article_snippet: Appointed CBE at the ripe old age of 32, CBE was knighted seven years later, and elected principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, the world’s most formidable orchestra, at 44.
article_snippet: ’ Sir Simon (right), whose youngest child with Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená (left), 41, is seven months old, has directed the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002 .
article_snippet: When his left 18 years later as a knight of the realm, the CBSO was acclaimed as one of the world’s finest orchestras, and had a magnificent new home.