Resident Orchestra of Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Thursday 13 December 2012 Fairfield Halls 7.30 pm GĂŠrard Korsten Conductor Sally Matthews Soprano
MOZART Symphony No. 29 in A major K201 BRITTEN Les Illuminations
28' 21'
INTERVAL
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 4, D417, Tragic
The LMP is funded by the London Borough of Croydon
33'
Members of the audience are reminded that it is prohibited to smoke in the auditorium or take sound recordings or photographs in any part of the performance. Any noises such as whispering, coughing, rustling of sweet papers and the beeping of digital watches are very distracting to the performers and fellow audience members. Please make sure mobile phones or pagers are switched off during the performance. In accordance with the London Borough of Croydon, members of the audience will not be permitted to stand or sit in any of the gangways. If standing is permitted in the gangways or the sides and the rear of the seating, it will be limited to the numbers exhibited in those positions. LMP and Fairfield Croydon are registered charities.
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LONDON MOZART PLAYERS Founded by Harry Blech in 1949 as the UK’s first chamber orchestra, the London Mozart Players (LMP) is regarded as one of the UK’s finest ensembles. Under the leadership of Music Director Gérard Korsten, the orchestra is internationally renowned for its outstanding live performances and CD recordings, and is particularly known for its definitive performances of the core Classical repertoire. The LMP also plays an active part in contemporary music, giving many world premières and commissioning new works, especially by British composers. In recent years, the LMP has premièred new works by composers including Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Tarik O’Regan, Sally Beamish, Cecilia McDowall, Lynne Plowman, and Fraser Trainer. In March 2011 the LMP appointed Roxanna Panufnik as Associate Composer. Since 1989, the LMP’s home has been Fairfield Halls, Croydon, thanks to generous funding from the London Borough of Croydon. This residency includes a series of subscription concerts at the hall and numerous education and community activities throughout the borough. Touring is a major part of the orchestra’s schedule, with regular appearances at festivals and concert series throughout the UK and abroad. It has strong relationships with other major UK venues, including Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton, and is the Orchestra in Residence for Grayshott Concerts. Overseas, the LMP has visited Spain, Belgium, France and Germany. The 2012/13 season marks the third year of conductor Gérard Korsten’s term as the LMP’s fifth Music Director, continuing the strong Classical tradition developed by Andrew Parrott, Matthias Bamert and Jane Glover. The season sees the orchestra continuing to work with established artists including Howard Shelley and Anthony Marwood, whilst building new relationships with bright new stars including Nicola Benedetti and Leonard Elschenbroich. Acclaimed young violinist Chloë Hanslip performed with the LMP in the celebrations of Fairfield Halls’ fiftieth anniversary, and we welcome back exciting young conductor Nicholas Collon in April 2013. The LMP’s association with Korsten also continues the introduction of some of the best European soloists to our Fairfield season.
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The LMP has developed an extensive and highly regarded education, community and audience development programme, LMP Interactive, and is particularly committed to developing new audiences in outer London boroughs as well as rural areas across the nation. Its association with the South Holland district in Lincolnshire brings the orchestra into the heart of the Fenland communities. Working with educational institutions also brings inspiring and valued relationships, providing a professional grounding for young musicians. The LMP is associated with Royal Holloway University of London, Wellington College, Wimbledon College, Portsmouth Grammar School and the Whitgift Foundation Schools in Croydon. Recent projects include ‘Side-by-side in Shepshed’ that saw composer and animateur Fraser Trainer work with seven schools in Leicestershire to build a new youth orchestra for the area, which performed alongside the LMP in a family concert. In Croydon, a Start project funded by the Prince's Foundation for Children & the arts, includes children from primary and special needs schools working together to perform at the LMP’s annual Schools’ Concert in Fairfield Halls. Other ongoing ventures include visiting care homes and concert demonstrations in primary and secondary schools. The LMP receives project funding from Arts Council England, Orchestras Live and South Holland District Council. In addition, the LMP receives grants from trusts, foundations and many individuals, particularly the Friends of the LMP in Croydon. Recording has played a major part in the orchestra’s life for many years. Its acclaimed Contemporaries of Mozart series with Matthias Bamert for Chandos numbers over 20 CDs to date, with the latest release of Boccherini proving a success with the critics. A recording with Canadian pianist Alain Lefèvre of works by Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Mathieu for Analekta was awarded a Canadian Juno Award. The LMP has an online CD shop, www.shop.lmp.org, which has a large range of LMP's recordings on sale. Full details of forthcoming concerts and more information on the orchestra’s activities are available on the LMP website: www.lmp.org.
