London Philharmonic Orchestra 27 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 Friday 27 April 2018 | 7.30pm

Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (10’) Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16 (31’) Interval (20’) Dvořák Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 (36’)

Thomas Søndergård conductor Luca Buratto piano Please note a change of conductor from previously advertised.

Free pre-concert performance 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall This year’s talented LPO Junior Artists perform alongside their LPO mentors and Junior Artist alumni. Turn to page 2 to read more about LPO Junior Artists.

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 Thomas Søndergård 7 Luca Buratto 8 Programme notes 11 Recommended recordings Final LPO concert this season at Royal Festival Hall 12 2018/19 season: on sale now 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration

Tonight’s soloist Luca Buratto will be signing CDs during the interval, at the Foyles merchandise desk in the Level 2 Foyer (Green Side).

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.

LPO Junior Artists: 2018/19 applications now open LPO Junior Artists is our orchestral experience programme for talented young musicians from communities and backgrounds currently underrepresented in professional UK orchestras. The programme offers support, advice and professional insight to exceptional players of orchestral instruments, aged 15–19, and at a minimum Grade 7 playing standard. Participants become part of the London Philharmonic Orchestra family for a year, getting to know our musicians, staff and artists. Applications for the 2018/19 Junior Artists are now open: find out more at lpo.org.uk/juniorartists Before this evening’s concert, the current LPO Junior Artists gave a pre-concert performance on the Royal Festival Hall stage, and we warmly welcome them and their families to the concert this evening.

LPO at the 2018 BBC Proms Last 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.

Virgin Sport British 10k: join Team LPO! 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

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On Sunday 15 July, Team LPO will be taking to the streets of London once again as part of the Virgin Sport British 10k. This year we will be running in aid of our Annual Appeal, celebrating 30 years of our Education and Community Programme and the creation of musical experiences for all. Following the success of our previous teams, who have raised over £27,000, we are looking for runners to take up the mantle for this year’s run. If you are interested, please contact Ellie Franklin at ellie.franklin@lpo.org.uk or on 020 7840 4225.

On stage tonight

First Violins Kevin Lin Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader JiJi Lee Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

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

Robert Pool Yang Zhang Tina Gruenberg Grace Lee Rebecca Shorrock Evin Blomberg Morane Cohen-Lamberger Rasa Zukauskaite Essi Kiiski Second Violins Joanna Wronko Guest Principal Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Ashley Stevens Helena Herford Sioni Williams Sheila Law Kate Cole Alison Strange Georgina Leo John Dickinson

Violas Fiona Winning Guest Principal Robert Duncan Susanne Martens Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Alistair Scahill Isabel Pereira Daniel Cornford Martin Fenn Daisy Spiers Martin Wray Julia Kornig Cellos Pei-Jee Ng Principal Francis Bucknall David Lale Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Susanna Riddell Tom Roff Helen Rathbone Sibylle Hentschel George Hoult Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal George Peniston Laurence Lovelle Damián Rubido González Lowri Morgan Charlotte Kerbegian Jakub Cywinski John Holt

Flutes Juliette Bausor Principal Sue Thomas*

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

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Stewart McIlwham*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal

Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal

Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday

David Whitehouse

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal

Cor Anglais Henry Clay

Tuba Sasha Koushk-Jalali Guest Principal

Clarinets Thomas Watmough Principal Massimo Di Trolio

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Gareth Newman Horns David Pyatt* Principal Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey

John Ryan* Principal

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Harps Rachel Masters Principal Lucy Haslar

Chair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin Hobbs Elise Campbell Gareth Mollison

* Holds a professorial appointment in London 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: The Candide Trust • Friends of the Orchestra • Dr Barry Grimaldi • Countess Dominique Loredan Bianca & Stuart Roden • 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

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Thomas Søndergård conductor

Søndergård has a clean and precise manner on the podium and it’s blatantly obvious that the musicians in the LPO hold him in high regard.

David Karlin, Bachtrack.com, 9 October 2016 (Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 with the LPO at Royal Festival Hall)

Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBCNOW) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO); prior to this he was for three seasons Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. He has recently been announced as Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from September 2018. Thomas Søndergård’s most recent appearance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra was in October 2016, when he conducted Panufnik’s Violin Concerto with soloist Sergej Krylov, Sibelius’s King Kristian II Suite and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. Other highlights have included visits to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony and Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Recent highlights with the RSNO include performances of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with Janine Jansen, and with BBC NOW Stravinsky’s complete Firebird, recordings and touring. Highlights of the 2017/18 season and beyond include debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Bern Symphony Orchestra, Gurzenich-Orchester Köln, SWR Baden-Baden and Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and returns to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre

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National du Capitole de Toulouse, and a revival of The Magic Flute with Den Norske Opera. With the RSNO he conducts performances of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. Plans with BBC NOW include a programme with pianist Stephen Hough and performances of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12 and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5. A passionate supporter of the music of Carl Nielsen, Thomas’s most recent programme with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra received wide praise. As part of the 2015 anniversary celebrations of both Sibelius and Nielsen, he conducted a wide variety of works by the two composers with many leading orchestras. Thomas is also an experienced opera conductor, at home in mainstream and contemporary repertoire. Recent seasons have included the Bayerische Staatsoper (Turandot); Deutsche Oper Berlin (world premiere of Scartazzini’s Edward II); Royal Danish Opera (Il viaggio a Reims); and Tosca, Turandot and Les dialogues des Carmélites for Royal Swedish Opera. He was described as ‘a sensation’ at his debut with the Royal Danish Opera conducting Poul Ruders’s opera Kafka’s Trial, and subsequent productions there have included The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, La bohème and The Cunning Little Vixen. He made his Norske Opera debut in 2015 with The Magic Flute. In 2015 Thomas and BBCNOW released their first commercial recording of Sibelius’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 7, followed recently by Nos. 1 and 6. Other noteworthy recordings include violinist Vilde Frang’s celebrated first recording for EMI, and Poul Ruders’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Bridge Records, which was nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2011.

Luca Buratto Honens Prize Laureate | piano

Graceful, analytical, meticulous ... His playing is economical of gesture and outward expression. Buratto is a name to watch.

The Guardian, January 2017

Since winning the 2015 Honens International Piano Competition, Luca Buratto has blazed onto the world stage with a reception of which most musicians can only dream. His debut recitals at Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall heralded the Italian pianist as ‘a name to watch’ (The Guardian) and ‘no ordinary virtuoso’ (The Telegraph). Critics and audiences across the globe are quickly recognising Buratto as a distinctive performer. Described by International Piano Magazine as ‘masterly’, his highly regarded interpretations of British composer Thomas Adès’s music reveal Buratto’s versatility as ‘an artist who is both illuminating and unafraid’ (ConcertoNet). In March 2018 Buratto made his Berlin recital debut at the Konzerthaus, and tonight’s concert is his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Other symphonic engagements this season include the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi at La Scala Milan, the Toronto Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edmonton Symphony. Equally at home on the recital stage as the concert hall, Buratto’s festival appearances and residencies include the ‘Martha Argerich Project’ at the Lugano Festival (Switzerland), the Busoni and Primavera Beethoveniana festivals (Italy), the Marlboro Music Festival (USA) and the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (Canada). Buratto’s incisive interpretations of Robert Schumann’s music have earned him particular praise. In a review of his 2017 CD release Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Humoreske & Blumenstück (Hyperion Records), Alex Baran from WholeNote (Toronto) wrote: ‘Buratto plays with such a conviction that you immediately know he is certain he has revealed Robert Schumann’s true voice. It’s a deep connection that he sustains

effortlessly through the entire recording. Hear him live if you can.’ Following graduation from the Milan Conservatoire in 2010, Buratto earned a master’s degree from the Bolzano Conservatoire. As a Theo Lieven Scholar at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano) under the guidance of William Grant Naborè, he also received a Master of Advanced Studies. Buratto’s competition successes also include Third Prize in the 2012 International Robert Schumann Competition. His teachers include Davide Cabassi and Edda Ponti. Luca Buratto has been featured on national radio broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, Radio Classica, Radio 3 RAI, WFMT and WQXR. lucaburattopiano.com facebook.com/luca.buratto.5 instagram.com/luca.burattino

Luca Buratto will be signing CDs during the interval this evening, at the Foyles merchandise desk in the Level 2 Foyer (Green Side).

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Programme notes

Speedread Fewer than 25 years separate the three works on this evening’s programme, but at times they give the impression of having been composed whole centuries apart. With its chirruping birdsong and nostalgic pastoralism, Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony appears to draw upon Beethoven’s own Sixth Symphony, its sweeping melodicism and sunny disposition firmly rooted in the Romantic tradition. And yet, just a decade later, Debussy would set in train a whole new form of musical pictorialism when he unveiled his impressionist masterpiece, Prélude à l’aprèsmidi d’un faune, to a ‘spellbound’ Parisian audience. With its fluid thematicism, exquisite orchestration and sensual approach to texture and form, it bade farewell to the 19th century and boldly ushered

Claude Debussy

in the 20th. Boulez would later call it a ‘miracle of proportion, balance and transparency: the awakening of modern music’. But not all revolutions are so smoothly received. When Prokofiev premiered his Second Piano Concerto in St Petersburg in 1913, its futuristic juxtaposition of styles and striking dissonances were too much, the work dismissed as ‘musical mud’. When he revised it and brought it to Paris in 1924, then the centre of the avant-garde, it was already considered outdated. Still one of the most formidable challenges in the piano repertoire, its radical departures from convention remain as startling and divisive now as they were nearly a century ago.

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

1862–1918

Debussy’s talent as a young composer was confirmed when he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire aged just ten years old, but it would be another 20 years before he made his name throughout Europe with a revolutionary new work inspired by the symbolist poetry of Stéphane Mallarmé. Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, based on Mallarmé’s poem of the same name, was an immediate success. The conductor at its Parisian premiere in 1894, Gustave Doret, described how the audience was held ‘spellbound’, demanding that the work be repeated there and then in an unprecedented outpouring of praise. This was something of a surprise to both Doret and the orchestra, who had their doubts about how this ‘new style’ would be received by the public. ‘Debussy was constantly modifying this or that sonority’, Doret recalled. ‘We tried it out, repeated it, 8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

compared it. Once the players had come to understand this new style, they realised that we would have a serious battle on our hands. Of course, Debussy’s name was familiar to the real connoisseurs, but to the general public it was still unknown.’ At the forefront of Debussy’s mind was a desire to create colours – new colours – using textures, harmonies and forms in fresh and often surprising ways. In Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune Debussy makes no attempt to transpose Mallarmé’s text, word for word, into music. Instead, he hoped to stimulate the imagination of his listeners, to conjure up a vivid new world of expression and sensuality, to allude to the text of the original poetry but ultimately to transcend it. Using a radical new harmonic palette,

hitherto unexplored formal ideas and a dazzling new approach to texture and colour, in this one ten-minute work, Debussy set the stage for a whole new chapter

of Western music history, ushering in the dawn of the 20th century, and with it the very concept of modernity.

Sergei Prokofiev

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16

1891–1953

1913 was a year of musical scandals, none more so than the infamous premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, which opened to horrified audiences in Paris in May. But little more than four months later, the young Sergei Prokofiev caused a stir of his own. Then still a student at the St Petersburg Conservatory, Prokofiev had already earned himself a reputation as an enfant terrible with the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 1 the previous year. While the audience loved it, the press derided it as ‘musical mud’, adding that Prokofiev was ‘ripe for the straightjacket’. So when he unveiled his Piano Concerto No. 2 in September 1913, there was outrage – but hardly surprise – at its striking and somewhat futuristic design. ‘The cats on the roof make better music!’ wrote the critic for the Saint Petersburg Gazette, adding that Prokofiev ‘appeared to be either dusting the keyboard or tapping it at random, with a sharp dry touch. The public did not know what to make of it … the majority hissed.’ Another echoed the atmosphere of shock, writing that many in the audience were ‘frozen with fright, hair standing on end.’ Just as in Paris, large swathes of the public simply walked out. But Prokofiev was unfazed and, in a move as defiant as the work itself, apparently finished the concert by bowing and performing an encore. For the public, then still accustomed to the idea of the Romantic concerto as a work of lyricism and grandeur, the cacophonous sounds of Prokofiev’s new

Luca Buratto piano 1 Andantino 2 Scherzo: Vivace 3 Intermezzo: Allegro moderato 4 Finale: Allegro tempestoso

Concerto were just too much. Deemed ‘futuristic’ by the press, many took issue with its juxtaposition of styles, at one moment sumptuous and nostalgic, the next undercutting these foundations with blazing dissonances and startling contrasts. Formally, too, the Concerto makes plenty of deviations from the norm. Among its four movements, for example, there is no slow interlude – the Intermezzo, usually slow, is a menacing Allegro. Instead, the opening Andantino is the only place of repose in the whole work, which otherwise thunders along at speed, leaping from one idea to the next with sometimes alarming abandon. Abrupt, hardedged and uncompromising – and not unlike Stravinsky in its character – movements two to four are also a tour de force for the soloist, considered for many years to be unplayable by anyone but Prokofiev himself. But while the audience would hardly have expected delicacy and warmth from the same composer who had introduced his riotous First Piano Concerto a year earlier, there are moments of surprising sensitivity here – as in the lyrical theme that opens the first movement, its impassioned melody teetering between Rachmaninoffesque grandeur and rather more ominous undertones. There is a glimpse of quietude in the finale too, where a reflective theme in D minor emerges from the otherwise discordant battle between orchestra and soloist, this folk-like interlude offering a brief moment of calm before the pianist hammers out the Concerto’s closing chords.

Interval – 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval. London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

Programme notes continued

Antonín Dvořák 1841–1904

Dvořák’s music has often slipped into an undeserved category of the repertoire: too tuneful, too folksy, too popular. But beneath the veneer of this melodious folk style, Dvořák’s works display a cyclical coherence not seen since Beethoven and his rigorous approach to form signals his clear allusions to Brahms and the symphonic tradition. Over time, he developed and honed these influences to create a far more rounded – but still distinctly Czech – musical style that synthesised the developments of his predecessors with a freshness and variety that won him plaudits across the world. As Alfred Einstein wrote in his survey of the Romantic era: ‘Dvořák took over the heritage of absolute music quite naively, and filled its forms with an elemental music of the freshest invention, the liveliest rhythms, the finest sense of sonority – it is the most full-blooded, most direct music conceivable, without its becoming vulgar.’ Dvořák’s ascent to fame was a swift one, helped in no small part by a stipend he received from the Austrian Government in 1874. The young Dvořák, at that time working as an orchestral violist and church organist, submitted a number of his works to a judging committee that included both Johannes Brahms and the critic Eduard Hanslick. He was successful – winning a significant stipend not just that year, but also in 1876 and 1877, and with the help of Brahms and Hanslick he also found a publisher for his music. Plaudit after plaudit followed, and Dvořák soon developed a reputation to rival Brahms’s own. But when his mother died in 1882, Dvořák sank into a deep depression and his sombre Seventh Symphony of 1885 still bears the scars of his loss – Dvořák added a footnote to the score: ‘From the sad years’.

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Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 1 Allegro con brio 2 Adagio 3 Allegretto grazioso 4 Allegro ma non troppo – Molto vivace

His Eighth Symphony, then, came as a complete volteface. It is one of Dvořák’s most joyous and carefree works, composed at his summer resort in Bohemia, on the occasion of his election to the Bohemian Academy of Science, Literature and Art and dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph by way of gratitude. It is a work infused with warmth and contentment, composed with a seemingly spontaneous flow of ideas, casting aside the traditional rigours of sonata form in favour of a more unstructured approach that is almost improvisatory in nature. The opening Allegro has not one, nor two, but a whole raft of themes that flow effortlessly from one to the next, their evocations of birdsong calling to mind the blissful countryside retreat where the work was written. The ebullient finale too, echoes this chirruping theme, which Dvořák now expands into a magnificent series of variations, resplendent with the call of the trumpets, who invite the whole orchestra to join them in a joyful, unbridled dance. Where there is darkness – such as in the gently melancholic, reverie-like Adagio – it is only a temporary moment of reflection, soon cast aside by the elegant Allegretto that follows, a traditional waltz that Dvořák recasts and revives with his own distinctive Slavic elegance. Programme notes © Jo Kirkbride

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. Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune London Philharmonic Orchestra | Sergio Baudo (Eminence) Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 Beatrice Rana | Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia | Sir Antonio Pappano (Warner Classics) or Nikolai Demidenko | London Philharmonic Orchestra Alexander Lazarev Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 London Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Charles Mackerras (LPO Label LPO-0055, see below)

FINAL LPO CONCERT THIS SEASON AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

WEDNESDAY 2 MAY 2018 7.30PM

MUTTER PLAYS PENDERECKI Panufnik Heroic Overture* Krzysztof Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 2 (Metamorphosen)* Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 Łukasz Borowicz conductor Anne-Sophie Mutter violin London Philharmonic Orchestra

‘ALL I’M INTERESTED IN IS LIBERATING SOUND BEYOND ALL TRADITION.’ Krzysztof Penderecki

Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 on the LPO Label Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 Symphonic Variations Sir Charles Mackerras conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO-0055 | £9.99

‘A joy from beginning to end.’ The Sunday Times

Available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets.

The astonishing music of Poland’s greatest living composer Krzysztof Penderecki has been transporting and terrifying audiences for decades, and receiving acclaim from far beyond the concert hall through its inclusion on the soundtracks of iconic works by Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch and Martin Scorsese. That the LPO will be performing Penderecki’s momentous and impassioned violin concerto Metamorphosen with the incomparable Anne-Sophie Mutter, for whom the concerto was written, is genuinely exciting. Completing the programme is Panufnik’s Heroic Overture, and Prokofiev’s mighty Fifth Symphony, which premiered in Moscow in 1945 to the sound of gunfire. * Financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland as part of the multi-annual programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017–2021

Download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and others

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GeT

closer

2018/19 concerT season

aT souThbank cenTre’s royal FesTival hall

on sale now hiGhliGhTs include chanGinG Faces: sTravinsky’s Journey we continue our yearlong series, delving into the composer’s works from the 1940s onwards.

opera in concerT wagner’s Die Walküre and stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress under vladimir Jurowski, and puccini’s first opera, Le Villi.

isle oF noises Throughout 2019 this year-long festival celebrates the music of britain, from purcell, through elgar, bax and walton, to the present day.

beeThoven piano concerTos The flamboyant young spanish pianist Javier perianes joins us for two evenings to perform beethoven’s complete piano concertos.

book now aT lpo.orG.uk or call 020 7840 4242 season discounTs oF up To 30% available

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

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

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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

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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.

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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