GET
closer
2018/19 Concert Season
AT Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
concert programme
Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI Principal Guest Conductor ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADA Leader PIETER SCHOEMAN supported by Neil Westreich Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Friday 3 May 2019 | 7.30pm
Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 (36’) Interval (20’) Bruckner Symphony No. 3 in D minor (1877 revised version) (62’)
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Janine Jansen violin Concert generously supported by Dior
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 Vladimir Jurowski 7 Janine Jansen 8 Programme notes 11 Recommended recordings 12 LPO Player Appeal 2018/19 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration
Welcome
Welcome to Southbank Centre We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries, please ask 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 Spring 2019 edition of Tune In, our free LPO magazine. Copies are available at the Welcome Desk in the Royal Festival Hall foyer, or phone the LPO office on 020 7840 4200 to receive one in the post. Also available digitally: issuu.com/londonphilharmonic
2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Orchestra news
W
elcome to tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert – our final performance this season at Royal Festival Hall. We return to our London home on Friday 27 September, when Vladimir Jurowski opens our new 2019/20 season with a programme including Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique). Booking is now open: pick up a 2019/20 brochure from the foyer racks this evening, visit lpo.org.uk/newseason, or call 020 7840 4200 to request a season brochure by post. In the meantime, here’s a taste of what the Orchestra are up to over the summer months ... Glyndebourne 2019 Between May and August we’ll take our seats in the orchestra pit for our annual summer residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. We’ll give 54 performances during the 2019 Festival, which opens on 18 May with Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust conducted by Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati. Making a welcome return to the Festival later in May is Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in Annabel Arden’s stylish production, conducted by Rafael Payare. Later in the summer Ticciati conducts the Orchestra in Dvořák’s Rusalka, inspired by The Little Mermaid, and John Wilson conducts another fairytale-inspired opera: Massenet’s ‘Cinderella’ opera Cendrillon, making its Glyndebourne debut. Book online at glyndebourne.com or call the Glyndebourne box office on 01273 815000. BBC Proms 2019 On Saturday 17 August the Orchestra will take part in this year’s BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Vladimir Jurowski conducts works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov and Glazunov, and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Alexander Ghindin. Booking opens on Saturday 11 May via the Royal Albert Hall Box Office on 020 589 8212 or royalalberthall.com Spanish tour – August 2019 At the end of August we’re off to Spain with conductor Juanjo Mena and pianist Javier Perianes, who will reprise their successful Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle (last heard at Royal Festival Hall in February) at the Pollença Festival in Mallorca, the Santander Festival and in San Sebastián. Follow all our touring adventures on Twitter: @lporchestra
On stage tonight
First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich
Kevin Lin Co-Leader Chair supported by The Candide Trust
Kitbi Lee Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler
Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Martin Hรถhmann Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp
Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Chair supported by Eric Tomsett
Tina Gruenberg Rebecca Shorrock Lasma Taimina Amanda Smith Georgina Leo Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan
Eriko Nagayama Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley
Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Kate Cole Sioni Williams Sheila Law Caroline Sharp Nilufar Alimaksumova Emma Crossley Rebecca Dinning
Violas David Quiggle Principal Richard Waters Co-Principal Robert Duncan Ting-Ru Lai Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins
Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Stanislav Popov Daniel Cornford Isabel Pereira Sam Burstin Lucia Ortiz Sauco Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden
Pei-Jee Ng Co-Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue David Lale Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Tom Roff Helen Rathbone George Hoult Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar Co-Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Tom Walley Lowri Morgan Charlotte Kerbegian Laura Murphy
Flutes Sue Thomas* Principal
Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal
Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE
Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Emilia Zakrzewska Stewart McIlwham* Ian Mullin
David Whitehouse Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal
Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday
Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal
Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra
Assistant Conductor Oliver Zeffman
Henry Clay Sue Bรถhling* Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi
* Holds a professorial appointment in London
Clarinets Benjamin Mellefont Guest Principal Thomas Watmough Chair supported by Roger Greenwood