ORCHESTRA 1st Violins Gabrielle Lester Richard Yeomans Nicoline Kraamwinkel Ann Criscuolo (Chair supported by David & Beatrix Hodgson)
Catherine Van der Geest (Chair supported by Debby Guthrie)
Helen Cox Alex Afia Natalia Bonner 2nd Violins David Angel Andrew Roberts
(Chair supported by Noël & Caroline Annesley)
Jeremy Metcalfe Jayne Spencer Adrian Dunn Stephen Rouse
Violas Judith Busbridge Simone van der Giessen (Chair supported by Anonymous)
Michael Posner (Chair supported by Anonymous)
Reiad Chibah Cellos Sebastian Comberti Julia Desbruslais Sarah Butcher Aoife Nic Athlaoich (Chair supported by Anonymous)
Basses Cathy Elliott
(Chair supported by Louise Honeyman)
Andrew Marshall (Chair supported by Toby & Eira Jessel)
Flutes Anna Wolstenholme Robert Manasse
Horns Jonathan Williams Martin Grainger Richard Lewis Christine Norsworthy
Oboes Gareth Hulse
Trumpets Paul Archibald Peter Wright
Katie Clemmow
Timpani Scott Bywater
(Chair supported by Brian & Doreen Hitching) (Chair supported by Barbara Tower)
(Chair supported by Pat Sandry)
Clarinets Anthony Pike
(Chair supported by Stuart & Joyce Aston)
Juliette Bucknall (Chair supported by Christopher Fildes)
Bassoons Sarah Burnett
(Chair supported by Alec Botten)
Robert Porter
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Born in South Africa, Gérard Korsten began his career as a violinist after studying with Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute and with Sándor Végh in Salzburg. Following his studies in the US and Europe, he became Concertmaster and Assistant Music Director of the Camerata Salzburg and later Concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe from 19871996 after which he left the COE to concentrate on conducting. Gérard Korsten is currently Music Director of the London Mozart Players and Principal Conductor of the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg Bregenz. Korsten held positions as Principal Conductor of the State Theatre in Pretoria and the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra before he was appointed Music Director of the Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari from 1999-2005. In Cagliari he conducted the first Italian performances of Richard Strauss’s Die ägyptische Helena, Weber’s Euryanthe, Delius’s A Village Romeo and Juliet and Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella, as well as the productions of the core operatic repertoire including Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Lucia di Lammermoor, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, Tosca, Aïda, The Barber of Seville and Don Pasquale. Since then Gérard Korsten has appeared in most notable opera houses and concert halls around Europe including Teatro La Scala Milan (Le nozze di Figaro), Maggio Musicale Florence (Così fan tutte), Teatro Reggio di Parma (La sonnambula), Teatro Lirico Verdi Trieste (Don Pasquale and La fille du régiment), Opéra de Lyon (Ariadne auf Naxos, Henze’s L’Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe, Siegfried and La traviata), Royal Swedish Opera (Don Giovanni), Netherlands Opera (Così fan tutte), English National Opera (Aïda) and Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Albert Herring). www.lmp.org
© Marco Borggreve
GÉRARD KORSTEN Conductor
His past orchestral engagements have included concerts with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteum, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai Turin, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Swedish Radio Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon and Melbourne Symphony orchestras. His recordings include Tchaikovsky’s Serenade and Souvenir de Florence with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe on Deutsche Grammophon, Die ägyptische Helena, Euryanthe and Alfonso und Estrella with Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari on CD and DVD with Dynamic, as well as a DVD recording of Don Pasquale released on TDK. His 2011 DVD of Le Nozze di Figaro (La Scala 2006) has been awarded a Diapason D’Or and was the Critic's Choice in the Opera News in February 2012. Last season Gérard Korsten toured with the Irish Chamber Orchestra in the US and with the London Mozart Players in Spain. He returned to Opéra National de Lyon, conducting performances of Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne and he conducted concerts with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Megaron Camerata and Camerata Salzburg in both Vienna and Salzburg. In the 2012/13 Gérard Korsten makes his debuts with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie in three concerts in Saabruecken, Kaiserlautern and Mainz and with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in Australia. He conducts a new production of Don Giovanni at Dijon Opera with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and returns to the BBC Scottish Symphony, Latvia National Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and SWR Sinfonieorchester Freiburg, among others.
