London Philharmonic Orchestra concert programme 26 Feb 2014 by London Philharmonic Orchestra

Concert programme 2013/14 season

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 Wednesday 26 February 2014 | 7.30pm

Brahms Double Concerto in A minor (31’) Interval Bruckner Symphony No. 2 in C minor (1872 version) (60’)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Programme £3 Contents 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 11 12 13 14 15 16

Welcome / Leader About the Orchestra On stage tonight Vladimir Jurowski Julia Fischer Daniel Müller-Schott Programme notes LPO 2014/15 season Next concerts Annual Appeal: Tickets Please! Catalyst: Double Your Donation Supporters LPO administration

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

Julia Fischer violin Daniel Müller-Schott cello

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

This concert is being broadcast live by the BBC on Radio 3 Live In Concert. Listen online in HD Sound for 7 days at bbc.co.uk/radio3

Welcome

Pieter Schoeman leader

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

Welcome to Southbank Centre

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.

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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. 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. Pieter is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra

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 orchestras in the UK. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, has its own successful CD label, and enhances the lives of thousands of people 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, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is the current Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, appointed in 2007, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin is Principal Guest Conductor. Julian Anderson is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission and East is East to Hugo, The Lord of the Rings trilogy 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 over 70 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 with Vladimir Jurowski; Vaughan Williams’s Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 with Bernard Haitink; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sarah Connolly and Toby Spence; and a disc of works by the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson. In summer 2012 the Orchestra was invited to take part in The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, as well as being chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics.

The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around inspiring the next generation through its BrightSparks 40 concerts each season. 2013/14 highlights include schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; a Britten centenary celebration with Vladimir the Leverhulme Young Jurowski including the War Composers programme; Requiem and Peter Grimes; and the Foyle Future world premieres of James Firsts orchestral MacMillan’s Viola Concerto Bachtrack.com training programme and Górecki’s Fourth 2 October 2013, Royal Festival Hall: Britten centenary concert for outstanding young Symphony; French repertoire players. Over recent with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; years, digital advances and social media have enabled and a stellar array of soloists including Evelyn Glennie, the Orchestra to reach even more people across the Mitsuko Uchida, Leif Ove Andsnes, Miloš Karadaglić, globe: all its recordings are available to download from Renaud Capuçon, Leonidas Kavakos, Julia Fischer, iTunes and, as well as a YouTube channel and regular Emanuel Ax and Simon Trpčeski. Throughout 2013 podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on the Orchestra collaborated with Southbank Centre on Facebook and Twitter. the year-long festival The Rest Is Noise, exploring the influential works of the 20th century. Find out more and get involved! The London Philharmonic Orchestra enjoys flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs lpo.org.uk regularly around the UK. Every summer, the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra Opera, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, twitter.com/LPOrchestra performing concerts to sell-out audiences worldwide. Highlights of the 2013/14 season include visits to the USA, Romania, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, France and Spain.

The LPO are an orchestra on fire at the moment.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage tonight

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Ilyoung Chae Ji-Hyun Lee Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Galina Tanney Caroline Frenkel Second Violins Philippe Honoré Guest Principal Jeongmin Kim Joseph Maher Kate Birchall Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Nynke Hijlkema Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Raja Halder Imogen Williamson Sioni Williams Ksenia Berezina Alison Strange

Violas Cyrille Mercier Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Daniel Cornford Isabel Pereira Claudio Cavalletti Sarah Malcolm Martin Fenn Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Santiago Carvalho† David Lale Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Tom Roff Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Richard Lewis Helen Rowlands Thomas Walley Laura Murphy Charlotte Kerbegian

Flutes Michael Cox Guest Principal Sue Thomas Chair supported by the Sharp Family

Stewart McIlwham* Joanna Marsh Oboes Ian Hardwick Principal Guillaume Deshayes Timothy Rundle Sue Böhling Chair supported by Julian & Gill Simmonds

Clarinets Robert Hill* Principal Paul Richards Peter Sparks Katie Lockhart Bassoons Gareth Newman* Principal Simon Estell John Orford Stuart Russell

