The Rest Is Noise - 19 Jan 13 programme notes by London Philharmonic Orchestra

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI* Principal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN Leader pieter schoeman Composer in Residence JULIAN ANDERSON Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Saturday 19 January 2013 | 7.30pm

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor karita mattila soprano thomas Hampson baritone

r strauss Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 (32’) Four Early Songs, Op. 33 (24’)

PROGRAMME £3 CONTENTS 2 Welcome 3 Tonight’s works in context 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader 6 On stage tonight 7 Vladimir Jurowski 8 Karita Mattila / Thomas Hampson 9 Programme notes and texts 20 Birthday Appeal 2012/13 21 Orchestra news 22 Next concerts 23 Supporters 24 LPO administration The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

Interval Notturno, Op. 44 No. 1 (13’) ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ and Final Scene from Salome, Op. 54 (26’) Concert generously supported by the Sharp Family

Free pre-concert discussion 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall An introductory look at the LPO’s focus on The Rest Is Noise with Timothy Walker, Jude Kelly and Edward Seckerson.

* supported by the Tsukanov Family and one anonymous donor CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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Welcome

WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries please ask any member of staff for assistance. Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO! Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Concrete and Feng Sushi, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery. If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone 020 7960 4250, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk We look forward to seeing you again soon. A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment: PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium. LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance. RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended. MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins.

Southbank Centre’s The Rest Is Noise, inspired by Alex Ross’s book The Rest Is Noise Presented by Southbank Centre in partnership with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. southbankcentre.co.uk/therestisnoise The Rest Is Noise is a year-long festival that digs deep into 20th-century history to reveal the influences on art in general and classical music in particular. Inspired by Alex Ross’s book The Rest Is Noise, we use film, debate, talks and a vast range of concerts to reveal the fascinating stories behind the century’s wonderful and often controversial music. We have brought together the world’s finest orchestras and soloists to perform many of the most significant works of the 20th century. We reveal why these pieces were written and how they transformed the musical language of the modern world. Over the year, The Rest Is Noise focuses on 12 different parts. The music is set in context with talks from a fascinating team of historians, scientists, philosophers, political theorists and musical experts as well as films, online content and other special programmes. If you’re new to 20th-century music, then this is your time to start exploring with us as your tour guide. There has never been a festival like this. Jude Kelly Artistic Director, Southbank Centre

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Tonight’s works in context

1860 1864 Richard Strauss born in Munich

1870

1869 Tolstoy’s War and Peace published 1874 Arnold Schoenberg born in Vienna 1876 Prototype telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell

1880

1880 Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov published 1882 Strauss entered Munich University. Premiere of Wagner’s opera Parsifal 1886 First sales of Coca-Cola in the USA, originally marketed as a patent medicinal remedy

1890

1891 Sergei Prokofiev born in Sontsovka, Russia (now Ukraine) 1894 Strauss married soprano Pauline de Ahna

1896 Premiere of Also sprach Zarathustra 1897 Four Early Songs completed

1900

1899 Premiere of Notturno 1901 Death of Queen Victoria

1905 Premiere of Salome

1910

1908 First commercial radio transmission 1911 Death of Gustav Mahler 1912 Sinking of the RMS Titanic. Premiere of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire in Berlin. 1914 Outbreak of World War I

1920

1918 Women’s suffrage movement leads to the vote for women aged 30 and over in the UK End of World War I 1922 Creation of the Soviet Union (USSR) 1925 Premiere of Berg’s opera Wozzeck in Berlin

1930

1929 Wall Street Crash 1932 London Philharmonic Orchestra founded by Sir Thomas Beecham 1937 J R R Tolkien’s The Hobbit published

1940

1939 Outbreak of World War II 1942 Copland composed Fanfare for the Common Man 1945 End of World War II 1948 Strauss composed his Four Last Songs 1949 Death of Richard Strauss in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Georg Solti, who had arranged Strauss’s 85th birthday celebration, also directed an orchestra during Strauss’s funeral

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London Philharmonic Orchestra

Jurowski and the LPO were on exceptional form, and the performance had a real edge-of-your-seat excitement. The Guardian (29 September 2012, Royal Festival Hall: Rachmaninoff, Shchedrin, Denisov & Miaskovsky)

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most adventurous and forward-looking orchestras. As well as giving classical concerts, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, has its own record label, and reaches thousands of Londoners every year through activities for schools and local communities. The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and since then its Principal Conductors have included Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Pritchard, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. The current Principal Conductor is Vladimir Jurowski, appointed in 2007, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin is Principal Guest Conductor. The Orchestra is Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has performed since it opened in 1951, giving around 40 concerts there each season. 2012/13 highlights include three concerts with Vladimir Jurowski based around

the theme of War and Peace in collaboration with the Russian National Orchestra; Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, also conducted by Jurowski; 20th-century American works with Marin Alsop; Haydn and Strauss with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and the UK premiere of Carl Vine’s Second Piano Concerto with pianist Piers Lane under Vassily Sinaisky. Throughout 2013 the Orchestra is collaborating with Southbank Centre on The Rest Is Noise festival, based on Alex Ross’s book of the same name and charting the 20th century’s key musical works and historical events. The Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Every summer, the Orchestra leaves London for four months and takes up its annual residency accompanying the famous Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing concerts to sell-out audiences worldwide. Tours in the 2012/13 season include visits to Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, the USA and Austria.

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Pieter Schoeman leader

In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. The London Philharmonic Orchestra maintains an energetic programme of activities for young people and local communities. Highlights include the Deutsche Bank BrightSparks Series; the Leverhulme Young Composers project; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Over recent years, developments in technology and social networks have enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download from iTunes and, as well as a YouTube channel, news blog, iPhone app and regular podcasts, the Orchestra has a lively presence on Facebook and Twitter. Find out more and get involved! lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the LPO in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded many blockbuster scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, East is East, Hugo, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now nearly 70 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 with Vladimir Jurowski; Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 with Klaus Tennstedt; a disc of orchestral works by Mark-Anthony Turnage; and the world premiere of the late Ravi Shankar’s First Symphony conducted by David Murphy.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winning numerous competitions including the 1984 World Youth Concerto Competition in the US. In 1987 he was offered the Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study with Eduard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman, who recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. In 1994 he became her teaching assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington. Pieter has performed worldwide as a soloist and recitalist in such famous halls as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s Rachmaninov Hall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chamber musician he regularly performs at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pieter has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concerto with Boris Garlitsky, Brahms’s Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, and Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the Orchestra’s own record label to great critical acclaim. He has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film and television, and led the Orchestra in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

twitter.com/LPOrchestra In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Pieter is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

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On stage tonight

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Chair supported by John & Angela Kessler

