London Philharmonic Orchestra 24 Nov 2017 concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

b e m ov e d 2017/18 Season at Southbank Centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Royal Festival Hall Concert programme

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation Principal Guest Conductor ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADA Leader pieter schoeman supported by Neil Westreich Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Friday 24 November 2017 | 7.30pm

Vivaldi The Four Seasons, Op. 8 Nos. 1–4* (39’) Interval (20’) Kabalevsky Spring: Symphonic Poem, Op. 65 (10’) Glazunov The Seasons: Ballet in one act and four scenes, Op. 67 (34’)

Marius Stravinsky conductor Pieter Schoeman director/violin* Pieter Schoeman’s chair in the Orchestra is generously supported by Neil Westreich.

Free pre-concert event 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall Writer and broadcaster Stephen Johnson looks at how composers have sought inspiration from and responded musically to the cycle of the seasons and the ancient rites associated with it.

The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide. CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Contents 2 Welcome 3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Kevin Lin 6 Marius Stravinsky 7 Pieter Schoeman 8 Programme notes 11 Recommended recordings 12 Next concerts 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration

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, Feng Sushi and Topolski, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall. 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 3879 9555, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk We look forward to seeing you again soon. Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery are closed for essential refurbishment until 2018. During this period, our resident orchestras are performing in venues including St John's Smith Square. Find out more at southbankcentre.co.uk/sjss 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.

Das Rheingold: A Golden Gala Evening Saturday 27 January 2018 6.00pm Royal Festival Hall

Wagner Das Rheingold Vladimir Jurowski conductor with soloists including Sofia Fomina, Anna Larsson, Matthias Goerne and Matthew Rose

Celebrate Vladimir Jurowski’s 10th year as LPO Principal Conductor by joining us for this Golden Gala Evening at Royal Festival Hall. As well as standard concert tickets, we are offering special packages including pre- and post-concert receptions and the chance to meet the musicians who will bring Wagner’s great music drama to the stage.

lpo.org.uk/vj10

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. Generously supported by members of the Orchestra’s Ring Cycle Syndicate and patrons of our Golden Gala Evening.

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On stage tonight

Director/Violin Pieter Schoeman Chair supported by Neil Westreich

First Violins Kevin Lin Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader JiJi Lee Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

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

Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Grace Lee Rebecca Shorrock Georgina Leo Helen Ayres Deborah Gruman Miranda Allen Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Robin Wilson Sioni Williams Harry Kerr Sheila Law John Dickinson Kalliopi Mitropoulou Alberto Vidal

Violas David Quiggle Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Stanislav Popov Daniel Cornford Isabel Pereira Martin Wray Martin Fenn Cellos Pei-Jee Ng Principal Francis Bucknall Santiago Carvalho† Chair co-supported by Molly & David Borthwick

David Lale Elisabeth Wiklander Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Tom Roff George Hoult Sibylle Hentschel Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Francesco Platoni George Peniston Laurence Lovelle Lowri Morgan Charlotte Kerbegian Samuel Rice Jakub Cywinski

Flutes Sue Thomas* Principal

Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney*

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Hannah Grayson Stewart McIlwham*

Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday Jennifer Brittlebank

Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Cor Anglais Jennifer Brittlebank

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Clarinets Victor de la Rosa Guest Principal Thomas Watmough Paul Richards

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Gareth Newman Angharad Thomas Horns David Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Karen Hutt Harp Rachel Masters Principal

Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey

Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal

Piano/Celeste/Harpsichord Catherine Edwards

Chair supported by Laurence Watt

Gareth Mollison Jonathan Quaintrell-Evans

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

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: David & Yi Buckley • The Candide Trust • Dr Barry Grimaldi • Bianca & Stuart Roden

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London Philharmonic Orchestra

The LPO musicians really surpassed themselves in playing of élan, subtlety and virtuosity. Matthew Rye, Bachtrack, 24 September 2017 (Enescu’s Oedipe at Royal Festival Hall) Recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most forwardlooking ensembles. 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 local communities. Celebrating its 85th anniversary this season, 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 the Orchestra’s current Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, and this season we celebrate the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary partnership. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Our year-long Belief and Beyond Belief festival in partnership with Southbank Centre

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continues to the end of 2017, exploring what it means to be human in the 21st century. Then, in 2018, we explore the life and music of Stravinsky in our new series Changing Faces: Stravinsky’s Journey, charting the life and music of one of the 20th century’s most influential composers. Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra 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. Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: the 2016/17 season included visits to New York, Germany, Hungary, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland, and tours in 2017/18 include Romania, Japan, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Italy and France.

