London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 Apr 2018 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 Wednesday 25 April 2018 | 7.30pm

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18* (32’) Interval (20’) Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor (72’)

Robert Trevino conductor Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev piano

* In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.

Concert dedicated to the memory of Meg Mann.

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

Contents 2 Welcome Orchestra news 3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Kevin Lin 6 Robert Trevino 7 Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev 8 Programme notes 11 Recommended recordings 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration

Welcome

Orchestra news

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, wagamama, YO! Sushi, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Honest Burger, Côte Brasserie, Skylon 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. 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.

Out now The Spring/Summer 2018 edition of Tune In, our free twice-yearly magazine. Copies are available at the Welcome Desk in the Royal Festival Hall foyer, or phone the LPO office on 020 7840 4200 to receive one in the post. Also available digitally: issuu.com/londonphilharmonic

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

In memoriam Meg Mann Tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert is dedicated to the memory of Meg Mann. LPO Trumpet Anne McAneney writes … Meg enjoyed classical music from an early age and, whilst a girl, attended concerts given by the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. Moving to university in Liverpool, she met Geoff and introduced him to orchestral music, which became a shared interest. The couple first came to London Philharmonic Orchestra concerts almost 30 years ago and became enthusiastic followers of the Orchestra. I’m delighted to say that this led to them becoming the supporters of my chair. Their commitment to the LPO has not been limited to attending our concerts in London: we have met up with them in New York, Oman, Vienna and closer to home in Edinburgh , Liverpool, Snape Maltings, and on countless visits to Glyndebourne. Meg was a true friend to the Orchestra and it has been a great pleasure for me to have got to know her and her family well, not only as a musician but also on a personal level. Meg’s favourite composer was Rachmaninoff and she particularly loved his Second Piano Concerto. In Geoff’s words, ‘She would have been thrilled to bits to have a concert dedicated to her’, so it will be an emotional experience to perform in this concerto especially for her this evening. Anne McAneney

LPO at the 2018 BBC Proms Earlier this week saw the announcement of the 2018 BBC Proms season, and we’re delighted that the LPO will make two appearances at the Royal Albert Hall this summer. On Tuesday 17 July we will take part in a concert performance of the Glyndebourne Festival production of Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande, conducted by Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati. On Thursday 30 August the LPO, under its Principal Guest Conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada, will give a performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the London Philharmonic Choir and soloists. Booking for all Proms concerts opens on Saturday 12 May: visit bbc.co.uk/proms or call the Royal Albert Hall Ticket Office on 0845 401 5040.

On stage tonight

First Violins Kevin Lin Leader Philippe Honoré Thomas Eisner Martin Höhmann Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Evin Blomberg Rasa Zukauskaite Georgina Leo Essi Kiiski Katherine Waller Miranda Allen Alice Hall Jacqueline Roche Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan

Helena Smart Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Helena Herford Sioni Williams John Dickinson Jamie Hutchinson Kalliopi Mitropoulou Alberto Vidal Anna Croad Lasma Taimina Cassandra Hamilton Violas Fiona Winning Guest Principal Robert Duncan Susanne Martens

Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Isabel Pereira Daniel Cornford Martin Fenn Daisy Spiers Julia Kornig Alistair Scahill Martin Wray Cellos Pei-Jee Ng Principal Francis Bucknall David Lale Gregory Walmsley Susanna Riddell Iain Ward Sibylle Hentschel Philip Taylor Helen Rathbone George Hoult Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Laurence Lovelle Lowri Morgan Charlotte Kerbegian Jakub Cywinski Mario Torres Antonia Bakewell John Holt Flutes Sue Thomas* Principal Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Jane Spiers Lindsey Ellis Stewart McIlwham*

Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Christopher Hart Guest Principal Anne McAneney*

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday Sue Böhling*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Toby Street Tony Cross Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal

Cor Anglais Sue Böhling* Principal Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

