London Philharmonic Orchestra 9 October 2019 concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

ISLE OF

y– December r a 20 u n

NOISES Landmark classics inspired by the British Isles 1689 – 2019

Concert programme

lpo.org.uk

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI Principal Conductor Designate EDWARD GARDNER Leader PIETER SCHOEMAN supported by Neil Westreich Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 9 October 2019 | 7.30pm

Bartók Dance Suite (16’) Walton Violin Concerto (28’) Interval (20’) Nielsen Symphony No. 4, Op. 29 (The Inextinguishable) (36’)

Edward Gardner conductor James Ehnes violin

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

ISLE OF

NOISES Contents 2 Welcome 3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Kevin Lin 6 Edward Gardner 8 James Ehnes 9 Programme notes 12 Recommended recordings New on the LPO Label 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.

elcome to this evening’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. At the helm tonight is British conductor Edward Gardner, who was recently announced as the Orchestra’s next Principal Conductor from September 2021. We’re delighted to welcome Edward to the Royal Festival Hall stage tonight, and hope you enjoy a preview of the terrific musicmaking to come under his future leadership. Turn to pages 6–7 to read more about Edward Gardner and his new role with us. Continuing our year-long series Isle of Noises, celebrating music from the British Isles, tonight Edward will be joined by soloist James Ehnes to perform William Walton’s Violin Concerto, a work written on the eve of the Second World War and which brought Walton to the forefront of British classical music. Framing the Concerto in tonight’s concert are orchestral works by Béla Bartók and Carl Nielsen. While the First World War ravaged Europe, Nielsen responded with a Fourth Symphony whose thundering drums represent a struggle for the future of life itself. Béla Bartók, meanwhile, went back to the soil: you can practically taste the earth in his fiery Dance Suite. We hope you enjoy this evening’s concert and that you can join us again at the LPO this season.

LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance. RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended. MOBILES AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins.

Out now The Autumn 2019 edition of our free LPO magazine, Tune In. Copies are available at the Welcome Desk in the Royal Festival Hall foyer, or phone the LPO office on 020 7840 4200 to receive one in the post. Also available digitally: issuu.com/londonphilharmonic

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Introducing LPO Plus: our new loyalty scheme LPO Plus is the new online reward scheme from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. As a member of LPO Plus, you’ll be rewarded with points every time you book tickets or buy CDs online at lpo.org.uk. These points will be worth at least 10% of the order you’re making and can then be redeemed on future orders. For more details orto join LPO Plus, visit lpo.org.uk/lpoplus

On stage tonight

First Violins Kevin Lin Leader Chair supported by The Candide Trust

Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Mai Tategami Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

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

Martin Hรถhmann Yang Zhang Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Grace Lee Rebecca Shorrock Amanda Smith Lasma Taimina Eleanor Bartlett Caroline Sharp Katherine Waller Gabriela Opacka Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan

Emma Oldfield Katrina Lee Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Ioana Forna Mathilde Gheorgiu Sioni Williams Sheila Law Violas David Quiggle Principal Ting-Ru Lai Susanne Martens Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins

Laura Vallejo

Naomi Holt Daniel Cornford Joseph Fisher Martin Wray Martin Fenn Richard Cookson Julia Kornig Charles Cross Cellos Pei-Jee Ng Principal David Lale Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Elisabeth Wiklander Tom Roff Helen Rathbone George Hoult Sibylle Hentschel David Bucknall Double Basses Sebastian Pennar Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Tom Walley Laura Murphy Charlotte Kerbegian Lowri Morgan Ben Wolstenholme Flutes Juliette Bausor Principal Sue Thomas* Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Stewart McIlwham* Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday Sue Bรถhling*

Cor Anglais Sue Bรถhling* Principal

Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal

Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Clarinets Benjamin Mellefont Principal

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Thomas Watmough

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Chair supported by Roger Greenwood

Antoine Bedewi

Paul Richards*

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal

Bass Clarinet Paul Richards* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Bassoons Gareth Newman Principal Angharad Thomas Simon Estell* Contrabassoon Simon Estell* Principal Horns John Ryan* Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Duncan Fuller Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal

Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Keith Millar Harp Rachel Masters Principal Pianos Catherine Edwards Imma Setiadi Celeste Imma Setiadi * Holds a professorial appointment in London Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Chair supported by Donors to the 2019 Gala Player Appeal

