London Philharmonic Orchestra 9 March 2016 concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

Concert programme 2015/16 London Season lpo.org.uk

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 Composer in Residence magnus lindberg Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 9 March 2016 | 7.30pm

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 (44’) Interval (20’) Zemlinsky Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) (39’)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Marc-André Hamelin piano

This concert is being broadcast live by the BBC on Radio 3 Live In Concert – live concerts every day of the week. Listen online in HD Sound for 30 days at bbc.co.uk/radio3

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 Marc-André Hamelin 8 Programme notes 10 Recommended recordings 11 Next concerts 13 LPO 2016/17 season 14 Sound Futures donors 15 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 any member of staff for assistance. Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO! Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Feng Sushi 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 7960 4250, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk We look forward to seeing you again soon. Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery are closed for essential refurbishment until 2018. During this period, our resident orchestras are performing in venues including St John's Smith Square. Find out more at southbankcentre.co.uk/sjss 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.

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Orchestra news

New season now on sale! Next season's LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall are now open for booking. After the huge success of The Rest Is Noise festival in 2013, we are excited to be collaborating once again with Southbank Centre on another large-scale multi-artform festival. Belief and Beyond Belief will interest atheists, agnostics and those of all faiths. We have devoted our 2017 concerts to the festival, beginning with Beethoven's profound statement on the human condition, Fidelio. LPO Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Vladimir Jurowski takes a major role throughout as we explore belief as revealed in works ranging from Haydn's The Creation to John Adams's Harmonielehre. Read more on page 13, browse the full 2016/17 season brochure online at lpo.org.uk/newseason or call us on 020 7840 4200 to request a copy in the post.

The LPO on Instagram You can now find us on Instagram! Head over to our page @londonphilharmonicorchestra and follow us for exclusive backstage access. We’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes content to give you an insight into all things LPO, from the musicians themselves, to the On The Road team, and to the audiences at our concerts – tag us #londonphilharmonicorchestra so we can share in your experience... New LPO Label release Just released on the LPO Label is a disc of works by Julian Anderson, the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence from 2010–14 (LPO-0089). The disc features the world premiere performance of In lieblicher Bläue (poem for violin and orchestra) with soloist Carolin Widmann, recorded at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on 14 March 2015. It also includes Alleluia (composed for the London Philharmonic Choir, the LPO and Vladimir Jurowski to perform at the re-opening of Royal Festival Hall in June 2007) and The Stations of the Sun, both also live concert recordings. The disc is priced £9.99: visit lpo.org.uk/recordings or call 020 840 4242.

On stage tonight

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Ilyoung Chae Chair supported by an anonymous donor

Ji-Hyun Lee Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Martin Höhmann Chair supported by The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust

Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Grace Lee Rebecca Shorrock Galina Tanney Caroline Frenkel Second Violins Andrew Storey Principal Kate Birchall Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy Elan Lorenzo Gentili-Tedeschi Fiona Higham Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Sioni Williams Harry Kerr Sheila Law Alison Strange Georgina Leo Stephen Stewart Elizabeth Baldey Alberto Vidal

Violas Przemysław Pujanek Guest Principal Cyrille Mercier Co-Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Daniel Cornford Martin Fenn Sarah Malcolm Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Bianca and Stuart Roden

Pei-Jee Ng Co-Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Santiago Carvalho† David Lale Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Chair supported by The Viney Family

Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell George Hoult Tom Roff Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar George Peniston Laurence Lovelle Lowri Morgan Charlotte Kerbegian Ben Wolstenholme Laura Murphy Flutes Katie Bedford Guest Principal Sue Thomas* Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Clare Childs Stewart McIlwham*

Piccolos Stewart McIlwham* Principal Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Clare Childs Oboes Stéphane Rancourt Guest Principal Alice Munday Cor Anglais Sue Böhling* Principal Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

Clarinets Robert Hill* Principal Thomas Watmough Richard Russell Bass Clarinet Paul Richards Principal E flat Clarinet Thomas Watmough Principal Bassoons Gareth Newman Principal Simon Estell Emma Harding Horns David Pyatt* Principal Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* Principal

Trombones David Whitehouse Principal Matthew Lewis Ross Learmonth Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Chair supported by Jon Claydon

Harps Rachel Masters* Principal Lucy Haslar Assistant Conductor Karina Canellakis * Holds a professorial appointment in London † Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Chair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Stephen Nicholls Alex Wide Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney*

Chair supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose player is not present at this concert: William & Alex de Winton

