The Berlin Philharmonic has chosen Russian-born conductor Kirill Petrenko, general music director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, to become its next chief conductor and artistic director, the orchestra announced Monday.
Petrenko will succeed Simon Rattle after the British conductor steps down in August 2018. Petrenko was elected by “a large majority” of the 124 members of the self-governing German orchestra, according to a statement released by the philharmonic.
Given the Berlin Philharmonic’s elite status and distinguished lineage of music directors (which have included Wilhelm Furtwaengler, Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado), speculation as to who would succeed Rattle ran high for months in Germany and around the classical music world.
At a general meeting in May, members of the Berlin Philharmonic failed to elect a new director after 11 hours of fruitless voting rounds.
Petrenko, 43, who immigrated to Austria with his family when he was a teenager, was considered a dark horse among such eminent candidates as Christian Thielemann, Maris Jansons and Andris Nelsons. Former Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Daniel Barenboim, a frequent guest conductor with the philharmonic, has said he wasn’t interested in the post.
After Petrenko’s Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut in March 2012, the Tribune wrote that he “sent the needle off the symphonic Richter scale . . . There was no mistaking the strength of his command or the chemistry he achieved with the orchestra.”
Petrenko is no stranger to Berlin, having served as general music director of the Komische Oper there from 2002 to 2007.
