2024/25 season at the Southbank Centre FREE CONCERT PROGRAMME
Redefining Healthcare Redefining Healthcare
Situated in the heart of London’s Marylebone district, OneWelbeck is one of the UK’s largest private medical facilities for outpatient diagnostics, therapies and minimally invasive surgeries. With over 300 consultants partnered across 17 specialist centres of practice, OneWelbeck delivers a better standard of treatment to our patients
Our facilities include:
Our facilities include:
9-storey facility in central London
UK’s only 3D mole mapping service
Dedicated chronic pain clinic
Dedicated sleep centre
In-house pharmacy
Cutting edge imaging machines
Principal Conductor Edward Gardner supported by Aud Jebsen
Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis
Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski KBE Patron HRH The Duke of Kent KG
Artistic Director Elena Dubinets Chief Executive David Burke
Leader Pieter Schoeman supported by Neil Westreich
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
Wednesday 19 February 2025 | 7.30pm
Symphonic Dances
Glazunov
Concert Waltz No. 1 (11’)
Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 1 (33’)
Interval (20’)
Rachmaninov
Symphonic Dances (35’)
Juraj Valčuha conductor
Boris Giltburg piano
Welcome LPO news
Welcome to the Southbank Centre
We’re the UK’s largest centre for the arts and one of the nation’s top five visitor attractions, showcasing the world’s most exciting artists at our venues in the heart of London. As a charity, we bring millions of people together by opening up the unique art spaces that we care for.
The Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Hayward Gallery, National Poetry Library and Arts Council Collection. We’re one of London’s favourite meeting spots, with lots of free events and places to relax, eat and shop next to the Thames.
We hope you enjoy your visit. If you need any information or help, please ask a member of staff. You can also email hello@southbankcentre.co.uk or write to us at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX.
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The paper used for all LPO brochures and concert programmes has been sourced from responsibly managed forests, certified in accordance with the FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council). It is also Carbon Balanced, meaning the carbon impact of its production is offset by the World Land Trust through the purchase and preservation of ecologically important forestry under imminent threat of clearance.
If you don’t want to take your programme home, please make use of the recycling bins in the Royal Festival Hall foyers. Please also use these bins to recycle any plastic drinks glasses after the concert. Thank you.
RPS Award nomination for ‘Backstage with the LPO’
Exciting news! ‘Backstage with the LPO’, our four-part documentary series with Sky Arts which aired in spring 2024, has been shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the Storytelling category.
The series showcased the time, work and love that goes into preparing for a concert, as well as sharing more about the lives and talents of our players and Principal Conductor Edward Gardner. We had so much fun making the series, and we were overwhelmed with the lovely feedback it received.
The winner of the RPS Awards will be announced on Thursday 6 March, and in the meantime, the series is still available to watch on Sky or NOW TV.
royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/awards/rps-awards
Digital Culture Award nomination
As well as our RPS Awards nomination, we’re over the moon to have recently been shortlisted for two Digital Culture Awards. Our mission to spread classical music far and wide on social media has been recognised in the Digital Marketing category, and our OrchLab project, run in partnership with Drake Music to empower disabled adults to experience the joy of making music, has been celebrated in the Digital Inclusion category.
The winners will be announced in mid-March: read more at digitalculturenetwork.org.uk/awards
Tania León – Grammy winner!
Huge congratulations to LPO Composer-in-Residence Tania León on her win at the 67th Grammy Awards, which took place in Los Angeles on 2 February. Tania was the recipient of a Trustees Award, which is presented to individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions to the field of recording.
We can’t wait to celebrate Tania’s achievements later this month, as we give the European premiere of her work Pasajes here at the Royal Festival Hall on Friday 21 February. Get your tickets now at lpo.org.uk/whatson
First Violins
Pieter Schoeman* Leader
Chair supported by Neil Westreich
Alice Ivy-Pemberton Co-Leader
Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader
Kate Oswin
Chair supported by Eric Tomsett
Lasma Taimina
Chair supported by Irina Gofman
& Mr Rodrik V. G. Cave
Minn Majoe
Chair supported by Dr Alex & Maria
Chan
Martin Höhmann
Katalin Varnagy
Cassandra Hamilton
Yang Zhang
Thomas Eisner
Chair supported by Ryze Power
Nilufar Alimaksumova
Camille Buitenhuis
Ruth Schulten
Alice Hall
Alice Apreda Howell
Second Violins
Tania Mazzetti Principal
Chair supported by The Candide
Trust
Emma Oldfield Co-Principal
Kate Birchall
Nancy Elan
Fiona Higham
Chair supported by David & Yi
Buckley
Ashley Stevens
Claudia Tarrant-Matthews
Sioni Williams
Sheila Law
Emma Crossley
José Nuno Cabrita Matias
Marie-Anne Mairesse
Lyrit Milgram
Paula Clifton-Everest
Violas
Benjamin Roskams
Guest Principal
Laura Vallejo
Martin Wray
Chair supported by David & Bettina
Harden
Benedetto Pollani
Alistair Scahill
Kate De Campos
Jennifer Coombes
Mark Gibbs
On stage tonight
Jisu Song
Jill Valentine
Charles Cross
Terry Nettle
Cellos
Waynne Kwon Principal
Francis Bucknall
Sue Sutherley
Leo Melvin
Helen Thomas
George Hoult
Sibylle Hentschel
Iain Ward
Colin Alexander
Julia Morneweg
Double Basses
