London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 February 2015 concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

Concert programme lpo.org.uk

Winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI* Leader PIETER SCHOEMAN† Composer in Residence MAGNUS LINDBERG Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 25 February 2015 | 7.30pm

Beethoven Overture, Egmont, Op. 84 (8’) Schumann Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op. 52 (17’) Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (27’) Interval

Contents 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 13 14 15 16

Welcome On stage tonight About the Orchestra Leader: Pieter Schoeman Christoph Eschenbach Ray Chen Programme notes Highlights 2015/16 season Supporters Sound Futures donors LPO administration

The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (36’) Christoph Eschenbach conductor Ray Chen violin This concert is being broadcast live by the BBC on Radio 3 Live In Concert – live concerts every day of the week. Listen online in HD Sound for 30 days at bbc.co.uk/radio3

* supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation † supported by Neil Westreich CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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, Feng Sushi and Topolski, 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.

London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO on Radio Welcome to tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert of seminal classical repertoire at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. It is being broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 so you can enjoy the concert again on the BBC iPlayer for the next 30 days. Follow the links: bbc.co.uk/radio3 LPO recording wins critical acclaim The latest release on the LPO label is a CD of Vaughan Williams’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 8 conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth and Vladimir Jurowski, recorded live at Royal Festival Hall in 2013 and 2008 respectively. The Financial Times declared both symphonies ‘live performances in every sense of the term’ and The Independent on Sunday praised Vladimir Jurowski for conducting an ‘Orchestra on top form’. The CD number is LPO-0082, priced £9.99 and available via the LPO website (as a download or CD) or through the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242). lpo.org.uk/shop LPO on Tour The Orchestra has a busy touring schedule, having just returned from Groningen, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Bruges, and is off to Istanbul and Mannheim early next month. Tickets are available for these events so you could treat yourselves to an LPO concert during a city break. Full details at lpo.org.uk/whats-on-and-tickets

LPO’s next concert at Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 11 March 2015 | 7.30pm Elgar Introduction and Allegro Ireland Piano Concerto Walton Symphony No. 1 Andrew Manze conductor Piers Lane piano Supported by the John Ireland Charitable Trust

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65) London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk | Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone

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On stage tonight

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Ilyoung Chae Chair supported by an anonymous donor Ji-Hyun Lee Chair supported by Eric Tomsett Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Galina Tanney Robert Yeomans Amanda Smith Ishani Bhoola Kate Cole Second Violins Philippe Honore Guest Principal Jeongmin Kim Sub-Principal Kate Birchall Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller Lorenzo Gentili-Tedeschi Fiona Higham Joseph Maher

Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Floortje Gerritsen Dean Williamson Elizabeth Baldey John Dickinson Harry Kerr Mila Mustakova Violas Helen Kamminga Guest Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Isabel Pereira Daniel Cornford Sarah Malcolm Martin Fenn Emmanuella Reiter Richard Cookson Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Daniel Gardner Santiago Carvalhoâ&#x20AC; David Lale Elisabeth Wiklander Susanna Riddell Tom Roff Helen Rathbone Laura Donoghue Francis Bucknall

Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Laurence Lovelle Richard Lewis Tom Walley Lowri Morgan Charlotte Kerbegian George Peniston Catherine Ricketts Flutes Sue Thomas* Principal Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE Hannah Grayson Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal Oboes John Anderson Guest Principal Alice Munday Clarinets Robert Hill* Principal Thomas Watmough Bassoons Gareth Newman Principal Stuart Russell Contrabassoon Simon Estell Principal

Horns David Pyatt* Principal Chair supported by Simon Robey John Ryan* Principal Martin Hobbs Gareth Mollison Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton David Whitehouse Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

* Holds a professorial appointment in London â&#x20AC; Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Sonja Drexler; Friends of the Orchestra; Andrew Davenport

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Full marks to the London Philharmonic for continuing to offer the most adventurous concerts in London. The Financial Times, 14 April 2014 The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with its present-day position as one of the most dynamic and forward-looking ensembles in the UK. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, releases CDs on its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and community groups. The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is currently the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, appointed in 2007. From September 2015 Andrés Orozco-Estrada will take up the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence. The Orchestra is based at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has performed since the Hall’s opening in 1951 and been Resident Orchestra since 1992. It gives around 30 concerts there each season with many of the world’s top conductors and

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soloists. Throughout 2013 the Orchestra collaborated with Southbank Centre on the year-long The Rest Is Noise festival, charting the influential works of the 20th century. 2014/15 highlights include a seasonlong festival, Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, exploring the composer’s major orchestral masterpieces; premieres of works by Harrison Birtwistle, Julian Anderson, Colin Matthews, James Horner and the Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence, Magnus Lindberg; and appearances by many of today’s most soughtafter artists including Maria João Pires, Christoph Eschenbach, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Osmo Vänskä, Lars Vogt, Barbara Hannigan, Vasily Petrenko, Marin Alsop, Katia and Marielle Labèque and Robin Ticciati. Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer it takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra.

