Golden Mahler Medal 2026 awarded to Sir Simon Rattle

In recognition of his outstanding and groundbreaking interpretations of Gustav Mahler’s works, the International Gustav Mahler Society awards the Golden Mahler Medal 2026 to Sir Simon Rattle.

Simon Rattle (Portrait)

© Oliver Helbig

Awarding Ceremony, 14 April 2026, Musikverein

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Statement of the Selection Committee (9. April 2026)

In recognition of his outstanding and groundbreaking interpretations of Gustav Mahler’s works, the International Gustav Mahler Society awards the Golden Mahler Medal 2026 to Sir Simon Rattle.

Sir Simon Rattle is one of the leading conductors of our time. For many decades, he has interpreted the music of Gustav Mahler and has brought it to a broad international audience with exceptional insight. His repertoire includes all of Mahler’s symphonies, the early fairy-tale cantata Das klagende Lied, as well as orchestral versions of Mahler’s songs. He has distinguished himself, since the earliest years of his career, through his commitment to the dissemination of Mahler’s unfinished Tenth Symphony in Deryck Cooke’s performing version (together with Berthold Goldschmidt, Colin and David Matthews, 1959–89).

After studying at the Royal Academy of Music (piano, percussion, and conducting), Sir Simon was assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Bournemouth Sinfonietta from 1974 to 1977. Following a stint as chief assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (1977–1980), he was appointed principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1980, serving as its chief conductor from 1990 to 1998. He developed the orchestra into an internationally renowned ensemble, making a particularly significant impact by broadening its repertoire with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century music. From 2002 to 2018, he succeeded Claudio Abbado as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. From 2017 to 2023, he served as chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and since autumn 2023, he has been chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In 2025, he received the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize. Alongside his artistic work as a conductor, Sir Simon’s activities as a music educator are of great importance to contemporary and younger generations of musicians. These include numerous educational projects and collaborations with youth orchestras, which have repeatedly explored the works of Mahler.

Sir Simon’s dedication to Mahler has remained consistently high throughout his artistic career. With his concert performances and recordings, he has created a body of work of wide international resonance in which Mahler’s music plays a key role. Between 1978 and 2021, over 30 recordings of Mahler’s symphonies were made under Sir Simon’s direction with nine different orchestras, including three recordings each of the large-scale Second and Eighth Symphonies. His continued support for Deryck Cooke’s performing version of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony is particularly noteworthy, from the first recording in 1980 (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra) to a 2018 live recording with the London Symphony Orchestra released on the Stingray platform. Several of Sir Simon’s more recent Mahler recordings have received awards.

Sir Simon’s interpretations of Mahler create vivid and coherent overall dramaturgies. The transparency and clarity of his interpretations are also attributable to the conductor’s extensive experience with 20th- and 21st-century music. He combines a clear tempo architecture with a very dynamic conception of Mahler’s sound, thus bringing together the complexity of Mahler’s structures and the immediacy of their unfolding in space and time.

Sir Simon Rattle, Mahler Discography

Symphony No. 1 for orchestra GMW 11

  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, 1991, TOCE 8139 (1993)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2010, EMI TOXW 4001 (2012)
  • National Children’s Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, 2013, Unitel 717004 (2014)

Symphony No. 2 for soprano solo, contralto solo, mixed choir, and orchestra GMW 30

  • Philharmonia Orchestra, Jill Gomez, Alfreda Hodgson, Philharmonia Chorus, 1981, Pandora’s Box CDPB 221 (2000)
  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Arleen Augér, Janet Baker, CBSO Chorus, 1986, EMI EX 270598 (1987)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, Kate Royal, Magdalena Kožená, Rundfunkchor Berlin, 2010, EMI 647363

Symphony No. 3 for contralto solo, boys’ choir, women’s choir, and orchestra GMW 31

  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birgit Remmert, City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, 1997, EMI 7243 556 658 (1999)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, Nathalie Stutzmann, State and Cathedral Choir Berlin, Berlin Radio Choir, 2011, Berlin Philharmonic DCH 110011 (2012)

Symphony No. 4 for soprano solo and orchestra GMW 37

  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Amanda Roocroft, 1997, TOCE 9703 (1998)

Symphony No. 5 for orchestra GMW 44

  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2002, EMI 557 424
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2004, En Larmes ELS 04594 (2005)

Symphony No. 6 for orchestra GMW 46

  • Berlin Philharmonic, 1987, Pandora’s Box CDPB 223 (2000)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 1987, Berlin Philharmonic BPH 0608 (2016)
  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, 1989, Angel CDCB 54047 (1990)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, 2005, En Larmes ELS 05636-7 (2005)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2018, Berlin Philharmonic BPHR 180231 (2019)

Symphony No. 7 for orchestra GMW 47

  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, 1991, EMI CDC7 54344 (1992)
  • Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, 1995, Radio Nederland comp CD1-16 (2006)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2016, Berlin Philharmonic BPHR 200361 (2020)

Symphony No. 8 for soli, two mixed choirs, boys’ choir, and orchestra GMW 48

  • National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, 2002, Sounds Supreme 2S 107 (2003)
  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, 2004, EMI 7243 557 945 (2005)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2011, Berlin Philharmonic BPHR 200361 (2020)

Das Lied von der Erde for tenor, contralto (baritone), and orchestra GMW 49-O

  • Philharmonia Orchestra, Alfreda Hodgson, John Mitchinson, 1978, BBC Transcription Service CN 3050 01
  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Jessye Norman, Jon Vickers, 1985, Encore 2658
  • City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Hampson, Peter Seiffert, 1995, EMI 7243 5 56200 (1997)
  • Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Magdalena Kožená, Stuart Skelton, 2018, BR Klassik 900172 (2019)

Symphony No. 9 for orchestra GMW 50

  • Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, 1993, EMI 72435 56580 (1999)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2007, Antec Music AM 3158
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2007, EMI 1228 (2008)
  • Berlin Philharmonic, 2007, Parnassus PDVD 196
  • Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, 2021, BR Klassik 900205 (2022)

Symphony No. 10 for orchestra GMW F58 (Performing Version by Deryck Cooke with Berthold Goldschmidt, Colin und David Matthews, 1976/1989)

Das klagende Lied GMW 1,1

  • Helena Döse, Alfreda Hodgson, Robert Tear, Sean Rea, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, 1983/84, Angel DS 38159, CDM5 66406 (1985/97)

Eight Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (including “Ablösung im Sommer”, arr. Luciano Berio)

  • Simon Keenlyside, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, 1997, EMI Classics 5 56657 2 (1998)

5 Rückert-Lieder GMW 39-0–43-O

  • Magdalena Kožená, Berlin Philharmonic, 2012, DGG B0016761-02