Sebastian Pennar* Principal
Hugh Kluger
George Peniston
Laura Murphy
Chair supported by Ian Ferguson
& Susan Tranter
Tom Walley
Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Adam Wynter
Lowri Estell
Cathy Colwell
Flutes
Tom Hancox Guest Principal
Ian Mullin
Stewart McIlwham
Piccolo
Stewart McIlwham* Principal
Oboes
Ian Hardwick* Principal
Alice Munday
Cor Anglais
Sue Böhling* Principal
Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi
Clarinets
Benjamin Mellefont*
Principal
Chair supported by Sir Nigel
Boardman & Prof. Lynda Gratton
Thomas Watmough
Chair supported by Roger Greenwood
Paul Richards*
Bass Clarinet
Paul Richards* Principal
Alto Saxophone
Kyle Horch
Bassoons
Jonathan Davies* Principal
Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey
Helen Storey*
Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra
Contrabassoon
Simon Estell* Principal
Horns
John Ryan* Principal Annemarie Federle Principal
Chair supported by Victoria Robey CBE
Martin Hobbs
Mark Vines Co-Principal
Gareth Mollison
Trumpets
Paul Beniston* Principal
Tom Nielsen Co-Principal
Anne McAneney*
Chair supported in memory of Peter Coe
Trombones
Mark Templeton* Principal Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
David Whitehouse
Bass Trombone
Lyndon Meredith Principal
Tuba
Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal
Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Timpani
Simon Carrington* Principal
Chair supported by Victoria Robey CBE
Percussion
Andrew Barclay* Principal
Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins
Karen Hutt Co-Principal
Oliver Yates
Jeremy Cornes
Feargus Brennan
Francesca Lombardelli
Harp
Sue Blair Guest Principal
Piano
Catherine Edwards
*Professor at a London conservatoire
The LPO also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose player is not present at this concert: Bianca & Stuart Roden
Welcome to Oliver Yates, who officially joins the Orchestra tonight in his new position of SubPrincipal Percussion. As a freelancer for the last 20 years, Olly has performed with all of London’s symphony and opera orchestras, and was Acting CoPrincipal Percussion of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra from 2007–15. It’s great to welcome him to the LPO family!
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Uniquely groundbreaking and exhilarating to watch and hear, the London Philharmonic Orchestra has been celebrated as one of the world’s great orchestras since Sir Thomas Beecham founded it in 1932. Our mission is to share wonder with the modern world through the power of orchestral music, which we accomplish through live performances, online, and an extensive education and community programme, cementing our position as a leading orchestra for the 21st century.
Our home is at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, where we’re at the beating heart of London’s cultural life. You’ll also find us at our resident venues in Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden, and on tour worldwide. In 2024 we celebrated 60 years as Resident Symphony Orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, combining the magic of opera with Glyndebourne’s glorious setting in the Sussex countryside.
Soundtrack to key moments
Everyone will have heard the Grammy-nominated London Philharmonic Orchestra, whether it’s playing the world’s National Anthems for every medal ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, our iconic recording with Pavarotti that made Nessun Dorma a global football anthem, or closing the flotilla at The Queen’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. And you’ll almost certainly have heard us on the soundtracks for major films including The Lord of the Rings
Sharing the wonder worldwide
We’re one of the world’s most-streamed orchestras, with over 15 million plays of our content each month. In 2023 we were the most successful orchestra worldwide on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, with over 1.1m followers across all platforms, and in spring 2024 we featured in a TV documentary series on Sky Arts: ‘Backstage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra’, still available to watch via Now TV. During 2024/25 we’re once again working with Marquee TV to broadcast selected live concerts to enjoy from your own living room.
Our conductors
Our Principal Conductors have included some of the greatest historic names like Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In 2021 Edward Gardner became our 13th Principal Conductor, and Vladimir Jurowski became Conductor Emeritus in recognition of his impact as Principal Conductor from 2007–21. Karina Canellakis is our current Principal Guest Conductor, and Tania León our Composer-in-Residence.
Next generations
We’re committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians and music-lovers: we love seeing the joy of children and families experiencing their first musical moments, and we’re passionate about inspiring schools and teachers through dedicated concerts, workshops,
resources and training. Reflecting our values of collaboration and inclusivity, our OrchLab and Open Sound Ensemble projects offer music-making opportunities for adults and young people with disabilities and special educational needs.
Today’s young instrumentalists are the orchestra members of the future, and we have a number of opportunities to support their progression. Our LPO Junior Artists programme leads the way in creating pathways into the profession for young artists from under-represented communities, and our LPO Young Composers and Foyle Future Firsts schemes support the next generation of professional musicians, bridging the transition from education to professional careers. We also recently launched the LPO Conducting Fellowship, supporting the development of two outstanding early-career conductors from backgrounds under-represented in the profession.
