He hunts all his own food, unwinds in the sauna, and yearns to play with the Rolling Stones. Meet the Philharmonia’s new principal conductor, a dynamic, 35-year-old Finn
It’s the day after Santtu-Matias Rouvali made his debut as the Philharmonia’s principal conductor and he is smiling, relaxed and chatty. Maybe the reviews explain his upbeat mood. The Guardian wrote: “Rouvali proved a fine Straussian, measured in his approach, and careful in his attention to detail and colour.” The Times went with: “Gleaming and full of promise … This was orchestral
music at its biggest and boldest.” Did he read them?
“My mother sends me Finnish ones sometimes,” he says, “but I’m not on
Facebook – I don’t do any kind of
Social Media. So generally no, I don’t see what’s been written. But I know in my head and heart how things went. And yesterday I had so much fun with the musicians on stage that I knew it couldn’t be bad!”