It is one of the most extraordinary professions there is.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32PLAYS PIANO
0:57:32 > 0:57:35The challenges never stop,
0:57:35 > 0:57:38no matter how ever much experience you have.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47If you're bored of conducting,
0:57:47 > 0:57:50then you're really... You're really in danger.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54And so I'm looking forward to...
0:57:56 > 0:57:57..the next years.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00Somebody said to me, "You know, Simon,
0:58:00 > 0:58:02"the really good conductors,
0:58:02 > 0:58:06"they only start getting good when they're 65.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09"You're no exception, so don't be in a hurry."