Pieter Schoeman leader

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

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 80 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include organ works by Poulenc and Saint-Saëns with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Strauss’s Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben with Bernard Haitink; Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 6 & 14 and Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy with Vladimir Jurowski; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Hans Graf. 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. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians through an energetic programme of activities for young people. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the Young Composers Programme; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Its work at the forefront of digital engagement and social media has 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 and regular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2014/15 season include appearances across Europe (including Iceland) and tours to the USA (West and East Coasts), Canada and China.

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.

Find out more and get involved! lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7

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 and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter’s chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich. London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

Christoph Eschenbach conductor

Eschenbach mastered the harmonic motion of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony’s vast spiritual drama, its ebb and flow, its tension and release ... The Ninth is a cosmic symphony; on this occasion, it received a cosmic performance.” © Eric Brissaud

Jeffrey Gantz, The Boston Globe, September 2014

In demand as a distinguished guest conductor with the finest orchestras and opera houses throughout the world, Christoph Eschenbach began his tenure in September 2010 as Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as Music Director of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. He was formerly Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris (2000–10), the Philadelphia Orchestra (2003–08), the NDR Symphony Orchestra (1998–2004) and the Houston Symphony (1988–99). He is regularly invited to perform at prestigious music festivals including Salzburg, Prague,Tanglewood, Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, St Petersburg and Granada. As a pianist, he continues his fruitful collaboration with baritone Matthias Goerne performing worldwide and recording recitals of the romantic lieder repertoire of Schubert, Brahms and Schumann. A prolific recording artist for over five decades, Eschenbach has an impressive discography as both conductor and pianist on a number of prominent labels. Recordings range from Bach to contemporary works and reflect his commitment to all genres of classical music. His Hindemith CD with violinist Midori and the NDR Symphony Orchestra received a Grammy Award in 2014. Christoph Eschenbach was mentored by George Szell and Herbert von Karajan, and so it is important to him to pass on musical knowledge and experience, dedicating time each season to run masterclasses and orchestra academies for young performers, such as

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the Schleswig-Holstein Academy Orchestra, Kronberg Academy and Manhattan School of Music. His many honors include the Légion d’Honneur, Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Commander’s Cross of the German Order of Merit, and the Leonard Bernstein Award from the Pacific Music Festival. This year he will receive the Ernst von Siemens music Award in honour of his life’s dedication to music.

christoph-eschenbach.com

Ray Chen violin

Ray Chen [is] a very pure musician with great qualities such as a beautiful youthful tone, vitality and lightness. He has all the skills of a truly musical interpreter. © Julian Hargreaves

Maxim Vengerov, violinist

Winner of the Queen Elisabeth (2009) and Yehudi Menuhin Competitions (2008), Ray Chen has released three critically acclaimed albums on Sony: Virtuoso, a recital of works by Bach, Tartini, Franck, and Wieniawski, winner of the prestigious ECHO Classik award, and the Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky concertos with Swedish Radio Orchestra and Daniel Harding. Following the success of these recordings, Ray was profiled by The Strad and Gramophone magazines as ‘the one to watch’. His third recording, an all-Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, was released in January 2014. In 2012, he became the youngest soloist ever to perform in the televised Nobel Prize Concert for the Nobel Laureates and the Swedish Royal Family. His Carnegie Hall debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Sakari Oramo, as well as his sold-out Musikverein concert with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly were met with standing ovations. Ray Chen recently completed a 16-concert national recital tour of Australia and made his debut with the Orchestre National de France. He looks forward to an upcoming tour of China with the Gothenburg Symphony and Kent Nagano. Other highlights this season include debuts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and a recital at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

RCS Rizzoli (Corriere della Sera, Gazzetta dello Sport, Max). In his unstinting efforts to break down barriers between classical music, fashion and pop culture, he is supported by Giorgio Armani and was recently featured in Vogue magazine. Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Ray studied with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was supported by Young Concert Artists. He plays the 1715 ‘Joachim’ Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. This instrument is one of the five 1715 violins once owned by the famed Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim (1831–1907).