Kevin Lin leader

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 90 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 conducted by Kurt Masur; Dvořák’s Symphonies 6 & 7 conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 and Fidelio Overture conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. 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. In 2017/18 we celebrate the 30th anniversary of our Education and Community department, whose work over three decades has introduced so many people of all ages to orchestral music and created opportunities for people of all backgrounds to fulfil their creative potential. 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 regular concert streamings and a popular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on social media.

Kevin Lin joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader in August 2017. Originally from New York, Kevin has performed as a soloist and recitalist in the UK, Taiwan, South Korea and Canada, in addition to numerous performances in the USA. He was previously Guest Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony and in 2015 was invited to lead the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has also served as Concertmaster and Principal Second Violin at The Colburn School and The Curtis Institute of Music. An avid chamber musician, Kevin has collaborated with the Tokyo and Ebène quartets, Edgar Meyer, MengChieh Liu, John Perry, Hal Robinson of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Andrew Bain of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In recent years he has received prizes from the Irving M. Klein International Competition and the Schmidbauer International Competition, and competed in the George Enescu International Violin Competition and the Menuhin International Violin Competition. Kevin spent his early years studying with Patinka Kopec in New York, before going on to study with Robert Lipsett at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. He then continued his studies at The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia as a Mark E. Rubenstein Fellowship recipient, under the pedagogy of Aaron Rosand.

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Marius Stravinsky conductor (Kabalevsky/Glazunov)

Stravinsky looks to be a major talent. MusicOMH, December 2008

Born in Kazakhstan to a musical family in 1979, Marius Stravinsky began playing the violin aged four. Educated at the Moscow Central Music School and the Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK, he went on to become the first former-Soviet student to secure a scholarship to Eton College. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, London, in 2002. Stravinsky’s passion for conducting began aged 13 after playing the Bruch Violin Concerto for Mariss Jansons – now one of his regular conducting mentors. In 1998 he spent a summer assisting Claudio Abbado in Peter Brook’s production of Don Giovanni at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Another of his regular conducting mentors was Igor Golovchin, and he has also taken part in masterclasses with Kenneth Kiesler and Eri Klas. From 2002–05 Stravinsky returned to Moscow to study conducting with Vladimir Ponkin, working as his Assistant Conductor at both the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and the Helikon Opera. Whilst resident at Helikon Opera, his performances included fully staged productions of Berg’s Lulu, Bizet’s Carmen, Giordano’s Siberia, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Prokofiev’s The Story of a Real Man, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Kaschei the Immortal, Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District and works by his forebear, Igor Stravinsky, such as Mavra. In 2007 Stravinsky was awarded the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Karelia Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming the youngest conductor in Russia to hold such a post. Following his five-year tenure in this role, he then – at the personal invitation of Vladimir Jurowski – took up the position of Assistant Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2013/14 season. Since then he

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has gone on to work with top orchestras around the world including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Berlin Staatskapelle, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Opera Philharmonic. Stravinsky enjoys a particularly strong profile in Russia, working with top orchestras and institutions including the Russian National, Russian Philharmonic and St Petersburg Symphony orchestras. He regularly conducts at the Mariinsky Theatre both in symphonic concerts and operatic performances, and enjoys a close collaboration with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia ‘Evgeny Svetlanov’ (GASO). Stravinsky boasts a diverse repertoire, and a discography including world premiere recordings of Ignaz Brüll’s Violin Concerto and Symphony in E minor; Salomon Jadassohn’s Symphony No. 1; and Pavel Pabst’s Piano Concerto, on the Cameo Classics Label. During his tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Stravinsky also released recordings of major works by Thomas Blower, Dororthy Howell, Joseph Holbrooke and Sergey Zhukov with the Karelia Philharmonic Orchestra. Resident in Berlin, Stravinsky also spends time in St Petersburg, where during the 2016/17 season he became Founder and Music Director of the St Petersburg Festival Orchestra – launched with a performance of Oedipus Rex at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in February 2017. Tonight’s concert is his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and other highlights of the 2017/18 season include productions at the Berlin Staatsballett with the orchestras of the Berlin Staatskapelle and Deutsche Oper, and his debut with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