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 Assistant Conductor Marius Stravinsky

* Holds a professorial appointment in London † Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Horns John Ryan* Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Duncan Fuller

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Andrew Davenport Simon Robey

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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 was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, 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); Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–09); and Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001–13). Vladimir Jurowski has appeared on the podium with many leading orchestras in Europe and North America including the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, and the Staatskapelle Dresden. Highlights of the 2013/14 season and beyond include his debuts with the New York Philharmonic, NHK Symphony (Tokyo) and San Francisco Symphony orchestras; tours with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; and return visits to the Chicago Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

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, Ariadne auf Naxos and Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In autumn 2013 he returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Die Frau ohne Schatten, and future engagements include 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’étoile 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 complete symphonies; Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 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 CD releases of La Cenerentola, Tristan und Isolde and Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery, and DVD releases of his performances of La Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, Die Fledermaus, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Don Giovanni and Rachmaninoff’s The Miserly Knight. Other DVD releases include Hansel and Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera; 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 Foundation and one anonymous donor.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

Julia Fischer

violin

German violinist Julia Fischer is recognised worldwide for possessing a talent of uncommon ability and as an exceptionally gifted artist, reflected in the numerous awards and effusive reviews she has received for both her live performances and recordings. She was named Artist of the Year at the 2007 Gramophone Awards and Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2009 MIDEM Classical Awards. Julia Fischer opened the current season with a tour of Germany with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. As Artist in Residence at the Dresden Philharmonic this season she performs the Brahms violin and triple concertos under the baton of chief conductor Michael Sanderling, as well as touring Asia with the orchestra and appearing in further chamber concerts throughout the season. In the USA, she will perform in subscription weeks with The Cleveland Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony with music directors Franz WelserMöst and Michael Tilson Thomas respectively. In November and December 2013, she appeared in recital at major European venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and the Berlin Philharmonie, amongst others. The tour programme featured repertoire from her new CD, recently released on the Decca label: Sarasate’s works for violin and piano, Op. 20–24 and 26–29. At New York’s Carnegie Hall she appeared with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yuri Temirkanov. A highlight of Julia Fischer’s 2012/13 season was her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen in April 2013, performing the Beethoven and Salonen violin concertos – ‘a debut that could not have been more impressive’, as Austria’s Die Presse attested. Coinciding with Decca’s release of a recording of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in spring 2013, Julia Fischer embarked on a tour of Germany with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich and David Zinman. Two years earlier she gave an

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acclaimed debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle at the Salzburg Easter Festival. Born in Munich, Julia Fischer began learning the violin at the age of three and soon thereafter started taking piano lessons. Throughout her career, she has always maintained her piano studies. In 2008 she made her professional piano debut at the Alte Oper Frankfurt performing the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and conductor Matthias Pintscher. On the same programme, she performed the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3. A DVD of this concert, recorded by Unitel Classica, was released by Decca in September 2010.

Daniel Müller-Schott

cello

With technical brilliance and authority, together with intellect and emotional esprit, Daniel Müller-Schott is establishing himself on the world’s concert podiums. He plays with major orchestras across the world: in Europe he has appeared with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields; the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; the radio orchestras of Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Leipzig and Hamburg; the Orchestre de Paris; and the BBC Philharmonic. In the USA he has performed with the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Chicago and San Francisco. He has given concerts under noted conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Alan Gilbert, Bernard Haitink, Jakub Hrůša, Pietari Inkinen, Neeme Järvi, Dmitri Kitajenko, Sir Neville Marriner, Jun Märkl, Andris Nelsons, Gianandrea Noseda, Kurt Masur, Sakari Oramo, Vasily Petrenko, André Previn, Michael Sanderling, JukkaPekka Saraste and Krzysztof Urbański.

appears with the Weimar Staatskapelle, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra and for the first time with the ‘l’arte del mondo’ ensemble. He will also give concerts of chamber music with violinists Baiba Skride and Viviane Hagner, harpist Xavier de Maistre and pianist Jonathan Gilad, and duo recitals with pianist Simon Trpčeski. Born in Munich in 1976, Daniel Müller-Schott studied under Walter Nothas, Heinrich Schiff and Steven Isserlis, and received a scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. In 1992 he won First Prize at the Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. Daniel Müller-Schott plays the ‘Ex Shapiro’ Matteo Goffriller cello, made in Venice in 1727.