Ilyoung Chae Chair supported by Moya Greene

Ji-Hyun Lee Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Martin Höhmann Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Ben Roskams Rebecca Shorrock Galina Tanney Peter Nall Second Violins Annabelle Meare Guest Principal Jeongmin Kim Joseph Maher Fiona Higham Ashley Stevens Marie-Anne Mairesse Nancy Elan Floortje Gerritsen Eugene Lee Gavin Davies Imogen Williamson Alison Strange Peter Graham Stephen Stewart Mila Mustakova Sheila Law Violas Amélie Roussel Guest Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Katharine Leek Benedetto Pollani

Laura Vallejo Susanne Martens Michelle Bruil Isabel Pereira Daniel Cornford Naomi Holt Alistair Scahill Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Jonathan Ayling Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Gregory Walmsley Santiago Carvalho† Sue Sutherley Elisabeth Wiklander Tom Roff Tae-Mi Song Emma Black Sibylle Hentschel Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Tim Gibbs Co-Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Kenneth Knussen Helen Rowlands Tom Walley Catherine Ricketts Flutes Clara Andrada Guest Principal Sue Thomas Chair supported by the Sharp Family

Stewart McIlwham* Julia Crowell Piccolos Stewart McIlwham* Principal Julia Crowell

Oboes Ian Hardwick Principal Holly Randall Fraser MacAulay Cor Anglais Sue Bohling Principal Chair supported by Julian & Gill Simmonds

Heckelphone John Orford Clarinets Robert Hill* Principal Nicholas Carpenter* Emily Meredith Thomas Watmough Bass Clarinet Paul Richards Principal E-flat Clarinet Katie Lockhart Bassoons Bernardo Verde Guest Principal Gareth Newman* Emma Harding Simon Estell Contrabassoon Simon Estell Principal Horns John Ryan* Principal David Pyatt Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Duncan Fuller Anthony Chidell Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal David Hilton William O’Sullivan Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse Bass Trombones Lyndon Meredith Principal Barry Clements Tubas Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Raymond Hearne Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal Barnaby Archer Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Olly Yates Stephen Quigley Eddy Hackett Harps Rachel Masters* Principal Lucy Haslar Celeste Catherine Edwards Organ Catherine Edwards Roderick Elms Assistant Conductor Ilyich Rivas * Holds a professorial appointment in London † Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose player is not present at this concert: David & Victoria Graham Fuller

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Vladimir Jurowski

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor

One of today’s most sought-after and dynamic conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow, and completed the first part of his musical studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany, continuing his studies at the High Schools of Music in Dresden and Berlin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival conducting Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, and the same year saw his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Nabucco. Vladimir Jurowski has been Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera since 2001, and in 2003 was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor in September 2007. He also holds the titles of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra. He has also held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper, Berlin (1997–2001); Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–03); and Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–09). Vladimir Jurowski is a regular guest with many leading orchestras in both Europe and North America, including the Berlin and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras; the Dresden Staatskapelle; the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester; the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich; and the Royal Concertgebouw, Philadelphia, Chicago Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony and Mahler Chamber orchestras. Highlights of the 2012/13 season and beyond include his debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, NHK Symphony and San Francisco Symphony orchestras, and return visits to the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich; the Accademia di Santa Cecilia; and the Philadelphia, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw and Chicago Symphony orchestras.

Jurowski made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, in 1999 with Rigoletto, and has since returned for Jenůfa, The Queen of Spades and Hansel and Gretel. He has conducted Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera; War and Peace at the Opera National de Paris; Eugene Onegin at Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre; and Iolanta and Die Teufel von Loudon at the Dresden Semperoper, as well as The Magic Flute, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Don Giovanni, The Rake’s Progress, The Cunning Little Vixen and Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Future engagements include new productions of Ariadne auf Naxos at Glyndebourne; Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera; Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper, Berlin; and The Fiery Angel at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Jurowski’s discography includes the first ever recording of the cantata Exil by Giya Kancheli for ECM; Meyerbeer’s L’etoile du Nord for Marco Polo; Massenet’s Werther for BMG; and a series of records for PentaTone with the Russian National Orchestra. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has released a wide selection of his live recordings on its LPO Live label, including Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2; Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances; Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1, 4, 5, 6 and Manfred; and works by Turnage, Holst, Britten, Shostakovich, Honegger and Haydn. His tenure as Music Director at Glyndebourne has been documented in a CD release of Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery, and DVD releases of his performances of La Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, and Rachmaninoff’s The Miserly Knight. Other DVD releases include Hansel and Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera New York; his first concert as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor featuring works by Wagner, Berg and Mahler; and DVDs with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7) and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Strauss and Ravel), all released by Medici Arts. Vladimir Jurowski’s position as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra is generously supported by the Tsukanov Family and one anonymous donor.

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Thomas Hampson

soprano

baritone

Finnish soprano Karita Mattila is one of today’s most exciting lyric dramatic sopranos. She is recognised as much for the beauty and versatility of her voice as for her extraordinary stage ability. She sings at all the world’s major opera houses and festivals and has performed with conductors including James Levine, Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnányi, Bernard Haitink, Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Wolfgang Sawallisch. Her operatic repertoire encompasses works by Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner and Janáček. Recent highlights include Leonore in Fidelio for Houston Grand Opera, the title role in Janáček’s Katya Kabanova at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lisa in The Queen of Spades at the Metropolitan Opera and The Makropulos Case at San Francisco Opera. Throughout her distinguished career, Mattila has won numerous awards, including Musical America’s Musician of the Year and the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres – one of France’s highest cultural honours. She has many recordings to her credit on the Philips, EMI, Sony, DG and Ondine labels, including Strauss’s Four Last Songs with Claudio Abbado on the DG label; complete recordings of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on Decca with Sir Georg Solti, which won a Grammy Award in 1998; Jenůfa on Erato/Warner with Bernard Haitink, which won a Grammy Award in 2004; and Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14 with Sir Simon Rattle on EMI. Highlights of the 2012/13 season include Emilia Marty in The Makropulos Case at Finnish National Opera; the title role in Jenůfa at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon; and recitals in London, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Zurich, Paris, Minneapolis and Boston. Future seasons will see returns to the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera with roles including Marie in Wozzeck, Kostelnička in Jenůfa and the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos.

