London Philharmonic Orchestra 2 May 2018 concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

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

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

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 2 May 2018 | 7.30pm

Panufnik Heroic Overture*(6’) Krzysztof Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 2 (Metamorphosen)* (38’) Interval (20’) Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100 (46’)

Łukasz Borowicz conductor Anne-Sophie Mutter violin * Financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland as part of the multi-annual programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017–2021

Concert generously supported by

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: Pieter Schoeman 6 Łukasz Borowicz 7 Anne-Sophie Mutter 8 Programme notes 11 Recommended recordings LPO 2018/19 season: on sale now 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration

Welcome

Orchestra news

Welcome to Southbank Centre We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries please ask any member of staff for assistance. Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, wagamama, YO! Sushi, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Honest Burger, Côte Brasserie, Skylon and Topolski, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall. If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone 020 3879 9555, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk We look forward to seeing you again soon.

elcome to tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert, the last in our 2017/18 Royal Festival Hall season. We hope you’ve enjoyed this season’s concerts and will join us again in September for the start of our 2018/19 season. Browse and book online at lpo.org.uk/newseason.

In the meantime, we’ve a busy summer ahead with our annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera from May until September, and two BBC Proms concerts at the Royal Albert Hall (17 July & 30 August). We’ll appear at St Andrew’s Hall in Norwich as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival (21 May), and give a FUNharmonics family performance of Stravinsky’s Petrushka (10 June) at Royal Festival Hall, as well as two schools’ concerts. We’re also looking forward to our annual Debut Sounds concert on 9 July at Queen Elizabeth Hall, conducted by Sir James MacMillan and showcasing new works by five young composers. On 8 August we’ll give a free open-air performance at Canary Wharf, as part of the Canada Square Park Summer Concert series. Find out more about all our performances at lpo.org.uk

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment: PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium. LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance. RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended. MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins.

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

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Coming soon on the LPO Label: Vladimir Jurowski conducts Richard Strauss Our June release on the LPO Label is a double CD of Strauss’s Ein Alpensinfonie, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Dance of the Seven Veils, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski and recorded live in concerts at Royal Festival Hall (LPO-0106). Priced at £10.99, it will be available from 8 June 2018 via lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets. Our recordings are also available to download or stream via iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and others. 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. Applications for the 2018/19 Junior Artists are now open: find out more at lpo.org.uk/juniorartists

On stage tonight

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Kevin Lin Co-Leader Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

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

Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Tina Gruenberg Grace Lee Rebecca Shorrock Evin Blomberg Morane Cohen-Lamberger Lasma Taimina Rasa Zukauskaite Miranda Allen Second Violins Joanna Wronko Guest Principal Helena Smart Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Robin Wilson Sioni Williams Harry Kerr Sheila Law Kate Cole Judith Choi-Castro John Dickinson Anna Croad

Violas Richard Waters Guest Principal Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Alistair Scahill Martin Fenn Martin Wray Richard Cookson Julia Kornig Isabel Pereira Daniel Cornford Cellos Pei-Jee Ng Principal Francis Bucknall David Lale Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Susanna Riddell Sibylle Hentschel David Bucknall Helen Rathbone Iain Ward Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar Co-Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Laurence Lovelle Thomas Walley Damián Rubido González Lowri Morgan Flutes Juliette Bausor Principal Lindsey Ellis Stewart McIlwham*

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal

Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday Sue Böhling*

David Hilton Toby Street

Cor Anglais Sue Böhling* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

David Whitehouse

Clarinets Marie Lloyd Guest Principal James Maltby Paul Richards*

Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal

E flat Clarinet Massimo Di Trolio

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Bass Clarinet Paul Richards* Principal

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal

Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

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

John Ryan* Principal Chair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin Hobbs Elise Campbell Gareth Mollison Stephen Craigen

Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Keith Millar James Bower Barnaby Archer Harp Elizabeth McNulty Guest Principal Piano/Celeste Catherine Edwards * 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: David & Yi Buckley • The Candide Trust • Countess Dominique Loredan • Victoria Robey OBE • Bianca & Stuart Roden Eric Tomsett

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London Philharmonic Orchestra

The LPO musicians really surpassed themselves in playing of élan, subtlety and virtuosity. Matthew Rye, Bachtrack, 24 September 2017 (Enescu’s Oedipe at Royal Festival Hall)

Recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most forwardlooking ensembles. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, releases CDs on its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and local communities. Celebrating its 85th anniversary this season, the Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is the Orchestra’s current Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, and this season we celebrate the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary partnership. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Our year-long Belief and Beyond 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.