Daniel Müller-Schott is also a regular guest at international music festivals including the BBC Proms, Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Schwetzingen, the Schubertiade and the Heidelberger Frühling, as well as at the Vancouver Festival and in the USA at Tanglewood, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As well as performing the famous cello concertos, Daniel Müller-Schott is enthusiastic about discovering unknown works and extending the cello repertoire – André Previn and Peter Ruzicka have each dedicated a cello concerto to him. Highlights of this season include Daniel Müller-Schott’s debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert; concerts with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit; the USA premiere of André Previn’s Cello Concerto; concerts with the Munich Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel; a tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer; and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s opening concerts of the season under Andris Nelsons. This season Daniel Müller-Schott also London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

Programme notes

Speedread In life, Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner were on opposing sides in an intense, sometimes fractious ideological divide. Bruckner idolised the arch-modernist Richard Wagner, while Brahms set his face against Wagner and all his works. Bruckner’s admirers saw him as an apostle of the ‘music of the future’, while Brahms was cheered on by the conservatives. In reality though, these two composers had a lot in common: reverence for Beethoven and the music of the more remote past, and a sense of being partly outside their times. In an age of rampant

Johannes Brahms 1833–97

The concerto was one of the most popular of all musical forms in the 19th century. This was the era of the romantic virtuoso soloist: audiences loved the idea of the superhuman individual taking on the might of the full symphony orchestra and emerging victorious. It was a perfect medium for an age intoxicated with dashing, sensational figures like the poet Byron, the violinist Niccolò Paganini and the pianist-composer Franz Liszt. Something of this romantic spirit – the suffering, striving, intensely charismatic soloist pitted against the elemental force of the orchestra – can be felt in Brahms’s First Piano Concerto, composed during 1854–8. But Brahms was a paradoxical figure – it’s one of the things that make him so fascinating. Part of him was romantic to the core: a lonely misfit, sustained by an impossible love, laying bare his wounded heart in song after song (especially in the wonderful Alto Rhapsody). Yet there was another part of him that longed for something else: the contained formal strength and subtlety of great classical and baroque masters like

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romantic individualism, Brahms created his Double Concerto – a concerto for not one, but two soloists – in which reconciliation and mutual understanding are communicated movingly. The nervous, edgy, questioning harmonies and dislocating pauses of Bruckner’s Second Symphony at times echo Wagner’s restless masterpiece Tristan und Isolde, but underlying this is a patient, at times meditative stillness that reflects Bruckner’s love of nature and his deep Roman Catholic faith. These two orchestral masterpieces complement each other fascinatingly.

Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 Julia Fischer violin Daniel Müller-Schott cello 1 Allegro 2 Andante 3 Vivace non troppo Haydn and Mozart, Bach and Handel, and for the emotional ‘objectivity’ that offered. The Double Concerto, for violin, cello and orchestra, composed in 1887, embodies this paradox magnificently. It contains some of Brahms’s most romantically expressive music: strikingly the almost operatic ‘love duet’ for violin and cello at the heart of the slow central movement. The first cello solo, only a few seconds into the first movement, is marked ‘in modo d’un recitativo’ – ‘in the style of a recitative’ – a direct acknowledgement of the music’s operatic character by a composer who never wrote an opera. And yet this is a concerto with two soloists. Concertos with more than one star in the spotlight were common enough in baroque times (think of Bach’s glorious Double Concerto in D minor for two violins). Brahms also knew and valued Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, with solo violin and viola, and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for piano trio and orchestra. But in the romantic era the solo concerto had virtually conquered all – there’s no room for more than one hero in the