James Fountain Guest Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

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

Tom Berry

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Sir Simon Robey Bianca & Stuart Roden Neil Westreich

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

London Philharmonic Orchestra

The performance was as good as could be … the LPO was beautifully poised and utterly perfect. Alan Sanders, Seen and Heard International (LPO at Royal Festival Hall, 6 October 2018: Beethoven and Stravinsky)

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

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

Kevin Lin leader

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded many blockbuster film scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 100 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5 under the late Kurt Masur, and a film music disc under Dirk Brossé. In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians. We recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of our Education and Community department, whose work over three decades has introduced so many people of all ages to orchestral music and created opportunities for people of all backgrounds to fulfil their creative potential. Our dynamic and wide-ranging programme provides first musical experiences for children and families; offers creative projects and professional development opportunities for schools and teachers; inspires talented teenage instrumentalists to progress their skills; and develops the next generation of professional musicians. The Orchestra’s work at the forefront of digital technology has enabled it to reach millions of people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download and stream and, as well as a YouTube channel and podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on social media. lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra

Kevin Lin joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader in August 2017. Originally from New York, Kevin has received international recognition for his musicianship and ‘soulful’ playing (The Arts Desk). He has performed as a soloist and recitalist in the UK, Taiwan, South Korea and Canada, in addition to numerous performances in the USA. He was previously Guest Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Houston Symphony, and in 2015 was invited to lead the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has also served as Concertmaster at The Colburn School and The Curtis Institute of Music. An avid chamber musician, Kevin’s recent collaborations include performances with the Tokyo and Ebène quartets, Edgar Meyer, Cho-Liang Lin, Orion Weiss and Andrew Bain. In recent years he has received prizes from the Irving M. Klein International Competition and the Schmidbauer International Competition, and competed in the George Enescu International Violin Competition and the Menuhin International Violin Competition. Kevin spent his early years studying with Patinka Kopec in New York, before going on to study with Robert Lipsett at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. He then continued his studies at The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia as a Mark E. Rubenstein Fellowship recipient, under the pedagogy of Aaron Rosand.

youtube.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

Kevin’s chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is generously supported by The Candide Trust.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

Edward Gardner LPO Principal Conductor Designate

Gardner was a well-matched accompanist here, creating with the LPO a magic carpet of sound that transported the listener into more exotic territory.

Bachtrack, April 2019 (Debussy, Saint-Saëns and Ravel at Royal Festival Hall)

Edward Gardner was announced as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor Designate in July 2019. He will become Principal Conductor from September 2021, succeeding Vladimir Jurowski. Edward first conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003 and has since returned for concerts at Royal Festival Hall, Snape Maltings and Glyndebourne. Earlier this year he conducted the Orchestra both in London and on tour to New York. His initial five-year contract as Principal Conductor will see him working with the Orchestra for at least 10 weeks per season from 2021/22, including our London concerts at Royal Festival Hall, on international tours, and on our many Education & Community programmes. Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway since 2015, Edward Gardner has led the orchestra on multiple international tours, including performances in Berlin, Munich and Amsterdam, and at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival. In demand as a guest conductor, recent seasons have included performances with the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Vienna Symphony, and his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Janáček’s Katya Kabanova. He returned to the ROH last month for Massenet’s Werther. Edward also enjoys longstanding collaborations with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where he was Principal Guest Conductor from 2010–16, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, whom he has conducted at both the First and Last Nights of the BBC Proms.

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Music Director of English National Opera for ten years (2006–15), Edward Gardner also has an ongoing relationship with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where he has conducted productions of Carmen, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier and Werther. Elsewhere, he has conducted at La Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra National de Paris; while opera-in-concert continues to be a part of his work with the Bergen Philharmonic, including an acclaimed Peter Grimes at the Bergen and Edinburgh International Festivals. A passionate supporter of young talent, Edward founded the Hallé Youth Orchestra in 2002 and regularly conducts the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He has a close relationship with The Juilliard School of Music and with the Royal Academy of Music, who appointed him their inaugural Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Chair in 2014. An exclusive Chandos recording artist, Edward’s award-winning discography includes music by Grieg, Bartók, Sibelius, Janáček, Elgar, Mendelssohn, Walton, Lutosławski, Britten, Berio and Schoenberg. Born in Gloucester in 1974, Edward was educated at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music. He went on to become Assistant Conductor of The Hallé and Music Director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera. His many accolades include being named Royal Philharmonic Society Award Conductor of the Year (2008), an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera (2009) and receiving an OBE for Services to Music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (2012).