Paul Richards* James Maltby Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Gareth Newman Simon Estell* Emma Harding Horns David Pyatt* Principal Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey
John Ryan* Principal
Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players
The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporter whose player is not present at this concert: Andrew Davenport
Chair supported by Laurence Watt
Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Philip Cobb Guest Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic’s closing concert took excellence and courageous programme planning to levels of expectation and emotional intensity more than once defying belief. Here was an orchestra in terrific form, rising to every challenge. Classicalsource.com (LPO at Royal Festival Hall, 2 May 2018: Panufnik, Penderecki & Prokofiev)
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 performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, has its own record 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. 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 in 2017 we celebrated the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary partnership. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in 2015. The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Throughout 2018 our series
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Changing Faces: Stravinsky’s Journey charted the life and music of one of the 20th century’s most influential composers, and in 2019 we celebrate the music of Britain in our festival Isle of Noises, exploring a range of British and British-inspired music from Purcell to the present day. 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: highlights of the 2018/19 season include a major tour of Asia including South Korea, Taiwan and China, as well as performances in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Greece, 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. In 2017/18 we 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. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the LPO Young Composers programme; the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme; and the LPO Junior Artists scheme for talented young musicians from communities and backgrounds currently underrepresented in professional UK orchestras. The Orchestra’s work at the forefront of digital engagement and social media has enabled it to reach even more people worldwide: as well as a YouTube channel and regular 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 Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 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.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5
Vladimir Jurowski Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor
© Simon Pauly
Ten years of Vladimir Jurowski in London have brought a non-stop journey of discovery. As the London Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates his decade as music director, it can look back on a period of unrivalled adventure, taking audiences to places other orchestras never reach. Richard Fairman, Financial Times, 30 November 2017
Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming Principal Conductor in 2007: last season we celebrated the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary partnership.
The Cleveland Orchestra; the Boston, San Francisco and Chicago symphony orchestras; and the TonhalleOrchester Zurich, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow and studied at the Music Academies of Dresden and Berlin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival conducting Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, and the same year saw his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Nabucco.
His opera engagements have included Rigoletto, Jenůfa, The Queen of Spades, Hansel and Gretel and Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera; War and Peace at the Opéra National de Paris; Eugene Onegin at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre; Salome with the State Academic Symphony of Russia; Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper Berlin; Iolanta and Die Teufel von Loudun at Semperoper Dresden, and numerous operas at Glyndebourne including Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Cunning Little Vixen, Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons, and Ariadne auf Naxos. In 2017 he made an acclaimed Salzburg Festival debut with Wozzeck and his first return to Glyndebourne as a guest conductor, in the world premiere production of Brett Dean’s Hamlet with the LPO.
In 2021 Vladimir will take up the position of Music Director at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. In 2017 he became 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 is a regular guest with many leading orchestras in both Europe and North America, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome; the New York Philharmonic; The Philadelphia Orchestra;
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The London Philharmonic Orchestra has released a wide selection of Vladimir Jurowski’s live recordings with the Orchestra on its own label, including Brahms’s complete symphonies; Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2; and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Symphonic Dances. Autumn 2017 saw the release of a sevendisc set of Tchaikovsky’s complete symphonies under Jurowski (LPO-0101), and a special anniversary sevendisc set of his previously unreleased recordings with the LPO spanning the symphonic, choral and contemporary genres (LPO-1010). Visit lpo.org.uk/recordings to find out more.
Janine Jansen violin
Riveting in silence as in sound.