Pieter Schoeman violin | director (Vivaldi)

Pieter Schoeman’s solo violin had an exquisitely haunting and intimate spirituality to it. © Benjamin Ealovega

Seen and Heard International (Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the LPO/ Christoph Eschenbach), October 2008

Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. Born in South Africa, Pieter made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. Five years later he won the World Youth Concerto Competition in Michigan. Aged 17, he moved to the US to further his studies in Los Angeles and Dallas. In 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman who, after several consultations, recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. 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 appears at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. At the invitation of Yannick Nézet-Séguin he has been part of the ‘Yannick and Friends’ chamber group, performing at festivals in Dortmund and Rheingau. Pieter has performed several times as a soloist with the LPO, and his live recording of Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov was released on the Orchestra’s own label to great critical acclaim. He has also recorded numerous violin solos for film and television, and led the LPO 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. In April 2016 he was Guest Leader with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra for Kurt Masur’s memorial concert. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter Schoeman’s chair in the Orchestra is generously supported by Neil Westreich.

Tuesday 28 November 2017 7.30pm Wigmore Hall

soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestr a ˇ áK STRING SEXTET DVOr SCHUBERT OCTET Tickets £15/£20/£26/£32/£37+feeS Book now at lpo.org.uk or call 020 7840 4242

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Programme notes

Speedread ‘People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy’, wrote Anton Chekhov; and pessimists might say that this explains why the changing seasons have been such a preoccupation for Russian composers from Tchaikovsky to Stravinsky. But if the three different pieces in tonight’s concert prove anything, it’s that our reaction to each season is shaped by culture, just as much as climate. While Britons hope frantically for a barbecue summer,

Antonio Vivaldi

the Italian Vivaldi saw the season as a time of parched earth and storms. And while Vivaldi’s vision of spring is bright with the promise of renewal, Kabalevsky’s Spring has a distinctly sombre air. Pushkin would have agreed with him – he preferred the richness of autumn. Glazunov’s masterpiece The Seasons also makes autumn the golden crown of the year: a perspective on the cycle of nature that’s no less surprising for being so gloriously tuneful.

The Four Seasons, Op. 8 Nos. 1–4 Pieter Schoeman director/violin

1678–1741

Violin Concerto No. 1 in E major, RV 269, ‘La primavera’ (Spring) 1 Allegro 2 Largo e pianissimo sempre 3 Danza pastorale: Allegro Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, RV 315, ‘L’estate’ (Summer) 1 Allegro non molto 2 Adagio 3 Presto Violin Concerto No. 3 in F major, RV 293, ‘L’autunno’ (Autumn) 1 Allegro 2 Adagio 3 Allegro Violin Concerto No. 4 in F minor, RV 297, ‘L’inverno’ (Winter) 1 Allegro non molto 2 Largo 3 Allegro 8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Some time in late 1725, newly returned to his native Venice after seven years’ service in Mantua and Rome, Vivaldi bundled up the manuscripts of twelve violin concertos and dispatched them to Michel Le Cène, a music publisher in Amsterdam. As was the custom of the time, he headed them with a florid dedication to one of his foreign patrons – the Bohemian nobleman Count Wenceslas Morzin: Pray do not be surprised if, among these few and feeble concertos, Your Most Illustrious Lordship finds the ‘Four Seasons’ which have so long enjoyed the indulgence of Your Most Illustrious Lordship’s generosity, but believe that I have printed them because, while they may be the same, I have added to them […] a very clear statement of all the things that unfold in them, so that I am sure that they will appear new to you… Vivaldi’s own words, and despite the obsequious courtesy (par for the course in the Baroque era), they tell us several intriguing things. The ‘Seasons’ were not

brand new – in fact, the implication was that Count Morzin had already enjoyed them. Furthermore, Vivaldi was perfectly happy to draw attention to the fact that this music told a story. Even in Vivaldi’s own era, that was a bold move: ‘serious’ Italian musicians took a dim view of descriptive music. ‘The imitating of the cockerel, cuckoo, owl and other birds … or the drum, French horn and the like … rather belong to the Professors of Legerdemain and Posture-masters than to the Art of Musick’ snorted one. It’s unsurprising, then, that Vivaldi sent the ‘Seasons’ north to be published – where programmatic music was relished (French critics actually grumbled that Spring was not literal enough!). Indeed, for this new edition (which he’d numbered Opus 8) he accompanied each of the ‘Seasons’ with a specially written sonnet, telling that story – and had inserted letters in the music to indicate which passages related to which lines of verse.