Sally Matthews was the winner of the 1999 Kathleen Ferrier Award. She studied with Cynthia Jolly and Johanna Peters and completed the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2000. She was a member of The Royal Opera, Covent Garden Young Artist Programme from 2001 to 2003 and was part of the BBC New Generation Artists, and currently studies with Paul Farringdon. In 2001 she made her Royal Opera debut as Nannetta, in Falstaff, with Bernard Haitink. Since then, roles at Covent Garden have included Pamina in Die Zauberflöte; Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte; Sifare in Mozart's Mitridate and Anne Truelove in The Rake’s Progress. Regular appearances at Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich have included roles in Cavalli's La Calisto and the title role in Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland, both new productions. At Netherlands Opera she played Fiordiligi and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, and for Theater an der Wien, Blanche in Les Dialogues des Carmélites and the Governess in Britten's The Turn of the Screw. She recently made her Vienna Staatsoper debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and sang the role of the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro for the 2012 Glyndebourne Festival. She has appeared at Opera Australia singing Rusalka; La Monnaie as Anne Truelove in The Rake's Progress and for Netherlands Opera she sang the title role in Handel's Deidamia. Plans this season and beyond include the Countess for The Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail for Glyndebourne; Blanche at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Jenůfa at La Monnaie. In concert she sings The Turn of the Screw with the LSO and Sir Colin Davis and as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes in Rome under Pappano and the Orchestra dell’Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, with whom
© David Crookes
SALLY MATTHEWS Soprano
she will also sing Bach's St Matthew Passion; Brahms' Requiem and Szymanowski's Stabat Mater with the LSO and Gergiev; Mahler Symphonies No. 2 and 8 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, and Symphony No. 8 with the Philharmonia and Lorin Maazel; Mendelssohn's Lobesgesang with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Beethoven's Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph ll with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Recent concert appearances have included Poulenc's Gloria in Rome with Pappano; Mozart's Mass in C Minor with Le Cercle de l’Harmonie; Brahms' Requiem with Haitink and the COE; Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder with Robin Ticciati and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra; Carmina Burana, Mahler's Symphony No. 4 and Schumann's Paradies und die Peri with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchester and Simon Rattle; Mahler's Symphonies No. 2 and 4 with the LSO and Michael Tilson Thomas; Berg's Seven Early Songs with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda; Messiaen's Poèmes pour Mi with the LSO and Daniel Harding; Haydn's Creation with the LSO and Colin Davis in London and New York, and with the OAE and Mark Elder, and The Seasons at the BBC Proms with Roger Norrington and with DSO Berlin and Andrew Manze. Sally has given recitals with Simon Lepper at La Monnaie, Brussels, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and Wigmore Hall where she has also appeared with the Nash Ensemble. Future plans include return invitations to the Concertgebouw and Wigmore Hall.