© Harald Hoffmann/Decca
The New York Times
This season Janine Jansen is Artist in Residence with both the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, performing a variety of concerto and chamber music programmes in both cities throughout the season. She is also a Featured Artist at the Mozartwoche Salzburg, where she performs with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Camerata Salzburg. As well as this evening’s concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, other orchestral highlights this season include engagements with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Iván Fischer, and Orchestre de Paris under Daniel Harding. She embarks on a major tour of Japan and Korea with the London Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle, as well as European tours with the Swedish Radio Orchestra under Daniel Harding, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Antonio Pappano, and twice with Camerata Salzburg under Daniel Blendulf, performing Bernstein’s Serenade during the composer’s centenary celebrations and again in connection with the Mozartwoche Salzburg. A devoted chamber musician, Janine also embarks on a European recital tour with pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk, offering a romantic programme including works by Clara and Robert Schumann, Brahms and Franck. The tour will take them to major European concert halls including in Amsterdam, London, Berlin and Vienna.
Janine records exclusively for Decca Classics, and since recording Vivaldi’s Four Seasons back in 2003 she has been extremely successful in the digital music charts. Her discography includes performances of Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra, and Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano. Other highlights include a recording of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski; Beethoven and Britten with Paavo Järvi; Mendelssohn and Bruch with Riccardo Chailly; and Tchaikovsky with Daniel Harding, as well as an album of Bach Concertos with her own ensemble. Janine has also released a number of chamber music discs, including Schubert’s String Quintet and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, and sonatas by Debussy, Ravel and Prokofiev with pianist Itamar Golan. Janine Jansen has won numerous prizes including, most recently, the Johannes Vermeer Prize, awarded by the Dutch Government for outstanding artistic achievement. Janine studied with Coosje Wijzenbeek, Philippe Hirschhorn and Boris Belkin. Janine Jansen plays the 1707 Stradivarius ‘Rivaz – Baron Gutmann’ violin, kindly on loan from Dextra Musica.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7
Programme notes
Speedread Bruckner and Brahms, their names so often grouped together, are now celebrated as two of the 19th century’s greatest symphonists. But for 19th-century audiences, the two represented opposite ends of the musical spectrum. Brahms: the classicist, the heir to the Beethovenian symphonic tradition. Bruckner: the progressive, a Wagnerian disciple whose inexorable, long-spun symphonies recast the genre as architectural monuments in sound. Brahms himself refused to call Bruckner’s works symphonies at all, instead deeming them ‘symphonic boa constrictors’: long, unwieldy and impossible to escape. In truth, both found themselves labouring under the weight of tradition, fighting the almost Herculean
Johannes Brahms 1833–97
In the summer of 1853, at the age of 20, Brahms was introduced to the renowned Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim. Just two years Brahms’ senior, Joachim was already well-known across the concert halls of Europe and it was he who would introduce Brahms to the likes of Robert and Clara Schumann, helping to kickstart the young composer’s burgeoning career. Brahms and Joachim formed a strong and immediate bond, and Brahms would often write to Joachim, enclosing copies of his newly-written scores for his comments and approval. But it would be another 25 years before Brahms at last felt ready to compose Joachim a concerto and to take on the legacy that Beethoven had left behind. ‘You have no idea how the likes of us feel when we hear the tramp of a giant like him behind us’, Brahms once quipped, as he laboured over his First Symphony – a work that took him more than 20 years to complete.
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task of succeeding the Viennese Holy Trinity of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven (not to mention Mendelssohn, Schubert and Schumann too). For Bruckner, who chose to carve a different path, it was too much too soon for the Viennese public. ‘A vision of Beethoven’s Ninth [that] made friends with Wagner’s Walküre and wound up trampled under the hooves of their horses’, proclaimed the critic Eduard Hanslick after the premiere of Bruckner’s Third. Brahms, who spent 25 years considering a Violin Concerto worthy to succeed Beethoven, fared little better. ‘It is a concerto for violin against the orchestra’, the eminent violinist Bronisław Huberman churlishly declared, ‘and the violin wins’.
