27 march lpo programme web 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

JTI Friday Series Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Friday 27 March 2015 | 7.30pm

Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet (Fantasy Overture) (21’) James Horner Collage: A Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra (world premiere) (24’) Interval Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade, Op. 35 (47’) Jaime Martín conductor David Pyatt horn John Ryan horn James Thatcher horn Richard Watkins horn

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

Contents 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 13 14 15 16

Welcome On stage tonight About the Orchestra Leader: Pieter Schoeman Jaime Martín David Pyatt John Ryan James Thatcher Richard Watkins Programme notes Forthcoming LPO concerts Supporters Sound Futures donors LPO administration

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

Free pre-concert event 6.00pm–6.45pm The Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall The young musicians of In Harmony Lambeth and musicians from the LPO present a performance of new and familiar orchestral repertoire.

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.

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra 2014/15 season Welcome to tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. Schumann said that the horn was ‘the soul of the orchestra’, something that James Horner has taken to heart throughout his career. This evening features the world premiere of Collage, Horner’s concerto for four horns, partly inspired by Schumann’s Konzertstück for the same instrumentation. Collage was written specifically for tonight’s soloists, all eminent horn players in their own right, including two members of the LPO, David Pyatt and John Ryan, who are joined by long-time Horner collaborators James Thatcher and Richard Watkins. Next LPO label release The LPO recordings catalogue continues to grow apace. Our next release is Bruckner’s mighty Symphony No. 3, performed by the Orchestra under the renowned Bruckner specialist, Stanisław Skrowaczewski. Recorded live at Royal Festival Hall in March last year, according to one reviewer, Skrowaczewski gave it ‘a distinctive and personal interpretation that was clearly the result of a lifetime’s experience with the music’. The CD (LPO-0084) will be available from 30 March priced £9.99, and can be purchased or downloaded at: lpo.org.uk/recordings

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

Catherine Craig Martin Höhmann Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Sarah Streatfeild Rebecca Shorrock Galina Tanney Robert Yeomans Caroline Sharp Nilufar Alimaksumova Robert Pool Thomas Eisner Ji-Hyun Lee Helena Smart Second Violins Nicole Wilson Guest Principal Joseph Maher Kate Birchall Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Nynke Hijlkema Ashley Stevens Floortje Gerritsen Sioni Williams Gavin Davies John Dickinson Elizabeth Baldey Naomi Anner Nicole Stokes

Violas Cyrille Mercier Principal Robert Duncan Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Isabel Pereira Martin Fenn Richard Cookson Susanne Martens Sarah Malcolm Katharine Leek Miriam Eisele Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Bianca and Stuart Roden

Francis Bucknall Santiago Carvalho† David Lale Elisabeth Wiklander Helen Rathbone Sibylle Hentschel George Hoult Laura Donoghue Sue Sutherley Double Basses Tim Gibbs Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Tom Walley Kenneth Knussen Helen Rowlands Lowri Morgan Catherine Ricketts

Flutes Sue Thomas* Principal

Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

Hannah Grayson

David Whitehouse

Piccolos Stewart McIlwham* Principal Hannah Grayson

Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal Tuba David Kendall Guest Principal

Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Jenny Brittlebank

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Cor Anglais Sue Böhling* Principal

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Clarinets Robert Hill* Principal Thomas Watmough Contrabass Clarinet Martin Robertson

Keith Millar Ignacio Molins Sarah Mason Scott Lumsdaine

Bassoons Gareth Newman Principal Emma Harding

Harps Rachel Masters* Principal Lucy Haslar

Contrabassoon Fraser Gordon Horns Mark Vines Principal Martin Hobbs Duncan Fuller Gareth Mollison Timothy Ball Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Keyboards Catherine Edwards John Cuthbert * Holds a professorial appointment in London † Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Sonja Drexler; Eric Tomsett; Simon Robey

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

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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

Jaime Martín conductor

Jaime Martín’s detailed performance took on heady swagger, and his infectious enjoyment of the music communicated to the orchestra and audience alike.

