Rattle retained

The Berlin Philharmonic has voted to keep Simon Rattle as its chief conductor beyond the expiration of his current contract in 2012. Details of the extension are still in negotiation.

The orchestra's musicians, who elect their conductor, chose Rattle to succeed Claudio Abbado in 2002. A few seasons into his tenure, though, the British conductor's progressive ideas reportedly generated dissension between musicians wedded to traditional repertory and those receptive to Rattle's programming of modern and contemporary music and performances in uncoventional venues.