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 Janine Jansen violin 1 Allegro non troppo 2 Adagio 3 Allegro giocoso
Few concertos for the violin had taken hold in the concert hall since Beethoven’s – a work that Joachim himself revived when he performed it under Mendelssohn’s direction to ‘frenetic applause’, aged just 13. So when Brahms finally set about drafting his own violin concerto from his holiday home in Pörtsach, Austria in the summer of 1878, he remained indebted to Joachim’s guidance. ‘After having written it out I really don’t know what you will make of the solo part alone’, he wrote to Joachim. ‘It was my intention, of course, that you should correct it, not sparing the quality of the composition and that if you thought it not worth scoring, that you should say so. I shall be satisfied if you will mark those parts which are difficult, awkward or impossible to play.’
Joachim wrote back enthusiastically, insisting ‘there is a lot of really good violin music in it’ and the work was premiered (alongside the Beethoven) on New Year’s Day 1879 in Leipzig, with Brahms himself conducting. The initial response was somewhat muted, with many critics declaring the Concerto too modern and the violin part too difficult. Joseph Hellmesberger criticised it as not so much a concerto ‘for’ the violin as ‘against the violin’. But as Joachim toured the work across Europe over the following months, both he and Brahms continued to make revisions and audiences gradually began to warm to Brahms’ new concerto style. At its core, it is a lyrical work: Brahms spent much of the
same year composing Lieder, and the concerto’s songful character comes to the fore in the central Adagio (a movement Brahms disparagingly described as ‘feeble’), which is centred around an elegant melody for solo oboe. There is more than a hint of Beethoven across the work too – not least in the strident declaration of the work’s opening melody, and the stormy contrast of themes that follows, jostling between virtuosic fireworks and tender contemplation. But the finale is all Brahms: a joyous celebration of gypsy dances in the Hungarian style, in itself a nod to Joachim, the work’s treasured dedicatee.
Interval – 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.
VIOLIN CONCERTOS AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2019 7.30PM Knussen Scriabin Settings Britten Violin Concerto Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Julia Fischer violin
WEDNESDAY 9 OCTOBER 2019 7.30PM Bartók Dance Suite Walton Violin Concerto Nielsen Symphony No. 4 (The Inextinguishable)
Edward Gardner conductor James Ehnes violin
WEDNESDAY 2 OCTOBER 2019 7.30PM Elgar Violin Concerto R Strauss An Alpine Symphony Vladimir Jurowski conductor Nicola Benedetti violin
BOOK NOW AT LPO.ORG.UK OR CALL 020 7840 4242 SEASON DISCOUNTS OF UP TO 30% AVAILABLE
Nicola Benedetti © Rhys Frampton
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9
Programme notes continued
Anton Bruckner 1824–96
Few works are as complex in their back story, or as neardisastrous in their performance history, as Bruckner’s Third Symphony. Its legacy is infamous. First composed in 1873 (alongside the Second Symphony), Bruckner would revisit and revise the score no fewer than three times before it received its first public performance, before amending it again more than a decade later. Taking into account the other editions that were prepared by musicologists along the way (based on versions of the score that Bruckner had discarded during the process), the Third Symphony now exists in anything from six to nine different performing editions, with none considered ‘definitive’. Part of the problem stems from Bruckner’s own perfectionism, which often saw him return to his scores after ‘completion’ to make amendments. But in the case of the Third Symphony, Bruckner also had to contend with the work’s rejection before its first scheduled premiere in 1874, when the Vienna Philharmonic – having spent considerable time on the work in rehearsals – flatly refused to perform it. When the 1877 Viennese premiere finally came, it too was beset by problems. The appointed conductor, Johann von Herbeck, died just a few weeks before the performance, leaving Bruckner to step in and conduct in his place. But Bruckner was ill-equipped and the work itself was poorly received, with most of the audience choosing to leave long before the end of the performance. ‘We heard an utterly bizarre work which might rather be described as a motley, formless patchwork’, the Deutsche Zeitung wrote the following day, ‘fabricated from scraps of musical ideas rather than anything that is signified by the melodious title “symphony”.’ Bruckner was bereft: ‘People don’t want anything of mine’, he is said to have shouted to his friends in frustration, an outburst that was followed by almost a year’s hiatus in composing.