2024/25 season
Principal Conductor Edward Gardner leads the Orchestra in an exciting 2024/25 season, with soloists including Joyce DiDonato, Leif Ove Andsnes, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Víkingur Ólafsson and Isabelle Faust, and works including Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis joins us for three concerts including Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, and Mozart with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor. We’ll also welcome back Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski, as well as guest conductors including Mark Elder, Lidiya Yankovskaya, Robin Ticciati and Kevin John Edusei.
Throughout the season we’ll explore the relationship between music and memory in our ‘Moments Remembered’ series, featuring works like Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony, Strauss’s Metamorphosen and John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls. During the season there’ll be the chance to hear brand new works by composers including Freya Waley-Cohen and David Sawer, as well as performances by renowned soloists violinist Gidon Kremer, sarod player Amjad Ali Khan, soprano Renée Fleming and many more. The season also features tours to Japan, the USA, China and across Europe, as well as a calendar bursting with performances and community events in our Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden residencies. lpo.org.uk
Pieter Schoeman Leader
Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. He is also a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance.
Pieter has performed worldwide as a soloist and recitalist in such famous halls as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s Rachmaninoff Hall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. As a chamber musician he regularly appears at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. His chamber music partners have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Veronika Eberle, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Boris Garlitsky, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Martin Helmchen and Julia Fischer.
Pieter has performed numerous times as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Highlights have included an appearance as both conductor and soloist in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at the Royal Festival Hall, the Brahms Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and the Britten Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the LPO Label to great critical acclaim.
Pieter has appeared as Guest Leader with the BBC, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon and Baltimore symphony orchestras; the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras; and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
Pieter’s chair in the LPO is generously supported by Neil Westreich.
Slovakian conductor Juraj Valčuha is recognised for the effortless expressiveness and depth of his musicianship. With a sharp baton technique and a natural stage presence, it is the impressive ease of his interpretations that translates even the most complex scores into immersive experiences.
Since June 2022 Valčuha has been Music Director of the Houston Symphony. He was Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples from 2016–22, and First Guest Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was Chief Conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin from 2009–16.
2005/06 marked the start of Juraj Valčuha’s international career, on the podium of the Orchestre National de France, which was followed by remarkable debuts in the UK with the Philharmonia Orchestra, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, and in the USA with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has since led the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, as well as the German radio orchestras including the SWR Stuttgart, NDR Hamburg and Hessische Rundfunk Frankfurt. Further afield, he has conducted the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo’s NHK and Yomiuri Nippon symphony orchestras, and in the USA he enjoys regular collaborations with the Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony and San Francisco Symphony.
International tours with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra took Valčuha to the Musikverein in Vienna, the Philharmonie in Berlin, and to Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Munich, the Enescu Festival in Bucharest and Abu Dhabi Classics. With the Konzerthausorchester Berlin he visited Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn to mark the 100th anniversary of the Baltic nations.
Juraj Valčuha champions the compositions of living composers. With the Pittsburgh Symphony he premiered Christopher Rouse’s Supplica. With the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester he led the first performance of Steven Mackey’s violin concerto Beautiful Passing with Leila Josefowicz, and with the Houston Symphony he conducted the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Bright Idea and the US premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Pretty. Other composers with whom he has worked include Bryce Dessner, Steven Stucky, Andrew Norman, James MacMillan, Luca Francesconi, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Anna Clyne, Jessie Montgomery and Carlos Simon, among others.
Valčuha’s engagements in 2024/25 take him to the Houston, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Chicago and Minnesota orchestras, as well as to the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo. On the European stage, he conducts Puccini’s La fanciulla del West and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Janáček’s Jenůfa at the Opera di Roma and Strauss’s Salome at the Semperoper in Dresden, as well as Janáček’s The Cunning little Vixen at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. He leads concerts with the RAI Orchestra, the Orchestra dell´Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestre National de France, and the Munich Philharmonic.
Born in Bratislava, Juraj Valčuha studied composition and conducting in his hometown, then in St Petersburg with Ilya Musin, as well as in Paris.
Boris Giltburg
piano
Boris Giltburg is lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful and compelling interpreter. Critics have praised his ‘singing line, variety of touch and broad dynamic palette capable of great surges of energy’ (The Washington Post), as well as his impassioned, narrative-driven approach to performance.
Giltburg regularly gives recitals in the world’s most prestigious halls, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ BOZAR, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, London’s Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Prague’s Rudolfinum and Vienna’s Konzerthaus. Throughout the 2024/25 season he embarks on a series of eight concerts at the Wigmore Hall, performing the entire cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas, all of which will be live-streamed.