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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756 – 1791)
Symphony No. 29 in A K201 I II III IV
Allegro moderato Andante Menuetto Allegro con spirito
Count Hieronymus Colloredo, whom Mozart served as the leader of his orchestra, was elected Archbishop of Salzburg in March 1773. The happy atmosphere that had distinguished the reign of his predecessor was a thing of the past. Colloredo lost no time in curtailing the comparative freedom of his musicians and the other members of his miniature court. Mozart’s father soon began looking for a more liberal employer, not so much for himself (he also played violin in the Salzburg orchestra) as for his son Wolfgang. During their concert tour in Italy in 1772 he had tried hard to secure a post for him, but without success. He had no better luck in Vienna where he went with his son in the summer holidays of 1773. Since none of the plans materialised, there was nothing left for them but to return to Salzburg. However, Mozart was 17 years old at the time, and conditions of employment were not his main concern. While in Vienna, he was too busy listening to new music to worry about the future. He heard the latest compositions of Gluck and Dittersdorf, and the new instrumental works of Haydn left a profound and lasting impression on him. Back in Salzburg Mozart produced a number of masterpieces in rapid succession. They included a group of four symphonies, among them Symphony No. 29. Most of his earlier symphonies had consisted of three movements in the tradition of the Italian overture. Now, in this symphony, he adopted the new Viennese form by adding a minuet and trio www.lmp.org
and by enlarging the proportions of the other three movements. Of these, the Andante is like an aria, played in long tender phrases by muted violins, while the final Allegro deserves the additional indication con spirito as much as any of Mozart’s symphonic movements. As a whole the work has such well-balanced proportions and is so full of the happiest inventions that it does not give the impression of being the result of an experiment. Indeed, it sounds as if Mozart had already spent a lifetime in perfecting the musical form of the Viennese symphony. © Stefan de Haan
BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913 – 1976)
Les Illuminations, Op. 18 I II IIIa IIIb IV V VI VII VIII IX
Fanfare Villes Phrase Antique Royauté Marine Interlude Being Beauteous Parade Départ
Les Illuminations is the title of a collection of poems by Rimbaud which Verlaine published in 1886. Most of them are written in the manner of Baudelaire’s Petits Poèmes en Prose. They date from the years 1872-3 when Rimbaud and Verlaine spent some time in Britain. At the age of nineteen Rimbaud ceased to write poetry and became a trader in East Africa. He returned to France for the treatment of a tumour on the knee and died after an operation in Marseille in November 1891, a month and a day after his thirty-seventh birthday. Britten chose eight of Rimbaud’s poems from Les Illuminations for his song cycle, some of them in shortened versions. The text of Fanfare is, however, no more than the last line of Parade, the proud and significant statement: “J’ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage.” It is, at the same time, the key (la clef) to the whole work, since the vocal phrase and the juxtaposition of E major and B flat major, as well as the fanfares of violins and violas, reveal themselves as principal elements in the development of the musical ideas. Villes which follows without a break is, like the later Parade, really a “parade sauvage” of colourful, swiftly passing images. The opening phrase “ce sont des villes” which appears only once
in the poem is repeated (again like a fanfare) before every descriptive passage, though in one instance by omitting the word “villes”. Phrase is the fifth of nine similar poetic statements. It is the shortest of the settings and leads straight into Antique which is largely in B flat major, while the key of the following Royauté is E major. Marine, a poem more about light than water, rises to a brilliant climax with the final words “tourbillions de lumière”. The Interlude prepares the setting of Being Beauteous with its luscious sound of divided strings and repeats the phrase with which the cycle began. Parade ends with yet another repetition of the same phrase, this time in the context of the original poem. Départ is not the last poem of Rimbaud’s Les Illuminations, but it is the perfect epilogue to Britten’s song cycle. It expresses sadness and disappointment but also, at the very end, a promise for the future – perhaps not kept by Rimbaud, but certainly by the composer. Britten completed the song cycle in October 1939 in Amityville on Long Island in the State of New York. The work is dedicated to Sophie Wyss and was first performed in London on 30 January 1940.
