Watching the Berlin Philharmonic going into conclave to choose a successor to Simon Rattle — after countless hours of secret discussion they have chosen Kirill Petrenko — reminds one of little less than the election of a pope. In both cases the expectation is the same: the organisations are so iconic that they must continue into the future without a hitch and without question.
Peter Phillips
Orchestral infallibility
We forget that the great symphony orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic were once radical project ensembles — until they became part of the establishment
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