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

David Hilton William Roberts

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Jurowski and the LPO can stand alongside the top international orchestras with pride. Richard Fairman, Financial Times, September 2015 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 community groups. 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 currently the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, appointed in 2007. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence. The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives over 30 concerts each season. Throughout 2014/15 the Orchestra gave a series of concerts entitled Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, a festival exploring the composer’s major

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orchestral masterpieces. 2015/16 is a strong season for singers, with performances by Toby Spence and Anne Sofie von Otter amongst others; Sibelius enjoys 150th anniversary celebrations; distinguished visiting conductors include Stanisław Skrowaczewski, JukkaPekka Saraste and Vasily Petrenko, with Robin Ticciati returning after his debut in 2015; and in 2016 the LPO joins many of London’s other leading cultural institutions in Shakespeare400, celebrating the Bard’s legacy 400 years since his death. The Orchestra continues its commitment to new music with premieres of commissions including Magnus Lindberg’s Second Violin Concerto and Alexander Raskatov’s Green Mass. 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

Pieter Schoeman leader

the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2015/16 season include visits to Mexico City as part of the UK Mexico Year of Culture, Spain, Germany, the Canary Islands, Belgium, a return to the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and the Orchestra’s premiere at La Scala, Milan.

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. 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 a YouTube channel and regular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence across social media. lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7 instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

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 90 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 3 and 10 Songs under Vladimir Jurowski, and a second volume of works by the Orchestra's former Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson.

Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the LPO in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winning numerous competitions including the 1984 World Youth Concerto Competition in the US. In 1987 he was offered the Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study with Eduard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman, who recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. In 1994 he became her teaching assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington. 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 performs at London's prestigious Wigmore Hall. As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pieter has performed Arvo Pärt's Double Concerto with Boris Garlitsky, Brahms's Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, and Britten's Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the Orchestra's own record label to great critical acclaim. He has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film and television, and led the Orchestra 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. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter's chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich.

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Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Jurowski seems to have reached the magic state when he can summon a packed house to hear anything he conducts with the LPO, however unfamiliar.

Geoff Brown, The Arts Desk, February 2015

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. Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming Principal Conductor in 2007. In October 2015 he was appointed the next Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-sinfonieorchester Berlin, a position he will take up in September 2017, and also accepted the honorary position of Artistic Director of the Enescu International Festival in Bucharest, also from 2017. 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). He is a regular guest with many leading orchestras in both Europe and North America, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; The Philadelphia Orchestra; The Cleveland Orchestra; the Boston, San Francisco and Chicago symphony orchestras; and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

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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; Moses und Aron at Komische and 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. The Glyndebourne production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, led by Vladimir Jurowski with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Chorus won the 2015 BBC Music Magazine Opera Award. During the performance we are all 'in the same boat', so since conductors are meant to be silent during the concert, a friendly encouraging look in the right moment is very helpful, almost as helpful as good conducting technique (the latter being rather obligatory). Vladimir Jurowski on engaging players during a performance

In 2007 Vladimir was a guest on BBC Radio 4's flagship programme Desert Island Discs. Discover his eight records of choice here: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007w97r

Marc-André Hamelin piano

Is it possible for a pianist to be too good? If anyone faces jeopardy with that question, it’s Marc-André Hamelin.

The New York Times, 22 February 2015

Marc-André Hamelin is ranked among the elite of world pianists for his unrivalled blend of musicianship and virtuosity in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of neglected music of the 19th and 20th centuries. This season he performs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski at the Alte Oper Frankfurt as well as at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall and Eastbourne's Congress Theatre; tours North America with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer; has a three-part residency at the Muziekgewbouw in Amsterdam; and makes his debut at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, under Jakub Hrůša. Orchestral appearances in North America include the Edmonton, Los Angeles Chamber, Manitoba, National Arts Centre, Quebec, San Diego and Toronto symphony orchestras. In addition to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, in Europe Hamelin appears with the Hallé, Berlin Radio Symphony and Lucerne Symphony orchestras and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, in repertoire ranging from Mozart to Brahms, Ravel and Messiaen. In recital, he appears in the Keyboard Virtuoso series at Carnegie Hall and at Chicago Symphony Presents, the Van Cliburn, Spivey Hall, ProMusica Montreal, Music Toronto and the Green Center in Sonoma. European recitals include Munich, DeSingel in Antwerp, Moscow State Philharmonic Society, Perugia, Heidelberg Festival, Bilbao and the Salzburg Mozarteum. The summer of 2015 included a return to the BBC Proms performing Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