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Symphony No. 3 in D minor (1877 revised version) 1 2 3 4
Gemäßigt: misterioso Adagio: Feierlich Scherzo: Ziemlich schnell – Trio: Gleiches Zeitmaß Finale: Allegro
It appears that Bruckner took the rejection particularly badly because the Third Symphony had been written as a monument to his musical idol, Richard Wagner. The finished manuscript was adorned with his name, along with a dedication to ‘the unreachable worldfamous sublime master of poetry and music’. Wagner himself had given the work his blessing, singling the Third Symphony out when Bruckner visited him with a handful of scores in late 1873, no doubt because references to Wagner’s operas litter its four movements. Bruckner included excerpts from Die Walküre in the first movement (later removed in this 1877 revision), Lohengrin and Tannhäuser in the Adagio, and Tristan und Isolde in the finale. But along the way there are great swathes of Brucknerian magnificence too, and when the work was revived (by the Vienna Philharmonic, no less) in 1889 it was met with ‘storms of applause’. A decade earlier, it seems, the Viennese public had simply not been ready for Bruckner’s progressive symphonic style. As symphonies go, the Third is not dynamic and heroic in the same way as, say, Beethoven’s Fifth. It is neither spirited along by buoyant melodicism nor driven by an irrepressible rhythmic spirit – quite the opposite. Like his Second Symphony – which was teasingly dubbed the ‘Pausensymphonie’ (‘symphony of pauses’) by the uncharitable musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic – the Third is a work of truncations and silences, of sudden, swerving contrasts and unexpected hiatuses. The Vienna press may have called it ‘audacious’ and ‘peculiar’, but for Bruckner it represents a true picture of life itself: ‘The polka represents the fun and joy in the world, the chorale its sadness and pain.’
Bruckner on the LPO Label All the surface wrinkles, all the thwarted climaxes and thematic diversions are just that – they are diversions from the broader picture. The Third Symphony may lack dynamism, according to our traditional understanding of the term, but it is broad, expansive and magnificent, its sense of momentum written on a far larger, subcutaneous scale. This, after all, is Bruckner’s ‘Wagner’ Symphony. The opening movement (which Bruckner himself marked ‘measured, mysterious’) is formed of one giant background swell, its three (rather than two) principal themes generating a cumulative, pressing insistence that is often interrupted but – ultimately – succeeds. The Adagio, too, demands patience, its quiet introspection apparently a tribute to Bruckner’s mother. But any such reticence is cast off in the headlong Scherzo that follows, its perpetual motion worn lightly, quite at odds with the stop-start nature of the rest of the Symphony. In the finale, however, Bruckner calls us back to heel once more: a reminder that in music, as in life, exuberance must be tempered by restraint, that with joy also comes pain, and that assimilating – and making peace – with the two is ultimately the goal. Programme notes © Jo Kirkbride
Symphony No. 3 Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor LPO-0084 | £9.99
Symphony No. 4 Klaus Tennstedt conductor LPO-0014 | £9.99
Symphony No. 5 Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor LPO-0090 | £9.99
Symphony No. 6 Christoph Eschenbach conductor LPO-0049 | £9.99
Symphony No. 7 Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor LPO-0071 | £9.99
Symphony No. 7 Klaus Tennstedt conductor LPO-0030 | £9.99
Recommended recordings of tonight’s works by Laurie Watt Brahms: Violin Concerto Janine Jansen | Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia | Antonio Pappano (Decca) or Nigel Kennedy | London Philharmonic Orchestra Klaus Tennstedt (Warner)
Recordings available from the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242), all good CD outlets, the Royal Festival Hall shop & lpo.org.uk/ recordings. Download or stream online via Spotify, Apple Music and others.
Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 London Philharmonic Orchestra | Stanisław Skrowaczewski (LPO Label LPO-0084, see right) Symphony No. 8 Klaus Tennstedt conductor LPO-0032 | £9.99
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11
PLAYER APPEAL 2018/19 BE INSTRUMENTAL TO OUR FUTURE
At the London Philharmonic Orchestra we believe that together we are greater than the sum of our parts. Players, supporters, staff and audience members; this is your LPO and you’re the LPO. We want you to stand with us as we show and share with the world our rare and special passion for the timeless art of orchestral music.
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This feels incredibly relevant when working with the LPO’s Foyle Future Firsts and Young Composers. Performing side-by-side with young players, playing the music of new composers is crucial. Through my work with the LPO Junior Artists, musicians from currently underrepresented backgrounds, I see incredible talent in those young people. With your support we can help them navigate their journeys.
The players develop a real sense of camaraderie in the pit at Glyndebourne – how could we not when we’re that squashed in!? By contrast, being able to see and interact with singers when we do something like the Ring Cycle at Royal Festival Hall makes for an incredibly exciting experience and brings opera to a wider audience. Please give your support to help us maintain this incredible strand of opera in concert.
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JULIETTE BAUSOR, PRINCIPAL FLUTE
WE CAN TAKE RISKS AS WE EXPLORE ADVENTUROUS WORKS
WE CAN SHARE THE POWER AND WONDER OF ORCHESTRAL MUSIC WITH THE As an LPO player you never WIDER WORLD sit for long with the same set of notes. It’s a great challenge. We have to raise our game constantly. The demanding and exciting repertoire that you may associate with the LPO helps its players develop but also keeps our audiences on their toes and experiencing new things. With your support we can continue sharing these experiences. THOMAS WATMOUGH, PRINCIPAL E-FLAT CLARINET
I’ve played with the LPO in London, Eastbourne, Glyndebourne, Brighton and all over the world – it’s a thrilling ride! Performing around the UK and the world, concert experiences are always different – that’s what makes it exciting. Please help us ensure that we can continue creating special, shared experiences throughout the UK and around the world.
ELISABETH WIKLANDER, CELLO
We are asking you to be instrumental in our future and in our ability to continue doing all that you know us for. Donate online at lpo.org.uk/donate or call our Individual Giving Team on 020 7840 4212 or 020 7840 4225 to make a donation by credit or debit card.
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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 Sir Simon & Lady Robey OBE Orchestra Circle The Candide Trust Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Neil Westreich Dr James Huang Zheng (of Kingdom Music Education Group) Principal Associates Gabor Beyer, through BTO Management Consulting AG In memory of Ann Marguerite Collins Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Associates Steven M. Berzin Richard Buxton Kay Bryan William & Alex de Winton Mrs Irina Gofman Countess Dominique Loredan George Ramishvili Stuart & Bianca Roden In memory of Hazel Amy Smith Gold Patrons David & Yi Buckley John Burgess In memory of Allner Mavis Channing 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 Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe Geoff & Meg Mann
Sally Groves & Dennis Marks Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski Melanie Ryan Julian & Gill Simmonds Eric Tomsett The Viney Family Laurence Watt Silver Patrons Dr Christopher Aldren Peter Blanc Georgy Djaparidze Ulrike & Benno Engelmann Peter & Fiona Espenhahn Will & Kate Hobhouse Matt Isaacs & Penny Jerram John & Angela Kessler The Metherell Family Simon Millward Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley Susan Wallendahl Guy & Utti Whittaker Grenville & Krysia Williams Bronze Patrons Anonymous donors Michael Allen Andrew Barclay Mr Geoffrey Bateman Peter & Adrienne Breen Mr Jeremy Bull Mr Alan C Butler Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Andrea d’Avack Bruno De Kegel Mr John L G Deacon David Ellen Ignor & Lyuba Galkin David Goldberg Mr Daniel Goldstein David & Jane Gosman Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Wim & Jackie Hautekiet-Clare Malcolm Herring Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle J Douglas Home
