In conversation with Sir Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Rattle, Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), is in Australia for a series of concerts presenting the LSO in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. It is only the fourth visit to Australia by this illustrious world-renowned orchestra in its 120 years of operation, and Rattle’s third visit. His first was with the Berliner Philharmoniker, when he was Principal Conductor for 16 years, and the second was as Guest Conductor with the Australian World Orchestra.

A no-nonsense, north of England, Liverpool-born child of middle-class jazz-loving parents, Rattle was brought up with the music of The Beatles in the 1960s, but from an early age fell in love with classical music. He was 11 years old when he saw George Hurst conduct the Mahler 2 (Resurrection Symphony) with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Falling in love with the music, he decided there and then that he would be a conductor. His astonishing rise to fame as a young wunderkind is well-documented.