and François-Xavier Roth. Recitals included London's Wigmore Hall, the Ruhr Piano Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Festival Cully Classique, the International Keyboard Festival in New York City and Aspen Music Festival. Marc-André Hamelin records exclusively for Hyperion Records. His most recent releases are a two-disc set of Mozart Sonatas and Leo Ornstein's Piano Quintet with the Pacifica Quartet. He was honoured with the 2014 ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year (Piano) and Disc of the Year by Diapason and Classica magazines for his three-disc set of Busoni's late piano music. Other recent recordings include Debussy's Images and Préludes Book II; Haydn concertos with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie; three doubledisc sets of Haydn sonatas; and an album of his own compositions, Hamelin: Études, which received a 2010 Grammy nomination (his ninth) and a first prize from the German Record Critics’ Association. His Hyperion discography of over 50 recordings includes concertos and works for solo piano by such composers as Alkan, Godowsky and Medtner, as well as brilliantly received performances of Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Shostakovich. Born in Montreal and a resident of Boston, Marc-André Hamelin is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the German Record Critics' Association. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada. marcandrehamelin.com

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Programme notes

Speedread In spite of their early promise and unquestioned skill, the two late-Romantic composers in tonight’s concert both suffered and later transcended the slings and arrows of fashion. In the cool neoClassical atmosphere of the post-First World War years, Rachmaninoff was often dismissed as a throwback, while Zemlinsky had already drifted into obscurity, perhaps because his close association with Schoenberg and his circle only highlighted his lack of desire to join them wholeheartedly on their

Serge Rachmaninoff 1873–1943

Although not as popular as its predecessor, and not as well-stocked with Romantically lingering tunes, Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is in many other ways his most admired. This was not always the case; ‘dry, difficult and unappealing’ was how the young Prokofiev heard it (he preferred the ‘charming’ First and Second), and many of the earlier performances and recordings of the work (including the composer’s own, made in 1939) were afflicted by damaging cuts. Prokofiev was right about it being difficult, though. The Third is one of the most technically daunting of all the major piano concertos, its 45-minute span demanding of its executant heroic feats of virtuosity, stamina and power, while at the same time challenging them to show the more musicianly qualities of precision, clarity and line. Rachmaninoff composed it at his family estate in Ivanovka in the autumn of 1909 specifically for his forthcoming first tour to the USA, and he was the soloist at its premiere with the New York Symphony Orchestra on 28 November with Walter Damrosch conducting.

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modernist course. Yet today such concerns have faded into the distance: Rachmaninoff’s stock is perhaps as high as it has ever been, and his texturally rich, soaringly lyrical and toweringly difficult Third Piano Concerto has acquired the status of a model of its kind, while in the last 30 years or so Zemlinsky’s reputation as a highly accomplished and individual composer has (like Mahler’s before it) continued to attract greater interest and understanding.

Piano Piano Concerto Concerto No. No. 3 in 3 in DD minor, minor, Op. Op. 3030 Simon Marc-André TrpčeskiHamelin piano piano 1 1 Allegro Allegro mama non non tanto tanto 2 2 Intermezzo: Intermezzo: Adagio Adagio – – 3 3 Finale: Finale: Alla Alla breve breve

An even more memorable performance, however, must have been the one Rachmaninoff gave with the New York Philharmonic the following January, when the conductor was Gustav Mahler. ‘Mahler touched my composer’s heart straight away’, Rachmaninoff wrote, ‘by devoting himself to my concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had been practised to the point of perfection.’ The complexity that Rachmaninoff refers to is due not only to the orchestral accompaniment’s richness, but also to the important role it plays in the work’s construction. While he may not have been the composer to reproduce the taut motivic discourse of a Schoenberg or a Bartók, in this Concerto Rachmaninoff achieves a satisfying sense of unity through laid-back but persistent allusion to themes outlined in the first movement. Of these, none is more of a presence than the long, tender melody uncurled by the piano right at the start. Its restless Russian melancholy is unmistakable, but Rachmaninoff denied suggestions that it had origins in folksong or Orthodox chant:

‘It simply wrote itself’, he said. ‘I was thinking only of the sound. I wanted to “sing” the melody on the piano, as a singer would sing it.’ Whether naturally arising or not, this theme and its lilting accompaniment inform many of the melodic outlines that follow, giving the whole work the flavour of ongoing, seamless development. Eventually a second theme appears, introduced with a new rhythmic impulse that seems almost like a fanfare in the circumstances, but soon settling down to more expansive lyricism under the pianist’s hands. The development section starts with a reprise of the opening, though naturally one which takes new turns. The music builds to a climax, then subsides, the texture thinning until the piano is left to embark on a long solo cadenza whose own powerful climax is in turn calmed by snippets of the first theme on solo winds. A recapitulation of this theme in its original form follows, but the movement is nearly done now, and the end arrives with a few quiet echoes of the second theme. The title of the second movement, Intermezzo, suggests a desire to relax the atmosphere, as does the drop in key

to D flat major. In fact the free variations on the sombre melody introduced by the orchestra at the outset encompass both textural detail and much Romantic warmth, while a faster and lighter section turns out to be a waltz-like, major-key transformation of the firstmovement theme in which brilliant piano figuration accompanies the woodwind. A brief and passionate return to the original theme is broken off, however, by a commanding interposition by the pianist, who whips things up and pitches us decisively into the Finale. Here the dominant element is a vigorous, twitching line made from an inversion of the rocking accompaniment figure from the opening of the Concerto. The somewhat militaristic flavour it now gives off is contrasted with another soaringly Romantic second theme, but it returns, along with a melancholy lower-string reminiscence of the first movement’s main theme, in a skittish development section. The recapitulation begins after a moment of near stillness, but, after the soaring theme has returned in glory, the Concerto ends in an exhilarating dash to the finish.

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

Alexander von Zemlinsky 1871–1942

By his own admission, Alexander Zemlinsky was one of those composers who, despite manifest gifts, were somehow never going to achieve high celebrity. ‘Everyone is to blame for his own destiny’, he once wrote, ‘or at least is to blame in a blameless way. I am sure that I lack that certain something needed to get to the top … It’s not enough to have elbows, you have to know how to use them.’ This confession came in 1930, when he had just abandoned a distinguished career

Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) 1 2 3

Sehr mäßig bewegt [With a swift pulse] Sehr bewegt, rauschend [Quite fast, roaring] Sehr gedehnt, mit schmerzvollem Ausdruck [Very relaxed tempo, with anguish]

as an opera and stage conductor to concentrate on his composing, but things did not improve for him. As an Austrian Jew, he was forced to flee Europe a few years later, and, having arrived in America with no reputation and no contacts, he died in poverty in 1942. Yet his professional life until then had been lived out in the highest circles. Born in Vienna in 1871, he studied at the Conservatory there, impressed Brahms, and

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Programme notes continued

made a name for himself in his twenties as a composer with songs, chamber works, three symphonies and an opera. His second opera, Es war einmal, was personally championed and conducted by Mahler. He also met and befriended Schoenberg (three years his junior), teaching him for a while, becoming his brother-inlaw, and founding with him a society to promote new music in Vienna. (His other composition pupils included Alma Schindler, and he briefly became one of her more unlikely lovers before she married the almostas-unlikely Mahler.) Zemlinsky’s composing slowed in subsequent years, during which he held successive opera-conductor posts in Vienna, Prague and Berlin – but his modest output also included six more operas, a luxuriant Lyric Symphony, four string quartets, some choral psalms and a number of songs. It is probably true to say, however, that the very nature of Zemlinsky’s music contributed to its failure to shine. For while there was never any doubting his technical and creative powers, or his credentials as a supporter and connoisseur of the new music of his time (he was one of the composers invited to complete Berg’s unfinished opera Lulu, though he didn’t accept), as a composer he was eclectic, being neither a radical in the manner of Schoenberg and his followers in the Second Viennese School, nor a 19th century-hugging conservative. Instead he offered a middle way that baffled his contemporaries, and it has only been since the 1980s that his music has come to be better appreciated. Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) was a discovery of that revival. Composed in 1902–03, it was first performed in 1905 at a concert in Vienna, but with critical approval favouring another premiere that same evening – that of Schoenberg’s tone-poem Pelleas und Melisande – the disheartened Zemlinsky withdrew it and it was not heard again until 1984. Although subtitled ‘fantasy’, it is better viewed as a three-movement tone-poem inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s famous story The Little Mermaid, for although Zemlinsky left no details of its programme, it appears to follow the narrative in broad terms. Thus, in the first movement we can surely imagine the depths of the mermaid’s ocean home in the sombrely lolling opening (over which a lightly syncopated ‘sea motif’ appears), associate the sweet violin theme with her yearning for a life in the world above, and hear in the tumultuous central section the 10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