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Les Illuminations, Op. 18 Arthur Rimbaud (1854 – 1891) 1. Fanfare J’ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage. I alone have the key to this savage parade. 2. Villes / Towns Ce sont des villes! C’est un peuple pour qui se sont montés ces Alleghanys et ces Libans de rêve! Des chalets de cristal et de bois se meuvent sur des rails et des poulies invisibles. Les vieux cratères ceints de colosses et de palmiers de cuivre rugissent mélodieusement dans les feux…Des cortèges de Mabs en robes rousses, opalines, montent des ravines. Là-haut, les pieds dans la cascade et les ronces, les cerfs tettent Diane. Les Bacchantes des banlieues sanglotent et la lune brûle et hurle. Vénus entre dans les cavernes des forgerons et des ermites. Des groupes de beffrois chantent les idées des peuples. Des châteaux bâtis en os sort la musique inconnue… Le paradis des orages s’effondre…Les sauvages dansent sans cesse la fête de la nuit… Quels bons bras, quelle belle heure me rendront cette région d’où viennent mes sommeils et mes moindres mouvements? These are towns! This is a people for whom these dreamlike Alleghanies and Lebanons arose. Chalets of crystal and wood move on invisible rails and pulleys. The old craters, girdled with colossi and copper palm trees, roar melodiously in the fires… Processions of Mabs in russet and opaline dresses climb from the ravines. Up there, their feet in the waterfall and the brambles, the stags suckle Diana. Suburban Bacchantes sob and the moon burns and howls. Venus enters the caves of the blacksmiths and the hermits. From groups of bell-towers the ideas of peoples sing out. From castles of bone the unknown music sounds…The paradise of storm collapses…The savages dance ceaselessly the festival of the night… What kind arms, what fine hour will give me back this country from which come my slumbers and my smallest movements? 3a. Phrase / Sentence J’ai tendu des cordes de clocher à clocher; des guirlandes de fenêtre à fenêtre; des chaînes d’or d’étoile à étoile, et je danse. I have stretched ropes from steeple to steeple; garlands from window to window; golden chains from star to star, and I dance. www.lmp.org
3b. Antique Gracieux fils de Pan! Autour de ton front couronné de fleurettes et de baies, tes yeux, des boules précieuses, remuent. Tachées de lies brunes, tes joues se creusent. Tes crocs luisent. Ta poitrine ressemble à une cithare, des tintements circulent dans tes bras blonds. Ton cœur bat dans ce ventre où dort le double sexe. Promène-toi, la nuit, en mouvant doucement cette cuisse, cette seconde cuisse et cette jambe de gauche. Graceful son of Pan! About your brow crowned with small flowers and berries move your eyes, precious spheres. Stained with brown dregs, your cheeks grow gaunt. Your fangs glisten. Your breast is like a cithara, tinglings circulate in your blond arms. Your heart beats in this belly where sleeps the dual sex. Walk, at night, gently moving this thigh, this second thigh, and this left leg. 4. Royauté / Royalty Un beau matin, chez un peuple fort doux, un homme et une femme superbes criaient sur la place publique: “Mes amis, je veux qu’elle soit reine!” “Je veux être reine!” Elle riait et tremblait. Il parlait aux amis de révélation, d’épreuve terminée. Ils se pâmaient l’un contre l’autre. En effet ils furent rois toute une matinée où les tentures carminées se relevèrent sur les maisons, et toute l’après-midi, où ils s’avancèrent du côté des jardins de palmes. One fine morning, amongst a most gentle people, a magnificent couple were shouting in the square: “My friends, I want her to be queen!” “I want to be queen!” She was laughing and trembling. He spoke to friends of revelation, of trial ended. They were swooning one against the other. As a matter of fact they were royal one whole morning, when the crimson hangings were draped over the houses, and all afternoon, when they progressed towards the palm gardens. 5. Marine / Seascape Les chars d’argent et de cuivre — Les proues d’acier et d’argent — Battent l’écume, — Soulèvent les souches des ronces. Les courants de la lande, Et les ornières immenses du reflux, Filent circulairement vers l’est, Vers les piliers de la forêt, Vers les fûts de la jetée, Dont l’angle est heurté par des tourbillons de lumière.