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 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 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 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.

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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Łukasz Borowicz conductor

An excellent conductor … extremely gifted. Krzysztof Penderecki, composer

One of the most versatile conductors of his generation, Łukasz Borowicz regularly leads the major European orchestras in the core Germanic repertoire, as well as important Russian, Polish, Czech and Hungarian works. He also conducts opera and has received numerous prizes for his recordings, which number more than 75. From 2007–15 he was Chief Conductor of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw, and in 2006 he was appointed Chief Guest Conductor of the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra. Current projects include a multi-disc recording of Bruckner’s sacred music with the RIAS Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin for Accentus, as well as a release of Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén’s five symphonies with the Deutsche Symphonieorchester Berlin on CPO. Łukasz Borowicz made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra last night at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall with Anne-Sophie Mutter. Other highlights this spring include a return to the Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw for Rimsky-Korsakov’s Kashchey the Immortal, continuing his collaboration with the festival which has seen 11 rarely played operas recorded and released to date. The 2017/18 season also features Łukasz’s debuts with the GürzenichOrchester Köln and the Bamberger Symphoniker, and a performance with Diana Damrau and the Orchestre National de Lille at the Philharmonie de Paris. Łukasz Borowicz has appeared as guest conductor with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, SWR Sinfonieorchester, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Luzerner Symfonieorchester, Orchestre National de Lille, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group and a number of other orchestras.

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He made his operatic debut at the Polish National Opera with Don Giovanni, and has since conducted over 130 performances at the house. Future projects include Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots at the Paris Opera (alternating with Michele Mariotti) and Moniuszko’s Halka at the Theater an der Wien. A prolific recording artist, Łukasz Borowicz’s recordings have been awarded three Diapason d’Or prizes. Symphonic recordings include the complete violin concertos by Grażyna Bacewicz for Chandos, the complete symphonic works of Andrzej Panufnik for CPO, and several titles for Hyperion. The final instalment of the Panufnik cycle was selected as an Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine, and Borowicz received the ICMA Special Achievement Award in 2015 for his pioneering work on the cycle. His collaboration with Piotr Beczała on Deutsche Grammophon’s recording Heart’s Delight – Songs of Richard Tauber was met with wide critical and public praise. Born in Warsaw in 1977, Łukasz Borowicz graduated from the Frederic Chopin Music Academy, where he studied under Bogusław Madey. He received a doctorate in conducting under Antoni Wit. He has received the Polityka Passport Award (2008), Coryphée of Polish Music Award (2011), Norwid Award (2013) and Tansman Prize honouring an outstanding musical personality (2014). lukaszborowicz.com

Anne-Sophie Mutter violin

This was a performance of pulseless poise, whistle-clean harmonics and old-fashioned, cantabile glamour. WWWWW

The Times, 11 November 2016 (Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Robin Ticciati at Royal Festival Hall)

Anne-Sophie Mutter is a musical phenomenon: for more than 40 years the virtuoso has been a fixture in all the world’s major concert halls, making her mark on the classical music scene as a soloist, mentor and visionary. The four-time Grammy Award winner is equally committed to the performance of traditional composers as to the future of music: so far she has given the world premieres of 26 works, and Sebastian Currier, Henri Dutilleux, Sofia Gubaidulina, Witold Lutosławski, Norbert Moret, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir André Previn, Wolfgang Rihm and John Williams have all composed for her. She also dedicates herself to numerous benefit projects and to supporting tomorrow’s musical elite: in 1997 she founded the Association of Friends of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, to which the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation was added in 2008. These two charitable institutions provide support for scholarship recipients especially tailored to their individual needs. Anne-Sophie Mutter’s 2018 concert calendar features performances in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, once again reflecting the violinist’s musical versatility and her unparalleled prominence in the world of classical music. In March she gave the world premiere of André Previn’s The Fifth Season for violin and piano at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and in November she will introduce the world to musical terra incognita once again, premiering a work for two violins by the South Korean composer Unsuk Chin.