Meet our new Principal Conductor, Edward Gardner

I’m thrilled to have been appointed Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra: the very orchestra that gave me my first truly inspirational symphonic experiences, when as a student in the early 1980s I heard it playing Mahler under Klaus Tennstedt. I worked with the Orchestra early in my career and I was quite overwhelmed by the brilliance and virtuosity of the musicians. From my first encounter with the players there was a level of trust between us that’s very rare. Their commitment, virtuosity and intensity, evident from the first rehearsal through to performance, is breathtaking.

Returning to the Orchestra recently, I’ve felt a sense of pleasure and privilege working with this inspiring group of musicians, and relished the passion and hunger the LPO brings to performance. I’ve loved our music-making so far and I’m looking forward to our collaboration with huge anticipation and excitement. We have great plans: wonderful choral music, new works, more traditional programmes – the whole range. I can’t wait to start!

MORE CONCERTS WITH EDWARD GARDNER THIS SEASON Saturday 12 October 2019 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall

Saturday 28 March 2020 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall

Saturday 25 April 2020 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall

Verdi Requiem

Sibelius Symphony No. 3 Dutilleux Le temps l’horloge Beethoven Symphony No. 5

Sibelius Pohjola’s Daughter Lutosławski Concerto for Orchestra* Janáček Glagolitic Mass

Edward Gardner conductor Elza van den Heever soprano Ekaterina Gubanova mezzo-soprano Arsen Soghomonyan tenor Gábor Bretz bass-baritone London Philharmonic Choir

Edward Gardner conductor Sally Matthews soprano

Edward Gardner conductor Sara Jakubiak soprano Madeleine Shaw mezzo-soprano Stuart Skelton tenor James Creswell bass London Philharmonic Choir

BOOK NOW AT LPO.ORG.UK OR CALL 020 7840 4242 * Generously supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute through the Polska Music Programme.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

James Ehnes violin

The wondrous James Ehnes, a thinker of the violin as well as a supreme virtuoso of the instrument ... an artist of the first order.

The Daily Telegraph

Canadian violinist James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after soloists on the international stage. He is a favourite guest of many of the world’s most respected conductors including Edward Gardner, Marin Alsop, Andrew Davis, Stéphane Denève, Mark Elder, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Iván Fischer, Paavo Järvi, Juanjo Mena, Gianandrea Noseda, David Robertson and Donald Runnicles. His long list of orchestral appearances includes, amongst others, the Boston, Chicago, London, NHK and Vienna symphony orchestras; the Los Angeles, New York, Munich and Czech Philharmonic orchestras; and the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Philharmonia and DSO Berlin orchestras. In April 2019 James Ehnes made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto at New York’s Lincoln Center under Edward Gardner. Other recent orchestral highlights include the Orchestra of New York’s Metropolitan Opera at Carnegie Hall with Gianandrea Noseda; the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Alexander Shelley; the London Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding; and the Munich Philharmonic with Jaap van Zweden. In 2019/20 James is Artist in Residence with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. In 2017 he premiered Aaron Jay Kernis’s Violin Concerto with the Toronto, Seattle and Dallas symphony orchestras, and gave further performances of the piece with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Alongside his concerto performances, James maintains a busy recital schedule. He performs regularly at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Ravinia, Montreux, Chaise-Dieu, the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg,

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Verbier Festival and the Festival de Pâques in Aix, and in 2018 he undertook a recital tour to the Far East, including performances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. As part of this season’s Beethoven 250th anniversary celebrations, James has been invited to perform the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas at Wigmore Hall throughout 2019/20. Elsewhere, he performs the Beethoven sonatas at Dresden Music Festival, Prague Spring Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Aspen Music Festival (as part of a multi-year residency), and Bravo Vail Festival during a residency week which also includes performances of the Beethoven Violin Concerto and Triple Concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Donald Runnicles. James Ehnes has an extensive discography and has won many awards for his recordings, including a Grammy Award (2019) for his live recording of Kernis’s Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Ludovic Morlot, and a Gramophone Award for his live recording of the Elgar Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Andrew Davis. Recent releases include sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy, Elgar and Respighi, and concertos by Walton, Britten, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Strauss, as well as the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze. James Ehnes began violin studies at the age of four, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin aged nine, made his orchestral debut with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal aged 13, and graduated from The Juilliard School in 1997. He was awarded the 2017 Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the Instrumentalist category.