David Whitehouse

Clarinets Victor de la Rosa Guest Principal Thomas Watmough Paul Richards*

Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

E flat Clarinet Thomas Watmough Principal

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Bass Clarinet Paul Richards* Principal

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal

Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Emma Harding Simon Estell* Contrabassoon Simon Estell* Principal Horns John Ryan* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Feargus Brennan Harp Rachel Masters Principal * Holds a professorial appointment in London

Chair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin Hobbs Nicholas Mooney Gareth Mollison Duncan Fuller Jason Koczur Michael Gibbs

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 • Sonja Drexler • Friends of the Orchestra • Sir Simon Robey Bianca & Stuart Roden • Eric Tomsett • Neil Westreich

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

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 4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Belief festival in partnership with Southbank Centre ran throughout 2017, exploring what it means to be human in the 21st century. In 2018, we explore the life and music of Stravinsky in our 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: tours in 2017/18 include Romania, Japan, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Italy and France, and plans for 2018/19 include a major tour of China and Asia, as well as Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.

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 100 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 and Fidelio Overture conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Mozart and Rachmaninoff piano concertos performed by Aldo Ciccolini under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 under Kurt Masur. 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. lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra

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.

youtube.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

Robert Trevino conductor

The young American gets Schubert. That in itself is extraordinary. But then he turns out to be a top-notch Mahler conductor. Now you just don’t see this sort of thing every day. […] A remarkable debut.

Abendzeitung (Munich)

Robert Trevino has rapidly emerged as one of the most exciting American conductors performing today. He is immensely proud to have taken up the position of Music Director at the Basque National Orchestra from the start of the 2017/18 season. Trevino burst into the international spotlight at the Bolshoi Theatre in December 2013, when he led a new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, stepping in for Vasily Sinaisky. He was subsequently nominated for a Golden Mask award for ‘Best Conductor in a New Production’. Appearances with some of the world’s top orchestras swiftly followed. ‘Overnight successes’, of course, are rarely really created overnight. Even before his professional debut, Trevino had opted away from the traditional conservatoire system in favour of intensively teaching himself every score he could lay his hands on, so the triumph in Moscow came as a very personal vindication. He soon caught the eye of David Zinman, with whom he studied as an Aspen Conducting Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School – where he was awarded the James Conlon Prize for Excellence in Conducting. Immediately afterwards, in 2011, James Levine invited Trevino to be the Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He was also invited to study with Michael Tilson Thomas at the New World Symphony, and to assist Leif Segerstam in his acclaimed complete Sibelius Symphony Cycle with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Robert Trevino is also a laureate of the Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in France. He has served as Associate Conductor at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (2011–15) and, prior to that, as Associate Conductor to New York City Opera at Lincoln Center (2009–11). Recent seasons

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

have seen him crossing continents in an ever-growing number of major debuts, including with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Other recent debuts include the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Orchestre National de France, and the Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, NHK Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic and Royal Flemish Philharmonic orchestras, among many others. Immediate reinvitations have frequently followed Robert’s debuts: the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo invited him to extensively tour Europe and Asia, including inaugurating the new Opera di Firenze, home of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The coming seasons will take him to the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, The Cleveland Orchestra, the HR-Sinfonieorchester, the Tonkünstler-Orchester Vienna, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony orchestras, as well as opera productions at the Washington National Opera. Robert Trevino has commissioned, premiered and worked closely with many of today’s leading composers, among them Augusta Read Thomas, Sir André Previn, Jennifer Higdon, Philip Glass, Shulamit Ran and John Zorn.

Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev piano

Stunning technique, transparency of the sound palette, the ability to ‘sing’ on the piano ... the exact understanding of style... Musical Life (Russia)

Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev studied piano from the age of four, and at nine performed for the first time with the Bryansk Philharmonic Orchestra. During his school years he won five international youth piano competitions including the New Names Competition in Moscow. In 2011 he graduated with honours from the Central Musical School of the Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, where he studied with Professor Alexander Mndoyants. He is currently studying with Professor Sergey Dorensky at the Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory. Arseny won the 5th International Scriabin Piano Competition, was awarded Second Prize and the special prize for the performance of Russian music at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and Second Prizes at the Grieg International Piano Competition in Bergen and the Sydney International Piano Competition.