Follow Ray’s blog: chen.max.gazzetta.it Ray Chen on SoundCloud soundcloud.com/ray-chen-violin Find out more about Stradivari violins including the Joachim 1714, a close relative of Ray’s violin. friendsofstradivari.it

Followed by over 1.75 million people on SoundCloud, an online audio distribution platform, Ray Chen looks to expand the classical music audience by increasing its appeal to the young generation via all available social media platforms. He is the first ever classical musician to be invited to write a regular blog about his life as a touring soloist for the Italian publishing house,

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Programme notes

Speedread Revolution stirs in Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, and surges forward towards its goal in the Fifth Symphony, whose steely opening motif is one of the most famous beginnings in all music. Yet there’s also a strongly tragic element. By the time he came to write these two great heroic dramas, Beethoven had already seen the bloody consequences of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s act of betrayal in crowning himself Emperor. Hope and doubt co-exist in both works. It may be hard to believe listening to Mendelssohn’s glorious Violin Concerto, but this

Ludwig van Beethoven

composer’s doubts were more in his own powers. It’s only thanks to the determined encouragement of the violinist Ferdinand David that the score was finished at all. At the same time Schumann was struggling to understand what kind of orchestral work he’d just conceived: was it a ‘Symphony’, a ‘Symphonette’ – or something completely unclassifiable? Eventually he settled on Overture, Scherzo and Finale – a cumbersome title for a delightfully un-cumbersome work, in its modest, delicate way as original as Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

Overture, Egmont, Op. 84

1770–1827

Revolution was in the air when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote his play Egmont in 1786. America had declared independence from Britain in 1776, and in 1789 the French were to begin the long and bloody process of overthrowing their own absolute monarchy. Egmont is set in the Netherlands in the 16th century, then brutally repressed by occupying Spanish forces. The hero, Count Egmont, rouses the Flemish people in revolt against Spanish tyranny. Eventually he is arrested, and an attempt to rescue him by his lover, Klärchen, fails. Klärchen poisons herself, and Egmont is executed – but not before he has had a vision of freedom personified as Klärchen herself, who crowns Egmont with a laurel wreath. Egmont offers his death as a sacrifice for his people, confident that freedom will prevail.

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Despite the play’s subversive message, Goethe’s Egmont was staged by the Viennese Imperial Court Theatre in 1810, and it was for this production that Beethoven wrote the Egmont Overture. Beethoven’s impassioned sympathy for Egmont’s cause can be felt at every stage of this powerfully dramatic Overture. The slow introduction, alternately stern and plaintive, leads to an urgent, obsessive allegro that could easily be the first movement of a tragic symphony. As the music seems to be preparing to a grim final climax the music is suddenly cut off. Silence follows, then a few plaintive chords for woodwind – surely the moment of Egmont’s execution. Then, without any attempt at transition, the mood is catapulted into a bright F major and the Overture hurtles to an ecstatic conclusion. In the play – and in the context of Beethoven’s own time – this vision of ‘Crowned Freedom’ is still only a far-off hope.

Robert Schumann

Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op 52 1 Overture: Andante con moto – Allegro 2 Scherzo: Vivo 3 Finale: Allegro molto vivace

1810–56

As a composer, Schumann was almost entirely selftaught, and his development followed a strange, obsessive course of its own. During his 20s he wrote virtually nothing but solo piano music. 1840, the year of his long thwarted, eagerly anticipated marriage to the virtuoso pianist and composer Clara Wieck, saw an astonishing outpouring of songs and song-cycles. The following year, 1841, was designated the ‘year of the symphony’. In 1842, Schumann turned his attention to chamber music, then 1843 was devoted to choral music. Nor was there anything hesitant about Schumann’s progress in these carefully designated years: 1841 saw the completion of the First Symphony, the first version of the symphony eventually published as ‘No. 4’, the first movement of the Piano Concerto and this Overture, Scherzo and Finale. While Beethoven was clearly an important model for Schumann’s First and Fourth Symphonies – especially the dramatic linking of scherzo and finale in Beethoven’s epochal Fifth – this compact, relatively delicate work seems to turn more towards Schubert, whose music (then still little known) Schumann had discovered whilst visiting Vienna in his 20s. Initially Schumann thought of calling it ‘Symphony No. 2’, but he seems to have realised that he’d created something that didn’t fit into any accepted genre. He tried calling it ‘Symphonette’, then settled on the cumbersome-sounding ‘Overture, Scherzo and Finale’ – perhaps Schumann’s way of saying that it’s a bit of a misfit, but an endearing one all the same. The romantic melancholy of the slow

introduction seems to portend something serious, but the infectiously high-spirited Allegro that follows soon puts melancholy to flight. The often hushed Scherzo seems to canter through shadowy territory, then the Finale returns to upbeat exuberance – though with perhaps an underlying hint that elation might at any point tip over into its opposite.