Programme notes

Speedread It took decades for the effects of the First World War to make themselves fully felt, but that didn’t stop composers reacting to its events in the moment. For Béla Bartók, the immediate aftermath of the war saw the carving up of his beloved Hungary, a gesture that drew from him a long and winding dance in celebration of unity. From the relative safety of Denmark, Carl Nielsen sensed the implications of the conflict for all of mankind. The composer’s music had long been characterised by energetic optimism. Suddenly, in his Fourth Symphony, written as the war ravaged Europe,

Béla Bartók 1881–1945

Béla Bartók dedicated much of his life to researching and documenting folk tunes from his native Hungary. The more Bartók listened, the more convinced he became that the music he was unearthing could have seismic implications for his own work as a composer in an age of rapid musical development. Soon, he let the shape, spirit, colour and edginess of the vernacular tunes and rhythms he found infiltrate the original music he wrote. He referred to the results as ‘invented peasant music’. That phrase was coined by Bartók to describe his own Dance Suite of 1924. It was written to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Budapest (unifying Buda and Óbuda on the north side of the Danube with Pest on the south side), but came with extra political weight: since the end of the First World

that optimism was confronted with overwhelmingly dark and destructive forces. 1939 was an ominous year for Europe, too – even if you wouldn’t necessarily have known it without the benefit of hindsight. This was the year William Walton heard his Violin Concerto performed for the first time, a sun-kissed work begun the previous year on the Amalfi Coast. By the time the Concerto was given its premiere in a peaceful USA, Walton had already been called back to London to serve in the Ambulance Corps.

Dance Suite 1 Moderato 2 Allegro molto 3 Allegro vivace 4 Molto tranquillo 5 Commodo 6 Finale. Allegro

War, Hungary had itself been divided, with many of the territories from which Bartók had harvested his tunes now finding themselves in other countries. Bartók consciously conceived his Dance Suite as an act of musical unification. Its sections are linked by a recurring tune, itself ‘a true imitation of Hungarian folk tunes’ (so convincing an imitation that some ethnomusicologists refused to believe it was the composer’s own). What follows is music of Arabic (movements 1 and 4), Hungarian (movement 2), Hungarian and Romanian (movement 3) and ‘simply peasant’ character (movement 5), followed by a final movement in which each theme is recalled in a common, cosmopolitan dance.

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Programme notes continued

William Walton 1902–83

One day in 1938, William Walton found himself on the receiving end of a commission from the greatest violinist of the day. Jascha Heifetz had encountered Walton professionally two years previously and was intrigued by the direction his music was taking. With the First Symphony of 1935, Walton was becoming an attractively impulsive and individual composer. But he was daunted at the prospect of writing a concerto for Heifetz and at one point considered giving it to somebody else to play, believing it unworthy. In the spring of 1939, the year after he’d started work on the score in Ravello on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, Walton travelled to the violinist’s home in Connecticut to share some of the Concerto’s finer details and work through some problems with its final movement. By June the Concerto was finished. Its New York premiere was cancelled but it was eventually unveiled in December 1939 by Heifetz, The Cleveland Orchestra and conductor Artur Rodziński. At the time, Walton was serving in the Ambulance Corps in London and was unable to attend. ‘Concerto enormous success’, Heifetz telegrammed to the composer. ‘You would have been extremely pleased.’

Violin Concerto James Ehnes violin 1 Andante tranquillo 2 Presto capriccioso alla napolitana – Trio (Canzonetta) – Tempo I 3 Vivace

Heifetz was right. Walton knew he’d written a fine concerto that ‘exhausted the possibilities of what one could do on a violin.’ The Concerto is dark, volatile and spiteful one moment, yet sings with brightness and love the next. Walton’s own burgeoning sense of lyricism was clearly lubricated by Heifetz’s lyrical playing style. We hear that right from the soloist’s broad opening melody, marked ‘dreaming’ in the score, while bassoons and cellos play an equally rich countermelody underneath. That melody forms the basis of more highoctane music later on and returns at the movement’s end – this time played by the soloist, whose own tune from the start becomes its accompaniment. Walton’s love for Italy comes to the fore in the Neapolitan middle movement, cast in the style of a quick Italian dance known as a ‘tarantella’ (the composer was bitten by a tarantula before starting the movement, which could explain its provenance) but with a beautiful song initiated by horn for company. The last movement begins briskly but still the soloist spins out another broad, beautiful melody designed in Heifetz’s image. When the bustle returns, the music throws up themes from earlier that are digested fully in the cadenza – the soloist’s moment of flourishing improvisation. A snappy march typical of Walton brings the piece to a close.

