Sir Simon Rattle And Christoph Lieben-Seutter Feel London Needs New Concert Venue

Sir Simon Rattle, the legendary British conductor, has expressed his views on the future of London Symphony Orchestra. He says it is very important for London to have a bigger and better venue to announce its presence in the global music scenario.

According to The Guardian, Simon Rattle, the stalwart is all set to take the responsibility of heading the London Symphony Orchestra. He will start his tenure from September and is currently working on his final season at the Berlin Philharmonic after which he will leave that responsibility in 2018. Rattle admits managing two orchestras at the same time is daunting, but he is up to the challenge.

Sir Simon Rattle, 61, said that the current home of the London Symphony Orchestra, the Barbican Centre Concert Hall has allowed him to perform only 80 percent of what he is capable of. He also stretched on the fact that a new project involving the creation of a "Centre for Music" worth $347 million will soon be in process. It will have all the amenities required for the digital era of music, where the visitors will be able to listen and get all the required information about the performances via specially enabled pods. There will also be no division in the audience with the abolishing of front and back house areas. The project also involves building a new hall on the site of the recently relocated Museum of London which will become the new home to the London Symphonic Orchestra.

Artistic Director Christoph Lieben-Seutter also shares Simon Rattle's views on London Symphony Orchestra. According to the Evening Standard, he is of the view that to make a "bold statement", London must have a concert hall like that of Hamburg's new Elbphilharmonie worth $852 million. The building's grand opening was witnessed by musicians from all over the world along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Elbphilharmonie has been designed by Tate Modern's architects Herzog & de Meuron and has a seating capacity of more than 2,000. The audience is never more than 30 yards away from the main stage while there are 10000 individually shaped panels that ensure the smooth flow of music throughout the hall.

The London concert hall project, on the other hand, has suffered some serious setbacks like the removal of funding by the government, but the City of London Corporation has assured that they will be making up for the shortfall. Simon Rattle, though, believes that this will need a huge amount of fundraising for the dream project to actually happen. Something encouraging has happened to the London Symphony Orchestra with the introduction of a stalwart like Simon Rattle as their head instructor. There is no doubt that relocation of London Symphony Orchestra to a brand-new concert hall will be the perfect way to start off their new season.

TagsSimon Rattle, London, London Symphony Orchestra, Christoph Lieben-Seutter, Barbican, hamburg