Tonight’s concert is Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev’s debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Later this spring he will appear with the Orchestra, again under Robert Trevino, at St Andrew’s Hall in Norwich as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. He will return to the LPO in January 2019 to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 on a European tour under Sir Roger Norrington. This season Arseny will also give recitals in Australia, Japan and throughout Europe. In 2015 Arseny recorded his first CD, which includes Debussy’s first book of Préludes and L’Isle joyeuse, and Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit. His first recording for Decca Classics, for whom he records exclusively, will be released later this year. Entitled Moments Musicaux, it features works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Scriabin, Nikolaeva and Medtner.

He has toured in Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Lithuania, Poland, Israel, Macedonia, China, Japan, the USA, Mexico and other countries. He has performed with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra ‘Evgeny Svetlanov’, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, and has collaborated with conductors including Stanislav Kochanovsky, Stefan Sanderling, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Dimitris Botinis, Valentin Uryupin and Georg Mais. He has also performed at the Christmas and New Year’s Eve Galas with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

Programme notes

Speedread Rachmaninoff and Mahler’s richly emotional music makes for a fitting pairing. During their lifetimes, the two composers even shared the concert platform, when Mahler conducted Rachmaninoff in his Third Piano Concerto on 16 January 1910 in New York. It was the only time Mahler would ever conduct the Russian composer’s music, though he had previously heard the Second Piano Concerto, which opens tonight’s programme, in St Petersburg in 1907. A work of brooding lyricism, with an aching slow movement and a triumphant finale, it was not unlike another piece heard at that St Petersburg concert,

Serge Rachmaninoff 1873–1943

Rachmaninoff first made his name as a pianist. A virtuoso in the grand tradition of Chopin and Liszt, his fame soon spread beyond Russia. He came to London in 1899 and made his debut at the Queen’s Hall. At the same concert, he conducted his orchestral work The Rock, as well as playing his imposing Prelude in C sharp minor and other piano pieces. Although happy with the success of the concert, the Philharmonic Society had expected Rachmaninoff to appear with his Second Piano Concerto (not a note of which had been written). Truth be told, Rachmaninoff was in no mood to compose. The premiere of his First Symphony in 1897 had been a disaster. Although the quality of the performance was partly to blame, conducted by the usually reliable Glazunov, there can be no doubt that his compatriot Cui’s description of a ‘programme symphony on the Seven Plagues of Egypt’ had 8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

namely Mahler’s Fifth Symphony (begun in 1901, the same year as Rachmaninoff completed his Second Piano Concerto). Indebted to the darkness-to-light model of Beethoven’s own Fifth Symphony, with its characteristic fate motif, Mahler produced a similarly staggering achievement. And yet it offers such a varied emotional landscape, with its opening funeral march and the complex appeal of its Adagietto, that the last movement has a nighimpossible job to reconcile all these elements. Whether it achieves that goal is for you to decide.

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev piano 1 Moderato 2 Adagio sostenuto – Più animato – Tempo I 3 Allegro scherzando

significantly dented Rachmaninoff’s pride. For three years, he hardly wrote a note. Something – or someone – had to break the deadlock. Friends arranged for him to meet Tolstoy, in an attempt to rekindle the composer’s inspiration, but it was useless. Instead, it was a hypnosis-practising physician who finally achieved the necessary breakthrough and Rachmaninoff slowly returned to composition, first completing passages of his opera Francesca da Rimini and then beginning his much-vaunted Second Piano Concerto in late 1900. The work, completed the following year, emerges from a period of self-doubt with an ever-emboldening sequence of chords. These trigger tearing arpeggios and a bruised string theme. An even more yearning second section moves us into a major key via a flare of horns. Having been immersed within the textures of the orchestra, the piano now comes to the surface. Rising melodies are accompanied by tumbling left-hand