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

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Carl Nielsen 1865–1931

In the years 1914–15, Carl Nielsen found himself estranged from his wife (albeit temporarily) and thrust into a precarious freelance existence following his resignation from the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where he had been employed as a violinist and conductor. Travelling and frequently alone, Nielsen wrote to friends, elaborating on his theories of the ‘life force’ – the biological and philosophical impulse that he had harnessed in his freewheeling Sinfonia Espansiva (No. 3). While that symphony lets kinetic, selfperpetuating energy loose, in his next symphony Nielsen planned to set that energy up against a destructive, opposing force. Nielsen didn’t have to look far to find a real-world manifestation of this fundamental conflict. On top of his turbulent private life, the First World War was ravaging Europe. Even the generally optimistic Nielsen, relatively safe in neutral Denmark, saw that the conflict would have profound implications. As such, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4 unleashed a level of sonic violence only suggested in its predecessors. The orchestral language was denser and darker. Nielsen’s breathlessness remained, but was injected with a new willingness to indulge dissonance and disorder. While the First Symphony had opened in the wrong key, the Second in haste and the Third in disorientation, the Fourth Symphony would launch with something akin to a volcanic eruption. For a title, Nielsen chose not an adjective but a Danish abstract noun, Uudselekkelige, that he believed encapsulated the inexhaustible and inevitable power of nature. ‘Music is life whereas the other arts only depict life’, said Nielsen shortly after the Symphony’s

Symphony No. 4, Op.29 (The Inextinguishable) 1 Allegro – 2 Poco allegretto – 3 Poco adagio quasi andante – 4 Allegro

premiere in Copenhagen on 1 February 1916; ‘Life is unquenchable and inextinguishable.’ In a private letter to the composer Julius Röntgen, Nielsen wrote more plainly that he was ‘trying to describe all that has the will and the urge for life, which cannot be kept down’. Shortly before beginning work on the Symphony, Nielsen heard a performance of Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor which might have persuaded the composer to cast his new work in four linked movements – one continuous sweep to give the impression of the music developing out of itself. The first movement introduces the theme ‘which cannot be kept down’ on singing woodwinds, a part of which returns to blazingly conclude that section. The second movement is threaded out of that, using a theme subtly related to the first but stalked by siren-like warnings. Three falling minor thirds (think the first two notes of ‘Hey Jude’) on a clarinet lead into the third movement, whose dark landscape is interrupted by a soothing, expressive version of the original ‘life force’ theme offered up by a single violin. This is almost overwhelmed by dark forces but appears somehow to put them into retreat. Shattered and disjointed, the music can only look in on itself before collapsing into the hurtling string passage that leads into the final movement. This is where we hear (and see) most clearly the threat to Nielsen’s life force. Those hurtling strings lead to a proclamation and something like a unified orchestral consensus. What follows is a monumental eruption: bar upon bar of disorientating chaos exacerbated by loose cannons at the back of the orchestra: timpani (tuned drums). Continued overleaf

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Programme notes continued

Circling strings bring calm, but it transpires they are simply harbouring energy for an even bigger fight. With inexhaustible power the timpani hurl thundering broadsides at one another, the strings protesting underneath like the hopeless sirens of outnumbered law enforcement. In the end, it’s the woodwind theme from the opening movement that emerges from the chaos, as if it were there all along, to bring the music off the boil. But as the timpani continue to rumble underneath, Nielsen suggests the conflict is only temporarily stilled. Life might be inextinguishable, but it will never go unthreatened.