John Allison, The Telegraph, December 2014

Jaime Martín has risen quickly to international acclaim as a conductor in recent years, following his prominent career as a flautist. He was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra in September 2013 and, more recently, has been designated the Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. He is also Chief Conductor of the Orquestra de Cadaqués and Artistic Director of the Santander International Festival. As a guest conductor he has worked with international orchestras including Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony, Royal Scottish National, and St Paul Chamber orchestras, and Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Future guest engagements include return visits to the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo, Swedish Radio, Winterthur Orchestra and his debuts with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia. Jaime made his operatic debut conducting The Magic Flute at El Escorial Madrid and San Sebastian Festival in August 2012. He made his debut with English National Opera in February 2013 conducting The Barber of Seville and returned in autumn last year to conduct The Marriage of Figaro. Jaime’s recordings include Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’, with the Orquestra de Cadaqués, and a CD of works by Granados, Garreta, Taltabull and Lamote de Grigno with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. All his recordings as conductor are on the Tritó label and received critical

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

acclaim. Solo recordings include Mozart concertos with Sir Neville Marriner, a premiere recording of the Sinfonietta Concerto for Flute and Orchestra written for him by Xavier Montsalvatge and conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, Bach works for flute, violin, and piano with violinist Murray Perahia and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields for Sony, and Mozart’s Flute Quartet for EMI, amongst others. Born in Santander, Spain, Jaime studied with Antonio Arias in Madrid and later with Paul Verhey in The Hague, Holland.

facebook.com/jaime.martin.1675

John Ryan

Horn

David Pyatt won the prestigious BBC Young Musician of the Year competition at the age of 14. Following this success he embarked on a solo career which has taken him throughout the UK, as well as to Europe, the US, Canada and Japan with an extensive range of repertoire from Telemann, Haydn and Mozart to those of leading contemporary composers. In the UK he has worked with many top orchestras and made his BBC Proms debut in 1993. From 1998 to 2012 he was Principal Horn of the London Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed Principal Horn of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2012.

John Ryan graduated from London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2001, where he studied with Jeff Bryant and Richard Bissill. He was appointed Co-Principal Horn with the London Symphony Orchestra in the same year. John has played as Guest Principal with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and was appointed Principal Horn of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009.

His many recordings include, for EMI, the Strauss concertos and the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Britten Sinfonia and Nicholas Cleobury which were met with tremendous critical acclaim, with Gramophone naming him as their Young Artist of the Year. In 2003 a recording of Schubert’s Auf dem Strom with Michael Schade and Graham Johnson was issued by Hyperion and Spring 2006 saw the release of his recording for Quartz of the Brahms Horn Trio with members of the Gould Piano Trio. David’s work in the film studio includes Principal Horn for the Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises. He was also solo horn on James Horner’s haunting score for Iris.

David Pyatt

As a soloist John has performed both of Strauss’s horn concertos, the Mozart concertos, and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. He has recorded Mozart’s Second Horn Concerto on the Lyric label with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. As a chamber musician John has appeared as a featured artist at festivals around Europe and the US. John has appeared on many soundtracks as a session musician playing the music of John Williams, James Horner, Howard Shore, Harry Gregson Williams and Alexandre Desplat amongst others. John features on the recent LPO label release of Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles (LPO-0083 – see page 13 for details).

David is Professor of Horn at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and for the National Youth Orchestra.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

James Thatcher

Richard Watkins

Horn

Horn James Thatcher is arguably the most heard horn player in the world, having recorded as principal horn on over 3,500 projects. These recordings include major motion pictures, television shows, and with many legends of the music world.