Boris Giltburg is widely recognised as a leading interpreter of Rachmaninov: ‘His originality stems from a convergence of heart and mind, served by immaculate technique and motivated by a deep and abiding love for one of the 20th century’s greatest composerpianists.’ (Gramophone). To celebrate the composer’s 150th anniversary in 2023, Giltburg released the last disc in his acclaimed Rachmaninov concerto cycle, which received a Choc de Classica award and a 5-star review in The Times. In recent years he has engaged in a series of in-depth explorations of other major composers, including Ravel (performing solo works at BOZAR, Flagey in Brussels, the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw and the Wigmore Hall, and concerti with the Orchestre National de France, Brussels Philharmonic and Residentie Orkest), and most recently Chopin, including three recitals at the Wigmore Hall last season.
This season’s Beethoven cycle builds on a significant project Giltburg undertook in 2020 to celebrate Beethoven’s anniversary. That year, he embarked on a unique journey to record and film all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas: ‘These interpretations are enormously pleasurable and at times revelatory … Giltburg’s pianism is ideally suited to late Beethoven.’ (5 stars, BBC Music Magazine). He also recorded the complete concerti with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and appeared in the BBC Four TV series Being Beethoven
Boris Giltburg’s list of orchestral collaborators includes the Czech Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, NHK Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra and Santa Cecilia di Roma. In the 2024/25 season he explores concerti by a range of composers: he performs Rachmaninov with the Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony and Gulbenkian orchestras; Prokofiev with the Belgian National and Stavanger Symphony orchestras; Mozart with the Hamburg Symphony; Shostakovich with the Enescu Philharmonic; Bartók at the Teatro Colón; and Grieg with the Dresden Philharmonic.
Giltburg is a consummate recording artist and has been exclusive to Naxos since 2015, winning the Opus Klassik Award for Best Soloist Recording for Rachmaninov concerti and Études-Tableaux; a Diapason d’Or for Shostakovich concerti and his own arrangement of Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet; and a Choc de Classica award for Rachmaninov concerti. He also won a Gramophone Award for the Dvořák Piano Quintet on Supraphon with the Pavel Haas Quartet, as well as a Diapason d’Or and Choc de Classica for their joint release of the Brahms Piano Quintet. In 2024, Giltburg and the Pavel Haas Quartet received a Choc de Classica and Diapason d’Or for the complete Dvořák Piano Trios on Supraphon, as well as the Classica Choc de l’Année for that year.
Boris Giltburg is deeply committed to connecting with audiences beyond the concert hall. His blog, ‘Classical Music for All’, is aimed at a non-specialist audience, which he complements with articles in publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, The Guardian, The Times and Fono Forum.
When the waltz first began to take the world by storm in the early 19th century, there were voices raised in protest. The close bodily contact, that rolling, swaying motion (no doubt aided by a glass or two of champagne) – how could it lead to anything other than monstrous impropriety? But by the time Alexander Glazunov came to write his two ‘concert waltzes’, in 1893 and 1894 respectively, the waltz had changed, if not its essential character, then certainly its public demeanour. It was now the embodiment of courtly elegance and glamour, rather like its ancestor, the minuet, in the previous century.
In addition, Johann Strauss II, the ‘Waltz King’, had shown how the orchestral waltz could become a kind of miniature tone-poem, conjuring up images of fairytale ballrooms and impossibly beautiful romantic encounters. Then in Russia, Tchaikovsky had applied his generous lyrical gifts, supple and energetic feel for physical movement and fabulous aural imagination to the waltz, creating in his three great ballets some of the most enduringly popular dance pieces in all music.
It was in 1893, the year of Tchaikovsky’s mysteriously premature death, that Alexander Glazunov composed the first of his two concert waltzes. The debt to the older master is clear enough, yet Glazunov steps into Tchaikovsky’s ballet shoes effortlessly – so much so that the glorious main melody has often been mistaken for one of Tchaikovsky’s own. The short but exquisite introduction too could slot into the score of The Nutcracker without any sense of incongruity.
But Glazunov is not simply being derivative. He would soon be stamping his own personality on dance music in his two delightful ballets Raymonda (1898) and The Seasons (1899), but for now we can hear him delighting in taking a form his hero had perfected, and in showing that he could do it perfectly too. There are two main themes, alternating in a simple A – B – A pattern, leading eventually to a brilliant accelerating coda. As well as
knowing how know how to make dancers dip and sway decorously, Glazunov also clearly knows how to bring an audience to its feet.
1 Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito
2
Andantino semplice – Prestissimo
Allegro con fuoco
Tchaikovsky was always terribly vulnerable to criticism. So one can readily imagine the effect on him when the pianist and composer Nikolai Rubinstein pronounced judgement on his newly completed First Piano Concerto. From the start, Tchaikovsky had been particularly keen that Rubinstein perform the Concerto in one of his prestigious concerts. But when Tchaikovsky played the first movement to Rubinstein, on Christmas Eve 1874, the response was withering. ‘It turned out that my concerto was worthless and unplayable’, Tchaikovsky recalled soon afterwards, ‘passages were so fragmented, so clumsy, so badly written that they were beyond rescue; the work itself was bad, vulgar; in places I had stolen from other composers; only two or three pages were worth preserving; the rest must be thrown away or completely rewritten.’