Karita Mattila

American baritone Thomas Hampson enjoys an international career as an opera singer, recording artist, and ‘ambassador of song’. He has performed in the world’s most important concert halls and opera houses with many renowned singers, pianists, conductors and orchestras. Recently honoured as a Metropolitan Opera Guild ‘Met Mastersinger’, he has been praised by the New York Times for his ‘ceaseless curiosity’, and is one of the most respected, innovative and sought-after soloists performing today. Last season he created the role of Rick Rescorla in the San Francisco Opera’s world premiere production of Christopher Theofanidis’s Heart of a Soldier, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Other important firsts for Hampson in the 2011/12 season included his role debuts as Iago in Otello and the title role in Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, both at Zurich Opera, as well as his house role debut as Verdi’s Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera. Upcoming international concert and recital engagements include performances in New York, Munich, Vienna and San Francisco. In April he joins Lang Lang, Janine Jansen and Mariss Jansons in Amsterdam to celebrate the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s 125th anniversary. Comprising more than 150 albums, Hampson’s discography includes winners of a Grammy Award, five Edison Awards, and the Grand Prix du Disque. He received the 2009 Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council in Washington DC, and was appointed the New York Philharmonic’s first Artist in Residence. Hampson also holds honorary doctorates from the Manhattan School of Music, Whitworth College and the San Francisco Conservatory, and is an honorary member of London’s Royal Academy of Music. He carries the titles of Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera and Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France, and was awarded the Austrian Medal of Honour in Arts and Sciences.

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Programme notes

Speedread Richard Strauss was given a thoroughly traditional musical education by his horn-playing father, but he was soon exploring much more radical ideas. Developing his own idiom, Strauss generated innovative musical structures and dared to adapt the most controversial texts of his day. His experiments with songs, tone poems and operas came to fruition in 1905 with the premiere of Salome. This queasy biblical shocker, based on Oscar Wilde’s controversial play, appalled the political establishment: Strauss’s musical contemporaries were gripped.

Richard Strauss (1864–1949) Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 1 Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang (Introduction, or Sunrise) 2 Von den Hinterweltlern (Of those in Backwaters) 3 Von der großen Sehnsucht (Of the Great Longing) 4 Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften (Of Joys and Passions) 5 Das Grablied (The Song of the Grave) 6 Von der Wissenschaft (Of Science and Learning) 7 Der Genesende (The Convalescent) 8 Das Tanzlied (The Dance Song) 9 Nachtwandlerlied (Song of the Night Wanderer)

Few composers mark the transition from the 19th century to the multifarious thrill of modernism better than Richard Strauss. Born in Munich, the son of a horn player, he was raised on a strict diet of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. But when Strauss moved away from home, his taste broadened considerably as he espoused new progressive philosophers and poets and the operas of Richard Wagner. His father played in the premiere of Parsifal in 1882, but Wagner had always been the subject of censure at

home. Strauss became increasingly fascinated with the composer, which he communicated through a series of intense symphonic poems. However, the inclusion of Also sprach Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche’s polemic about humanity and the world, demonstrates that Strauss was looking even further afield than Bayreuth – Nietzsche had famously turned against Wagner. Strauss was clearly undaunted by what his music could or should express. The famous sunrise with which Also sprach Zarathustra begins is founded on an elemental low C. It can be interpreted as the first music of a newly self-sufficient Strauss or as an innately classical gesture (recalling Beethoven’s great narratives in C minor and C major). As T. S. Eliot would later suggest, ‘Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future.’ After such a bold beginning, ‘Von den Hinterweltlern’ is contrastingly murky. Hints of the plainsong creed lead to a quasi-erotic hymn but, having established a balmy A-flat major, Strauss lurches towards B minor in ‘Von der großen Sehnsucht’. This is the other tonal centre of the work, an innately humane key that fights against ‘universal’ C major. The struggle between these London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

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two tonalities – indicative of the struggle between man and his world in Nietzsche’s narrative – prompts harmonic instability. The ensuing ‘Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften’ (beginning in C minor) is manifestly insecure. ‘Das Grablied’ slowly ekes its way towards C major, but ‘Von der Wissenschaft’ offers a particularly complex response, employing all 12 notes of the chromatic scale. Even ‘Der Genesende’, which ends with another blast of C major, flips back into B minor. This tonal struggle continues right up to the final cadence, where B major clearly sounds in the upper strings, while the cellos and double basses play a jarring C major. Nietzsche’s man and universe may be described by adjacent keys in the chromatic scale but they are clearly not yet reconciled in the final bars.

Richard Strauss Four Early Songs, Op. 33

Karita Mattila soprano* Thomas Hampson baritone†

1 Verführung (Seduction)* 2 Gesang der Apollopriesterin (Song of Apollo’s priestess)* 3 Hymnus (Hymn)† 4 Pilgers Morgenlied (Pilgrim’s morning song)† The song texts begin on the opposite page. Strauss dedicated considerable time to Lieder during the first part of his career. As with his orchestral works, he constructed each song according to the demands of an individual text rather than simply employing strophic repetition. The poet John Henry Mackay was a fixture within Lieder at that time, with Strauss, Schoenberg and Eugen d’Albert all responding to his highly sensual poems. ‘Verführung’, the first of Strauss’s 1897 orchestral songs, is a prime example. Its Tristanesque ebb and flow, emphasised by surging harp arpeggios, has obvious sexual connotations within the context of the poem. ‘Gesang der Apollopriesterin’ – a setting of a poem by Emanuel von Bodman – begins more reverently, though the climactic passage after ‘Die großen Freudenblüten dieser Welt’ is as suggestive as its predecessor. The breathy exclamations of

‘Hymnus’, attributed to Schiller, elicit a more measured response from the singer. The repetitive motif at the beginning of ‘Pilgers Morgenlied’ apes classical reserve, though the exclamation ‘Allgegenwärt’ge Liebe!’ provokes more fervent tones. Inspired by the sensual poetry of his peers, Strauss was equally able to tap the more suppressed emotions of texts from previous eras.

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Strauss: Four Early Songs

1 Verführung (John Henry Mackay)

1 Seduction

Der Tag, der schwüle, verblaßt, und in dieser Kühle Begehrt nun zu ruh’n, was sich ergeben dem Fest der Lust Nun schmiegt mit Beben sich Brust an Brust ...

The day, the sultry day grows pale, and now in this coolness all that has surrendered to the feast of joy desires to rest – Breast now nestles Against quivering breast ...

Es hebt der Nachtwind die Schwingen weit: ,,Wer liebt, der wacht auch zu dieser Zeit! ... ” Er küßt die Welle, und sie ergibt Sich ihm zur Stelle, weil sie ihn liebt.

The nocturnal breeze spreads wide its wings: ‘He who loves also keeps watch at this time ...’ The breeze kisses the wave, and she surrenders to him at once, because she loves him ...

O großes Feiern! O schönste Nacht! Nun wird sich entschleiern alle Pracht, Die Tags verborgen in Zweifeln lag, In Angst und Sorgen. Nun wird es Tag!

O vast celebration! O most beautiful of nights! All the splendour will now be unveiled that lay hidden during the day in doubts, in fears and worries – Day now dawns!