Recipient of the Most Valuable Player Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences, James is a favoured first horn of Oscar-winning composer James Horner, performing in such films as Avatar, Field of Dreams, Apollo 13, Glory, Deep Impact, The Rocketeer and Titanic. Classically, James began his career aged 16 with his uncle, Gerald Thatcher, and the UNAM Symphony of Mexico City, conducted by Eduardo Mata. Later, he was a member of the Phoenix and Utah Symphony orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and also Guest Principal Horn with the Cincinnati and London Symphony orchestras. James was Principal Horn of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera and currently plays principal in various orchestras in the area. He is also Principal Horn with various international festivals performing with other players from top US orchestras including Chicago, Philadelphia and New York Philharmonic. James’s CD, Now Playing, has been on Amazon’s ‘Top Ten Must Have Horn CD’ list for several years. Recently, James recorded James Horner’s music to The Four Horsemen, a group of P-51 pilots flying in airshows. Watching the skilled formation flying and listening to Horner’s magnificent music on the world’s largest screen (ie the sky) was an overwhelming experience. James is also an addicted indoor badminton player and an Instrument Rated Airplane Pilot.

Richard Watkins is one of the most soughtafter horn players of his generation. He was Principal Horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra for 12 years, and is currently a member of the Nash Ensemble and a founder member of London Winds. Richard has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious venues in the UK, Europe and the USA, and has worked with conductors such as Giulini, Sawallisch, Salonen, Slatkin, Sinopoli, Rozhdestvensky, Petrenko, Andrew Davis and Mark Elder. His extensive discography includes recordings of horn concertos by Mozart, Malcolm Arnold, Glière, Ethel Smyth and Colin Matthews, as well as Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and chamber music for horn by Schumann, Schubert and Poulenc. Most recent releases have included a disc for NMC of works written for Richard, a Wigmore Live disc of the Britten Canticles with Mark Padmore, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with Allan Clayton and Aldeburgh Strings, and Edward Gregson’s Horn Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos. In recital, Richard Watkins regularly performs with singers such as John Mark Ainsley, Ian Bostridge and Mark Padmore, and with pianists Barry Douglas, Julius Drake, Paul Lewis, Valentina Lisitsa, Roger Vignoles and Ian Brown. Closely associated with promoting contemporary music for the horn, Richard has given premieres of concertos including those by Peter Maxwell Davies, Magnus Lindberg, and both Colin and David Matthews. Recent premieres have included Colin Matthews’s Horn Concerto and Trio, horn quintets by James MacMillan, David Matthews and Mark-Anthony Turnage, and horn trios by Huw Watkins, Alexander Goehr and Gerald Barry. Richard holds the Dennis Brain Chair of Horn Playing at the Royal Academy of Music where he is also a Fellow.

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Programme notes

Speedread Offering a proto-cinematic experience for concert audiences, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov use the full range of orchestral colours to conjure tales of high romance and profound tragedy. In Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky tapped a story of impossible love to mirror his own frustrations in matters of the heart. Rimsky-Korsakov’s even more vivid Scheherazade evokes the tableaux of One Thousand and One Nights, describing the moment when the eponymous Sultana’s storytelling skills quell her husband’s lust for murder.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The American film composer James Horner is no stranger to the power of vivid images and persuasive melodies. Taking inspiration from Schumann’s Konzertstück for four horns, his new work celebrates one of the instruments at the heart of many of his scores, played tonight by David Pyatt, John Ryan, James Thatcher and Richard Watkins.

Romeo and Juliet (Fantasy Overture)

1840–93

Tchaikovsky was no stranger to disillusionment. A homosexual, living within a highly patriarchal and judgmental society, he channelled his frustrations into a sequence of works about impossible love, beginning with his ‘Fantasy Overture’ Romeo and Juliet in 1869 (subsequently revised) and continuing with his ballet Swan Lake, his opera Eugene Onegin and the fatalistic Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. While he attempted to marry in the late 1870s – ‘to shut the mouths of assorted contemptible creatures whose opinions mean nothing to me, but who are in a position to cause distress to those near to me,’ as he wrote to his gay brother Modest – the union was a failure.

No less doomed was the relationship of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, the ‘star-cross’d lovers’ who ‘take their life’ in William Shakespeare’s great tragedy. The idea of a tone poem on the subject was originally suggested by Balakirev, who likewise advised the young Tchaikovsky to draw three separate elements from the drama, namely the solemn Friar Laurence (whose potions prove so fatal), the sword-fighting Montagues and Capulets, and the eponymous lovers. Tchaikovsky brilliantly combines the first two in the development section of his sonata-form piece, before crowning the work with an outspoken declamation of the famous lovers’ theme.

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Programme notes continued

James Horner born 1953

I have known three of this evening’s four soloists for the last 20 or so years of my professional life as a film composer. Jim Thatcher was the principal horn on one of my first major films, Cocoon. David Pyatt and Richard Watkins have each served as principal horn on so many of my films that I’ve lost track! It was always a dream of mine to assemble this group of brilliant soloists in one room and have them play on a film score. We’d been discussing this for quite a while when fate intervened and David ‘officially’ asked me to write a four-horn concerto using the above-mentioned players. I jumped at the chance and the piece you will hear tonight is the fruit of that labour. I’d like to express my deepest thanks to Jim Thatcher, David Pyatt, Richard Watkins, to our brilliant fourth soloist, John Ryan, to Jaime Martín and to all the members of the wonderful London Philharmonic Orchestra for making this premiere happen… a dream come true! James Horner ‘Horns,’ wrote Richard Strauss, ‘are always a yardstick of heroism’. Having been the musical rallying cry of countless huntsmen, warriors and, of course, Wagner’s Siegfried, the instrument also offers an appealing mellifluousness to complement its innate bravura. It has logically become one of the principal characters in the scoring of films and although Oscar® and Grammy Award-winner James Horner is known for his use of more recent technological advances, the ever-versatile horn is a prominent feature within his soundtracks. Horner’s Collage, continuing a series of concert works from the 1970s to the present day, begins in dreamy tones. Each of the four soloists states a hopeful theme, overlapping, as if in an echo chamber, and creating tender harmonic clashes. Muted strings and tuned

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Collage: A Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra David Pyatt horn John Ryan horn James Thatcher horn Richard Watkins horn

percussion pick up this material, which moves swiftly onwards with minimalist-like whirlings from two harps and two pianos towards a soft but anchoring tonic pedal. The four horns enter again, now in different groupings, with variations of the work’s initial motifs, mirrored by the trumpets and bells. The insistence on the home key of D major creates a feeling of stability, though that is soon disrupted by a modulation to B major (another significant tonal centre within the Concerto). The thematic material passes to the woodwind, before coming back to the horns, sounding in chorale-like unity with the lower brass. A più mosso section, building from a hushed dynamic, low in the orchestra, vividly pits the woodwind, harps, pianos and timpani against an eerie wash of crotales (a kind of tuned cymbal), string harmonics and spinning trumpet semiquavers. These juxtapositions trigger a more variegated harmonic palette and when the opening theme returns it is coloured by a sharpened fourth, as described by the four horns in turn. The reappearance of the tonic here, with its sense of homecoming, proves somewhat premature, however, as previous harmonic oppositions play out on a larger scale, cueing a succession of modulations and an intensification of the exchanges between the soloists and the orchestra. There are various reprises of the motifs connected to the primary theme and its associated key, though the ancillary tonal centre of B major becomes ever more prominent, marked by jostling percussive syncopation and fanfaric surges from the soloists and brass. Collage: A Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra commission was funded by The International Horn Society and the Houston Symphony.

We’ve had an idea...

Heroic and Heavenly

Richard Watkins, horn, explains how Collage came to fruition

Jeff Nelson, President of the International Horn Society, on why Horner’s music lured him back to the horn, the most majestic of instruments

I’ve worked with James, as have David and Jim, on several projects, but it was playing on the score for The Greater Glory, a lesser-known film, but full of wonderful ensemble writing for the horn, as is usual for James’s scores, that prompted a conversation about a concerto of some sort for horn: what might work, what length it might be and how we could do it. Eventually this led to tonight’s collaboration for not one but four solo horns. James Horner’s new work may not be as virtuosic as Schumann’s Konzertstück for the same instrumentation, but rather explores the spatial elements, emphasised by the placing of the four players at various points on the stage instead of clustered in an ensemble group. Any new piece for the horn is a major event – the repertoire is still very small – but tonight is particularly special, because Collage is being showcased not tucked away at a horn convention, but on a major international concert stage.

There is a moment in the movie Field of Dreams, WP Kinsella’s elegy on baseball and hope’s renewal, when a deceased ball player returns from beyond to play a final game in a ballpark fashioned from a cornfield by his estranged son. ‘Is this heaven?’ he wonders as he steps onto the field. ‘It’s Iowa,’ his son replies. Those iconic words immortalised the script, but the words remain, in part, because of how composer James Horner decided to convey them. When the idyllic field was introduced, he shone the spotlight on the solo horn to introduce it. That Horner score, played magically by James Thatcher, brought me back to the horn after I had quit for several years. Something in its mournfulness, its majesty, ultimately in its piercing clarity, pulled me back not only to a life I had rejected but (so much more importantly) to a sense of possibility within myself. Music does that. It’s why we musicians play it, and no music does it more poignantly or more dramatically than music for the horn. For centuries the horn has been the hero’s choice to herald royal entrances and triumphant battles, impossible quests and dangerous journeys, unlikely victories and tender resolutions. It swells and fades, beckons and blasts, draws us towards a noble distance and damns us where we are. It is an exquisitely expressive instrument. Its eloquence is what draws the storyteller and composer to it, a muse they always summon at dramatic moments to convince the audience, in a concert hall or a home movie theatre, that they have not simply heard the story. They have lived it.

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

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Programme notes continued

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov 1844–1908

Orientalism was big business during the final decades of the 19th century. World fairs introduced new clothes and customs to culturally voracious Westerners and, as shipping lines opened, not least the Suez Canal in 1869, access increased. The Russians had their own intoxicating brand of Orientalism, though even they admitted that an Empire straddling both Europe and Asia could not entirely consider the Middle and Far East as ‘other’. Nonetheless, there are numerous examples of exotic tropes in their music, such as Borodin’s In Central Asia, the Arabian Dance in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Drawing on tales from One Thousand and One Nights, the collection of West and South Asian folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Middle Ages, this seminal symphonic poem was composed in 1888, shortly after Rimsky-Korsakov had finished work on the completion and orchestration of Borodin’s mammoth Prince Igor. Rimsky-Korsakov decided that his new work, Scheherazade, would recall rather than refer directly to events from One Thousand and One Nights. ‘All I desired,’ he later wrote in his autobiography, ‘was that the hearer, if he liked my piece as symphonic music, should carry away the impression that it is beyond doubt an Oriental narrative of some numerous and varied fairytale wonders and not merely four pieces played one after the other and composed on the basis of themes common to all the four movements’. The work begins with a glowering fanfare, describing Sultan Schariar. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that the Sultan ‘vowed to put to death each of his wives after the first nuptial night. But the Sultana Scheherazade saved her life by entertaining her lord with fascinating tales.’ After a passage indebted to Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we hear Scheherazade’s own beguiling motif, played by a solo violin and harp. There follows

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Scheherazade, Op. 35 1 2 3 4

The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship The Kalendar Prince The Young Prince and the Young Princess Festival at Baghdad. The Sea. The Ship Breaks against a Cliff Surmounted by a Bronze Horseman

a steady but sweeping barcarolle describing ‘The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship’ of her first tale. The melody, full of chromatic inflections, develops freely over the course of the ensuing sections, in which Scheherazade’s storytelling theme is also a prominent feature. The second movement heralds another story, introduced once more by the Sultana. She recites a fakir’s tale of a young prince who dressed up as a wandering pauper, enduring hardships in his search for wisdom. Various instruments pick up his travelling tune before being interrupted by more ominous forces (with premonitions of the evil Kachtcheï in Stravinsky’s The Firebird). The third movement, on the other hand, is a heartfelt romance, evoking a prince, represented by a string melody, and his love for a princess, who is described in the dancing middle section. Although the two are initially separated, they eventually come together, as the movement closes contentedly with both themes. As in many four-part symphonies, the Finale offers a grand summation of the preceding movements. Particularly prominent is the juxtaposition of the Sultan’s booming bass motif and Scheherazade’s storytelling theme. To save her life, she offers a dazzling conflation of three episodes from One Thousand and One Nights, featuring the humming bazars of Baghdad and a particularly violent seascape. Ultimately, Scheherazade’s charms overwhelm the Sultan’s murderous intentions and the work closes with her theme and a final reiteration of the Mendelssohn-like chords. Programme notes © Gavin Plumley

The next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 Bruckner Symphony No. 4 (Romantic) (Nowak edition) Robin Ticciati conductor Javier Perianes* piano *Please note change of advertised artist

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

Friday 17 April 2015 | 7.30pm

Wednesday 15 April 2015 | 7.30pm

Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune* Lalo Symphonie espagnole Brahms Symphony No. 1

Omer Meir Wellber conductor Augustin Hadelich violin

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

*supported by Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française

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JTI FRIDAY SERIES

New on the LPO label: Eschenbach conducts Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles Messiaen Des canyons aux étoiles Christoph Eschenbach conductor Tzimon Barto piano | John Ryan horn Andrew Barclay xylorimba Erika Öhman glockenspiel London Philharmonic Orchestra

‘An extraordinary achievement ... the playing of the LPO is exemplary, with special plaudits for the horn playing of John Ryan.’ LPO–0083

Andrew McGregor, BBC Radio 3 CD Review, February 2015 Available on iPlayer until 27 March bbc.co.uk/programmes/b053zr20

Available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets Available to download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and others.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

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 Bianca & Stuart Roden 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 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: Accenture 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

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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 RVW Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute Schroder Charity Trust Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter 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 By May 2015 we aim to have raised £1 million which will be matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This will create a £2 million endowment fund supporting our Education and Community Programme, our creative programming and major artistic projects at Southbank Centre. We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures.

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 Bianca & Stuart Roden 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 Dr Christopher Aldren Mark & Elizabeth Adams Mrs Pauline Baumgartner Lady Jane Berrill Mr Edwin Bisset Mr Frederick Brittenden David & Yi Yao Buckley Mr Clive Butler Gill & Garf Collins Mr John H Cook Bruno de Kegel Mr Gavin Graham

Mr Timothy Fancourt QC Karima & David G Mr Daniel Goldstein Mr Derek B Gray Mr Roger Greenwood Mr J Douglas Home Honeymead Arts Trust Mrs Dawn Hooper Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Mr Geoffrey Kirkham Peter Leaver Wg Cdr & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter Mace Mr David Macfarlane Geoff & Meg Mann Dr David McGibney Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner John Montgomery Rosemary Morgan Paris Natar Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Mr Roger H C Pattison The late Edmund Pirouet Mr Michael Posen Sarah & John Priestland Mr Christopher Queree Mr Alan Sainer Pritchard Donors Tim Slorick Ralph and Elizabeth Aldwinckle Lady Valerie Solti Michael and Linda Blackstone Timothy Walker AM Conrad Blakey OBE Laurence Watt Dr Anthony Buckland Mr R Watts Business Events Sydney Christopher Williams Lady June Chichester John Childress & Christiane Wuillamie Peter Wilson Smith Victoria Yanakova Paul Collins Mr Anthony Yolland Mr Alistair Corbett Mr David Devons And all other donors who wish to Mr David Edgecombe remain anonymous David Ellen Moya Greene Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Tony and Susie Hayes Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Mrs Philip Kan Rose and Dudley Leigh Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons Miss Jeanette Martin Duncan Matthews QC Diana and Allan Morgenthau Charitable Trust Dr Karen Morton Mr Roger Phillimore 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

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