Fortunately for us, Tchaikovsky didn’t follow Rubinstein’s advice and destroy the Concerto; instead he recovered his nerve and sent it to the German pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow, whose reaction could hardly have been more different: the Concerto, Bülow replied, was ‘so original in thought (yet never affected), so noble, so strong, so interesting in details ... In short, this is a real pearl and you deserve the gratitude of all pianists.’ And that, broadly speaking, is how posterity has come to view the First Piano Concerto. Even so, Tchaikovsky did make some revisions after hearing the work in concert. Bülow made a few recommendations,
Programme notes
as did the pianist Edward Dannreuther. Dannreuther’s comments in particular must have been made with great tact, because the normally touchy Tchaikovsky thanked him for his ‘very sensible and practical suggestions’, and took them to heart when he revised the Concerto in 1878 – and possibly when he refined it further in 1888. That is the version we hear regularly today.
Bülow’s comments about originality and nobility are borne out right from the start. A few bars of dark fanfare, led by the horns, are swept aside by the piano’s sonorous major-key chords, then one of Tchaikovsky’s grandest and most glorious long melodies surges in on strings. After a period of extended development this theme is dropped, never to return again – to the disappointment of some first-time listeners, yet in fact
this tune turns out to contain the seeds of many important themes to come. The long first movement is also striking for the way it dramatises the relationship between piano and orchestra – sometimes an heroic struggle, sometimes closer to a tender or turbulent love affair. After this, the Andantino middle movement offers gentle relief, its faster central section based on a French folk-tune Tchaikovsky used to sing with his brothers Modest and Anatoly, ‘One must have fun, dance and sing’. Then the finale is a terrific, exhilarating workoutcum-fireworks-display based on a Ukrainian folksong, with another splendid ‘Big Tune’, which returns in triumph to end this passionate, stunningly theatrical Concerto.
An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.
An Alpine Symphony
Friday 21 February 2025
7.30pm
Tania León Pasajes
Grieg Piano Concerto
R Strauss An Alpine Symphony
Edward Gardner conductor Alexandra Dovgan piano
Symphonie Fantastique
Wednesday 26 February 2025
7.30pm
David Sawer Sphinx (world premiere)*
Britten Violin Concerto
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
Edward Gardner conductor Augustin Hadelich violin
*Commissioned by the LPO with support from the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust
Programme notes
Serge Rachmaninov
1873–1943
Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
1940
1 Non allegro
2 Andante con moto (Tempo di valse)
3 Lento assai – Allegro vivace
In the last 25 years of his life, after leaving his native Russia at the time of the Revolution to settle in the West, Rachmaninov was forced to devote most of his time to his concert tours as pianist and conductor, and composed only a handful of major works. The last of these was his Symphonic Dances, written in the summer and autumn of 1940 on Long Island in New York State, where he was convalescing after an operation. He composed it first as a work for two pianos, then orchestrated it, checking the proofs in spare moments after he had resumed his touring. The orchestral version was written as a showpiece for The Philadelphia Orchestra and its conductor Eugene Ormandy, who together gave the first performance in January 1941.
The Dances are not ‘symphonic’ in their formal designs: each has an A–B–A outline, with a contrasting middle section and a free reprise of the opening, though each is turned into a substantial whole by the inclusion of an introduction, transitions between sections, and a coda. The adjective indicates rather their scale, their treatment of their material, and their essentially serious nature. At one point Rachmaninov intended to call them ‘Fantastic Dances’; and he is said to have considered entitling the three movements respectively ‘Noon’, ‘Evening’ and ‘Midnight’ – with reference not only to times of day but also to phases of life.
The first movement is a forceful stylised march; the middle section is much slower, with a languorous melody first heard on alto saxophone, accompanied by woodwind only. The coda begins with a broad string melody derived from the motto-theme of the composer’s First Symphony, a work inspired by
Programme notes
a youthful love-affair. (This was a private reference for Rachmaninov, who thought the work had been destroyed many years earlier; the Symphony was reconstructed only after his death.) The second movement is a crepuscular waltz in changing metres, punctuated by baleful brass fanfares; the middle section moves from elegance to melodic warmth; the coda gathers speed into a whirl, then dies away.
The finale is in the dance rhythm of the saltarello, but it has a slow, sombre introduction and middle section; and increasingly obvious allusions to the Dies irae funeral plainchant, a leitmotif of Rachmaninov’s whole composing career, suggest that it is something of a dance of death. However, another prominent melody, first heard on the cor anglais towards the end of the first section, is derived from a Russian Orthodox chant which Rachmaninov had used in the ninth section of his 1915 All-Night Vigil (the so-called Vespers), celebrating the Resurrection of Christ; and the coda of the Dance is freely transcribed from the choral work. At the point where the choir sings ‘Alleluia’, Rachmaninov wrote the word into his score; and at the end of the manuscript he added ‘I thank Thee, Lord’.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | Vladimir Jurowski (LPO Label LPO-0004: see below)
We’d love to hear from you
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Symphonic Dances on the LPO Label
Rachmaninov The Isle of the Dead
Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
Vladimir Jurowski conductor
London Philharmonic Orchestra
LPO-0004
Recorded live at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall (The Isle of the Dead on 8 December 2004, Symphonic Dances on 29 October 2003)
‘Jurowski miraculously goes to the heart of the autumnal spirit of this music, and the playing is responsive to all his demands.’