Byronic universe. In reverting to what would have at the time been considered a strange, outmoded form, Brahms showed that he was also not of his time. Structurally the Double Concerto is more compact than any of the solo concertos. In the first movement particularly, the solo violin and cello writing can be stirringly theatrical (visually as well as aurally), but Brahms is also careful to keep the solo contributions on an equal footing, as in chamber music. Soon after the cello’s opening ‘recitative’ solo the violin has its turn in the spotlight, only now with comments from the cello, with the two instruments finally fusing in sonorous fortissimo chords. Later, in the lyrical second theme, the conversation between the two turns subtler, more confidential, and the orchestra tactfully restrains its power to allow the soloists to speak more clearly. This relationship issue is also crucial in the central slow movement. After a short horn and woodwind introduction, violin and cello launch out together in one of those wonderful long-breathed tunes that are such a signature of Brahms’s style. Yet in the middle section

violin and cello now enact an almost operatic ‘love duet’, passing ideas to each other now tenderly, now with impassioned urgency. The folk-coloured finale offers a refreshing contrast, but the dialogue element remains important, until finally both players join in a bravura display guaranteed to bring the house down. There may be a personal element in all this. In 1880 Brahms had a serious falling-out with his close friend and collaborator, the virtuoso violinist and composer Joseph Joachim. The Double Concerto seems to have been conceived partly as a peace offering to Joachim. Yet it’s striking that Brahms did not offer his old friend another violin concerto, but a work in which the violin must come to an accommodation with the cello – an instrument Brahms loved and wrote for with great feeling. Hearing the Double Concerto for the first time, Brahms’s friend, confidante and ‘ideal’ love Clara Schumann wrote that ‘This Concerto is in a way a work of reconciliation’, adding that ‘Joachim and Brahms have spoken to one another again after years of silence’ – a comment that could be applied just as readily to the music of this ‘Double’ Concerto.

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

Jurowski conducts Brahms on the LPO Label New!

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

Programme notes continued

Anton Bruckner 1824–96

Like his contemporary Brahms, the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner waited until he was into his forties before giving the world his First Symphony. Bruckner and Brahms may not have agreed on much, especially when it came to Bruckner’s great musical hero Wagner (Brahms positioned himself firmly against Wagner and all his innovations). But the two composers shared a reverence for Beethoven – a reverence so intense it could be inhibiting. When Brahms’s friends reproached him for taking so long to finish his First Symphony, Brahms pointed to a bust of Beethoven in the corner of his room and said, ‘Have you any idea what it’s like with such a giant marching behind you?’. Bruckner would certainly have agreed with that. It took Bruckner a while to find his way as a symphonist. His official Symphony No. 1 (he’d already composed a ‘practice’ symphony in his late thirties) is powerful and boldly original in style, but in overall concept it’s still rooted in the so-called ‘classical’ era: the later symphonies of Haydn and Mozart and the first eight of Beethoven. But then Bruckner heard Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony (the ‘Choral’) and was bowled over. Beethoven’s Ninth occupies a far grander timescale than any of his earlier symphonies, and this showed Bruckner a way to reconcile symphonic thinking with the spacious drama of Wagner’s operas, and in so doing to create what several writers have called his ‘cathedrals in sound’. Symphony No. 2 (1872) is a big advance on Bruckner’s road to becoming a master musical architect. It is true that his step falters occasionally, and the substantial revision he made in 1877 only partly solves this problem. One could perhaps think of Bruckner as a walking-tour guide who occasionally seems to lose his way or become absorbed in his map, but who always gets to his destination. And the scenery he uncovers is magnificent, unlike anything revealed by anybody else. 10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Symphony No. 2 in C minor (1872 version) 1 Moderato 2 Scherzo: Mäßig schnell [Moderately fast] 3 Andante: Feierlich, etwas bewegt [Solemn, but with some movement] 4 Finale: Mehr schnell [Faster]