So as well as enjoying the endless melody and virtuoso fireworks of these four masterly Italian concertos, we need have no qualms about relishing Vivaldi’s brilliant splashes of picturesque colour. If we hear ‘the birds hailing Spring with happy song’ in La primavera, ‘The sky thundering, flaring, and with hailstones laying low the waving crops’ in L’estate, L’autunno’s ‘Hunters setting out with horns, guns and dogs’ and ‘The harsh wind’s chill breath’ in L’inverno; that’s exactly as Vivaldi intended. His title for the whole Op. 8 collection sums up his own opinion on the matter: Il cimento dell’ armonia e dell’ inventione – ‘The trial of harmony and invention’, or, less literally, ‘The testing of musical skill and imagination’. Most would agree that he passed with flying colours.

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

Dmitry Kabalevsky

Spring: Symphonic Poem, Op. 65

1904–87

‘If music only gave pleasure, it would be enough’, said Dmitry Kabalevsky in 1978, and there were moments in Soviet history when even that statement could have been dangerous. Kabalevsky trained at the Moscow Conservatoire under Nikolai Miaskovsky and throughout his career negotiated his own artistic path through the demands and very real perils of life as a composer in a totalitarian state. Kabalevsky excelled at writing educational music but film music, too, was always a respectable career choice for a Soviet composer, and Grigori Roshal’s

1957 Mosfilm drama Sisters – adapted from a novel by Alexei Tolstoy – had impeccable ideological credentials. It’s the story of two progressive middle-class Russian sisters during the First World War, and their eventual embrace of the Revolution: which might account for the melancholy tone of Spring, the short symphonic poem that Kabalevsky adapted from his score for the film in 1960. The musical language of this bittersweet waltz evokes the faded, half-ghostly world of Chekhov, even as its title speaks (tactfully, but perhaps ambiguously) of rebirth and renewal.

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Programme notes continued

Alexander Glazunov

The Seasons: Ballet in one act and four scenes, Op. 67

1865–1936

Prelude Scene 1: Winter Winter Scene Variation of frost Variation of ice Variation of hail Variation of snow Coda Scene 2: Spring Entrance of Spring, Zephyr, birds and flowers Scene 3: Summer Summer Scene Waltz of the Cornflowers and Poppies Barcarolle: Entrance of naiads, satyrs and fauns Variation of the Spirit of Corn Coda Scene 4: Autumn Bacchanale – Winter – Spring – Bacchanale – Summer Little Adagio Variation (The Satyr) Coda – Apotheosis

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov never forgot the day in December 1879 when he first met the 14-yearold composer Alexander Glazunov. ‘His musical development progressed not by the day, but literally by the hour […] Before long, we were no longer teacher and pupil, but equals.’ By March 1882, when Glazunov’s First Symphony was premiered in St Petersburg, he was already being spoken of as a ‘Russian Mozart’. ‘The audience was astonished’, recalled Rimsky,

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‘when, in response to calls for the composer, a 16-yearold boy took the stage in his school uniform.’ As a mature artist, Glazunov’s abilities were breathtaking: his writing for woodwinds, in particular, has the colour and delicacy of a piece of Fabergé enamelware. Glazunov completed eight symphonies, and with his three ballet scores for Marius Petipa’s Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg, Raymonda (1898), Les Ruses d’Amour (1900) and The Seasons (1900) he emerged as the pre-eminent Russian ballet composer of the generation after Tchaikovsky. Petipa considered it an honour to have a composer of Glazunov’s stature working for his company. He wrote with pride of how he had been ‘a worthy colleague, full of respect’ for Glazunov, whose artistic judgment he considered ‘an absolute guarantee of craftsmanship and talent’. Petipa’s original plan for the 1899/1900 season was a series of short ballets for the 18th-century Hermitage Theatre, with The Seasons to be composed by Riccardo Drigo and Glazunov writing a score for Les Millions d’Arlequin. But the two composers (who were good friends) agreed a swap, and The Seasons was premiered at the Hermitage in February 1900, in the presence of Tsar Nicholas II. The ballerina Anna Pavlova (of meringue fame) danced the role of Frost, just days after her 19th birthday, and in future years the ‘Bacchanale’ from Autumn would become one of her favourite showpieces. Petipa described The Seasons as a ballet allégorique, and he took his inspiration from Graeco-Roman mythology, with its nature deities and seasonal rituals. Glazunov’s approach was more innovative. While acknowledging all the conventions of a 19th-century ballet score – the grand waltz, the flamboyant instrumental solos, the final apotheosis – he created a tightly structured