Still stößt vom Strande ein schwankes Boot. Verläßt die Lande der Mörder Tod? Er ward vergebens hierher bestellt: Der Gott des Lebens beherrscht die Welt! ...

A swaying boat sets silently out from the shore. Does murderous Death Leave the dry land? In vain was Death summoned there: the god of life rules the world! ...

Welch’ stürmisch’ Flüstern den Weg entlang? Was fleht so lüstern? Was seufzt so bang? Ein Niegehörtes hört nun dein Ohr – Wie Gift betört es: was geht hier vor?

What are these stormy whisperings along the way? What is this lascivious pleading? What are these timorous sighs? Your ear now hears The unheard-of – It bewitches like poison: What is happening here?! Please turn the page quietly London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

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Strauss: Four Early Songs continued

Der Sinn der Töne ist mir bekannt, Drum gib, o Schöne, mir deine Hand: Der ich zu rühren dein Herz verstand, Ich will dich führen in’s Wunderland! ...

I recognize what these sounds mean, therefore, O beauty, give me your hand: I who knew how to move your heart, I shall lead you into the wonderland ...

Mit süßem Schaudern reißt du dich los. Was hilft dein Zaudern? Dir fiel dein Los! Die Stimmen schweigen. Es liebt, wer wacht! Du wirst mein eigen noch diese Nacht!

With a sweet shudder you tear yourself away. What does such delay avail? This is your fate! The voices fall silent. He who keeps watch, loves! You shall be mine before this night is over!

2 Gesang der Apollopriesterin (Emanuel von Bodman)

Song of Apollo’s priestess

Es ist der Tag, wo jedes Leid vergessen. Ihr Schwestern, horcht: der Heilige ist nah, Er meldet sich im Rauschen der Cypressen. Und unsre Pflicht steht winkend vor uns da.

It is the day when all pain is forgotten. You sisters, listen: the Saint draws near, He announces his presence in the murmuring cypresses. And our duty now beckons us.

Wir lassen ihm den dunklen Sang erschallen, Daß seine schöne Sonne niedertaut. Wir ziehn um seine weißen Säulenhallen, Und jede ist geschmückt wie eine Braut.

We let his dark song resound, That his beautiful sun might send down its melting rays. We gather around his white columned halls, And each of us is adorned like a bride.

Seht, unten, wo die kühlen Bäche fließen, Dort wandeln heut’ in Nachtheit Mann und Frau; Sie trinken selig Duft und Klang der Wiesen, Und alle blicken sie zum hohen Blau.

Look, down there, where cool streams flow, Men and women wander naked there today; They blissfully drink in the meadows’ scent and sound, And all gaze aloft to the vaulted blue sky.

Und alle jauchzen sie, und alle pflücken Die großen Freudenblüten dieser Welt. Wir aber wollen nach der Frucht uns bücken, Die golden zwischen Traum und wachen fällt.

And all rejoice and all pluck This world’s great blooms of joy. But we shall stoop to gather the fruit Which falls, golden, between dreaming and waking.

Wir bringen sie in einer Silberschale Zum Tempel hin, dicht neben Speer und Schild. Wir knieen nieder: Dufte, Frucht, und strahle Dem Volk entgegen sein verklärtes Bild!

We bring the fruit in a silver salver To the temple, and lay it next to spear and shield. We kneel: shed your scent, O fruit, and beam To his people his transfigured image!

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3 Hymnus (Gustav Schiller)

Hymn

Daß du mein Auge wecktest zu diesem goldenen Lichte, Daß mich dein Äther umfließt, Daß ich zu deinem Äther hinauf einen Menschenblick richte, der ihn edler genießt, Daß du einen unsterbliches Geist, der dich, Göttliche, denket und in die schlagende Brust, Gütige, mir des Schmerzes wohlhät’ge Warnung Geschenket und die belohnende Lust, Daß du des Geistes Gedanken, des Herzens Gefühle zu tönen Mir ein Saitenspiel gabst, Kränze des Ruhms und das buhlende Glück deinen stolzeren Söhnen, Mir ein Saitenspiel gabst; Daß dem trunkenen Sinn, von hoher Begeistrung beflügelt, Schöner das Leben sich malt, Schöner in der Dichtung Krystall die Wahrheit sich spiegelt, heller die dämmernde strahlt: Große Göttin, dafür soll, Bis die Parzen mich fodern, Dieses Herzens Gefühl, Zarter Kindlichkeit voll, In dankbarem Strahle dir lodern, Soll aus dem goldenen Spiel Unerschöpflich dein Preis, Erhabne Bidnerin, fließen, Soll dieser denkende Geist An dein mütterlich Herz in reiner Umarmung sich schließen, Bis der Tod sie zerreißt!

That you have woken my eyes to this golden light, so that your ether flows about me, that I have lifted my human gaze aloft to your ether, to enjoy it more nobly, that you have vouchsafed me an immortal spirit, that thinks of you, divine one, and have given to my pounding breast, O kind one, the beneficent warning of pain and rewarding joy, that you have given me musical strings to sound forth the spirit’s thoughts, the heart’s feelings,

4 Pilgers Morgenlied (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Pilgrim’s morning song

Morgennebel, Lila, Hüllen deinen Turm ein, Soll ich ihn zum Letztenmal nicht sehn! Doch mir schweben Tausend Bilder Seliger Erinn’rung Heilig warm um’s Herz.

Morning mists, Lila, Shroud your tower, Let this not be the last time That I see it! But a thousand images Of blissful memory Float around my heart With blissful warmth.

have given wreaths of fame and wooing fortune to your prouder sons, have given me musical strings that life might be mirrored more beautifully to the intoxicated sense of noble zeal, that truth might be mirrored more beautifully in poetry’s crystal, that the dawning and great goddess might beam – for all this, till the Fates challenge me, shall my heart’s feeling with its tender childlike nature glow and gleam for you in gratitude, shall I endlessly sing your praises, sublime sculptress, from your golden play, shall this my mind cling to your maternal heart with a pure embrace, till death sunders us.

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Programme notes

Wie er da stand, Zeuge meiner Wonne, Als zum erstenmal Du dem Freundling Ängstlich liebevoll Begegnetest, Und mit einemmal Ewge Flammen In die Seel’ ihm warfst. Zische, Nord, Tausend-schlangen-züngig Mir ums Haupt! Beugen sollst du’s nicht! Beugen magst du Kind’scher Zweige Haupt, Von der Sonne Muttergegenwart geschieden.

How he stood there, O witness of my rapture, When for the first time You encountered The stranger, Anxious and full of love, And of a sudden Assailed his heart With eternal flames. Hiss, O North Wind, Thousand-tongued Around my head! You shall not bow my head! You may bow The heads of young branches That have been sundered From the sun’s maternal presence.

