Rattle takes London Symphony post

Simon Rattle, who will step down as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in 2018, has been named music director of the London Symphony Orchestra, succeeding Valery Gergiev. Rattle will take over the London podium in September 2017, The Guardian’s Mark Brown reports:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/simon-rattle-appointed-music-director-london-symphony-orchestra

Rattle has been highly vocal in advocating construction of a state-of-the-art concert hall in London, which has been plagued for decades with dull-sounding and otherwise unsuitable venues for orchestral music. Whether his acceptance of the LSO post signals willingness on the part of London to commit to a new concert hall is naturally the subject of much speculation.