four-movement choreographic symphony, sumptuously scored, filled with danceable melodies, and driven by an irresistible forward momentum. It’s an example that wasn’t lost on Stravinsky when he came to write his own seasonally-inspired symphonic ballets Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, over a decade later. Icy chords and flurrying snow-squalls fill the air before the curtain rises on Winter, in the form of a swirling flute solo surrounded by dancing snowflakes. Frost, Ice, Hail and Snow each get a short solo dance: the celeste glints along with Ice, the side-drum imitates the rattle of Hail, and Snow drifts in the tempo of a slow waltz. While they all dance together, two gnomes light a stove. Winter flees before this new warmth, and as the harp swirls luxuriously, the stage fills with blossom. Enter Spring, to a swaying waltz, attended by birds and flowers. Sap is rising and the music soars as their dance grows first amorous, and then playful. Gradually the temperature rises and amidst glistening bells, a radiant new theme announces the arrival of Summer.

The scene is now a panorama of golden wheatfields, rippling in the breeze. Poppies and cornflowers dance a sumptuous waltz until they wilt with the heat. A swaying barcarolle brings naiads and the promise of cool water; refreshed, the Spirit of the Corn dances to a blossoming solo clarinet. But there are ominous rumblings in the distance. A band of fauns and satyrs break in on the idyll, and playfully attempt to abduct the Spirit of the Corn. With a joyous surge and a crash of cymbals Zephyr, the summer breeze, sweeps to her rescue. And now, to a pounding rhythm, the jangle of tambourines and an exultant new melody for the whole orchestra, it’s Autumn. The earlier seasons throw themselves into a wine-fuelled bacchanale before Autumn’s gentler beauties receive their nostalgic due, in a rapturous Little Adagio. The satyrs re-appear, and the bacchanale hurtles onwards beneath tumbling leaves – until, after a brief warning gust of the coming winter, night falls, and the whole company dances to a halt beneath a glittering canopy of stars. Programme notes © Richard Bratby

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works Many of our recommended recordings, where available, are on sale this evening at the Foyles stand in the Royal Festival Hall foyer. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Academy of St Martin in the Fields | Sir Neville Marriner conductor | Alan Loveday violin (Decca) Kabalevsky: Spring Moscow Symphony Orchestra| Igor Golovschin (Naxos) Glazunov: The Seasons Orchestre de la Suisse Romande | Ernest Ansermet (Decca)

More Glazunov with the LPO this season Saturday 3 February 2018 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Rimsky-Korsakov Fairy Tale Glazunov Violin Concerto Tchaikovsky (arr. Glazunov) Meditation from Souvenir d’un lieu cher Stravinsky Faun and Shepherdess Stravinsky Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Kristóf Baráti violin Angharad Lyddon mezzo-soprano Changing Faces: Stravinsky’s journey

Ticket prices £10–£65 Book now at lpo.org.uk or call 020 7840 4242

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be m ov e d Next concerts at Southbank Centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Royal Festival Hall

WEDNESDAY 29 november 2017 MONDAY 4 DECEMBER 2017 7.30pm 7.30PM

Saturday 16 december 2017 7.00pm please note start time

Respighi Autumn Poem Chausson PoĂ¨me Marx An Autumn Symphony (UK premiere)

J S Bach Christmas Oratorio

Meow Meow: Orchestral Pandemonium with the Queen of Song

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Julia Fischer violin

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Maria Keohane soprano Anke Vondung mezzo-soprano International comedienne Jeremy Ovenden tenor* extraordinaire Meow Meow joins the Stephan Loges bass-baritone Orchestra once again. Meow returns London Philharmonic Choir with her unique brand of subversive and sublime cabaret, and a little * Please note a change to the artist from twist of untraditional festive cheer. previously advertised. Suitable for ages 14 and over. Please note series discounts do not apply to this performance.