Throughout this year the violin works of Krzysztof Penderecki form a thematic focus, commemorating the composer’s 85th birthday in 2018 and the many years of friendship between him and Anne-Sophie Mutter. She gave the world premiere of Penderecki’s Violin Concerto No. 2 (Metamorphosen) in 2005, and as well as two performances of the Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra last night at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall and tonight at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, this season she will also perform the Polish composer’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 (premiered by her in 2000), the Duo concertante per violino e contrabbasso (premiered by her in 2011) as well as La Follia for solo violin (which she premiered in 2013). A double CD of all the works dedicated to her by the composer is scheduled for release later this summer, also including the first recording of the Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2. In March 2018 Poland bestowed upon Anne-Sophie Mutter the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis, and in November 2017 Romania awarded her the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Grand Officer; during the same month France presented her with the insignia of a Commander of the French Order of the Arts and Literature. She is also the proud holder of the Siemens Music Prize, the German Grand Order of Merit, the French Medal of the Legion of Honour, the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, and numerous other honours. anne-sophie-mutter.de/en

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Programme notes

Speedread When Warsaw fell to the Nazis in 1939, the Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik sketched out the central motifs of his Heroic Overture in defiance. Panufnik was sharing a small apartment in the city with multiple members of his immediate family, playing the piano in bars by night to earn money for food. The anger, determination, passion and even exhaustion Panufnik felt is right there in his music. A few years later, the Second World War now raging, Sergei Prokofiev was given use of a government estate 150 miles from Moscow to write his Fifth Symphony. The circumstances couldn’t have been more different, but the resulting music is no less brutal or determined. As Prokofiev stood on stage

Andrzej Panufnik

to conduct the premiere of his new symphony on 13 January 1945, audible canon-fire outside heralded the Red Army’s impending victory. While Panufnik defected to Britain from a Poland under USSR control in 1954, his younger colleague Krzysztof Penderecki remained in Poland and became the country’s pre-eminent composer. He remains so to this day. After a stylistic shift in the 1970s, Penderecki’s music returned to a sense of clear, emotive evocation directly connected to that of Prokofiev and Panufnik. We may live in far less violent times, but Penderecki’s concertos in particular seem still to warn of darkness and oppression, perhaps as much within ourselves as in the world outside.

Heroic Overture

1914–91

The life of Andrzej Panufnik embodied the central political upheavals of 20th-century Europe. The Polish composer endured Nazi-occupied Warsaw only to see his homeland controlled from afar by the USSR. Eventually, he sought freedom in the West. In Panufnik’s case, that meant Twickenham. Panufnik’s creative life followed a similarly typical trajectory. As a young composer he fell under the influence of Serialism, adhering to strict principles that meant his music couldn’t show loyalty to any particular key. But that proved short-lived. Panufnik remained true to Serialism’s central tenet – that strict guidelines can free composers to create music of high concentration from limited means – but chose to pursue his own version of it based on various configurations of three-note cells. 8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

In 1941 the composer sketched the first version of his Heroic Overture in Warsaw, in solidarity with the Polish resistance. Nine years later he finalised the score and conducted it with the Kraków Philharmonic. The Overture was subsequently selected for performance in Helsinki in the run-up to the 1952 Olympics; Panufnik conducted it there just before the Games. The Soviets branded the score as ‘formalist’ (too technical or dissident for general consumption) and promptly banned it. A final version of the Overture was made in 1969, 15 years after the composer was granted political asylum in England. The revolutionary song ‘Warszawianka’ provided the outline for the Overture’s opening march and central horn theme, according to Panufnik. But in the words of the Polish music expert Adrian Thomas, the

resemblance ‘is never audible and in the event is no more relevant to the music that we hear than the unnamed melody that Elgar said lay behind his Enigma Variations.’ The spirited horn theme canters off after the Overture’s opening thwack (there were initially four), with any suggestion of communal song unsettled by

the composer’s harmonies, which twist easily into the ominous or treacherous. As the piece urges onwards, its sense of defiance is unequivocal – particularly in the battery that brings it to a close, and brings us the four thumping chords removed from the opening.