The chariots of silver and copper — The prows of steel and silver — Beat the foam — Raise the bramble stumps. The streams of the moorland And the huge ruts of the ebb-tide Flow eastward in circles Towards the shafts of the forest, Towards the columns of the pier Whose corner is struck by eddies of light. 6. Interlude J’ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage. I alone have the key to this savage parade. 7. Being Beauteous Devant une neige un Être de Beauté de haute taille. Des sifflements de morts et des cercles de musique sourde font monter, s’élargir et trembler comme un spectre ce corps adoré: des blessures écarlates et noires éclatent dans les chairs superbes. Les couleurs propres de la vie se foncent, dansent, et se dégagent autour de la Vision, sur le chantier. Et les frissons s’élèvent et grondent, et la saveur forcenée de ces effets se chargeant avec les sifflements mortels et les rauques musiques que le monde, loin derrière nous, lance sur notre mère de beauté, — elle recule, elle se dresse. Oh! nos os sont revêtus d’un nouveau corps amoureux. O la face cendrée, l’écusson de crin, les bras de cristal! Le canon sur lequel je dois m’abattre à travers la mêlée des arbres et de l’air léger! Against a snowfall a Being Beauteous, tall of stature. Whistlings of death and circles of muffled music make this adored body rise, swell and tremble like a spectre; wounds, scarlet and black, break out in the magnificent flesh. The true colors of life deepen, dance and break off around the Vision, on the site. And shivers rise and groan, and the frenzied flavor of these effects, being heightened by the deathly whistlings and the raucous music which the world, far behind us, casts on our mother of beauty, — she retreats, she rears up. Oh! our bones are reclothed by a new, loving body. O the ashen face, the shield of hair, the crystal arms! The cannon on which I must hurl myself through the jumble of trees and buoyant air! 8. Parade Des drôles très solides. Plusieurs ont exploité vos mondes. Sans besoins, et peu pressés de mettre en oeuvre leurs brillantes facultés et leur
expérience de vos consciences. Quels hommes mûrs! Des yeux hébétés à la façon de la nuit d’été, rouges et noirs, tricolorés, d’acier piqué d’étoiles d’or; des facies déformés, plombés, blêmis, incendiés; des enrouements folâtres! La démarche cruelle des oripeaux! Il y a quelques jeunes… O le plus violent Paradis de la grimace enragée!… Chinois, Hottentots, bohémiens, niais, hyènes, Molochs, vieilles démences, démons sinistres, ils mêlent les tours populaires, maternels, avec les poses et les tendresses bestiales. Ils interpréteraient des pièces nouvelles et des chansons “bonnes filles.” Maîtres jongleurs, ils transforment le lieu et les personnes et usent de la comédie magnétique… J’ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage. Very secure rogues. Several have exploited your worlds. Without needs, and in no hurry to set their brilliant faculties and their experience of your consciences to work. What mature men! Eyes dulled like a summer night, red and black, tricolored, like steel spangled with gold stars; distorted features, leaden, pallid, burned; their playful croakings! The cruel bearing of tawdry finery! There are some young ones… Oh the most violent Paradise of the furious grimace!… Chinese, Hottentots, gypsies, simpletons, hyenas, Molochs, old madnesses, sinister demons, they mingle popular, motherly tricks with brutish poses and caresses. They would interpret new plays and “respectable” songs. Master jugglers, they transform the place and the people and make use of magnetic comedy… I alone have the key to this savage parade. 9. Départ / Leaving Assez vu. La vision s’est rencontrée à tous les airs. Assez eu. Rumeurs de villes, le soir, et au soleil, et toujours. Assez connu. Les arrêts de la vie. O Rumeurs et Visions! Départ dans l’affections et le bruit neufs! Seen enough. The vision was met with everywhere. Had enough. Sounds of towns, in the evening, and in sunlight, and always. Known enough. The setbacks of life. O Sounds and Visions! Leaving amid new affection and new noise! English translation © George Hall, 1983
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FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828)
Symphony No. 4 D417, Tragic I II III IV
Adagio molto – Allegro vivace Andante Menuetto, Allegro vivace Allegro
Listeners who are aware of the implications of C minor tonality in Mozart’s music and also the title of Tragic given by Schubert himself to this symphony will not be misled by either. It deserves its name perhaps in contrast to the sunnier disposition of the earlier symphonies (such as the Third), rather than because of any tense mood or highly organised structure such as might strain the concentration overmuch at the end of an evening. Nevertheless the introduction is dark enough to recall Mozart’s Quartet in C (K465); and the feeling persists in the Allegro. The latter’s first tutti blusters as does Haydn in the same key, but the contrasting group which follows is almost Schumannesque in its warmth and in its sequences. Schubert again follows Haydn in turning to the tonic major when these sequences close the movement, but as the opening material had returned in G major this is the only appearance of the tonic since the double-bar.
