A leave-taking full of love. This was how Simon Rattle once described the last movement of Mahler’s Symphony No 9 (1909-10), not the composer’s final work but, given tragedies in his life and his failing health, written in the shadow of death. Rattle was still with the Berlin Philharmonic when he made that remark. He had not yet arrived at the London Symphony Orchestra as music director, in 2017, nor thought about his departure from it, which finally came – in one sense – on Sunday at the Royal Albert Hall. He chose the symphony for his official farewell to an ensemble he has held in close affection, and whose innate qualities have flowered under his assiduous and energetic nurture. (Luckily his successor, Antonio Pappano, shares these characteristics in his own distinct way.)
That said, Sunday’s unforgettable Prom 56, which had opened with Poulenc’s Figure humaine – a chance for the BBC Singers to show their mettle – radiated affirmation, not regret. It helped that this was not absolutely the end. Orchestra and conductor were off the next day to Berlin to perform the Ninth again; and as emeritus conductor, Rattle has LSO dates next season, notably Janáček’s Jenůfa in January. If there was a tinge of regret, it was not of a musical kind; more a collective remorse that the UK had proved such a sunless, weed-choked habitat for its most free-thinking musical asset. Rattle has fought our music battles for nearly half a century, a tireless and eloquent figurehead. Now at last, and while he so vigorously can, he has released himself. Next season, he starts as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich. How we envy that city, that orchestra.