arpeggios, giving a feeling of emotional freedom. Thick chromatic harmonies intensify these gestures, while various solos from the woodwind and horns weave amorous dialogues with the piano. A development follows, seemingly unaffected by the turmoil of what has gone before. But once we reach a restatement of the opening themes, the piano’s manic march figure underlines that the feelings professed are not to be taken lightly. A pining E major emerges at the beginning of the second movement. As at the opening of the Concerto, the piano plays a series of arpeggios, though here they are much more reflective. A flute states a new theme and is passed to the clarinet, sounding against a halo of strings. Harmonic shifts deepen these sentiments in

a series of variations, moving freely between orchestra and piano. The finale begins with a whirlingly impudent dance, shifting us back to the overriding C minor tonality. Snappy rhythms and virtuoso blurs give way to a pounding rhapsody. There is unfinished emotional business here and the rapid tempo slumps into a brooding new theme. The piano responds, complete with aching suspensions, and it is this material that comes to dominate. Although the orchestra tries to whip up the tempo, the piano leads them in a huge restatement of the principal melody, triumphant in its amorous glory, before the assembled forces launch into a joyful coda.

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

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on the LPO Label Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466 Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Aldo Ciccolini piano Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO-0102 | £9.99 Recorded live at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London, on 12 October 2011 (Mozart) and 27 May 2009 (Rachmaninoff).

‘Ciccolini is pure music ... a humbling and inspiring experience.’ Classical Source concert review, October 2011 Available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets. Download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and others.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

Programme notes continued

Gustav Mahler

Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor

1860–1911

Part I Trauermarsch: In gemessenem Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt [Funeral March: At a measured pace. Strict. Like a cortège] Stürmisch bewegt. Mit grösster Vehemenz [Tempestuously. With utmost vehemence] Part II Scherzo: Kräftig, nicht zu schnell [Sturdy, not too fast] Part III Adagietto: Sehr langsam [Very slow] Rondo-Finale: Allegro – Allegro giocoso

By the time Mahler began work on his Fifth Symphony, in 1901, he was well established as a conductor and composer. Nonetheless, he caused consternation with his unswerving demands on singers and orchestral players as director of the Court Opera in Vienna. Many of his decisions likewise provoked the ire of the Viennese press, but their indignation was nothing compared with how they would respond to Mahler’s own symphonies. The Viennese were shocked by the composer’s daring fusion of tradition and innovation and the sheer force of his emotional frankness. While Mahler’s music was outwardly indebted to the Classical past, he often extended established forms beyond traditional means with music that encompassed children’s songs, military marches and evocations of the landscape of central Europe. For some, this diversity represented a thrilling new way of thinking, for others, it constituted the killing of a sacred musical cow. Mahler remained unbowed, though his Fifth Symphony is undoubtedly more Classical in appearance than its predecessors. It has no need of nickname titles and does not employ the human voice (present in the

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Second, Third and Fourth symphonies). Mahler said to his friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner that singing ‘would be absolutely out of place’ in the Fifth Symphony; ‘there is no need for words, everything is purely musically expressed’. Throughout, however, the music suggests an underlying progression from darkness to light, not unlike Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Mahler’s response to that scheme is essentially conceived in four movements, with an introductory funeral march. This and the second movement are mirror images of each other, strongly linked by their thematic material. The first movement begins with a fanfare, a four-note stutter, tellingly evoking the beginning of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. This appeal is answered by a staggering blast from the whole orchestra before the deathly procession gets underway. What starts as a sobbing farewell – though the funeral march has wild outbursts too – then becomes an angry tirade. And yet the second movement also has a contrastingly soft alter ego, thereby inverting the duality of the march. Eventually, after increasingly heated skirmishes, the trumpets make a bid for freedom and the key of D major (with which the whole Symphony will end) is announced in glittering glory. But