The first movement begins with a high string tremolo (an archetypal Bruckner sound), under which cellos present a long, winding song-like theme. This may seem fairly fast at first, but then a solo trumpet enters with a repeated-note motif that seems more stately, less hurried than the cellos’ melody. Imagine powering along an alpine track, then looking up to see a mountain top nearby and realising that it – and you the walker – haven’t moved that much after all. After a big climax this first section seems to run out of momentum; there’s a pause … and then the music starts again at a leisurely walking pace. The urgent forward stride of the First Symphony’s opening movement has yielded to something more meditative. Even as this movement seems to be powering steadily to its conclusion, Bruckner allows himself one more pause to look back at where he started: the cellos’ song theme that began it all flickers in the distance for a moment, then is gone. The Scherzo is an energetic transformation of the Austrian country dance music Bruckner knew, and sometimes played, in his younger days. As in the first movement, dramatic contrast is enhanced by a repeated-note trumpet figure that cuts through the textures at points of high intensity. At the heart of the movement is a calmer Trio section, led by a viola theme that could easily be an Austrian Ländler (country cousin of the sophisticated urban waltz): there’s even a hint of yodelling in the upward turn of its first two phrases. Initially the third movement seems serene, but the gorgeous, hymn-like string textures are interrupted by questioning deep basses, while later a mysterious solo horn calls softly through pizzicato string chords – sounds that for many conjure up the spacious forestscapes of Bruckner’s native Upper Austria as effortlessly as Elgar can evoke English woodlands. Eventually a grand climax looms, but this fades without having reached resolution; then the strings recall the

‘Benedictus’ from the recently completed Mass in F minor – which the devoutly Roman Catholic Bruckner had composed as a ‘thank offering’ to God for bringing him through an appalling mental breakdown in 1866–67. This leads to a peaceful restatement of the opening hymn-like theme (no nervous questioning this time), and a quietly ecstatic coda. The Finale sets off at a lively pace, but it’s worth bearing in mind the musicologist Donald Tovey’s warning that ‘you must not expect Bruckner to make a finale “go” like a classical finale.’ After the Second Symphony’s premiere in 1873, it acquired the nickname ‘Pausen-Symphonie’ (‘Symphony of Pauses’) – largely in reaction to this movement. But the steady accumulation of tension at last finds release in the faster, major-key coda, in which the first movement’s repeated-note trumpet motif is combined with the finale’s galloping main theme – a joyous homecoming after a challenging but rewarding mountain walk.

LPO 2014/15 season now on sale Our 2014/15 season is now on sale: browse and book online at lpo.org.uk or call us on 020 7840 4242 to request a season brochure. Highlights of the new season include: •

A year-long festival, Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, exploring the composer’s major orchestral masterpieces including all the symphonies and piano concertos, alongside some of his lesser-known works.

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Appearances by today’s most sought-after artists including Maria João Pires, Christoph Eschenbach, Osmo Vänskä, Lars Vogt, Barbara Hannigan, Vasily Petrenko, Marin Alsop, Katia and Marielle Labèque and Robin Ticciati.

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Yannick Nézet-Séguin presents masterpieces by three great composers from the AustroGerman tradition: Brahms, Schubert and Richard Strauss.

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The UK premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s piano concerto Responses: Sweet disorder and the carefully careless, performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

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Soprano Barbara Hannigan joins Vladimir Jurowski and the Orchestra for a world premiere from our new Composer in Residence Magnus Lindberg.

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Premieres too of a Violin Concerto by outgoing Composer in Residence Julian Anderson, a children’s work, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, by Colin Matthews, and a new piece for four horns by James Horner (a double-Oscar winner for his score to the film Titanic).

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Legendary pianist Menahem Pressler – a founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio – joins Robin Ticciati to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.

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Choral highlights with the London Philharmonic Choir include Stravinsky’s Requiem Canticles, Verdi’s Requiem, Rachmaninoff’s Spring and The Bells, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass.

