Their long flirtation is over, and now they are engaged: Simon Rattle, the Liverpool-born maestro who rose to become chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, said Tuesday that he would return to Britain in 2017 as music director of the London Symphony Orchestra.
But if it is now clear which orchestra Mr. Rattle will lead when he steps down in Berlin, it is slightly less clear where they will end up playing. During a rapturously received tour of London last month with the Berlin Philharmonic, Mr. Rattle publicly lobbied for the construction of a new concert hall in London and government officials promised a feasibility study.
In accepting the London post Mr. Rattle, 60, said in a statement released Tuesday morning in London that he liked the fact that the orchestra rarely referred to what he called its “long and illustrious history.”
“Instead, refreshingly, they talk about the future, what can they make anew, what can they improve, how can they reach further into the community,” Mr. Rattle said.“In terms of musical excellence, it is clear that the sky’s the limit, but equally important, in terms of philosophy, they constantly strive to be a 21st-century orchestra.”
With the announcement Mr. Rattle effectively removed himself from consideration — whether real or imagined — for the post of music director of the New York Philharmonic, which will become vacant when Alan Gilbert steps down in 2017. While Mr. Rattle has never conducted the New York Philharmonic as a guest, some music lovers and industry figures have pointed to his track record in Berlin, with its combination of musical excellence and innovation, as a pattern that New York might want to follow.
Now London and New York are mirror images of each other: the London Symphony Orchestra has settled on its artistic leadership but does not know if it will get a new hall, while the New York Philharmonic is moving forward to renovate its hall but has not chosen who will conduct the orchestra once the construction is completed.
Mr. Rattle, a shaggy-haired conductor with a youthful bearing, startled the music world two years ago when he announced that he would step down from his Berlin post, one of the most important in the world, when his contract expired in 2018.
“As a Liverpool boy, it is impossible not to think of the Beatles’ question, ‘Will you still need me when I’m 64?’” he said at the time, noting that he would be nearing that age himself.
The Berlin Philharmonic plans to meet this spring to choose a successor — and to fill one of the most storied positions in the classical music realm. Much of the debate about Berlin’s future now centers on whether it will pick an older, more established conductor who might lead it for a short transitional period or choose one of the dynamic but relatively untested young conductors, as several other major orchestras have.
The London Symphony Orchestra is regularly ranked as one of the world’s best, and is known for its work ethic and versatility. In addition to playing concerts at home and on tour, the orchestra has established a name for itself recording music for films — among them “The Imitation Game,” several Harry Potter films and all six “Star Wars” movies.
In London Mr. Rattle will succeed Valery Gergiev, who has been the orchestra’s principal conductor since 2007. But the London orchestra will give Mr. Rattle the rare title of “music director,” which was also held by Claudio Abbado from 1984 to 1987.
Mr. Rattle led the ensemble during its most-watched performance ever at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. There it played music from “Chariots of Fire” with Rowan Atkinson, in the guise of his Mr. Bean character, goofing around on the synthesizer.
But although Mr. Rattle’s move to the London Symphony Orchestra has long been rumored, his known dissatisfaction with London’s concert halls had been seen as a possible sticking point. The symphony is the resident orchestra of the Barbican, which Mr. Rattle criticized in an interview last month with the BBC.
“You have no idea how wonderful an orchestra like the London Symphony Orchestra can sound in a great concert hall,” he said in the interview. “The Barbican is serviceable, but it’s like when I’ve seen so many young violinists finally be handed a great violin — it’s a whole other world.”
Later in the month the British government announced it would conduct a “new feasibility study to develop a world-class concert hall for London which will be led by the Barbican Center.”
It is unclear whether there is appetite in Britain to build, and pay for, a new hall. But proponents of the idea were heartened by the announcement. Nicholas Kenyon, the managing director of the Barbican, and Kathryn McDowell, the managing director of the London Symphony Orchestra, said in a joint statement that the commitment to explore the possibility was “a hugely exciting prospect.”
This year New Yorkers will have opportunities to hear Mr. Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra — but not together. Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct the orchestra in a concert of Britten, Gershwin and Sibelius on March 18 at Avery Fisher Hall. And next fall the Berlin Philharmonic and Mr. Rattle will play a cycle of Beethoven symphonies at Carnegie Hall, which is designating him a featured artist for two seasons.
When he takes up his post in London in 2017, it will have been some four decades since he first led the London Symphony Orchestra, at the age of 22, in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 and his Violin Concerto, with Yehudi Menuhin as the soloist.
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