its triumph and bold chorale are woefully premature and the joyful façade soon comes tumbling down. After the anguish and anger of the first two movements, the Scherzo strikes a very different note. With its solo horn, yodelling clarinets and rambunctious dances, it is clearly set outdoors. Occasionally, as in Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony, this brings storms and a feeling of insignificance in the face of vast Alpine panoramas. And there are eerier moments too, like the spectral pizzicato waltz that subverts the otherwise cheery material or the danse macabre that takes hold just before the end. Finally, however, all is sunlight. The music of the famous Adagietto takes its lead from the heroic chorale of the second movement, though here hopefulness becomes hyperemotional confession. Some have interpreted this as Mahler’s love-song to his new wife Alma, whom he married in the spring of 1902, though the Adagietto may well have been written the summer before they met. A more direct ‘programme’ is suggested by the similarity of this movement’s melodic

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. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 Leif Ove Andsnes| Berlin Philharmonic Sir Antonio Pappano (Warner) or Aldo Ciccolini | London Philharmonic Orchestra Yannick Nézet-Séguin (LPO Label LPO-0102; see p9) Mahler: Symphony No. 5 London Philharmonic Orchestra | Klaus Tennstedt (Warner) or London Philharmonic Orchestra | Jaap van Zweden (LPO Label LPO-0033: see right)

contour to that of Mahler’s contemporaneous setting of Friedrich Rückert’s poem ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’, in which the narrator imagines being entirely lost to the noisy world, ‘alone in my heaven and in my song’. Following such revelations, we are granted celebration, with the finale returning us to the soundworld of the Scherzo. But can this D major movement reconcile all the elements of the Symphony? It tries with all its might, providing folksy themes, fugues and happier recollections of what has gone before. There is also a decisive return of the chorale from the second movement, but whether we believe all this profusion, whether, as one commentator has described, the ‘crass contradictions and inconsistencies’ of the earlier movements ‘can be papered over’, is another matter. What is certain is that Mahler desperately wished for the happy end. And who are we to deny him? Programme notes © Gavin Plumley

Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 on the LPO Label Mahler: Symphony No. 5 Jaap van Zweden conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO-0033 | £9.99

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

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Restoring Rachmaninoff ’s Life and Art

Next concerts at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

Revolution and War have scattered the artifacts documenting Sergei Rachmaninoff ’s Life and Art all over the world. In order to enable thorough, pioneering research, the Rachmaninoff Network has launched an ambitious, worldwide initiative to bring together, link and digitally restore all traces of his life - such as letters, photos, films and manuscripts - in a single database documenting the man, the artist and his life work. Learn how you can support this groundbreaking initiative! Visit http://www.rachmaninoff.org/news facebook.com/rachmaninoffnetwork email: support@rachmaninoff.org

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

In partnership with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Rachmaninoff Network is an official charity registered under Dutch law nr. 852690460

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 Querée 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 In memory of Miss Ann Marguerite Collins Alexander & Elena Djaparidze Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Sergey Sarkisov & Rusiko Makhashvili Julian & Gill Simmonds Neil Westreich Dr James Huang Zheng (of Kingdom Music Education Group) Associates Steven M. Berzin Gabor Beyer Kay Bryan William & Alex de Winton HH Prince George-Constantin von Sachsen-Weimar Eisenach Virginia Gabbertas Hsiu Ling Lu Oleg & Natalya Pukhov George Ramishvili Sir Simon Robey Stuart & Bianca Roden Gold Patrons Evzen & Lucia Balko David & Yi Buckley Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport Sonja Drexler Mrs Gillian Fane Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Sally Groves & Dennis Marks