Allgegenwärt’ge Liebe! Durchglühest mich, Bötst dem Wetter die Stirn, Gefahren die Brust, Hast mir gegossen Ins früh welkende Herz Doppeltes Leben, Freude, zu leben, Und Mut!

Omnipresent love! You glow through me, You defy the weather, You defy danger, You have instilled Into my young wilting heart Double life, Lust for life And courage. Translations © Richard Stokes

Interval – 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.

Richard Strauss Notturno, Op. 44 No. 1

Thomas Hampson baritone

The text begins on the opposite page. ‘Notturno’, the first of Strauss’s Zwei grössere Gesänge of 1899, is a setting of a poem by Richard Dehmel. His frank depictions of erotic love captivated a generation of composers. Strauss responded to this extended poem with a notable fusion of Lieder and the tone-poem, which looks ahead to the great monologues of his later operas. Night is described in strikingly

mysterious terms, with radiant moonlit woodwind chords alternating with glowering responses in the lower strings. A solo violin carves an eerie nocturne, as these ideas conspire in an increasingly urgent and nightmarish scenario. In Dehmel’s original text the narrator wakes from his nightmare, but Strauss omits the final line, leaving us in nocturnal limbo.

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Strauss: Notturno

Hoch hing der Mond; das Schneegefild lag bleich und öde um uns her, wie meine Seele bleich und leer, Denn neben mir, so stumm und wild, so stumm und kalt wie meine Not, Als wollt’ er weichen nimmermehr, saß starr und wartete der Tod.

The moon shone high in the heavens; the snowfield Lay pale and desolate around us, Pale and empty like my soul. For next to me, so mute and wild, so mute and cold as my distress, as though he would never ever leave, sat Death, staring and waiting.

Da kam es her wie einst so mild, so müd’ und sacht aus ferner Nacht, so kummerschwer kam seiner Geige Hauch daher, Und vor mir stand sein stilles Bild.

Then it came: as gently as once before, so weary and soft, out of distant night, so sorrow-laden – the wafting of his violin, and his silent image stood before me.

Der mich umflochten wie ein Band, daß meine Blüte nicht zerfiel, und daß mein Herz die Sehnsucht fand, die große Sehnsucht ohne Ziel: da stand er nun im öden Land Und stand so trüb und feierlich und sah nicht auf noch grüßte mich, Nur seine Töne ließ er irr’n und weinen durch die kühle Flur, und mir entgegen starrte nur aus seiner Stirn, als wär’s ein Auge hohl und fahl, der tiefen Wunde dunkles Mal.

He who bound me like a ribbon that my flowering might not fade and that my heart might find the longing, the great longing without a goal. There he now stood in the desolate land and stood so drear and solemn and neither looked up nor greeted me, he only let his violin’s sound wander and weep through the cold meadow, and the dark mark of his deep wound stared at me from his brow, as though it were an eye, hollow and wan.

Und trüber quoll das trübe Lied und quoll so heiß, und wuchs, und schwoll, so heiß und voll wie Leben, das nach Liebe glüht, wie Liebe, die nach Leben schreit, nach ungenossner Seligkeit, so wehevoll, so wühlend quoll das strömende Lied und flutete; und leise, leise blutete und strömte mit in’s bleiche Schneefeld rot und fahl der tiefen Wunde dunkles Mal.

And the dreary song sounded more drear and poured forth so ardently, and grew, and swelled, so ardent and full as life that glows for love, as love that screams for life, for unsavoured rapture, the streaming song surged and flooded so painfully, so churningly, and the dark mark of his deep wound bled, gently, gently and streamed, red and wan, into the pale snowfield.

Und müder glitt die müde Hand, und vor mir stand ein bleicher Tag, ein ferner, bleicher Jugendtag,

And the weary hand glided more wearily and before me stood a pale day, a distant pale day of my youth, Please turn the page quietly London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

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Strauss: Notturno continued

Da starr im Sand zerfallen seine Blüte lag, da seine Sehnsucht sich vergaß, in ihrer Schwermut Übermaß und ihrer Traurigkeiten müd zum Ziele schritt; und laut aufschrie das weinende Lied, Das wühlende, und flutete, und seiner Saiten Klage schnitt, und seine Stirne blutete und weinte mit in meine starre Seelennot, als sollt’ ich hören ein Gebot, als müßt ich jubeln, daß ich litt, als möcht er fühlen, was ich litt mitfühlen alles Leidens Schuld und alles Lebens warme Huld – und weinend, blutend wandt’ er sich ins bleiche Dunkel und verblich.

and there, rigid in the sand his beauty lay decayed, since his longing forgot itself in the surfeit of its melancholy and, weary of sadness, stepped out to its goal; and the weeping song, the churning song cried out and streamed, and its strings’ lament cut and its brow bled and wept into the numb distress of my soul, as though I heard a commandment, as though I had to rejoice that I suffered, as if he were feeling what I suffered, felt with me the guilt of all suffering and the warm tribute of all life, and weeping, bleeding he turned into the pale dark, and faded away.

Und bebend hört’ ich mir entgehn, entfliehn sein Lied. Und wie so zart So zitternd ward, der langen Töne fernes Flehn, da fühlt’ ich kalt ein Rauschen wehn Und grauenschwer die Luft sich rühren um mich her, und wollte bebend nun ihn sehn, ihn lauschen sehn, der wartend saß bei meiner Not, und wandte mich – da lag es kahl, das bleiche Feld, und fern und fahl entwich ins Dunkel auch der Tod.

And quivering, I heard his song escape and flee. And just as the long-held sounds of the distant pleading grew so tender and tremulous, I felt a cold rustling And, horror-laden, the breeze stir about me, and quivering I wished to see only him, see him listening, he who sat waiting by me in my need, and I turned – there the pale field lay cool, and distant and wan death also escaped into the dark.

Hoch hing der Mond, und mild und müd hin schwand es in die leere Nacht, das flehende Lied, und schwand und schied, des toten Freundes flehendes Lied.

The moon shone high in the heavens, and gentle and weary the pleading song vanished into the empty night and vanished and dissolved, the pleading song of the dead friend.