Book now at lpo.org.uk or call 020 7840 4242 Season discounts of up to 30% available

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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 OBE Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Underwood Trust

The Rothschild Foundation Tom & Phillis Sharpe The Viney Family

Haitink Patrons Mark & Elizabeth Adams Dr Christopher Aldren Mrs Pauline Baumgartner Welser-Möst Circle Lady Jane Berrill William & Alex de Winton Mr Frederick Brittenden John Ireland Charitable Trust David & Yi Yao Buckley The Tsukanov Family Foundation Mr Clive Butler Neil Westreich Gill & Garf Collins Tennstedt Circle Mr John H Cook Valentina & Dmitry Aksenov Mr Alistair Corbett Richard Buxton Bruno De Kegel The Candide Trust Georgy Djaparidze Michael & Elena Kroupeev David Ellen Kirby Laing Foundation Christopher Fraser OBE & Lisa Fraser Mr & Mrs Makharinsky David & Victoria Graham Fuller Alexey & Anastasia Reznikovich Goldman Sachs International Sir Simon Robey Mr Gavin Graham Bianca & Stuart Roden Moya Greene Simon & Vero Turner Mrs Dorothy Hambleton The late Mr K Twyman Tony & Susie Hayes Malcolm Herring Solti Patrons Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Ageas Mrs Philip Kan John & Manon Antoniazzi Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe Gabor Beyer, through BTO Rose & Dudley Leigh Management Consulting AG Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons Jon Claydon Miss Jeanette Martin Mrs Mina Goodman & Miss Duncan Matthews QC Suzanne Goodman Diana & Allan Morgenthau Roddy & April Gow Charitable Trust The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Dr Karen Morton Charitable Trust Mr Roger Phillimore Mr James R.D. Korner Ruth Rattenbury Christoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia The Reed Foundation Ladanyi-Czernin The Rind Foundation Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust Sir Bernard Rix David Ross & Line Forestier (Canada) Mr Paris Natar

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 Queree The Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer Charitable Trust Timothy Walker AM Christopher Williams Peter Wilson Smith Mr Anthony Yolland and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

Thank you

We are extremely grateful to all donors who have given generously to the LPO over the past year. Your generosity helps 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 An anonymous donor Victoria Robey OBE Orchestra Circle The Tsukanov Family Principal Associates An anonymous donor The Candide Trust Alexander & Elena Djaparidze Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Sergey Sarkisov & Rusiko Makhashvili Julian & Gill Simmonds Neil Westreich Associates Kay Bryan William & Alex de Winton Virginia Gabbertas Oleg & Natalya Pukhov Sir Simon Robey Stuart & Bianca Roden Gold Patrons Evzen & Lucia Balko David & Yi Buckley Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport Sonja Drexler Mrs Gillian Fane Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Sally Groves & Dennis Marks The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust John & Angela Kessler Vadim & Natalia Levin Countess Dominique Loredan Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Tom & Phillis Sharpe The Viney Family Laurence Watt Guy & Utti Whittaker

Silver Patrons Michael Allen Mrs Irina Gofman David Goldberg Mr Gavin Graham Pehr G Gyllenhammar Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Matt Isaacs & Penny Jerram Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva The Metherell Family Jacopo Pessina Brian & Elizabeth Taylor Bronze Patrons Anonymous donors Dr Christopher Aldren Mrs Margot Astrachan Mrs A Beare Richard & Jo Brass Peter & Adrienne Breen Mr Jeremy Bull Richard Buxton John Childress & Christiane Wuillaimie Mr Geoffrey A Collens Mr John H Cook Bruno De Kegel Georgy Djaparidze David Ellen Ulrike & Benno Engelmann Ignor & Lyuba Galkin Mr Daniel Goldstein Mr Roger Greenwood Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Martin & Katherine Hattrell Wim & Jackie Hautekiet-Clare Michael & Christine Henry J Douglas Home Mr Glenn Hurstfield Rose & Dudley Leigh Elena Lileeva & Adrian Pabst Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter MacDonald Eggers Isabelle & Adrian Mee Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Peter & Lucy Noble