The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust John & Angela Kessler Vadim & Natalia Levin Countess Dominique Loredan Geoff & Meg Mann Tom & Phillis Sharpe Eric Tomsett The Viney Family Laurence Watt Guy & Utti Whittaker Silver Patrons Michael Allen Mrs Irina Gofman David Goldberg Mr Gavin Graham Mr Roger Greenwood Pehr G Gyllenhammar Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Matt Isaacs & Penny Jerram Rose & Dudley Leigh Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva The Metherell Family Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley 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 Mr Alan C Butler 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

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Martin & Katherine Hattrell Wim & Jackie Hautekiet-Clare Michael & Christine Henry J Douglas Home Mr Glenn Hurstfield Elena Lileeva & Adrian Pabst Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter MacDonald Eggers Isabelle & Adrian Mee Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Peter & Lucy Noble Noel Otley JP & Mrs Rachel Davies Roderick & Maria Peacock Mr Roger Phillimore Mr Michael Posen Sir Bernard Rix Mr Robert Ross Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Barry & Gillian Smith Anna Smorodskaya Lady Valerie Solti Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr Christopher Stewart 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 Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Roger & Clare Barron Mr Geoffrey Bateman David & Patricia Buck Dr Anthony Buckland Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen David & Liz Conway Mr Alistair Corbett Mr Peter Cullum CBE Mr Timonthy Fancourt QC

Mr Richard Fernyhough Mr Derek B. Gray Malcolm Herring Ivan Hurry Per Jonsson Mr Raphaël Kanzas 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 Mr Christopher Querée Martin & Cheryl Southgate Matthew Stephenson & Roman Aristarkhov Andrew & Rosemary Tusa Anastasia Vvedenskaya Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie Whitelock Holly Wilkes Christopher Williams Mr C D Yates Bill Yoe Supporters Anonymous donors Mr John D Barnard Mrs Alan Carrington Miss Siobhan Cervin Gus Christie Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington Mr Joshua Coger Timothy Colyer Miss Tessa Cowie

Lady Jane Cuckney DBE Mr David Devons Cameron & Kathryn Doley Stephen & Barbara Dorgan Mr Nigel Dyer Sabina Fatkullina Mrs Janet Flynn Christopher Fraser OBE Peter and Katie Gray 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 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 LPO International Board of Governors Natasha Tsukanova Chair Steven M. Berzin (USA) Gabor Beyer (Hungary) Kay Bryan (Australia) HH Prince George-Constantin von Sachsen-Weimar Eisenach (Germany)

Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil (France) Joyce Kan (China/Hong Kong) Hsiu Ling Lu (China/Shanghai) Olivia Ma (Greater China Area) Olga Makharinsky (Russia) George Ramishvili (Georgia) Victoria Robey OBE (USA) Dr James Huang Zheng (of Kingdom Music Education Group) (China/ Shenzhen) 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: Simon Freakley Chairman Xenia Hanusiak Alexandra Jupin William A. Kerr Kristina McPhee David Oxenstierna Natalie Pray Stephanie Yoshida Antony Phillipson Hon. Chairman Noel Kilkenny Hon. Director Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP Corporate Donors Arcadis Bonhams Celebro Media Christian Dior Couture Faraday Fenchurch Advisory Partners Giberg Goldman Sachs Pictet Bank White & Case LLP

Corporate Members Gold freuds Sunshine Silver After Digital Berenberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce Bronze Accenture Ageas Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Willis Towers Watson Preferred Partners Fever-Tree Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsor Google Inc Trusts and Foundations The Boltini Trust Sir William Boreman’s Foundation 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 Lawson Trust The Leverhulme Trust Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation London Stock Exchange Group Foundation Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust 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 Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust Spears-Stutz Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation The Thistle Trust UK Friends of the FelixMendelssohn-BartholdyFoundation The Clarence Westbury Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust The William Alwyn Foundation 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 Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Education and Community Isabella Kernot Education and Community Director

Public Relations Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

Talia Lash Education and Community Project Manager