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works Beethoven: Overture, Egmont Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich | David Zinman [Arte Nova] Schumann: Overture, Scherzo and Finale Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra | Georg Solti [Decca] Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto Anne-Sophie Mutter Berlin Philharmonic | Herbert von Karajan [Deutsche Grammophon] Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra | Carlos Kleiber [Deutsche Grammophon] London Philharmonic Orchestra | Klaus Tennstedt [BBC Legends]

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Programme notes continued

Felix Mendelssohn 1809–47

In 1838 Mendelssohn wrote to his friend the violinist Ferdinand David, ‘I should like to write a Violin Concerto for you for next winter. One in E minor is running round in my head, the beginning of which gives me no peace’. David was delighted – the prospect of being entrusted with the first performance of a concerto by one of Europe’s most famous composers would have been an appetising prospect. But despite his encouragement, Mendelssohn continued to struggle. Completing the Violin Concerto took him six years, during which he fired off letter after letter to David, seeking, sometimes imploring his advice. Even that wasn’t enough; David’s friend, the famous Danish composer and conductor Niels Gade, also had to be consulted: ‘Please show Gade this passage in the score and ask him for his opinion. Please don’t laugh at me too much! I’m truly ashamed of myself, but I can’t help it. I’m just groping around here.’ In the end, thankfully, David’s promise to play the new work ‘so that the angels in heaven will rejoice’, gave Mendelssohn the boost he needed to finish the score. David was as good as his word. The Concerto’s premiere in March 1845, in Leipzig’s famous Gewandhaus concert hall, was a triumph. Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto was welcomed as one of the gems of the concerto repertoire, and its reputation has remained secure ever since. From the music alone, you would never guess that Mendlessohn had suffered such agonies composing it. The Concerto’s famous opening is not only very beautiful and superbly conceived for the violin, it exudes

Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 Ray Chen violin 1 Allegro molto appassionato – 2 Andante – 3 Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto

confidence at every stage. After the briefest of orchestral preparations the soloist sweeps straight in with a long, soaring melody. The orchestra leads in the dramatic first climax, but the violin quickly returns to lead seamlessly into the sweetly meditative second theme. In fact the violin is never silent for very long, and only at the very end of the movement does the orchestra seize the stage for the emphatic final chords. Or at least they sound final – but a solo bassoon hangs on to one note, bends it upwards, then woodwind and strings lead straight into the slow movement. This begins with another glorious long melody, and despite stern challenges from trumpets and timpani, the sense of instrumental song is sustained right through to the end – except that, once again, it isn’t quite the end. The violin starts a wistful new idea, in a slightly faster tempo: is this the finale? There’s a moment of teasing uncertainty – then the real finale races into action. Again the soloist is rarely silent, leading the display of technical fireworks through to an exhilarating conclusion, soloist and orchestra now in joyful accord.

Interval – 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval. 10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven was a revolutionary artist in a revolutionary world. He began sketching his Fifth Symphony in February 1804, not long after completing the ‘Eroica’ Symphony (No. 3). It took another four years to reach completion, by which time he had also written and published the symphony known as No. 4. The fact that the Fifth was begun so early is important. Beethoven had originally intended to dedicate the ‘Eroica’ to the great revolutionary hero Napoleon Bonaparte. But when he heard the news that Napoleon had proclaimed himself Emperor, Beethoven is said to have torn out the dedication shouting, ‘So he is nothing but an ordinary being! Now he will trample the rights of men under foot and pander to his own ambition; he will place himself high above his fellow creature and become a tyrant!’ But Napoleon’s coronation did not take place until 2 December 1804, by which time the Fifth Symphony would have had time to take shape in Beethoven’s mind. Even after Napoleon’s act of political betrayal in 1804, Beethoven’s feelings about him continued to fluctuate. And if his faith in Napoleon suffered a severe blow in 1804, his belief in the revolutionary ideals of ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ was clearly more robust. There is a strong case for seeing the Fifth Symphony as a massive reassertion of belief in those ideals, despite the course the revolution had taken. If so, the first movement’s famous da-da-da-DA motif can be heard as a gesture of embattled hope, and the music’s driven obsession with this figure acquires a distinct political edge. But then so too does the wonderful haunting moment, just after the return of the first theme, where an oboe meditates plaintively for a moment – a moment of doubt, perhaps?