The Sunday Telegraph, May 2005
Available on CD from all good outlets, and to download or stream via all major platforms. Scan the code to listen now or find out more.
Sound Futures donors
We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. Thanks to their support, we successfully raised £1 million by 30 April 2015 which has now been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This has enabled us to create a £2 million endowment fund supporting special artistic projects, creative programming and education work with key venue partners including our Southbank Centre home. Supporters listed below donated £500 or over. 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 CBE
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
Valentina & Dmitry Aksenov
Richard Buxton
The Candide Trust
Michael & Elena Kroupeev
Kirby Laing Foundation
Mr & Mrs Makharinsky
Alexey & Anastasia Reznikovich
Sir Simon Robey
Bianca & Stuart Roden
Simon & Vero Turner
The late Mr K Twyman
Solti Patrons
Ageas
John & Manon Antoniazzi
Gabor Beyer, through BTO
Management Consulting AG
Jon Claydon
Mrs Mina Goodman & Miss Suzanne Goodman
Roddy & April Gow
The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris
Charitable Trust
Mr James R.D. Korner
Christoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia Ladanyi-Czernin
Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski
The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust
Mr Paris Natar
The Rothschild Foundation
Tom & Phillis Sharpe
The Viney Family
Haitink Patrons
Mark & Elizabeth Adams
Dr Christopher Aldren
Mrs Pauline Baumgartner
Lady Jane Berrill
Mr Frederick Brittenden
David & Yi Yao Buckley
Mr Clive Butler
Gill & Garf Collins
Mr John H Cook
Mr Alistair Corbett
Bruno De Kegel
Georgy Djaparidze
David Ellen
Christopher Fraser OBE
David & Victoria Graham Fuller
Goldman Sachs International
Mr Gavin Graham
Moya Greene
Mrs Dorothy Hambleton
Tony & Susie Hayes
Malcolm Herring
Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle
Mrs Philip Kan
Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe
Rose & Dudley Leigh
Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons
Miss Jeanette Martin
Duncan Matthews KC
Diana & Allan Morgenthau
Charitable Trust
Dr Karen Morton
Mr Roger Phillimore
Ruth Rattenbury
The Reed Foundation
The Rind Foundation
Sir Bernard Rix
David Ross & Line Forestier
(Canada)
Carolina & Martin Schwab
Dr Brian Smith
Lady Valerie Solti
Mr & Mrs G Stein
Dr Peter Stephenson
Miss Anne Stoddart
TFS Loans Limited
Marina Vaizey
Jenny Watson
Guy & Utti Whittaker
Pritchard Donors
Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle
Mrs Arlene Beare
Mr Patrick & Mrs Joan Benner
Mr Conrad Blakey
Dr Anthony Buckland
Paul Collins
Alastair Crawford
Mr Derek B. Gray
Mr Roger Greenwood
The HA.SH Foundation
Darren & Jennifer Holmes
Honeymead Arts Trust
Mr Geoffrey Kirkham
Drs Frank & Gek Lim
Peter Mace
Mr & Mrs David Malpas
Dr David McGibney
Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner
Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill
Mr Christopher Querée
The Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer Charitable Trust
Timothy Walker CBE AM
Christopher Williams
Peter Wilson Smith
Mr Anthony Yolland
and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous
Thank you
As a registered charity, we are extremely grateful to all our supporters who have given generously to the LPO over the past year to help maintain the breadth and depth of the LPO’s activities, as well as supporting the Orchestra both on and off the concert platform.