Recommended recordings by Laurie Watt Bartók: Dance Suite Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra | Edward Gardner (Chandos) or London Symphony Orchestra | Georg Solti (Decca) Walton: Violin Concerto Tasmin Little | Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Edward Gardner (Chandos) Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra | Sakari Oramo (BIS)

Programme notes © Andrew Mellor

Rachmaninoff The Isle of the Dead Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Released March 2019

£9.99 | LPO-0113

£9.99 | LPO-0112

£9.99 | LPO-0111

Recent releases on the LPO Label

Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5

Mahler Symphony No. 4

Kurt Masur conductor Released March 2019

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Sofia Fomina soprano Released July 2019

CDs available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets. Download or stream online via Spotify, Apple Music, Idagio and others.

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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

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

Thank you

We are extremely grateful to all donors who have given generously to the LPO over the past year. Your generosity helps maintain the breadth and depth of the LPO’s activities, as well as supporting the Orchestra both on and off the concert platform.

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

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

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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

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

Will Gold Mr Peter Gray The Jackman Family Mr & Mrs Bon Jasperson Mr David MacFarlane Peter & Isabel Malkin Mr Frederic Marguerre Mr Mark Mishon Trevor Mulineaux Bill & Jane Nickerson Mr Stephen Olton Anju & Radhika Patel Mr David Peters Candace Procaccini Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh Mr David Russell Deb & Jay Shaw Ms Elizabeth Shaw Mr Kenneth Shaw Ms Natalie Spraggon & Mr David Thomson Mrs John E Stauffer Ronald & Davidde Strackbein Mr John Weekes Joanna Williams Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Alfonso Aijón Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Robert Hill Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE Laurence Watt

LPO International Board of Governors Natasha Tsukanova Chair Steven M. Berzin (USA) Kay Bryan (Australia) Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil (France) Irina Gofman (Russia) Joyce Kan (China/Hong Kong) Countess Dominique Loredan (Italy) Olivia Ma (Greater China Area) Olga Makharinsky (Russia) George Ramishvili (Georgia) Victoria Robey OBE (USA) We are grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who assist with fundraising for our activities in the United States of America: Simon Freakley Chairman Alexandra Jupin William A. Kerr Kristina McPhee Natalie Pray Stephanie Yoshida Antony Phillipson Hon. Chairman Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP Connecticut Gala Committee Bea Crumbine & Jill Dyal Co-Chairmen Rodica Brune Mandy DeFilippo Rachel Franco Nick Gutfreund Mary Hull Steve Magnuson Natalie Pray Victoria Robey OBE Lisa & Scot Weicker

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

Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The Fidelio Charitable Trust Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust John Horniman’s Children’s Trust John Thaw Foundation The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Lawson Trust The Leverhulme Trust Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation The London Community Foundation Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian Trust Adam Mickiewicz Institute PRS For Music Foundation The Radcliffe Trust Rivers Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute RVW Trust The Sampimon Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Steel Charitable Trust Spears-Stutz Charitable Trust The Thomas Deane Trust The Viney Family The Clarence Westbury Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust The William Alwyn Foundation and all others who wish to remain anonymous.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

Administration

Board of Directors Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Dr Catherine C. Høgel Vice-Chairman Henry Baldwin* Roger Barron David Buckley Bruno De Kegel Martin Höhmann* Al MacCuish Susanne Martens* Pei-Jee Ng* Andrew Tusa Timothy Walker AM Neil Westreich David Whitehouse* * Player-Director Advisory Council Martin Höhmann Chairman Rob Adediran Christopher Aldren Dr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass Helen Brocklebank Desmond Cecil CMG Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport William de Winton Cameron Doley Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Amanda Hill Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Geoff Mann Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Andrew Neill Jamie Njoku-Goodwin Nadya Powell Sir Bernard Rix Victoria Robey OBE Baroness Shackleton Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds Barry Smith Martin Southgate Andrew Swarbrick Sir John Tooley Chris Viney Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Elizabeth Winter

General Administration Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Education and Community Isabella Kernot Education and Community Director

David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

Talia Lash Education and Community Manager

Sarah Gee PA to the Chief Executive/ Office Administrator

Emily Moss Education and Community Project Manager

Finance Frances Slack Finance and Operations Manager

Hannah Tripp Education and Community Project Co-ordinator

Dayse Guilherme Finance Officer

Development Laura Willis Development Director

Concert Management Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Vicky Moran Development Events Manager

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

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

Alison Jones Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

~ Nick Jackman Campaigns and Projects Director

Christina Perrin Concerts and Tours Assistant

Kirstin Peltonen Development Associate

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

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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

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