★★★★★After the longest wooing process in musical history, or at least since Tristan pulled Isolde, the London Symphony Orchestra finally paraded its star signing last night. For the first time Simon Rattle ascended the Barbican podium as the LSO’s music director, the first conductor to be anointed with this title in the orchestra’s 113-year history. And, true to character, the eternally adventurous 62-year-old chose to make his debut not with some weighty Austro-German symphony — that would have been too reminiscent of his 16 years with the Berlin Philharmonic — but with nearly two hours of ferociously demanding contemporary British music. That was followed, as a small concession to any LSO patrons who like a hummable tune, by Elgar’s Enigma Variations. As a statement of intent it…

Source: The Times September 14, 2017 23:03 UTC