The 40-year RTL career that Gilbert ‘Gibbes’ Bertolo went on to build happened almost by accident. It was his brother who suggested that he should try phoning RTL, reasoning that radio and music seemed like a natural match and might suit him well. Back in 1985, the young Dudelange native had just finished school and was unsure about his professional future.
Up to that point, Bertolo had had no real connection to radio. One path he considered was becoming a professional musician: he played the French horn like his father, had followed the music stream at school, performed locally in Dudelange, and occasionally reinforced the RTL orchestra. But as time went on, Bertolo explained that the joy of practising waned and anxiety before live performances grew, so the idea of a musical career lost its appeal.
That phone call to RTL, however, proved successful. It led to a short internship at the station, where he spent his time observing, learning the ropes, and typing up event listings. After two weeks, when presenter Fernand Mathes fell ill, RTL needed someone to host “Rockkëscht”, and the young trainee suddenly found himself presenting live, a daunting task for someone who knew classical repertoire far better than rock at the time.
No permanent job was available initially, so he took a position at Arbed in Esch-Schifflange in the commercial department. He later joked that, in Dudelange, working at Arbed at least once was almost considered inevitable. He stayed only a few months, though, before RTL called again to say a vacancy had opened up, he said. That moment marked the real beginning of his broadcasting career.
Music has been the thread running through his many years at RTL. Today, playlists are managed digitally and selected by the music editor, but in the 1980s everything was played from vinyl, and technicians played a central role. Bertolo explained that the station had 15 technicians and a large record library filled with LPs and singles, from which presenters chose tracks for their programmes. They also brought records from home. Schedules were typed manually, and technicians received a crate of records with detailed instructions on what to play.
By the early 1990s, presenters had to handle the technical side themselves, which he described as physically exhausting, as three hours on air could leave you drained. The first CD ever played on RTL, back in 1986, was Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits.
Nowadays, RTL radio hosts no longer choose their own music, except on ‘Sonndes-Duell’ (Sunday duel in Luxembourgish). He insisted on having this creative freedom on Sundays so he could offer a different musical selection. After eight years, and with his retirement approaching, the programme will end next year after a run of 416 editions.
Bertolo said it became his favourite show, as it allowed him to share the music he personally loved and to enjoy direct listener feedback. Getting up early on Sundays never bothered him as a result, he joked.
Bertolo never felt drawn to television or news broadcasting. He recalled that his fondest memories remain the late years in the old RTL villa and the early period on Kirchberg, when he felt fully settled, routines were established, and evenings with colleagues often turned into lively debates on how they might reinvent radio.
His nickname ‘Gibbes’ emerged a few years into his career, a shorter, more casual name that colleagues found easier, Bertolo said. A second playful nickname, ‘Djaibs’, still resurfaces among a few old colleagues.
“I wished to play a different kind of music on Sundays.”“Gibbes” Bertolo on the “Sonndes-Duell”
Earlier in his career, press trips were more common. Highlights included a cruise through the Lesser Antilles, a lunch on the sands of Saint Barthélemy, and covering the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy in Pasadena. Bertolo recalled this as a bittersweet memory for an Italy supporter, given the outcome of the match.
One of his proudest professional moments was interviewing Luciano Pavarotti, the legendary tenor, at his summer residence in Pesaro, where members of Bertolo’s own family also live. His mobile phone still uses a snippet from that interview as its ringtone, a small reminder of what he considers one of the finest moments of his career.