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Mr James R. D. Korner Rose & Dudley Leigh Drs Frank & Gek Lim Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Peter & Lucy Noble Noel Otley JP & Mrs Rachel Davies Jacopo Pessina Mr Roger Phillimore Mr Michael Posen Tatiana Pyatigorskaya Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Tom & Phillis Sharpe Mr Christopher Stewart Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Andrew & Rosemary Tusa Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Marina Vaizey Ms Jenny Watson CBE Christopher Williams Ed & Catherine Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Principal Supporters Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Margot Astrachan Mr Philip Bathard-Smith Mr Edwin Bisset Dr Anthony Buckland Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Sir Alan Collins KCVO David & Liz Conway Mr Alistair Corbett Mrs Alina Davey Guy Davies Henry Davis MBE Mr Richard Fernyhough Patrice & Federica Feron Ms Kerry Gardner Ivan Hurry Per Jonsson Mr Ralph Kanza Ms Katerina Kashenceva Vadim & Natalia Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF
Mr Christopher Little Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter Mace Patricia & Michael McLarenTurner Mr John Meloy Andrew T Mills Dr Karen Morton Mrs Jennifer Oxley Dr Wiebke Pekrull Mr James Pickford Andrew & Sarah Poppleton Natalie Pray Mr Christopher Querée Martin & Cheryl Southgate Ms Nadia Stasyuk Matthew Stephenson & Roman Aristarkhov Louise Walton Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie Whitelock Liz Winter Bill Yoe Supporters Mr John D Barnard Mr Keith Bolderson Mr Bernard Bradbury Mr Richard Brooman Mrs Alan Carrington 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 Christopher Fraser OBE Mr and Mrs Gofton Will Gold Mr Peter Gray Mrs Maureen HooftGraafland The Jackman Family Mr David MacFarlane Mr Frederic Marguerre Mr Mark Mishon
Mr Stephen Olton Mr David Peters Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh Mr David Russell Mr Kenneth Shaw Ms Elizabeth Shaw Ms Natalie Spraggon & Mr David Thomson Mr John Weekes Mr Trevor Weston 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) Gabor Beyer (Hungary) 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) 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 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 Christian Dior Couture Faraday Fenchurch Advisory Partners IMG Pictet Bank Steppes Travel White & Case LLP Corporate Members Gold freuds Sunshine Silver After Digital Berenberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce Bronze Ageas Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Walpole
Preferred Partners Fever-Tree Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Sipsmith 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 The Ernest Cook Trust Diaphonique, Franco-British Fund for contemporary music The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Fidelio Charitable Trust 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 The Radcliffe Trust 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 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 Dr Catherine C. Høgel Vice-Chairman Henry Baldwin* Roger Barron Richard Brass 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 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 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
Finance Frances Slack Finance and Operations Manager
Emily Moss Education and Community Project Manager
Dayse Guilherme Finance Officer
Hannah Tripp Education and Community Project Co-ordinator
Concert Management Roanna Gibson Concerts Director
Development Laura Willis Development Director
Graham Wood Concerts and Recordings Manager
Vicky Moran Development Events Manager
Sophie Richardson Glyndebourne and Projects Manager (maternity leave)
Christina McNeill Corporate Relations Manager
Fabio Sarlo Glyndebourne and Projects Manager (maternity cover) Grace Ko Tours Manager Alison Jones Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator 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
Rosie Morden Individual Giving Manager Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager Georgie Gulliver Development Assistant Izzy Keig Development Assistant ~ Nick Jackman Campaigns and Projects Director Kirstin Peltonen Development Associate 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 Marketing Co-ordinator Tom Wright Marketing Assistant
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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 Printer Cantate