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Noel Otley JP & Mrs Rachel Davies Roderick & Maria Peacock Mr Roger Phillimore Mr Michael Posen Sir Bernard Rix Mr Robert Ross Anonymous Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Barry & Gillian Smith Anna Smorodskaya Lady Valerie Solti Mr & Mrs G Stein Mrs Anne Storm Sergei & Elena Sudakov Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Marina Vaizey Grenville & Krysia Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Principal Supporters An anonymous donor Roger & Clare Barron Mr Geoffrey Bateman Gabor Beyer, through BTO Management Consulting AG David & Patricia Buck Dr Anthony Buckland Mr Alan C Butler Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr Peter Cullum CBE Mr Timonthy Fancourt QC Marie-Laure Favre-Gilly de Varennes de Beuill Mr Richard Fernyhough Mr Derek B. Gray Malcolm Herring Ivan Hurry Per Jonsson Mr Ralph Kanza Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe Mr Colm Kelleher Peter Kerkar

Mr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr John Long Mr Peter Mace Brendan & Karen McManus Kristina McPhee Andrew T Mills Randall & Maria Moore Dr Karen Morton Olga Pavlova Dr Wiebke Pekrull Mr James Pickford Andrew & Sarah Poppleton Tatiana Pyatigorskaya Martin & Cheryl Southgate Matthew Stephenson & Roman Aristarkhov Mr Christopher Stewart Andrew & Rosemary Tusa Anastasia Vvedenskaya Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie Whitelock Holly Wilkes Christopher Williams Mr C D Yates Bill Yoe Supporters Anonymous donors Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Mrs Alan Carrington Miss Siobhan Cervin Gus Christie Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington Mr Joshua Coger Timothy Colyer Miss Tessa Cowie Lady Jane Cuckney OBE Mr David Devons Cameron & Kathryn Doley Stephen & Barbara Dorgan Mr Nigel Dyer Sabina Fatkullina Mrs Janet Flynn Christopher Fraser OBE The Jackman Family Mrs Irina Tsarenkov

Mr David MacFarlane Mr John Meloy Mr Stephen Olton Robin Partington Mr David Peters Mr Ivan Powell Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh Mr Christopher Queree Mr David Russell Mr Kenneth Shaw Ms Natalie Spraggon Michael & Katie Urmston Damien & Tina Vanderwilt Timothy Walker AM Mr John Weekes Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Alfonso Aijón Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Robert Hill Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE Laurence Watt 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: William A. Kerr Chairman Xenia Hanusiak Alexandra Jupin Kristina McPhee David Oxenstierna Natalie Pray Noel Kilkenny Hon. Director Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP Stephanie Yoshida

Corporate Donors Arcadis Christian Dior Couture Fenchurch Advisory Partners Giberg Goldman Sachs Pictet Bank White & Case LLP Corporate Members Gold Sunshine Silver After Digital Berenberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce Bronze Accenture Ageas BTO Management Consulting AG Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Willis Towers Watson Preferred Partners Fevertree Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsor Google Inc

Trusts and Foundations ABO Trust The Boltini Trust Borletti-Buitoni Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation The Candide Trust The Ernest Cook Trust Diaphonique, Franco-British Fund for contemporary music The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust Help Musicians UK John Horniman’s Children’s Trust The Idlewild Trust Embassy of the State of Israel to the United Kingdom Kirby Laing Foundation The Leverhulme Trust Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation London Stock Exchange Group Foundation Marsh Christian Trust The Mercers’ Company Adam Mickiewicz Institute Newcomen Collett Foundation The Stanley Picker Trust The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust PRS For Music Foundation Rivers Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute The R K Charitable Trust The Sampimon Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust Spears-Stutz Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation

UK Friends of the FelixMendelssohn-BartholdyFoundation Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust and all others who wish to remain anonymous.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

Administration

Board of Directors Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Henry Baldwin* Roger Barron Richard Brass David Buckley Bruno De Kegel Al MacCuish Susanne Martens* George Peniston* Natasha Tsukanova Mark Vines* Timothy Walker AM Neil Westreich David Whitehouse* * Player-Director Advisory Council Martin Höhmann Chairman Rob Adediran Christopher Aldren Dr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport William de Winton Cameron Doley Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Amanda Hill Dr Catherine C. Høgel Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Geoff Mann Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Nadya Powell Sir Bernard Rix Victoria Robey OBE Baroness Shackleton Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds Barry Smith Martin Southgate Andrew Swarbrick Sir John Tooley Chris Viney Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Elizabeth Winter

General Administration

Education and Community

Public Relations

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Isabella Kernot Education and Community Director

Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

Talia Lash Education and Community Project Manager