Simon Rattle has signed a five-year contract to become principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, working alongside chief conductor and music director Semyon Bychkov and fellow principal guest conductor Jakub Hrůša.
Rattle first conducted the Czech Philharmonic in 2019. 'I fell in love with their cordiality and with their typically Czech dark humour,' says Rattle. 'I instantly felt connected to the players, and I told myself: this is truly worthwhile. Already at the first rehearsal of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, it was clear to me that I would want to remain in some way. Mahler must have had that sound in his ears when he wrote his symphonies. I realised right away that I want to be on the podium with these musicians, and the subsequent years when I returned to the orchestra have just confirmed that.'
Rattle will continue as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, a position he took on at the start of the 2023/24 after a relatively short stint with the London Symphony Orchestra.