Artistic Director’s Circle
Anonymous donors
The American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
William & Alex de Winton
Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle
Aud Jebsen
In memory of Mrs Rita Reay
Sir Simon & Lady Robey CBE
Orchestra Circle
Mr & Mrs Philip Kan
Neil Westreich
Principal Associates
An anonymous donor
Mrs Irina Andreeva
Steven M. Berzin
Richard Buxton
Gill & Garf Collins
In memory of Brenda Lyndoe Casbon
In memory of Ann Marguerite Collins
Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G. Cave
Patricia Haitink
George Ramishvili
In memory of Kenneth Shaw
The Tsukanov Family
Mr Florian Wunderlich
Associates
In memory of Len & Edna Beech
Sir Nigel Boardman & Prof. Lynda Gratton
The Candide Trust
Stuart & Bianca Roden
In memory of Hazel Amy Smith
Gold Patrons
An anonymous donor
David & Yi Buckley
Dr Alex & Maria Chan
In memory of Allner Mavis Channing
In memory of Peter Coe
Michelle Crowe Hernandez
Gini Gabbertas
Jenny & Duncan Goldie-Scot
Mr Roger Greenwood
Malcolm Herring
Julian & Gill Simmonds
Mr Brian Smith
Mr Jay Stein
Eric Tomsett
The Viney Family
Guy & Utti Whittaker
Silver Patrons
David Burke & Valerie Graham
Clive & Helena Butler
John & Sam Dawson
Ulrike & Benno Engelmann
Fiona Espenhahn in memory of Peter
Luke Gardiner
Prof. Erol & Mrs Deniz Gelenbe
The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris
Charitable Trust
Iain & Alicia Hasnip
John & Angela Kessler
Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva
Dr Irene Rosner David
Tom & Phillis Sharpe
Jenny Watson CBE
Laurence Watt
Bronze Patrons
Anonymous donors
Chris Aldren
Michael Allen
Alexander & Rachel Antelme
Annie Berglof
Nicholas Berwin
Lorna & Christopher Bown
Mr Bernard Bradbury
Richard & Jo Brass
Desmond & Ruth Cecil
Mr John H Cook
Emmanuelle & Thierry d’Argent
Mrs Elizabeth Davies
Guy Davies
Cameron & Kathryn Doley
Ms Elena Dubinets
David Ellen
Cristina & Malcolm Fallen
Mr Daniel Goldstein
David & Jane Gosman
Mr Gavin Graham
Mrs Dorothy Hambleton
Eugene & Allison Hayes
J Douglas Home
Mr & Mrs Jan
Mr & Mrs Ralph Kanza
Mrs Elena Kolobova & Mr Oleg
Kolobov
Rose & Dudley Leigh
Wg. Cdr. M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF
Drs Frank & Gek Lim
Andrew T Mills
Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill
John Nickson & Simon Rew
Peter Noble & Lucy Vella
Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley
Simon & Lucy Owen-Johnstone
Andrew & Cindy Peck
Mr Roger Phillimore
Nigel Phipps & Amanda McDowall
Mr Michael Posen
Marie Power
Sir Bernard Rix
Baroness Shackleton
Tim Slorick
Sir Jim Smith
Mrs Maria Toneva
Mr Joe Topley & Ms Tracey
Countryman
Mr & Mrs John C Tucker
Andrew & Rosemary Tusa
Galina Umanskaia
Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood
The Viney Family
Mr Rodney Whittaker
Grenville & Krysia Williams
Joanna Williams
Principal Supporters
Anonymous donors
Julian & Annette Armstrong
Chris Banks
Mr John D Barnard
Roger & Clare Barron
Mr Geoffrey Bateman
Mrs A Beare
Chris Benson
Peter & Adrienne Breen
Dr Anthony Buckland
Mr Julien Chilcott-Monk
David & Liz Conway
Mr Alistair Corbett
David Devons
Deborah Dolce
In memory of Enid Gofton
Prof Emeritus John Gruzelier
Mrs Farrah Jamal
Bruce & Joanna Jenkyn-Jones
Per Jonsson
Tanya Joseph
Mr Ian Kapur
Jozef & Helen Kotz
Dr Peter Mace
Peter Mainprice
Miss Rebecca Murray
Mrs Terry Neale
Mr Stephen Olton
Mr James Pickford
Neil & Karen Reynolds
Mr Robert Ross
Kseniia Rubina
Mr Andrea Santacroce & Olivia Veillet-Lavallée
Penny Segal
Priscylla Shaw
Michael Smith
Erika Song
Mr & Mrs G Stein
Dr Peter Stephenson
Ben Valentin KC
Sophie Walker
Christopher Williams
Liz Winter
Elena Y Zeng
Supporters
Anonymous donors
Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle
Robert & Sarah Auerbach
Dr Simona Cicero & Mr Mario Altieri
Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington
Sarah Connor
Miss Tessa Cowie
Andrew Davenport
Stephen Denby
Mr Simon Edelsten
Steve & Cristina Goldring
In memory of Derek Gray
Nick Hely-Hutchinson
The Jackman Family
Molly Jackson
Jan Leigh & Jan Rynkiewicz
Mr David MacFarlane
Simon Moore
Simon & Fiona Mortimore
Dana Mosevicz
Dame Jane Newell DBE
Diana G Oosterveld
Mr David Peters
Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh
Clarence Tan
Tony & Hilary Vines
Dr June Wakefield
Mr John Weekes
Mr Roger Woodhouse
Mr C D Yates
Hon. Benefactor
Elliott Bernerd
Hon. Life Members
Alfonso Aijón
Carol Colburn Grigor CBE
Pehr G Gyllenhammar
Robert Hill
Keith Millar
Victoria Robey CBE
Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE
Cornelia Schmid
Timothy Walker CBE AM
Laurence Watt
Thomas Beecham
Group
Members
Sir Nigel Boardman & Prof. Lynda
Gratton
David & Yi Buckley
In memory of Peter Coe
Dr Alex & Maria Chan
Garf & Gill Collins
William & Alex de Winton
The Friends of the LPO
Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G.