Richard Dehmel

Translation © Richard Stokes

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Programme notes

Richard Strauss ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ and Final Scene from Salome

Karita Mattila Salome

The text begins overleaf. Strauss seemed destined to become an opera composer. The conductor Hans von Bülow jokingly christened him ‘Richard III’ (Wagner being the first and having no direct successor). Even though Strauss’s father brought him up on an exactingly traditional musical diet, the family’s proximity to Wagner encouraged Strauss all the more. Strauss’s friend Alexander Ritter (the husband of Wagner’s niece) fostered that curiosity, which eventually found voice in Guntram (1894) and Feuersnot (1901). In both operas, the orchestra plays a major role in underlining character psychology. Wagner had employed the orchestra to similar ends, though in Strauss’s age, dominated by psychological discourse and the advent of Freud, it gained further clout. Although neither of these operas was successful, they laid the groundwork for Salome, which opened to equal shock and adulation in Dresden in 1905. Strauss was based in Berlin where, in 1903, he saw a production of Hedwig Lachmann’s translation of Oscar Wilde’s play. Directed by the young Max Reinhardt, Salomé, like its author, was highly notorious. Courting that considerable controversy, Strauss decided to adapt Lachmann’s translation for the operatic stage. Rather than Wagner’s lengthy musical tracts, Strauss is decidedly concise, cutting the sub-clauses and florid descriptions of Wilde’s empurpled text. A system of leitmotifs, rich tonal signifiers and a vast orchestra communicate Wilde’s biblical shocker in colours more lurid than the playwright could ever have imagined. Tonight, we will hear two of the most important passages from the opera. Salome is determined to kiss the prophet John the Baptist, whom her stepfather has imprisoned in the palace cistern. The prophet rejects her advances outright. When Herod asks his stepdaughter to dance, promising her anything she desires, Salome seizes the opportunity. The dance is a veritable thematic

logjam within the context of the opera. It begins with a riot of orientalist sounds and percussive effects, before settling into the first waltz, characterised by a solo viola and winding oboe. Washes of harp, flute and celeste accompany the next dance, which becomes ever more parodic of Strauss’s ‘Waltz King’ namesake. Decorated woodwind figures repeat over and over again as Salome launches into her final waltz. Herod is thrilled and promises to pay Salome well. In response she asks for the Baptist’s head on a silver charger. A wild argument ensues, in which Herod offers anything but the head, promising even the veil of the temple. But Salome is determined and, finally, an executioner emerges from the well, thrusting up the severed head, which Salome seizes immediately, singing a gross but gripping love song. The melodies from the ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ find their attainment in this scene, in which Strauss once more employs the full colourful potential of the orchestra. Rather than the dark C minor that accompanied the appearance of the head from the cistern, Salome’s C-sharp major is established as the overriding tonic. Yet the language of this final scene is anything but solid and however determined Salome remains, her triumph will not last. That horrified C minor returns and, even when Salome kisses the head, a distinctly ominous atonal rumble undermines her C-sharp tonality. Salome glories once more in her conquest, but after a fiercely iridescent cadence, Herod commands the soldiers to kill his stepdaughter. The music snaps back into C minor key and the Princess of Judea is crushed to death. Programme notes © Gavin Plumley 2012

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Strauss: Final scene from Salome

Salome Es ist kein Laut zu vernehmen. Ich höre nichts. Warum schreit er nicht, der Mann? Ah! Wenn einer mich zu töten käme, ich würde schreien, ich würde mich wehren, ich würde es nicht dulden! ... Schlag zu, schlag zu, Naaman, schlag zu, sag ich dir ... Nein, ich höre nichts.

Es ist eine schreckliche Stille! Ach! Es ist etwas zu Boden gefallen. Ich hörte etwas fallen. Es war das Schwert des Henkers. Er hat Angst, dieser Sklave. Er hat das Schwert fallen lassen! Er traut sich nicht, ihn zu töten. Er ist eine Memme, dieser Sklave. Schickt Soldaten hin!

Salome (She leans over the cistern and listens.) There is no sound. I hear nothing. Why does he not cry out, this man? Ah! if any man sought to kill me, I would cry out, I would struggle, I would not suffer ... Strike, Naaman, strike, I tell you ... No, I hear nothing.

(stretched out) There is a silence, a terrible silence. Ah! something has fallen upon the ground. I heard something fall. It is the sword of the headsman. He is afraid, this slave. He has let his sword fall. He dare not kill him. He is a coward, this slave! Let soldiers be sent.

Wohlan, ich sage dir: Es sind noch nicht genug Tote. Geh zu den Soldaten und befiehl ihnen, hinabzusteigen und mir zu holen, was ich verlange, was der Tetrarch mir versprochen hat, was mein ist! Hierher, ihr Soldaten, geht ihr in die Zisterne hinunter und holt mir den Kopf des Mannes!

(to a Page) Come hither, thou wert the friend of him who is dead, is it not so? Well, I tell thee, there are not dead men enough. Go to the soldiers and bid them go down and bring me the thing I ask, the thing the Tetrarch has promised me, the thing that is mine. Hither, ye soldiers. Get ye down into this cistern and bring me the head of this man.

Tetrarch, Tetrarch, befiehl deinen Soldaten, daß sie mir den Kopf des Jochanaan holen!

(shouting) Tetrarch, Tetrarch, command your soldiers that they bring me the head of Jokanaan.

Komm hierher, du warst der Freund dieses Toten, nicht?

Ah! Du wolltest mich nicht deinen Mund küssen lassen, Jochanaan! Wohl, ich werde ihn jetzt küssen. Ich will mit meinen Zähnen hineinbeißen, wie man in eine reife Frucht beißen mag. Ja, ich will ihn jetzt küssen, deinen Mund, Jochanaan. Ich hab’ es gesagt. Hab’ ich’s nicht gesagt? Ja, ich hab’ es gesagt. Ah! Ah! Ich will ihn jetzt küssen ... Aber warum siehst du mich nicht an, Jochanaan? Deine Augen, die so schrecklich waren, so voller Wut und Verachtung, sind jetzt geschlossen. Warum sind sie geschlossen? Öffne doch die Augen, so hebe deine Lider, Jochanaan! Warum siehst du mich nicht an?

Ah! Thou wouldst not suffer me to kiss thy mouth, Jokanaan. Well, I will kiss it now. I will bite it with my teeth as one bites a ripe fruit. Yes, I will kiss thy mouth, Jokanaan. I said it: did I not say it?

Hast du Angst vor mir, Jochanaan, daß du mich nicht ansehen willst? Und deine Zunge, sie spricht kein Wort, Jochanaan, diese Scharlachnatter, die ihren Geifer gegen mich spie. Es ist seltsam, nicht? Wie kommt es, daß diese rote Natter sich nicht mehr rührt? Du sprachst böse Worte gegen mich, Salome, die Tochter der Herodias, Prinzessin von Judäa.

Art thou afraid of me, Jokanaan, that thou wilt not look at me? ... And thy tongue, it says nothing now, Jokanaan, that scarlet viper that spat its venom upon me. It is strange, is it not? How is it that the red viper stirs no longer? Thou didst speak evil words against me, me, Salome, daughter of Herodias, Princess of Judaea!