The sweetness of the A flat Andante is soon enlivened by semi-quaver movement which aptly sets off some exquisite wind writing, and accompanies with satisfying persistence the third appearance of the principal theme. At length it languishes into triplets and comes peacefully to rest. The Minuet for all its chromatic fuss and accentuated off-beats is in a clear and boisterous E flat, but its tiny trio in quieter vein explores a possible flirtation with C flat. The finale takes all the time in the world to enjoy its enchanting melodies. One is permitted to drowse occasionally, provided one does not miss the clarinet’s polished cross-talk with the fiddles after the first fortissimo, or the magical way in which the major mode smoothes the wrinkles of the main theme. The end offers octaves as bare as at the symphony’s opening: but how different their significance!
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Benefactors Conductors’ Circle Our most generous Benefactors belong to this exclusive group. Members of the Conductors’ Circle are closely involved with the musicians and management team and play a significant role in the life of the LMP. In addition to the opportunities enjoyed by all Benefactors, members of the Conductors’ Circle are invited to a sumptuous dinner hosted by the orchestra’s Patron, HRH The Earl of Wessex KG GCVO.
From world-class concerts to inspiring education projects, none of the LMP’s work would be possible without the financial support we receive from our Benefactors. Our Benefactors are musical patrons, following in the footsteps of those generous, passionate and committed philanthropists who, throughout the centuries, have enabled great musicians to perform and compose. Benefactors make an annual donation of £1000 and above and enjoy a unique programme of events, including access to rehearsals, exclusive recitals, gala concerts and special receptions throughout the year. Start your own creative partnership and become a Benefactor.
Making a gift in your will Making a legacy gift to the LMP is a great way to ensure that future generations of audiences can continue to be inspired by the orchestra that has inspired you. If you have a will or are making one, this would be a good way to make a lasting provision for the future of the orchestra and because the LMP is a registered charity, your donation to us can help reduce your tax liability. If you have already remembered LMP in your will, we are very grateful. If you would like to, do please let us know (in strictest confidence). We would value the opportunity to thank you and to keep you more closely involved with our work. If you would like more information about any of these ways of supporting us, please contact Caroline Downing, Development Manager, London Mozart Players T: 020 8686 1996 or email development@lmp.org
www.lmp.org
SUPPORTING THE LMP The LMP would like to thank its supporters Patron HRH The Earl of Wessex KG GCVO Principal Funders London Borough of Croydon Public Funders Orchestras Live South Holland District Council Trusts & foundations The Andor Charitable Trust The Concertina Charitable Trust Croydon Relief in Need Charities The Foyle Foundation The Matthew Hodder Charitable Trust The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts N. Smith Charitable Settlement The Steel Charitable Trust corporate friends Cantate Elite Hotels Simmons & Simmons conductors’ circle Anonymous x 5 Daniel & Alison Benton Joanna & William Brogan-Higgins Kate Bingham The Ross Goobey Charitable Trust Jeffrey & Rosamund West