Programme notes © Stephen Johnson

New for 2013/14 – LPO mini film guides This season we’ve produced a series of short films introducing the pieces we’re performing. We’ve picked one work from each concert, creating a bitesized introduction to the music and its historical background. Watch Patrick Bailey introduce Brahms’s Double Concerto: lpo.org.uk/explore/videos.html

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Saturday 1 March 2014 | 7.30pm

Wednesday 26 March 2014 | 7.30pm

Julian Anderson Alleluia Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (Choral)

Poulenc Organ Concerto Berlioz Les nuits d’été Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 (Organ)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Emma Bell soprano Anna Stéphany mezzo soprano John Daszak tenor Gerald Finley baritone London Philharmonic Choir

Friday 7 March 2014 | 7.30pm

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Sarah Connolly mezzo soprano* James O’Donnell organ This concert is supported by Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique français. * Sarah Connolly has replaced Anna Caterina Antonacci for scheduling reasons.

JTI Friday Series Dvořák Scherzo capriccioso Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Mahler Blumine Shostakovich Symphony No. 1 Ilyich Rivas conductor Simon Trpčeski piano

Friday 14 March 2014 | 7.30pm JTI Friday Series Mendelssohn Violin Concerto Bruckner Symphony No. 3 (1889 Nowak edition)

Free pre-concert discussion 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall William McVicker and guests discuss the restoration of the Royal Festival Hall organ.

Friday 28 March 2014 | 7.30pm JTI Friday Series Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 Mahler Symphony No. 9 Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Nicholas Angelich piano

Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor Benjamin Beilman violin Free pre-concert performance 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall Musicians from the LPO join students from London Music Masters’ Bridge Project for a musical celebration.

Booking details

Wednesday 19 March 2014 | 7.30pm

London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk

Mozart Symphony No. 38 (Prague) R Strauss Burleske J S Bach Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 R Strauss Death and Transfiguration David Zinman conductor Emanuel Ax piano

12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone

Southbank Centre Ticket Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pm southbankcentre.co.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone No transaction fee for bookings made in person

Annual Appeal 2013/14: Tickets Please!

Do you remember the first time you saw an orchestra live? Every year the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s schools’ concerts allow over 16,000 young people to see the Orchestra live. Six out of ten children attending the concerts will be experiencing an orchestra for the very first time.

Anne McAneney

Then: aged 8

Now: LPO Trumpet

I grew up in Belfast and started playing the piano when I was eight. A few years later I saw my first orchestral concert. I was completely knocked out by the exciting sound produced by the full orchestra. I wanted to be part of it and began playing the trumpet. Your donation of £9 to Ticket Please! can inspire today’s children in the same way. Please give generously.

Tickets for the concerts cost £9. However, for some of the most disadvantaged schools in south London this amount remains a barrier to attending. Whether you want to help one child (£9), three children (£27), donate a row of seats in the stalls (£108), or allow a whole class to attend (£270), you can help us to fill our concert hall and allow many children to enjoy their first orchestral experience. Visit lpo.org.uk/ticketsplease, where you can select the seats you wish to donate, or call 020 7840 4212 to donate over the phone.

Donate £9 at lpo.org.uk/ticketsplease

#ticketsplease London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

Catalyst: Double Your Donation

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is building its first ever endowment fund, which will support the most exciting artistic collaborations with its partner venues here in London and around the country. Thanks to a generous grant pledge from Arts Council England’s Catalyst programme, the Orchestra is able to double the value of all gifts from new donors up to a maximum value of £1 million. Any additional gifts from existing generous donors will also be matched. By the end of the campaign we aim to have created an endowment with a value of £2 million which will help us work with partners to provide a funding injection for activities across the many areas of the Orchestra’s work, including: • More visionary artistic projects like The Rest Is Noise at Southbank Centre • Educational and outreach activities for young Londoners like this year’s Noye’s Fludde performance project • Increased touring to venues around the UK that might not otherwise have access to great orchestral music To give, call Development Director Nick Jackman on 020 7840 4211, email support@lpo.org.uk or visit www.lpo.org.uk/support/double-your-donation.html