Yes, I said it. Ah! ah! I will kiss it now ... But wherefore dost thou not look at me, Jokanaan? Thine eyes that were so terrible, so full of rage and scorn, are shut now. Wherefore are they shut? Open thine eyes! Lift up thine eyelids, Jokanaan! Wherefore dost thou not look at me?

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Nun wohl! Ich lebe noch, aber du bist tot, und dein Kopf, dein Kopf gehört mir! Ich kann mit ihm tun, was ich will. Ich kann ihn den Hunden vorwerfen und den Vögeln der Luft. Was die Hunde übriglassen, sollen die Vögel der Luft verzehren ... Ah! Ah! Jochanaan, Jochanaan, du warst schön. Dein Leib war eine Elfenbeinsäule auf silbernen Füßen. Er war ein Garten voller Tauben in der Silberlilien Glanz. Nichts in der Welt war so weiß wie dein Leib. Nichts in der Welt war so schwarz wie dein Haar. In der ganzen Welt war nichts so rot wie dein Mund. Deine Stimme war ein Weihrauchgefäß und wenn ich dich ansah, hörte ich geheimnisvolle Musik ... Ah! Warum hast du mich nicht angesehn, Jochanaan? Du legtest über deine Augen die Binde eines, der seinen Gott schauen wollte.

Well, Jokanaan, I still live, but thou, thou art dead, and thy head belongs to me. I can do with it what I will. I can throw it to the dogs and to the birds of the air. That which the dogs leave, the birds of the air shall devour ...

Wohl! Du hast deinen Gott gesehn, Jochanaan, aber mich, mich, mich hast du nie gesehn. Hättest du mich gesehn, du hättest mich geliebt! Ich dürste nach deiner Schönheit. Ich hungre nach deinem Leib. Nicht Wein noch Äpfel können mein Verlangen stillen ... Was soll ich jetzt tun, Jochanaan? Nicht die Fluten noch die großen Wasser können dieses brünstige Begehren löschen ... Oh! Warum sahst du mich nicht an? Hättest du mich angesehn, du hättest mich geliebt. Ich weiß es wohl, du hättest mich geliebt. Und das Geheimnis der Liebe ist größer als das Geheimnis des Todes ...

Well, thou hast seen thy God, Jokanaan, but me, me, me, thou didst never see. If thou hadst seen me thou wouldst have loved me. I am athirst for thy beauty; I am hungry for thy body. Neither wine nor fruits can appease my desire ... What shall I do now, Jokanaan? Neither the floods nor the great waters can quench my passion ... Oh! wherefore didst thou not look at me, Jokanaan? If thou hadst looked at me thou wouldst have loved me. Well I know that thou wouldst have loved me. And the mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death ... (She kisses the mouth of Jokanaan.)

Ah! Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt, Jochanaan. Ah, ich habe ihn geküßt, deinen Mund. Es war ein bitterer Geschmack auf deinen Lippen. Hat es nach Blut geschmeckt? Nein! Doch es schmeckte vielleicht nach Liebe ... Sie sagen, daß die Liebe bitter schmecke ... Allein, was tut’s? Was tut’s? Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt, Jochanaan. Ich habe ihn geküßt, deinen Mund.

Ah! I have kissed thy mouth, Jokanaan. Ah! I have kissed thy mouth. There was a bitter taste on thy lips. Was it the taste of blood? No! But perchance it is the taste of love ... They say that love hath a bitter taste ... But what of that? What of that? I have kissed thy mouth, Jokanaan. I have kissed thy mouth.

Deutsche Übersetzung des Dramas von Oscar Wilde: Hedwig Lachmann. © Copyright 1905, 1906 by Hawkes & Son (London) Ltd. for all countries of the world except Germany, Danzig, Italy, Portugal and former countries of the U.S.S.R. © Copyright 1905, 1906 by Adolph Fürstner for Germany, Danzig, Italy, Portugal and former countries of the U.S.S.R. Original text and translations reproduced with kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd, London, and Fürstner, Mainz, for their respective territories.

Translation by Lord Alfred Douglas (first published in 1894) from Oscar Wilde’s original French, abridged in accordance with Strauss’s libretto. Reprinted by courtesy of Decca Music Group Limited.

Ah! Jokanaan, Jokanaan, thou wert beautiful. Thy body was a column of ivory set on a silver socket. It was a garden full of doves and of silver lilies. There was nothing in the world so white as thy body. There was nothing in the world so black as thy hair. In the whole world there was nothing so red as thy mouth. Thy voice was a censer, and when I looked on thee I heard a strange music ... Ah! wherefore didst thou not look at me, Jokanaan? Thou didst put upon thine eyes the covering of him who would see his God.

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London Philharmonic Orchestra Birthday Appeal 2012/13 This season the London Philharmonic Orchestra has reached 80 years on the concert platform. We would like you to consider helping us celebrate by making a donation to our birthday wish list. These presents are all items that the Orchestra desperately needs this season. Alternatively you could make a donation to be spent on whatever we need the most.

£800

£250

£1,500

Two double bass stools

Three tom-toms

Carmina Burana music hire

Our double bass stools are on their last legs. Support our musicians by giving them something new to sit on!

We often have to hire percussion. Owning our own tom-toms would make a great birthday present!

Donate towards the score and part hire for the conductor, Orchestra and London Philharmonic Choir for the performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana on 6 April 2013.

£3,000

£5,000

FUNharmonics illustrations

Recording a concert for live stream

New terminal server

Donate to the bespoke illustrations and animation designed for each themed FUNharmonics family concert, to help educate and increase engagement with our young audiences.

Help us to increase the Orchestra’s reach around the world through donating to the recording of a 2013 concert for live stream and potential CD release.

The socks option – sounds boring but we really need it! The terminal server keeps our staff and backstage team in touch by providing remote access to emails and files when the Orchestra is on tour.

Get involved and visit www.lpo.org.uk/birthday for more information. Alternatively get in touch via katherine.hattersley@lpo.org.uk or call 020 7840 4212.

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orchestra news

2013/14 season launch

Birthday Appeal update

Our 2013/14 season is now available to browse online at www.lpo.org.uk/newseason. Booking opens on Thursday 31 January. To take advantage of priority booking (from Monday 21 January), become a Friend of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for as little as £50 a year. Call Sarah Fletcher on 020 7840 4225 or visit www.lpo.org.uk/support_us/friends.html

This season marks 80 years since the London Philharmonic Orchestra took to the stage with its founder, Sir Thomas Beecham. We have been asking audience members to help us celebrate this milestone by donating towards our present wish list as part of our Birthday Appeal.