Krzysztof Penderecki

Violin Concerto No. 2 (Metamorphosen)

born 1933

Krzysztof Penderecki was still a child when the Nazis invaded Poland and was barely an adult when his country became part of the Soviet Union. That, in part, might explain why the composer stayed put (he continues to live on the outskirts of Kraków today). But like Panufnik’s, Penderecki’s musical voice underwent one particularly significant change. In 1960 the composer had signalled his dissatisfaction with the standard pitches of the chromatic scale, equivalent to the keys of a piano, with his Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima. That piece exploded the sonic possibilities of the orchestra by asking musicians to play notes-in-between-notes, sliding ‘glissandos’ and non-specific notes such as ‘the highest pitch available’. Then, in the mid-1970s, the first of Penderecki’s violin concertos confirmed a different direction. The musical notation was conventional (based mostly on tones and semitones) and there was a new emphasis on melodies rooted in the framework of standard scales. Some accused Penderecki of resorting to the rhetoric of the Romantic era. But there is no doubting that a thrilling sense of oppression, tension and existential conflict came with the technical shift. Like its predecessor, Penderecki’s Violin Concerto No. 2 is cast in a single movement of multiple

Anne-Sophie Mutter violin Allegro ma non troppo – Allegretto – Molto meno mosso – Vivace – Scherzando – Andante con moto

sections. It was dedicated to tonight’s soloist, AnneSophie Mutter, who introduced it in 1995. The title ‘Metamorphosen’ has many implications, one of which might be the shift in style from the earlier concerto to something lighter in both texture and expression. But it almost certainly refers to Penderecki’s tendency to transform or ‘metamorphose’ established motifs as the music progresses, all in the context of significant shifts in speed, gait and atmosphere. Perhaps the most obvious of these motifs is the single-pitch, four-note idea that opens the work. At either end of the Concerto, the soloist climbs to the very top of the violin’s register, outlining the intervals of the sixth and the minor third in the process. Penderecki further reaffirms his belief in the potential of standard intervals as the soloist toys with the simplest there is, the octave, after a manic cadenza (the violinist’s lone solo). Along the way, the momentum stems frequently from a ‘triplet’ motif (three notes played in the time allotted to two) established early on by the orchestra’s violas and which returns in various guises, while Penderecki’s penchant for orchestral colour – particularly his combination of triangle, bells, horn, clarinet and celeste (the latter a delicate, bell-like keyboard instrument) – teases the ear.

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

Programme notes continued

Sergei Prokofiev 1891–1953

Sergei Prokofiev lived outside Russia for 18 years, moving initially to New York after the Russian Revolution and later to Paris. But the newly formed USSR wanted Prokofiev back, and after lengthy discussions about how he might be of use to the regime, the composer settled in Moscow in 1936, where he remained until his death. At the time of his return, Prokofiev had not written a symphony in Soviet Russia, and was aware that a new symphony would represent a major statement after 16 years concentrating on opera and ballet. ‘I regard the Fifth Symphony as the culmination of a long period in my creative life’, he said in advance of the work’s first performance in Moscow on 13 January 1945. That day, the Red Army was crossing the Vistula River and heading for Nazi Germany. The Second World War would soon be over, and as Prokofiev readied himself on the podium to conduct, he halted for a moment as canons outside heralded the impending victory. That act proved a coup de théâtre, prefacing a symphony that celebrated resilience and optimism and contained more than a few hints of militaristic prowess. The composer described the piece as ‘glorifying the grandeur of the human spirit … praising the free and happy man – his strength, his generosity and the purity of his soul.’ He wrote the piece in a single month during the summer of 1944 at an artists’ retreat 150 miles from Moscow. The Symphony was well received due in part to the circumstances described. More importantly, the Soviet authorities accepted and endorsed it. Given their efforts getting Prokofiev back, they probably had to. But just three years later, Prokofiev would be denounced as a ‘formalist’ composer, out-of-touch with the people and overly complex in his musical language.

Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100 1 Andante 2 Allegro marcato 3 Adagio 4 Allegro giocoso

Prokofiev’s response was to argue that the search for a simple, true melody was his ultimate goal. There can be few better examples of that goal being achieved than the Fifth Symphony. But the argument isn’t always that clear-cut. Prokofiev’s melodies in the Fifth are some of his most memorable, lucid and characteristic. But they don’t go unscathed. The writer Paul Serotsky has noted how many of them are ‘brutalised’ by their surroundings (a savage, brass-heavy orchestra) while the frolics of the second and fourth movements are ‘driven down by malignant external forces.’ It’s easy to hear how the Symphony could fall foul of Soviet artistic guidelines in some areas, while reinforcing them in others. Whether or not Prokofiev was hedging his celebration of a military victory with hidden thoughts of oppression and horror, the Symphony is immediately recognisable as his own. The resolute theme of the first movement is heard almost immediately an octave apart on flute and bassoon; if the melody doesn’t tell you this is Prokofiev, then that instrumentation does. The middle movements show his ability to hit upon a very specific mood or character and sustain it over a long span – one quick-witted and satirical, the other elegant, lyrical and lined with tragedy. Along the way, there are some electrifying moments. The first movement processes towards a thunderous coda (the movement’s ‘last word’), brass and percussion adding scintillating colour as in the finale. Prokofiev’s tender Adagio rears up into a dissonant broadside, like a hand slammed onto a panic button. After glancing lovingly back at material from the first movement – a symptom of Prokofiev’s eye for Classical perfection – the finale becomes a debate in which one idea roundly and spectacularly trounces the other, the music hurtling into buffers like a runaway train. Programme notes © Andrew Mellor

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Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

LPO 2018/19 season opening concert Wednesday 26 September 2018 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall

Panufnik: Heroic Overture Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra Sir Andrzej Panufnik (CPO) Penderecki: Violin Concerto No. 2 (Metamorphosen) Sergey Krylov | Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra Krzysztof Penderecki (Dux) Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B flat major Berlin Philharmonic | Herbert von Karajan (Deutsche Grammophon) or Russian National Orchestra | Mariss Jansons (Chandos)

Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements Thomas Adès In Seven Days* Lutosławski Symphony No. 3** Thomas Adès conductor Kirill Gerstein piano * Supported by Resonate. Resonate is a PRS Foundation initiative in partnership with the Association of British Orchestras, BBC Radio 3 and Boltini Trust. ** Financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland as part of the multi-annual programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017–2021

Book now at lpo.org.uk or call 020 7840 4242

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

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Sound Futures donors

We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. Thanks to their support, we successfully raised £1 million by 30 April 2015 which has now been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This has enabled us to create a £2 million endowment fund supporting special artistic projects, creative programming and education work with key venue partners including our Southbank Centre home. Supporters listed below donated £500 or over. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures. Masur Circle Arts Council England Dunard Fund Victoria Robey OBE Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Underwood Trust

The Rothschild Foundation Tom & Phillis Sharpe The Viney Family

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

Carolina & Martin Schwab Dr Brian Smith Lady Valerie Solti Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Miss Anne Stoddart TFS Loans Limited Marina Vaizey Jenny Watson Guy & Utti Whittaker Pritchard Donors Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Mrs Arlene Beare Mr Patrick & Mrs Joan Benner Mr Conrad Blakey Dr Anthony Buckland Paul Collins Alastair Crawford Mr Derek B. Gray Mr Roger Greenwood The HA.SH Foundation Darren & Jennifer Holmes Honeymead Arts Trust Mr Geoffrey Kirkham Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter Mace Mr & Mrs David Malpas Dr David McGibney Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Mr Christopher 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