Catalyst Endowment Donors Masur Circle Arts Council England Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Sharp Family The Underwood Trust Welser-Möst Circle John Ireland Charitable Trust Tennstedt Circle Simon Robey The late Mr K Twyman Solti Patrons Anonymous Suzanne Goodman The Rothschild Foundation Manon Williams & John Antoniazzi Haitink Patrons Lady Jane Berrill Moya Greene Tony and Susie Hayes Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons Diana and Allan Morgenthau Charitable Trust Ruth Rattenbury

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Sir Bernard Rix TFS Loans Limited The Tsukanov Family Foundation Guy & Utti Whittaker Pritchard Donors Anonymous Linda Blackstone Michael Blackstone Jan Bonduelle Richard and Jo Brass Britten-Pears Foundation Lady June Chichester Lindka Cierach Mr Alistair Corbett Mark Damazer David Dennis Bill & Lisa Dodd Mr David Edgecombe David Ellen Commander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel Goldstein Ffion Hague Rebecca Halford Harrison Michael & Christine Henry Honeymead Arts Trust John Hunter

Ivan Hurry Tanya Kornilova Howard & Marilyn Levene Mr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Dr Frank Lim Geoff & Meg Mann Ulrike Mansel Marsh Christian Trust John Montgomery Rosemary Morgan John Owen Edmund Pirouet Mr Michael Posen John Priestland Tim Slorick Howard Snell Stanley Stecker Lady Marina Vaizey Helen Walker Laurence Watt Des & Maggie Whitelock Christopher Williams Victoria Yanakova Mr Anthony Yolland

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 Anonymous William and Alex de Winton Simon Robey The Sharp Family Julian & Gill Simmonds Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Eric Tomsett Jane Attias John & Angela Kessler Guy & Utti Whittaker Manon Williams & John Antoniazzi Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Lady Jane Berrill Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook David Ellen

Commander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel Goldstein Don Kelly & Ann Wood Peter MacDonald Eggers Mr & Mrs David Malpas Mr Maxwell Morrison Mr Michael Posen Mr & Mrs Thierry Sciard Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina Vaizey Grenville & Kyrsia Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Benefactors Mrs A Beare David & Patricia Buck Mrs Alan Carrington Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr David Edgecombe Mr Richard Fernyhough Ken Follett Michael & Christine Henry Malcolm Herring Ivan Hurry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr R K Jeha

Per Jonsson Mr Gerald Levin Sheila Ashley Lewis Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Dr Frank Lim Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Brian Marsh Andrew T Mills John Montgomery Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Martin and Cheryl Southgate Professor John Studd Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Howard & Sheelagh Watson Mr Laurie Watt 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

Trusts and Foundations

Silver: AREVA UK Berenberg Bank British American Business Carter-Ruck Thomas Eggar LLP

Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation Ambache Charitable Trust Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Boltini Trust Borletti-Buitoni Trust Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Trust The Ernest Cook Trust The Coutts Charitable Trust The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund Embassy of Spain, Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs The Equitable Charitable Trust Fidelio Charitable Trust The Foyle Foundation J Paul Getty Junior Charitable Trust 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 Leverhulme Trust Marsh Christian Trust

Bronze: Lisa Bolgar Smith and Felix Appelbe of Ambrose Appelbe Appleyard & Trew LLP Berkeley Law Charles Russell Leventis Overseas Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Sela / Tilley’s Sweets

The Mayor of London’s Fund for Young Musicians Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust The Ann and Frederick O’Brien Charitable Trust Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française Polish Cultural Institute in London PRS for Music Foundation The R K Charitable Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust Schroder Charity Trust Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation The Tillett Trust Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust Youth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

Administration

Board of Directors Victoria Sharp Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Richard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. Høgel Martin Höhmann* George Peniston* Sir Bernard Rix Kevin Rundell* Julian Simmonds Mark Templeton* Natasha Tsukanova Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Dr Manon Williams * Player-Director Advisory Council Victoria Sharp Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Baroness Shackleton Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE 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 Sharp Hon. Director

Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP

Orchestra Personnel

Public Relations

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager

Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

Chief Executive

Sarah Holmes Sarah Thomas Librarians (job-share)