benefactors Anonymous x 4 Graham Harman André & Rosalie Hoffmann Gillian Perkins Sir Roger & Lady Sands Mr & the late Mrs K Smith Peter & Sheelagh Smith Mr D & Mrs M Wechsler life friends Michael & Barbara Hill golden supporters Anonymous x 19 Morag Beier Mr & Mrs M C Bushell Mr & Mrs C Clementi Mrs Patricia Coe Mrs Jill Dalton Mr Quintin Gardner Geoff & Mary Hearn Mr & Mrs F Hercliffe Michael & Barbara Hill Brian & Doreen Hitching David & Beatrix Hodgson Margaret Jones MVO Mr & Mrs A J Lambell Derek & Deirdre Lea Jeanne & Gordon Lees Mr John Mead Cllr Derek & Mrs Bunty Millard Mr & Mrs M E Milliken Miss Gillian Noble Hazel & Geoffrey Otton Mr J B Price Ros & John Rawling Robert Keith Robertson David Robinson Christine Robson Miss A E Stoddart Jean-Anne & John Tillotson Barbara Tower
silver supporters Anonymous x 21 Irene & Leslie Aarons Mr M P Black Mr Nick Cull Miss Rowena Forbes Mr & Mrs Frank Hercliffe David & Beatrix Hodgson Chantal Keast Nick & Jane Mallett Mr Dennis Protheroe Mr & Mrs M Rivers Mr Brian J Stocker Mrs Marion Sunley George Sutherland Mrs R Whittingham Mr B E & Mrs P B Woolnough bronze supporters Anonymous x 10 Mr George Bray The Revd Canon Martin & Mrs Mary Goodlad Mr I A Hamlyn Mrs P Hirst Mrs Rosemary Kemp Mrs JMP Marlow Mrs M Mattingly Mr and Mrs C McCarthy Mrs N Roberts Mrs Claire Smith Mr David Smith Mrs Judith Spencer-Gregson Mrs M A Sunley Mrs Rosemary Whittingham
www.lmp.org
LMP MANAGEMENT Patron HRH The Earl of Wessex KG GCVO Music Director Gérard Korsten Associate Conductor Hilary Davan Wetton
Administration Managing Director Simon Funnell General Manager David Wilson
London Mozart Players Fairfield Halls Park Lane Croydon CR9 1DG
Development Manager Caroline Downing
T: 020 8686 1996 F: 020 8667 0938 E: info@lmp.org W: www.lmp.org
Council of Management
Marketing & PR Manager Chloë Brookes
Registered in England No. 18720034
Chairman Rowan Freeland
Concerts & Projects Manager Caroline Molloy
Registered Charity No. 290833
Chair of the Audit Committee Rosamund Sykes
financial consultant Christopher Wright
www.facebook.com/ londonmozartplayers
Daniel Benton Dan Davies Simon Funnell Gillian Perkins David Wechsler
Orchestral Librarian Martin Sargeson
@mozartplayers
Associate Composer Roxanna Panufnik
Intern Emily Curwen
If you would like to join the LMP mailing list and receive updates via email, please go to www.lmp.org and click on the “subscribe to email list” link. Alternatively, please email info@lmp.org or call 020 8686 1996.
The LMP has an online shop! Visit shop.lmp.org to see all of our recordings
croydon music festival april / may 2013
Come and enjoy the best in amateur arts performance Everyone is welcome to take part : Music - classical, rock/pop/jazz & percussion, - South Asian music, - show songs, choirs, instrumental - Dance gala Speech - verse, prose Drama - solos, duos, groups
and much more ! The Festival Syllabus is available on our website www.croydonmusicfestival.co.uk and from libraries and music shops For further information or a free Syllabus please contact the Hon. Secretary on 020 8654 6713 Come and help as a volunteer steward with the running of the Festival Telephone the Hon. Secretary for more information
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
Thursday 31 January 2013 7.30pm Mozart Requiem Mozart Symphony No. 36, 'Linz' KV425 Conductor Gérard Korsten City of London Choir Thursday 14 February 2013 7.30pm Wagner Siegfried Idyll Sibelius Pelléas et Mélisande Brahms Violin Concerto, Op. 77 Conductor/violin Joseph Swensen
Saturday 16 March 2013 7.30pm Weber Oberon Overture Mozart Piano Concerto No. 22 K482 Brahms Symphony No. 2 Piano/Director Howard Shelley Thursday 25 April 2013 7.30pm Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello Dvořák Symphony No. 6 Conductor Nicholas Collon Violin Nicola Benedetti Cello Leonard Elschenbroich Thursday 23 May 2013 7.30pm Beethoven Violin Concerto Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Conductor Gérard Korsten