Highlights of the new season include: • A centenary celebration of the music of Benjamin Britten, including Peter Grimes and the War Requiem. • The Orchestra celebrates The Genius of Film Music, exploring some of the scintillating film scores created between 1960–2000. • Yannick Nézet-Séguin demonstrates his flair for the French repertoire with Poulenc and Dutilleux. • Vladimir Jurowski conducts John Adams’s powerful and theatrical Nativity oratorio El Niño. • Classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglič performs Rodrigo’s evocative Concierto de Aranjuez.

We have had a fantastic and very generous response and want to say a big thank you to everyone who has bought us a present so far. The Birthday Appeal is running until the end of the season so there’s still time to get involved – see the opposite page for all the details. We have had lots of contributions towards the double bass stools and tom-toms, so if you haven’t had the chance to donate yet, how about helping us fund a recording for live streaming, or the animation artwork to bring our family concerts to life? All gifts are gratefully received by the Orchestra.

• The world premiere of James MacMillan’s Viola Concerto with soloist Lawrence Power.

www.lpo.org.uk/birthday

Foyle Future Firsts in India

Tour news

In early December a team of eight of our Foyle Future Firsts travelled to Mumbai at the invitation of Trinity College London to help celebrate 125 years of Trinity Exams in India. The musicians worked with the Bombay Chamber Orchestra, coaching sections and playing in the Orchestra’s 50th anniversary gala. Other links were forged by spending time with local instrumental teachers and visiting schools across Mumbai, performing for and running workshops with young musicians. They also spent an illuminating and inspiring morning with eminent tabla and sitar player, Pandit Nayan Ghosh.

After the Orchestra’s final 2012 Royal Festival Hall concert on 14 December, we travelled to Madrid and Germany before returning to London on 23 December for a well-earned Christmas break. Then last week we visited the Canary Islands, where we gave concerts in Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Next on the schedule is a return to Madrid on 14 February to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 2 with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and pianist Simon Trpčeski, ahead of our Royal Festival Hall concert featuring the same programme the following evening, Friday 15 February.

The LPO Foyle Future Firsts programme bridges the transition between college and the professional platform for up to 16 outstanding young musicians each year. www.lpo.org.uk/education/futurefirsts.html Foyle Future Firsts is generously supported by the Foyle Foundation with additional contributions from The Fidelio Charitable Trust, Musicians Benevolent Fund and The Tillett Trust.

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Next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Wednesday 23 January 2013 | 7.30pm

Saturday 9 February 2013 | 7.30pm

Webern Im Sommerwind Schoenberg Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16 Mahler Das Lied von der Erde

Respighi Fountains of Rome Falla Nights in the Gardens of Spain Respighi Il tramonto Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte Ravel Rapsodie espagnole

Sir Mark Elder conductor Lilli Paasikivi mezzo soprano Paul Groves tenor Generously supported by Barrie and Emmanuel Roman

6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert performance Royal Festival Hall The culmination of our New Horizons GCSE composition project. Students from Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth will perform their own compositions alongside LPO musicians, based on Schoenberg’s Peripetie.

Enrique Mazzola conductor Javier Perianes piano Maria Luigia Borsi soprano

Enrique Mazzola, Javier Perianes & Maria Luigia Borsi

Supported by Sir William Boreman’s Foundation

Saturday 26 January 2013 | 7.30pm Elgar The Dream of Gerontius Sir Mark Elder conductor Sarah Connolly mezzo soprano Paul Groves tenor Brindley Sherratt bass London Philharmonic Choir Choir of Clare College, Cambridge Please note there will be no interval.

Friday 1 February 2013 | 7.30pm JTI Friday Series Debussy Ibéria (from Images pour orchestre) Sibelius Violin Concerto Sibelius Symphony No. 4 Jukka-Pekka Saraste conductor Henning Kraggerud violin 6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert performance Royal Festival Hall Musicians from the London Philharmonic Orchestra join students from London Music Masters’ innovative music education programme, the Bridge Project, for a musical celebration.

Friday 15 February 2013 | 7.30pm JTI Friday Series Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Simon Trpčeski piano In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation

Saturday 16 February 2013 | 7.30pm Ravel Mother Goose Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 Stravinsky The Rite of Spring Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Leila Josefowicz violin The Thomas Beecham Group Concert

Booking details London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (no transaction fee) Southbank Centre Ticket Office (transaction fees apply) 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pm southbankcentre.co.uk

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We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors:

Guy & Utti Whittaker Manon Williams

David Ellen Commander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel Goldstein Mr & Mrs Jeffrey Herrmann Peter MacDonald Eggers Mr & Mrs David Malpas Andrew T Mills Mr Maxwell Morrison Mr Michael Posen Mr & Mrs Thierry Sciard Mr John Soderquist & Mr Costas Michaelides Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina Vaizey Howard & Sheelagh Watson Mr Laurie Watt Mr Anthony Yolland

Ken Follett Pauline & Peter Halliday Michael & Christine Henry Mr Ivan Hurry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr R K Jeha Mr Gerald Levin Sheila Ashley Lewis Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Mr Frank Lim Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Brian Marsh John Montgomery Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Edmund Pirouet Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Des & Maggie Whitelock Bill Yoe

Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Jane Attias Lady Jane Berrill Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Mr Charles Dumas

Benefactors Mrs A Beare Dr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRS Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr David Dennis Mr David Edgecombe Mr Richard Fernyhough

Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd

Thomas Beecham Group The Tsukanov Family Anonymous The Sharp Family Julian & Gill Simmonds Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller Moya Greene John & Angela Kessler Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Eric Tomsett

Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Pehr G Gyllenhammar Edmund Pirouet Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged: Corporate Members Silver: AREVA UK British American Business Destination Québec – UK Hermes Fund Managers Pritchard Englefield Bronze: Lisa Bolgar Smith and Felix Appelbe of Ambrose Appelbe Appleyard & Trew LLP Berkeley Law Charles Russell Lazard Leventis Overseas Corporate Donor Lombard Street Research Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Villa Maria

In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Sela / Tilley’s Sweets Trusts and Foundations Addleshaw Goddard Charitable Trust BBC Performing Arts Fund The Boltini Trust Sir William Boreman’s Foundation The Boshier-Hinton Foundation Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Trust The Coutts Charitable Trust Diaphonique, Franco-British fund for contemporary music Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust Fidelio Charitable Trust The Foyle Foundation J Paul Getty Junior Charitable Trust The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Capital Radio’s Help a London Child The Hobson Charity The Kirby Laing Foundation The Idlewild Trust

The Leverhulme Trust Marsh Christian Trust Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust Paul Morgan Charitable Trust The Diana and Allan Morgenthau Charitable Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund Newcomen Collett Foundation The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Rothschild Foundation The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation John Thaw Foundation The Tillett Trust The Underwood Trust Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement Kurt Weill Foundation for Music Garfield Weston Foundation and others who wish to remain anonymous

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Administration

Board of Directors

General Administration

Orchestra Personnel