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 1. Allegro con brio 2. Andante con moto 3. Allegro 4. Allegro

The da-da-da-DA rhythmic motif continues to assert itself in the brass and timpani fanfares that repeatedly interrupt the lyrical flow of the slow movement, and in the horns’ fortissimo call to resume the struggle not long after the start of the much darker scherzo. Eventually, after an eerie hush, with quietly throbbing timpani notes, the music boils up in a massive crescendo. Then the finale storms in triumphantly, enhanced by the addition of piccolo, contrabassoon and three trombones (a combination unprecedented in a classical symphony). The seminal da-da-da-DA rhythm is heard again in the second theme, and is later sung out defiantly by trombones at the movement’s central climax, like a crowd singing hymns to hope in the midst of struggle. But just as we seem to be preparing for a clinching return of the finale’s triumphant first theme, there’s another eerie hush, and the ghost of the scherzo returns briefly on plucked strings, with a passing reminder of the oboe’s ‘moment of doubt’ from the first movement. After this, it is up to the listener to decide whether the coda’s notorious protracted insistence of the ‘triumph’ key of C major represents certainty of final triumph, or a determined attempt to hold on to hope by a man who, though he still believes in democratic ideals, has begun to doubt whether human beings are truly capable of achieving them. Either way, it’s a thrilling ending. Programme notes © Stephen Johnson

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2015/16 season at Royal Festival Hall Highlights 2015

2016

Wednesday 23 September Mahler Symphony No 7 Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Shakespeare400 In 2016 the LPO joins many of London’s other leading cultural institutions to celebrate the legacy of Shakespeare, 400 years since his death. Highlights include:

Wednesday 14 October Penderecki conducts Penderecki including UK premieres of Harp Concerto and Adagio for Strings

Wednesday 3 February Dvorˇák Overture, Otello

Saturday 31 October Bruckner Symphony No. 5 Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor Friday 6 November A celebration of Mexican orchestral music Alondra de la Parra conductor JTI Friday Series

Wednesday 10 February Sibelius The Tempest (extracts) Friday 15 April Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (extracts) JTI Friday Series Saturday 23 April Anniversary Gala Concert Including: Verdi Otello and Falstaff (extracts) Music from Britten, Mendelssohn and Walton Vladimir Jurowski conductor Simon Callow director Booking now Tickets from £9.00 Ticket office 020 7840 4242 lpo.org.uk

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We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors: Thomas Beecham Group The Tsukanov Family Foundation Neil Westreich William and Alex de Winton Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Julian & Gill Simmonds* Anonymous Garf & Gill Collins* Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller Mrs Philip Kan* Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Eric Tomsett John & Manon Antoniazzi John & Angela Kessler Guy & Utti Whittaker * BrightSparks patrons. Instead of supporting a chair in the Orchestra, these donors have chosen to support our series of schools’ concerts.

Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook David Ellen Mr Daniel Goldstein Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter MacDonald Eggers Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Mr & Mrs David Malpas Mr Michael Posen Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina Vaizey Laurence Watt Grenville & Krysia Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Benefactors Mrs A Beare David & Patricia Buck Mrs Alan Carrington Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Georgy Djaparidze Mr David Edgecombe Mr Timothy Fancourt QC Mr Richard Fernyhough Tony & Susan Hayes Michael & Christine Henry Malcolm Herring J. Douglas Home Ivan Hurry

Mr Glenn Hurstfield Per Jonsson Mr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter Mace Ms Ulrike Mansel Robert Markwick Mr Brian Marsh Andrew T Mills John Montgomery Dr Karen Morton Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Tom & Phillis Sharpe Martin and Cheryl Southgate Professor John Studd Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Simon Turner Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie Whitelock Christopher Williams Bill Yoe and others who wish to remain anonymous Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged: Corporate Members Silver: AREVA UK Berenberg British American Business Carter-Ruck Bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLP BTO Management Consulting AG Charles Russell Speechlys Leventis Overseas Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Sela / Tilley’s Sweets Trusts and Foundations Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation Ambache Charitable Trust Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Boltini Trust