storm that wrecks the human prince’s boat, and from which the mermaid rescues him before falling in love with him. In the second movement the details become less precise: episodes that could depict the mermaid’s visit to a sea-witch to acquire a potion that will give her legs to walk on land, there to pursue her prince, and an immortal human soul in exchange for the loss of her tongue, or perhaps a ball at the prince’s wedding that breaks her heart. However the true thread of the movement seems rather to be the interweaving and fragmentation of themes that increases with the mermaid’s mental turmoil. The third movement, in which the mermaid has resolved to kill the prince, again has moments we may think we recognise – her initial laments perhaps, or the moment when, unable to do the deed, she lets the knife drop and we hear a precipitous fall back into the deep, or her final transmutation into an eternal bodiless spirit, a ‘daughter of the air’. Yet nothing is for certain, and neither do we need it to be. Better to surrender to Zemlinsky’s beautifully achieved (and highly apposite) transcendent progression from the particular to the general. Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works Many of our recommended recordings, where available, are on sale this evening at the Foyles stand in the Royal Festival Hall foyer. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 Vladimir Ashkenazy | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Bernard Haitink [Decca] or Yuja Wang | Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela | Gustavo Dudamel Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra | Riccardo Chailly [Decca]

Next concerts at Royal Festival Hall Friday 18 March | 7.30pm

Friday 15 April | 7.30pm

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 Brief Encounter (film with live orchestra)

JTI friday series

David Charles Abell conductor Jayson Gillham piano

De Falla The Three-cornered Hat (Suite No. 2) Rodrigo Fantasía para un gentilhombre* Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (excerpts)

By arrangement with ITV Studios Global Entertainment & Park Circus Films

Jaime Martín conductor Miloš Karadaglić guitar

Saturday 9 April | 7.30pm

* Please note a change to the programme from originally advertised

Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht* Brahms A German Requiem Christoph Eschenbach conductor Sarah Tynan soprano Matthias Goerne baritone London Philharmonic Choir * Please note a change to the programme from originally advertised

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65) London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office: 020 7840 4242 Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone.

INTERNATI ONAL

PIANO SERIES 2015/16

Mitsuko Uchida © Decca / Justin Pumfrey

Wed 6 Apr 2016

Tue 26 Apr 2016

Wed 25 May 2016

Ingrid Fliter An all-Chopin programme including the 24 Preludes

Mitsuko Uchida Berg, Schubert, Mozart and Schumann

Richard Goode Schubert’s last three sonatas

Thu 28 Apr 2016

Wed 8 Jun 2016

Katia and Marielle Labèque Sisters – moments from a shared musical life

Imogen Cooper Schumann, Wagner and Liszt

Tue 19 Apr 2016 Yundi The piano superstar returns

Concerts take place in Royal Festival Hall and at St John’s Smith Square. Full details online.

Paul Lewis © Mark McNulty

Wed 11 May 2016 Paul Lewis Brahms, Schubert and Liszt

Tickets £65 - £10 (transaction fees may apply) SERIES SAVINGS: Book 3 – 4 concerts and save 10% Book 5 or more concerts and save 20%

Our new International Piano Series 2016/17 is now on sale. Go to southbankcentre.co.uk/ips for full listings and to book.

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

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MUSIC IS OUR WORLD.

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2016/17 Concert Season at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Highlights include: — Soloists including Anne-Sofie — Belief and Beyond Belief, Mutter, Nicola Benedetti, a year-long festival with Julian Bliss, Steven Isserlis, Southbank Centre exploring Patricia Kopatchinskaja and what makes us human in the Hilary Hahn 21st century, in partnership with Principal Conductor — Great choral works including and Artistic Advisor Haydn’s The Creation, Vladimir Jurowski Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, — Sibelius expert Osmo Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Vänskä presents a Symphony Beethoven’s Symphony Cycle pairing Sibelius’s No. 9 (Choral) symphonies with concertos by British composers

Book now lpo.org.uk 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 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 Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski The Rind Foundation The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust Sir Bernard Rix David Ross & Line Forestier (Canada) Mr Paris Natar

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Carolina & Martin Schwab Dr Brian Smith Lady Valerie Solti Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Miss Anne Stoddart TFS Loans Limited Lady 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 Queree 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

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors: Thomas Beecham Group The Tsukanov Family Foundation Neil Westreich William and Alex de Winton Mrs Philip Kan* Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Laurence Watt Anonymous Jon Claydon Garf & Gill Collins* Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller Dr Barry Grimaldi The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds* Eric Tomsett The Viney Family John & Manon Antoniazzi Jane Attias David Goldstone CBE LLB FRICS John & Angela Kessler Guy & Utti Whittaker * BrightSparks Patrons: instead of supporting a chair in the Orchestra, these donors have chosen to support our series of schools’ concerts.

Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams David & Yi Yao Buckley Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Mr Bruno de Kegel David Ellen Mr Daniel Goldstein Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter MacDonald Eggers Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Mr & Mrs David Malpas Virginia Slaymaker Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Grenville & Krysia Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Benefactors Mr Geoffrey Bateman Mrs A Beare Ms Molly Borthwick David & Patricia Buck Mrs Alan Carrington Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr Timothy Fancourt QC Mr Richard Fernyhough Mr Gavin Graham Wim and Jackie Hautekiet-Clare Tony & Susan Hayes Mr Daniel Heaf and Ms Amanda Hill Michael & Christine Henry Malcolm Herring J. Douglas Home

Ivan Hurry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Per Jonsson Mr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter Mace Ms Ulrike Mansel Mr Robert Markwick and Ms Kasia Robinski Mr Brian Marsh Andrew T Mills Dr Karen Morton Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Mr Roger Phillimore Mr James Pickford Mr Michael Posen Alexey & Anastasia Reznikovich Mr Konstantin Sorokin Martin and Cheryl Southgate Mr Peter Tausig Lady Marina Vaizey Simon and Charlotte Warshaw Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie Whitelock Christopher Williams Bill Yoe and others who wish to remain anonymous Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged: Corporate Members Silver: Accenture Berenberg Carter-Ruck We are AD Bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLP BTO Management Consulting AG Charles Russell Speechlys Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Willis Towers Watson Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsor Google Inc

Trusts and Foundations Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation Axis Foundation The Bernarr Rainbow Trust The Boltini Trust Borletti-Buitoni Trust The Candide Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust The Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Help Musicians UK The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leverhulme Trust The London Community Foundation London Stock Exchange Group Foundation Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian Trust Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust

The Ann and Frederick O’Brien Charitable Trust Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs of the Embassy of Spain in London The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust The Stanley Picker Trust The Radcliffe Trust Rivers Foundation The R K Charitable Trust RVW Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation The Tillett Trust UK Friends of the Felix-MendelssohnBartholdy-Foundation The Viney Family Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust 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 Manon Antoniazzi Roger Barron Richard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Amanda Hill Dr Catherine C. Høgel Rachel Masters* George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Natasha Tsukanova Mark Vines* Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Neil Westreich David Whitehouse* * Player-Director

Chief Executive

Education and Community

Digital Projects

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Isabella Kernot Education Director (maternity leave)

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Director

Amy Sugarman PA to the Chief Executive / Administrative Assistant

Clare Lovett Education Director (maternity cover)

Finance

Talia Lash Education and Community Project Manager

Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

Lucy Sims Education and Community Project Manager

Philip Stuart Discographer

Advisory Council Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson William de Winton Cameron Doley Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness Shackleton Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds Barry Smith Martin Southgate Sir Philip Thomas Sir John Tooley Chris Viney Timothy Walker AM Elizabeth Winter American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc. Jenny Ireland Co-Chairman William A. Kerr Co-Chairman Kyung-Wha Chung Xenia Hanusiak Alexandra Jupin Jill Fine Mainelli Kristina McPhee David Oxenstierna Harvey M. Spear, Esq. Danny Lopez Hon. Chairman Noel Kilkenny Hon. Director Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP Stephanie Yoshida

David Burke General Manager and Finance Director David Greenslade Finance and IT Manager Dayse Guilherme Finance Officer

Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer

Concert Management

Development

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Nick Jackman Development Director

Graham Wood Concerts and Recordings Manager

Catherine Faulkner Development Events Manager

Jenny Chadwick Tours Manager Tamzin Aitken Glyndebourne and UK Engagements Manager Alison Jones Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

Kathryn Hageman Individual Giving Manager Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations Manager Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager Rebecca Fogg Development Co-ordinator

Jo Cotter Tours Co-ordinator

Helen Yang Development Assistant

Orchestra Personnel

Kirstin Peltonen Development Associate

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager Sarah Holmes Sarah Thomas Librarians (job-share) Christopher Alderton Stage Manager Damian Davis Transport Manager Madeleine Ridout Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

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Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant Public Relations