Cave
Mr Roger Greenwood
Barry Grimaldi
David & Bettina Harden
Mr & Mrs Philip Kan
Mr & Mrs John Kessler
Sir Simon Robey
Victoria Robey OBE
Stuart & Bianca Roden
Julian & Gill Simmonds
Eric Tomsett
Neil Westreich
Guy & Utti Whittaker
LPO Corporate Circle
Principal
Bloomberg
Carter-Ruck Solicitors
French Chamber of Commerce
Natixis Corporate & Investment
Banking
Ryze Power
Tutti
German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce
Lazard
Walpole
Preferred Partners
Jeroboams
Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd
Mayer Brown
Neal’s Yard Remedies
OneWelbeck
Sipsmith
Steinway & Sons
In-kind Sponsor
Google Inc
Thank you
Trusts and Foundations
ABO Trust
Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne
BlueSpark Foundation
The Boltini Trust
Candide Trust
Cockayne Grants for the Arts in London
Dunard Fund
Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
Foyle Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
Garrick Charitable Trust
The Golsoncott Foundation
Jerwood Foundation
John Coates Charitable Trust
John Horniman’s Children’s Trust
John Thaw Foundation
Idlewild Trust
Institute Adam Mickiewicz
Kirby Laing Foundation
The John S Cohen Foundation
The Lennox Hannay Charitable Trust
Kurt Weill Foundation
Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust
Lucille Graham Trust
The Marchus Trust
Maria Bjӧrnson Memorial Fund
The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
PRS Foundation
The R K Charitable Trust
The Radcliffe Trust
Rivers Foundation
Rothschild Foundation
Scops Arts Trust
Sir William Boreman’s Foundation
TIOC Foundation
Vaughan Williams Foundation
The Victoria Wood Foundation
The Viney Family
The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust
and all others who wish to remain anonymous.
Board of the American Friends of the LPO
We are grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who assist with fundraising for our activities in the United States of America:
Hannah Young Chair
Kara Boyle
Jon Carter Jay Goffman
Alexandra Jupin
Natalie Pray MBE
Damien Vanderwilt
Marc Wassermann
Elizabeth Winter
Catherine Høgel Hon. Director
LPO International Board of Governors
Natasha Tsukanova Chair
Mrs Irina Andreeva
Steven M. Berzin
Shashank Bhagat
Irina Gofman
Olivia Ma
George Ramishvili Florian Wunderlich
London Philharmonic Orchestra Administration
Board of Directors
Dr Catherine C. Høgel Chair
Nigel Boardman Vice-Chair
Mark Vines* President
Kate Birchall* Vice-President
Emily Benn
David Buckley
David Burke
Michelle Crowe Hernandez
Deborah Dolce
Elena Dubinets
Simon Estell*
Tanya Joseph
Katherine Leek*
Minn Majoe*
Tania Mazzetti*
Jamie Njoku-Goodwin
Neil Westreich
David Whitehouse*
*Player-Director
Advisory Council
Roger Barron Chairman
Christopher Aldren
Kate Birchall
Richard Brass
Helen Brocklebank
YolanDa Brown OBE
David Burke
Simon Burke
Simon Callow CBE
Desmond Cecil CMG
Jane Coulson
Andrew Davenport
Guillaume Descottes
Cameron Doley
Elena Dubinets
Lena Fankhauser
Christopher Fraser OBE
Jenny Goldie-Scot
Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS
Nicholas Hely-Hutchinson DL
Dr Catherine C. Høgel
Martin Höhmann
Jamie Korner
Andrew Neill
Nadya Powell
Sir Bernard Rix
Victoria Robey CBE
Baroness Shackleton
Thomas Sharpe KC
Julian Simmonds
Daisuke Tsuchiya
Mark Vines
Chris Viney
Laurence Watt
Elizabeth Winter
New Generation Board
Ellie Ajao
Peter De Souza
Vivek Haria
Rianna Henriques
Pasha Orleans-Foli
Zerlina Vulliamy
General Administration
Elena Dubinets
Artistic Director
David Burke
Chief Executive
Ineza Grabowska
PA to the Executive & Office Manager
Concert Management
Roanna Gibson
Concerts & Planning Director
Graham Wood
Concerts & Recordings Manager
Maddy Clarke
Tours Manager
Madeleine Ridout
Glyndebourne & Projects Manager
Alison Jones
Concerts & Artists Co-ordinator
Dora Kmezić
Concerts & Recordings Co-ordinator
Tom Cameron
Concerts & Tours Assistant
Matthew Freeman
Recordings Consultant
Andrew Chenery
Orchestra Personnel Manager
Helen Phipps
Orchestra & Auditions Manager
Sarah Thomas
Martin Sargeson Librarians
Laura Kitson
Stage & Operations Manager
Stephen O’Flaherty
Deputy Operations Manager
Benjamin Wakley
Deputy Stage Manager
Finance
Frances Slack
Finance Director
Dayse Guilherme Finance Manager
Jean-Paul Ramotar
IT Manager & Finance Officer
Education & Community
Talia Lash
Education & Community Director
Lowri Davies
Eleanor Jones
Education & Community
Project Managers
Hannah Smith
Education & Community Co-ordinator
Claudia Clarkson
Regional Partnerships Manager
Development
Laura Willis
Development Director (maternity leave)
Olivia Highland Development Director (maternity cover)