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Borletti-Buitoni Trust Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Trust The Peter Carr Charitable Trust, in memory of Peter Carr The Ernest Cook Trust The Coutts Charitable Trust The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust Fidelio Charitable Trust The Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Help Musicians UK The Hinrichsen Foundation The Hobson Charity The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leche Trust London Stock Exchange Group Foundation Marsh Christian Trust The Mayor of London’s Fund for Young Musicians Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust The Ann and Frederick O’Brien Charitable Trust

Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs of the Embassy of Spain in London Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust Polish Cultural Institute in London PRS for Music Foundation The Radcliffe Trust Rivers Foundation The R K Charitable Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute Schroder Charity Trust Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation The Tillett Trust UK Friends of the Felix-MendelssohnBartholdy-Foundation The Viney Family Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust Youth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous

SOUND FUTURES DONORS We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to Sound Futures, which will establish our first ever endowment. Donations from those below have already been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. By May 2015 we aim to have raised £1 million which, when matched, will create a £2 million fund supporting our Education and Community Programme, our creative programming and major artistic projects at Southbank Centre. We thank those who are helping us to realise the vision. Masur Circle Arts Council England Dunard Fund Victoria Robey OBE Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Underwood Trust Welser-Möst Circle William & Alex de Winton John Ireland Charitable Trust The Tsukanov Family Foundation Neil Westreich Tennstedt Circle Richard Buxton Simon Robey Simon & Vero Turner The late Mr K Twyman Solti Patrons Ageas John & Manon Antoniazzi Georgy Djaparidze Mrs Mina Goodman and Miss Suzanne Goodman Mr James R D Korner Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski The Rothschild Foundation Haitink Patrons Mark & Elizabeth Adams Mrs Pauline Baumgartner Lady Jane Berrill Mr Frederick Brittenden David & Yi Yao Buckley Bruno de Kegel Mr Gavin Graham Moya Greene Tony and Susie Hayes

Mr Derek B Gray Mr Roger Greenwood Rebecca Halford Harrison Honeymead Arts Trust Mrs Dawn Hooper Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Mr Geoffrey Kirkham Peter Leaver Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter Mace Mr David Macfarlane Geoff & Meg Mann Marsh Christian Trust Dr David McGibney Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner John Montgomery Rosemary Morgan Paris Natar Mr Roger H C Pattison The late Edmund Pirouet Mr Michael Posen Sarah & John Priestland Mr Christopher Queree Mr Peter Russell Pritchard Donors Mr Alan Sainer Ralph and Elizabeth Aldwinckle Tim Slorick Michael and Linda Blackstone Lady Valerie Solti Dr Anthony Buckland Timothy Walker AM Business Events Sydney Laurence Watt Lady June Chichester Mr R Watts John Childress & Christiane Wuillamie Des & Maggie Whitelock Lindka Cierach Christopher Williams Paul Collins Peter Wilson Smith Mr Alistair Corbett Victoria Yanakova David Dennis Mr Anthony Yolland Mr David Edgecombe David Ellen And all other donors who wish to Mr Timothy Fancourt QC remain anonymous Karima & David G Mr Daniel Goldstein Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Mrs Philip Kan Rose and Dudley Leigh Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons Miss Jeanette Martin Diana and Allan Morgenthau Charitable Trust Dr Karen Morton Ruth Rattenbury The Reed Foundation Sir Bernard Rix David Ross and Line Forestier (Canada) Carolina & Martin Schwab Tom and Phillis Sharpe Dr Brian Smith Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Miss Anne Stoddart TFS Loans Limited Lady Marina Vaizey Ms Jenny Watson Guy & Utti Whittaker

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

Administration

Board of Directors Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Dr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. Høgel Martin Höhmann* George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Julian Simmonds Mark Templeton* Natasha Tsukanova Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Neil Westreich * Player-Director Advisory Council Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson William de Winton Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness Shackleton Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Martin Southgate Sir Philip Thomas Sir John Tooley Chris Viney Timothy Walker AM Elizabeth Winter American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc. Jenny Ireland Co-Chairman William A. Kerr Co-Chairman Kyung-Wha Chung Alexandra Jupin Dr. Felisa B. Kaplan Jill Fine Mainelli Kristina McPhee Dr. Joseph Mulvehill Harvey M. Spear, Esq. Danny Lopez Hon. Chairman Noel Kilkenny Hon. Director Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP

Chief Executive

Education and Community

Digital Projects

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Isabella Kernot Education Director

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Director

Alexandra Clarke Education and Community Project Manager

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant

Amy Sugarman PA to the Chief Executive / Administrative Assistant Finance David Burke General Manager and Finance Director David Greenslade Finance and IT Manager

Lucy Duffy Education and Community Project Manager

Public Relations Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer