London Philharmonic Orchestra 27 September 2019 concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

ISLE OF

y– December r a 20 u n

NOISES Landmark classics inspired by the British Isles 1689 – 2019

Concert programme

lpo.org.uk

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI Principal Conductor Designate EDWARD GARDNER 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 September 2019 | 7.30pm

Knussen Scriabin Settings for chamber orchestra (8’) Britten Violin Concerto, Op. 15 (32’) Interval (20’)

ISLE OF

NOISES Contents 2 Welcome Orchestra news 3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 Vladimir Jurowski 7 Julia Fischer 8 Programme notes 10 Recommended recordings 12 Tchaikovsky on the LPO Label 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 (Pathétique) (45’)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Julia Fischer violin

Free pre-concert event 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall As we continue our Isle of Noises festival featuring landmark classics from the British Isles, we look at how British music continues to be a strong force in the world of classical music – from Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Britten through to current champions Colin Matthews and Thomas Adès.

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

This concert is being broadcast live by BBC Radio 3 and will be available for 30 days after broadcast on BBC Sounds; simply search for Radio 3 in Concert.

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 a member of staff for assistance. Eating, drinking and shopping? Enjoy fresh seasonal food for breakfast and lunch, coffee, teas and evening drinks with riverside views at Concrete Cafe, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Riverside Terrace Cafe, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall. Visit our shops for products inspired by our artistic and cultural programme, iconic buildings and central London location. Explore across the site with Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, wagamama, YO! Sushi, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Spiritland, Honest Burger, Côte Brasserie, Skylon and Topolski. 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 us on 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 AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins.

Out now The Autumn 2019 edition of our free LPO magazine, Tune In. 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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Orchestra news

very warm welcome to tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert, the first of our brand new 2019/20 season at Royal Festival Hall. Throughout the remainder of 2019 we continue our year-long festival of music from the British Isles, Isle of Noises. Tonight we launch the second half of the festival with music by the much-missed British composer Oliver Knussen, who died last year, followed by one of British music’s most powerful 20th-century masterpieces, Britten’s Violin Concerto. The second half features Tchaikovsky’s blazing, autobiographical final symphony, one of the concert hall’s most uncompromising emotional experiences. Whether you’re a regular LPO attender, a keen concert-goer or just visiting this evening, we hope you enjoy tonight’s concert.

Edward Gardner: Our new Principal Conductor In July we were delighted to announce the appointment of Edward Gardner as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s next Principal Conductor: the first British holder of the position since John Pritchard in the late 1960s. Gardner will succeed current Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski when the latter’s tenure concludes at the end of the 2020/21 season, with Jurowski subsequently becoming Conductor Emeritus. Currently Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway, Gardner first conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003 and has since returned for concerts at Royal Festival Hall and Snape Maltings and opera performances at Glyndebourne, and conducted the Orchestra on tour in the USA. His Royal Festival Hall concert of Debussy, Saint-Saëns and Ravel in April 2019 received widespread praise, Gardner ‘creating with the LPO a magic carpet of sound that transported the listener into more exotic territory’ (Bachtrack). There are several chances to see Edward Gardner in action with the LPO at Royal Festival Hall this season: the first is on 9 October, when he conducts a programme including Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4 and Walton’s Violin Concerto with soloist James Ehnes; and the second on 12 October, when he conducts the LPO and LPC in Verdi’s Requiem – visit lpo.org.uk for details.

On stage tonight

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader

Katharine Leek Susanne Martens

Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins

Kevin Lin Co-Leader

Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Daniel Cornford Martin Wray Richard Cookson Martin Fenn Sarah Malcolm

Chair supported by The Candide Trust

Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Evin Blomberg Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Chair supported by the Chiltern Friends of the LPO

Martin Höhmann Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Tina Gruenberg Rebecca Shorrock Amanda Smith Georgina Leo Eleanor Bartlett Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan

Lasma Taimina Helena Smart Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Sioni Williams Kate Cole Sheila Law Alison Strange Caroline Sharp Nilufar Alimaksumova

Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden

Pei-Jee Ng Co-Principal Anthony Kondo Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue David Lale Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Helen Rathbone George Hoult Sibylle Hentschel David Bucknall Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar Co-Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Tom Walley Laura Murphy Lowri Morgan Samuel Rice Flutes Juliette Bausor Principal Sue Thomas* Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Stewart McIlwham* Violas David Quiggle Principal Richard Waters Co-Principal Ting-Ru Lai

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal

Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Cor Anglais Sue Böhling* Principal

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal

Clarinets Benjamin Mellefont Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Henry Baldwin Co-Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Harp Rachel Masters Principal

Thomas Watmough Chair supported by Roger Greenwood

Celeste Katherine Tinker

Bass Clarinet Paul Richards* Principal Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey

Gareth Newman

Assistant Conductor Michael Coleby * Holds a professorial appointment in London

Horns John Ryan* Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Duncan Fuller Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Chair supported by Donors to the 2019 Gala Player Appeal

Philip Cobb Guest Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

Tom Berry Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal

There’s a new face on stage tonight as we welcome our new Principal Clarinet, Benjamin Mellefont. Originally from Australia, Ben was previously Principal Clarinet with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also played as Guest Principal with many of the orchestras in the UK and Australia.

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London Philharmonic Orchestra

Another example of Vladimir Jurowski’s imaginative programme planning ... The LPO was beautifully poised and utterly perfect. Alan Sanders, Seen and Heard International (LPO at Royal Festival Hall, 6 October 2018: Beethoven and Stravinsky)

One of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with its reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-looking ensembles. As well as its concert performances, the Orchestra also records film soundtracks, releases CDs and downloads on its own label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and local communities. The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and has since been headed by many great conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In 2017 Vladimir Jurowski celebrated his tenth anniversary as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor. Edward Gardner is currently Principal Conductor Designate, and will take up the position when Jurowski’s tenure concludes in September 2021. 4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Throughout the rest of 2019 we celebrate the music of Britain in our festival Isle of Noises, exploring music from and inspired by the British Isles, from Purcell to the present day. 2020 will see a new series entitled 2020 Vision, which features some of the most exciting works written since 2000, each combined in concert with pieces composed exactly 100 and 200 years earlier. The London Philharmonic Orchestra enjoys flourishing residencies in Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden, and performs regularly around the UK. Every summer, the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sellout audiences worldwide.

Pieter Schoeman leader

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. We recently celebrated 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. Our dynamic and wide-ranging programme provides first musical experiences for children and families; offers creative projects and professional development opportunities for schools and teachers; inspires talented teenage instrumentalists to progress their skills; and develops the next generation of professional musicians. The Orchestra’s work at the forefront of digital technology has enabled it to reach millions of people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download and stream and, as well as a YouTube channel and podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on social media. lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra youtube.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. © Benjamin Ealovega

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded many blockbuster film scores, 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 Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5 under the late Kurt Masur, and a film music disc under Dirk Brossé.

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’s chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich.

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Vladimir Jurowski Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor

In Vladimir Jurowski we have a haven of hope. His programmes are always thoughtful, his mind connected to higher ideals and principles.

Classical Iconoclast, 10 November 2018 (LPO at Royal Festival Hall: Debussy, Lindberg, Stravinsky & Janáček)

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007, following four seasons as Principal Guest Conductor. In September 2021, when his tenure concludes, he will become the Orchestra’s Conductor Emeritus in recognition of his transformative time with the LPO – over the last 12 years his creative energy and artistic rigour have been central to the Orchestra’s success. Vladimir Jurowski will take up the position of General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich from the 2021/22 season. He is currently Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. In addition he holds the titles of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the George Enescu International Festival, Bucharest. He has previously held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997–2001), Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–03), Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–09), and Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001–13). Vladimir enjoys close relationships with the world’s most distinguished artistic institutions, collaborating with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago and Boston symphony orchestras, and

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has also conducted the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras. He is a regular guest at the BBC Proms; the Musikfest Berlin; and the Dresden, Lucerne, SchleswigHolstein, Grafenegg and Rostropovich festivals. A committed operatic conductor, Vladimir’s recent highlights include Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Wozzeck at the Salzburg Festival; Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper Berlin; his acclaimed debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper with Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel; and his first return to Glyndebourne as a guest conductor, in the world premiere production of Brett Dean’s Hamlet with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Vladimir’s 2019/20 season brings a particular focus on opera: he opens the season with Die Frau ohne Schatten in Berlin and Bucharest with the Berlin Radio Symphony; continues his Wagner Ring Cycle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Siegfried (1 February 2020); and returns to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden to lead a new Claus Guth production of Jenůfa, and to the Komische Oper Berlin for Barrie Kosky’s new production of Henze’s The Bassarids. At the Staatsoper Berlin he will collaborate again with Claus Guth in a new production of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, and in Moscow he conducts performances of Wustin’s Die verliebte Teufel at the Stanislavsky Theatre and Boris Godunov with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has released a wide selection of Vladimir Jurowski’s live recordings with the Orchestra on its own label, including the complete symphonies of Brahms and Tchaikovsky; Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 4; and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Symphonic Dances.

Julia Fischer violin

Fischer is such a fleet, silver-toned soloist, quick to gambol and quicker to charm...

The Times Record Review (Bruch and Dvořák Violin Concertos on Decca)

One of the world’s leading violinists, Julia Fischer is a versatile musician also known for her extraordinary abilities as a concert pianist, a chamber musician and a violin teacher. Born in Munich to German-Slovakian parents, Julia received her first violin lessons at the age of three. Aged nine she began studying with the renowned violin professor Ana Chumachenco, later becoming her successor. Winning First Prize at the International Yehudi Menuhin Competition in 1995 was one of the milestones in her early career, and she has since performed with top orchestras worldwide, frequently working with renowned conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yuri Temirkanov and Franz Welser-Möst. In March this year Julia embarked on a major tour of China, Taiwan and South Korea with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski. Tomorrow evening she will give a second performance of the Britten Concerto at Saffron Hall, again with Jurowski, launching the Orchestra’s new residency at the Essex venue. Other highlights of this season include appearances with the Berlin Radio Symphony under Vladimir Jurowski; the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic under Philippe Jordan; the Chicago Symphony under Riccardo Muti; the Orchestre National de France under Emmanuel Krivine; and the Bamberg Symphony under Jakub Hrůša. She also embarks on a tour of Europe with The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst, and gives recitals in major European concert halls with the pianist Aris Blettenberg, as well as with the Julia Fischer Quartet. In 2011 Julia founded the Julia Fischer Quartet with Alexander Sitkovetsky, Nils Mönkemeyer and Benjamin Nyffenegger, with whom she continues to tour

extensively. Her concert at the Alte Oper Frankfurt in 2010 marked her debut as a pianist: she performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto in the second half of the concert, having played Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in the first half. Teaching is another integral part of Julia’s musical life and she continues to nurture and guide young talent, regularly giving masterclasses at Musikferien at Lake Starnberg in Germany. In 2019 she founded a children’s orchestra, the ‘Kindersinfoniker’, teaming up with conductor Johannes X. Schachtner and pianist Henri Bonamy in her hometown of Munich. Over the course of her career Julia Fischer has released numerous critically acclaimed CD and DVD recordings, first on Pentatone and later Decca. She recently launched her own music platform, the JF CLUB, which offers exclusive audio and video footage as well as personal insights into her music and her work. The six solo sonatas by Ysaÿe, Franck’s Sonata in A major and Szymanowski’s Sonata in D minor are all available exclusively on JF CLUB. Julia Fischer holds numerous awards including the Federal Cross of Merit, a Gramophone Award and the German Culture Prize. She plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1742) as well as an instrument made by Phillipp Augustin (2018).

@julia.fischer.page juliafischer.com

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Programme notes

Speedread The British composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, who died in July last year, was an admirer of the music of the late-Romantic Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. In 1978 he created Scriabin Settings for chamber orchestra, applying his renowned skills as an orchestrator to a selection of five of the Russian’s elusive piano miniatures. Knussen was lucky to have Benjamin Britten as an early mentor, and later in life he was an artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival co-founded by Britten, and moved to Britten’s native Suffolk. Britten is represented in this instalment of the Orchestra’s Isle of Noises series by his Violin Concerto of 1938/39, a work that added a new dimension of seriousness to the brilliance of his early music.

Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915), arranged by

Oliver Knussen 1952–2018

The output of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin consists almost entirely of ten sonatas and many smaller pieces for the piano, his own instrument, and a handful of large-scale orchestral works. So Scriabin Settings by the late, much-missed British composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, a suite of arrangements of piano miniatures for chamber orchestra, fills a gap in the catalogue. The arrangements were made in the spring of 1978 for a concert by the Apollo Chamber Orchestra, an elite group of London amateur players; they are scored for five woodwind, two horns, celeste and a small group of strings. In a note in the score, Knussen wrote that his chief concern in making them was ‘how to compensate for the lack of a pedal in this most softly blurrable of piano music’. The results show

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It is played without a break: an arresting introductory movement is followed by a brittle scherzo, and a cadenza leads into a substantial passacaglia finale, constructed over and around a series of repeated variations of a single theme. Scriabin’s great Russian predecessor Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky concluded his series of symphonies in 1893, the year of his death, with his ‘Pathétique’ Sixth Symphony, which seems to have been inspired by thoughts about mortality. Its four movements form an unusual outline: a first Allegro with a slow introduction and substantial lyrical episodes, a ‘waltz’ with five beats to the bar, a rousing march, and a slow, tragic finale.

Scriabin Settings for chamber orchestra 1 2 3 4 5

Désir (Desire), Op. 57 No. 1 Nuances, Op. 56 No. 3 Caresse dansée (Dancing Caress), Op. 57 No. 2 Feuillet d’album (Album Cover), Op. 58 Énigme (Enigma), Op. 52 No. 2

all the finesse and subtlety of orchestral detail for which his own music is renowned. The five short pieces that Knussen chose (each occupying only one page or two in the piano editions) come from the period 1907–10, around the time of Scriabin’s last two completed orchestral works, The Poem of Ecstasy and Prometheus. They show the composer experimenting with advanced chromatic harmony, breaking away from the logic of traditional major- or minor-key chord-progressions and the regular rhythms associated with them. ‘Desire’ (1908) takes the yearning chromatic harmonies of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde a step further, and ends with a piled-up dissonant chord. ‘Nuances’ (1908) has the (culinary-

sounding) tempo marking ‘Fondu, velouté’, or ‘melted and velvety’; it is wound around a left-hand line which Knussen assigns to the cellos. ‘Dancing Caress’ (1908) is in quick, light waltz time, with a satisfyingly conclusive slow ending. ‘Album Cover’ (1910) is marked ‘Con delicatezza’, ‘with delicacy’; it includes many broken-chord ornaments before downbeats, which in the arrangement are shared among different players under the control of the conductor’s beat. ‘Enigma’ (1907) anticipates the music of the Firebird in Stravinsky’s ballet; it consists of sections marked ‘Étrange, capricieusement’ (‘strange, capriciously’) and ‘Voluptueux, charmé’ (‘voluptuous, charmed’), before a very fast coda which disappears into thin air.

MORE KNUSSEN THIS SEASON Wednesday 19 February 2020 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Beethoven Symphony No. 2 Knussen Violin Concerto Sibelius Symphony No. 2 Vasily Petrenko conductor Leila Josefowicz violin London Philharmonic Orchestra Concert generously supported by Victoria Robey OBE

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Benjamin Britten

Violin Concerto, Op. 15 Julia Fischer violin

1913–76

1 Moderato con moto – 2 Vivace – Cadenza – 3 Passacaglia: Andante lento

Britten began writing his Violin Concerto towards the end of 1938, but got down to serious work on it in May and June 1939, immediately after arriving in Canada at the beginning of his three-year stay in North America, and completed the score in September 1939 after crossing into the USA. It was first performed by the Spanish-born violinist Antonio Brosa with the New York Philharmonic and its conductor John Barbirolli in March 1940.

Although it is a highly effective display piece for the soloist, the Concerto also has a discernible core of seriousness. This clearly stems in part from the tense international situation in 1939, with Spain falling under Fascist control and all Europe on the brink of war. But it must also have more personal roots in Britten’s decision to cut himself off from England and some significant ties there, and in a deepening of his relationship with his partner Peter Pears.

So far it is without question my best piece. It is rather serious, I’m afraid – but it’s got some tunes in it! Benjamin Britten, writing to his publisher Ralph Hawkes in 1939 during the composition of the Violin Concerto.

The work is played without a break. The first movement begins (in F major) with a rhythmic timpani figure, which is then repeated as an ostinato under an expressive melody, largely in descending phrases, for the soloist. There is a contrasting group of more active ideas, punctuated by a second ostinato rhythm on a repeated chord, followed by a brief development which ends with the soloist spinning far-flung arpeggios. The reprise (in D major) is of the first melody

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Programme notes continued

only, beginning dreamingly on muted orchestral violins and violas, but now accompanied by both rhythmic ostinatos. The central movement is a brittle scherzo, with a main theme, introduced shortly after the start by the soloist, rising and falling through two octaves. The trio section, with a winding, rather Oriental-sounding melody again presented by the soloist, is punctuated by bursts of the scherzo. The reprise of the scherzo, beginning with the distinctive sonority of tremolo muted violins with piccolos descending from the heights and a tuba ascending from the depths, is generally subdued. The ‘Oriental’ melody returns in the orchestra to lead to an extended cadenza, which draws on ideas from both the first movement and the scherzo, and overlaps with the start of the finale. This finale, the longest of the three movements, combines passacaglia form, the essence of which is the repetition of an unchanging theme, with the principle of variation. The theme, again in a rising-andfalling shape, is introduced by the orchestra and freely repeated, passed from section to section and from key to key. Subsequent sections vary the rhythm and character of the theme but repeat each new version in a similar manner, with added counter-melodies, chiefly in the solo part. The tempo quickens, falls back, moves in a second wave of acceleration through march time to a brilliant molto animato, and then reverts to the initial slow speed (finally establishing D, minor then major, as the home tonality). The last variation is in ‘slow and solemn’ triple time: the theme is begun by the trombones and taken up by the strings, while the soloist embarks on a rhapsodic counter-melody which continues to the uneasy close.

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

BRITISH VIOLIN CONCERTOS Wednesday 2 October 2019 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Elgar Violin Concerto Nicola Benedetti violin Vladimir Jurowski conductor Wednesday 9 October 2019 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Walton Violin Concerto James Ehnes violin Edward Gardner conductor Saturday 7 December 2019 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Thomas Adès Violin Concerto Anthony Marwood violin Andrew Manze conductor

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Recommended recordings of tonight’s works Britten: Violin Concerto Arabella Steinbacher | Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Vladimir Jurowski (Pentatone) or Mark Lubotsky | English Chamber Orchestra Benjamin Britten (Decca) Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 London Philharmonic Orchestra | Vladimir Jurowski LPO Label LPO-0039 (see page 12) or Russian National Orchestra | Mikhail Pletnev (Erato, formerly Virgin Classics)

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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840–93

Tchaikovsky composed the last of his six symphonies (seven if you include the unnumbered Manfred) between February and August 1893, and conducted the first performance in St Petersburg in October. Nine days later, he was dead – possibly through suicide, hurriedly forced upon him to avoid a scandal. There is of course no way in which the music and this premature death can be directly related. But the Symphony was written according to a programme which, although Tchaikovsky never revealed it, seems to have been connected to thoughts about mortality; and he willingly accepted his brother Modest’s suggested title for it of Symphonie pathétique – the adjective suggesting not so much pathos as suffering. Significantly, soon after completing the Symphony, he declined a suggestion that he should set to music a poem called Requiem by his old friend Alexey Apukhtin, who had recently died, on the grounds that it might involve attempting to repeat himself, after composing a work into which he had put ‘my entire soul’. An integral part of Tchaikovsky’s conception of the work was that it should have as its finale ‘not a noisy Allegro but a long Adagio’. This led to a thorough rethinking of the traditional sequence of movements in a symphony – starting with the first, and longest, movement, which maintains a balance between fast and slow music. It begins with a dark-coloured slow introduction, a late addition to the score which anticipates the striving first subject of the main Allegro. Then the second subject consists of a whole extended paragraph of slower music: a consoling D major string melody, a contrasting ‘middle section’, and an impassioned return to the string melody, echoed by a clarinet solo dying away to nothing. The fastest section of the movement is the development, which begins with a furious fugato, later overlaid by striding descending scales in the trumpets, and falls away to a solemn brass chorale which is in

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 (Pathétique) 1 2 3 4

Adagio – Allegro non troppo Allegro con grazia Allegro molto vivace Finale: Adagio lamentoso

fact a chant from the Russian Orthodox funeral service, ‘With thy saints, O Christ, give peace to the soul of thy servant’. The recapitulation, launched at the peak of a new build-up of excitement, is a much altered and truncated version of the exposition, with a huge descending scale leading to a shortened version of the second subject (without its middle section), and a subdued coda. The two central movements are both character-pieces of an unusual nature. The D major Allegro con grazia (‘with grace’) is waltz-like, but in a consistent 5/4 time. The standard pattern of a trio section and a reprise of the opening is expanded by a transition from the trio which juxtaposes phrases from both sections, and a coda beginning with scale patterns, rising quickly and falling slowly. The Allegro molto vivace, in G major, is a brilliant march, largely concerned with building up anticipation, so that the final return of the main theme takes on a triumphant quality. But then the slow finale begins with a despairing melody, its scalewise descents initially shared note-bynote between first and second violins; and a descending scale in the bassoons leads to a second theme in D major which also begins with fragments of downward scales. This is driven to a climax, but then makes way for the extended return of the first theme, in mounting waves of passion. Finally the downward scales which have increasingly dominated the whole work take over again, in a kind of vestigial minor-key return of the second subject, descending to the lowest depths of the orchestra before falling silent. Programme notes © Anthony Burton

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LPO–0009 | £9.99 (1CD)

Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6

Manfred Symphony

Complete Symphonies 1–6 7CD Box Set

LPO-0064 | £10.99 (2CDs)

LPO-0109 | £9.99 (1CD)

Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 LPO-0101 | £34.99 (7CDs)

LPO-0039 | £10.99 (2CDs)

Jurowski conducts Tchaikovsky on the LPO Label

Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 Available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242), all good CD outlets and the Royal Festival Hall shop. Download or stream via Spotify, Apple Music, Idagio and others.

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12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

27/06/2019 14:27

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 Sir Simon & Lady Robey OBE Orchestra Circle The Candide Trust Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Neil Westreich Principal Associates Richard Buxton In memory of Ann Marguerite Collins Associates Steven M. Berzin Richard Buxton Kay Bryan William & Alex de Winton Mrs Irina Gofman Countess Dominique Loredan Mr & Mrs Makharinsky George Ramishvili Stuart & Bianca Roden In memory of Hazel Amy Smith Gold Patrons David & Yi Buckley In memory of Allner Mavis Channing The Chiltern Friends of the LPO Gill & Garf Collins Andrew Davenport Sonja Drexler Mrs Gillian Fane Marie-Laure Favre-Gilly de Varennes de Beuill Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Virginia Gabbertas MBE Mr Roger Greenwood The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Geoff & Meg Mann Julian & Gill Simmonds Eric Tomsett The Viney Family Laurence Watt

Silver Patrons Ms Terri Borain Andrea d’Avack Georgy Djaparidze Ulrike & Benno Engelmann Peter & Fiona Espenhahn Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe John & Angela Kessler Jamie & Julia Korner The Metherell Family Denis & Yulia Nagy Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley Tom & Phillis Sharpe Andrew & Rosemary Tusa Guy & Utti Whittaker Grenville & Krysia Williams Bronze Patrons Anonymous donors Michael Allen Mr Mark Astaire Margot Astrachan Mr Geoffrey Bateman Mrs A Beare Dr Anthony Buckland Mr Alan C Butler Desmond & Ruth Cecil The Earl & Countess of Chichester Mr Michael Cole-Fontayn Mr John H Cook Howard & Veronika Covington Mrs Maria Danilova Guy Davies Bruno De Kegel Cameron & Kathryn Doley Jill Dyal David Ellen Ignor & Lyuba Galkin Mr Daniel Goldstein David & Jane Gosman Mr Gavin Graham Lord & Lady Hall Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Wim & Jackie Hautekiet-Clare Eugene & Allison Hayes

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Ms Elena Heinz Malcolm Herring Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle J Douglas Home Rose & Dudley Leigh Elena Lileeva & Adrian Pabst Drs Frank & Gek Lim Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Peter & Lucy Noble Linda & Tim O’Neill Jacopo Pessina Mr Alex Petrov Mr Roger Phillimore Mr Michael Posen Mr Alex Smedley Ms Nadia Stasyuk Ms Sharon Thomas Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Marina Vaizey Ms Jenny Watson CBE Christopher Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Principal Supporters Anonymous donors Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Helen Brocklebank Mr Philip Bathard-Smith Ms Phyllia Chen Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen David & Liz Conway Mr Alistair Corbett In honour of Bea Crumbine Mr Jonathan Davies Mr Richard Fernyhough Mr Michael Fox Mr Stephen Goldring Mr Milton Grundy Mr Ian Haslegrave Michael & Christine Henry Lady Hill Mrs Maureen HooftGraafland Jamilya Jakisheva Per Jonsson

Vadim Levin Lady Leonora, Countess of Lichfield Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter Mace Michael & Patricia MclarenTurner Alice P. Melly Mr John Meloy Andrew T Mills Dr Karen Morton Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mrs Jannifer Oxley Mr James Pickford Natalie Pray Mr Christopher Querée Sir Bernard Rix Mr Robert Ross Barry & Gillian Smith Mr Bill Smith Martin & Cheryl Southgate Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Matthew Stephenson & Roman Aristarkhov Marina Vaizey Howard & Sheelagh Watson Supporters Anonymous donors Mr John D Barnard Mr Bernard Bradbury Mr Richard Brooman Mrs Alan Carrington Mr Julien Chilcott-Monk Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington Mr Joshua Coger Mr Geoffrey A Collens Miss Tessa Cowie Lady Jane Cuckney OBE Mr David Devons Samuel Edge Manuel Fajardo & Clémence Humeau Mrs Janet Flynn Scott & Icy Frantz Christopher Fraser OBE

Will Gold Mr Peter Gray The Jackman Family Mr & Mrs Bon Jasperson Mr David MacFarlane Peter & Isabel Malkin Mr Frederic Marguerre Mr Mark Mishon Trevor Mulineaux Bill & Jane Nickerson Mr Stephen Olton Anju & Radhika Patel Mr David Peters Candace Procaccini Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh Mr David Russell Deb & Jay Shaw Ms Elizabeth Shaw Mr Kenneth Shaw Ms Natalie Spraggon & Mr David Thomson Mrs John E Stauffer Ronald & Davidde Strackbein Mr John Weekes Joanna Williams 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) Kay Bryan (Australia) Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil (France) Irina Gofman (Russia) Joyce Kan (China/Hong Kong) Countess Dominique Loredan (Italy) Olivia Ma (Greater China Area) Olga Makharinsky (Russia) George Ramishvili (Georgia) Victoria Robey OBE (USA) 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 Alexandra Jupin William A. Kerr Kristina McPhee Natalie Pray Stephanie Yoshida Antony Phillipson Hon. Chairman Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP Connecticut Gala Committee Bea Crumbine & Jill Dyal Co-Chairmen Rodica Brune Mandy DeFilippo Rachel Franco Nick Gutfreund Mary Hull Steve Magnuson Natalie Pray Victoria Robey OBE Lisa & Scot Weicker

Corporate Donors Barclays L Catterton Paul Hastings LLP Payne Hicks Beach Pictet Bank White & Case LLP LPO Corporate Circle Leader freuds Sunshine Principal Berenberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce Tutti Ageas Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Walpole Preferred Partners After Digital Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsor Google Inc Trusts and Foundations The Bernarr Rainbow Trust The Boltini Trust Sir William Boreman’s Foundation Borletti-Buitoni Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation The Candide Trust The Chalk Cliff Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund

Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The Fidelio Charitable Trust Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust John Horniman’s Children’s Trust John Thaw Foundation The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Lawson Trust The Leverhulme Trust Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation The London Community Foundation Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian Trust Adam Mickiewicz Institute PRS For Music Foundation The Radcliffe Trust Rivers Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute RVW Trust The Sampimon Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Steel Charitable Trust Spears-Stutz Charitable Trust The Thomas Deane Trust The Viney Family 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 Dr Catherine C. Høgel Vice-Chairman Henry Baldwin* Roger Barron David Buckley Bruno De Kegel Martin Höhmann* Al MacCuish Susanne Martens* Pei-Jee Ng* Andrew Tusa Timothy Walker AM Neil Westreich David Whitehouse* * Player-Director Advisory Council Martin Höhmann Chairman Rob Adediran Christopher Aldren Dr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass Helen Brocklebank 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 Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Geoff Mann Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Andrew Neill Jamie Njoku-Goodwin 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

David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

Talia Lash Education and Community Manager

Sarah Gee PA to the Chief Executive/ Office Administrator

Emily Moss Education and Community Project Manager

Finance Frances Slack Finance and Operations Manager

Hannah Tripp Education and Community Project Co-ordinator

Dayse Guilherme Finance Officer

Development Laura Willis Development Director

Concert Management Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Vicky Moran Development Events Manager

Graham Wood Concerts and Recordings Manager Sophie Richardson Glyndebourne and Projects Manager (maternity leave) Fabio Sarlo Glyndebourne and Projects Manager (maternity cover) Grace Ko Tours Manager

Christina McNeill Corporate Relations Manager Rosie Morden Individual Giving Manager Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager Izzy Keig Development Assistant Lewis Hammond Development Assistant

Alison Jones Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

~ Nick Jackman Campaigns and Projects Director

Christina Perrin Concerts and Tours Assistant

Kirstin Peltonen Development Associate

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager Sarah Holmes Sarah Thomas Librarians Christopher Alderton Stage Manager Damian Davis Transport Manager Hannah Verkerk Orchestra Co-ordinator and Auditions Administrator Laura Kitson Assistant Transport & Stage Manager

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Marketing Kath Trout Marketing Director Mairi Warren Marketing Manager Megan Macarte Box Office Manager (Tel: 020 7840 4242) Rachel Williams Publications Manager Rachel Smith Website Manager Greg Felton Digital Creative Alexandra Lloyd Projects and Residencies Manager Georgie Gulliver Marketing Assistant

Public Relations Premier classical@premiercomms.com Tel: 020 7292 7355/ 020 7292 7335 Archives Philip Stuart Discographer Gillian Pole Recordings Archive Professional Services Charles Russell Speechlys Solicitors Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors Dr Barry Grimaldi Honorary Doctor Mr Chris Aldren Honorary ENT Surgeon Mr Brian Cohen Mr Simon Owen-Johnstone Honorary Orthopaedic Surgeons London Philharmonic Orchestra 89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TP Tel: 020 7840 4200 Box Office: 020 7840 4242 Email: admin@lpo.org.uk lpo.org.uk The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045. Composer photographs courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Cover artwork Ross Shaw @JMG Studio Printer Cantate