2021/22 concert season at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
Concert programme
Principal Conductor Edward Gardner Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski Patron HRH The Duke of Kent KG Artistic Director Elena Dubinets Chief Executive David Burke Leader Pieter Schoeman supported by Neil Westreich
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 10 November 2021 | 7.30pm
Landscapes and Love Songs Grieg Lyric Suite (15’) Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor (31’) Interval (20’) Sibelius Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 43 (44’) Edward Gardner conductor Jan Lisiecki piano Concert generously supported by Victoria Robey OBE
This concert is being filmed for future broadcast on Marquee TV. We would be grateful if audience noise during the performance could be kept to a minimum, and if audience members could kindly hold applause until the end of each full work. Thank you for your co-operation.
The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide. CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Contents 2 Welcome LPO news 3 On stage tonight 4 London Philharmonic Orchestra 5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 Edward Gardner 7 Jan Lisiecki 8 Programme notes 12 Recommended recordings 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Thank you 16 LPO administration
London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Welcome to the Southbank Centre
LPO news Tonight’s concert on Marquee TV
We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you need any information or help, please ask a member of staff.
We are delighted that ten concerts from our 2021/22 Royal Festival Hall season are being filmed for broadcast on Marquee TV. Selected works from this evening’s concert are being filmed and will be broadcast on Marquee TV on Saturday 11 December at 7.30pm. The broadcast will remain available to watch free of charge for 48 hours without a Marquee TV subscription.
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Bernard Haitink 1929–2021 We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of conductor Bernard Haitink on 21 October 2021. As the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor from 1967–79, Haitink presided over some of its most memorable and exciting years, and was much loved by musicians and audiences alike. LPO President Martin Höhmann said: ‘The LPO was privileged to enjoy such a long and remarkable relationship with Bernard Haitink. He will be fondly remembered as one of the LPO’s best-loved Principal Conductors, with whom the Orchestra achieved some of the greatest successes in its history.’ A full tribute will follow in a future publication.
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 the Southbank Centre. The 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.
Enjoying your visit safely
LPO Offstage podcast: new series
As we continue our 2021/22 LPO season, the health and wellbeing of our audiences, musicians and staff remains our top priority, and all concerts and events will have appropriate safety measures in place in accordance with Government guidelines: the Southbank Centre’s website will be kept up-todate with all the latest information. To find out more, visit southbankcentre.co.uk/visit or speak to a member of Southbank Centre staff.
Our popular LPO podcast, ‘LPO Offstage’, is now in its third series! Hosted by presenter and MOBO Awardwinning saxophonist YolanDa Brown, the weekly podcast takes you behind-the-scenes of the LPO, bringing you closer than ever to the world of orchestral music. Episodes this series include insights into sharing a desk as a string player, the role of the Orchestra’s Librarians, and a look at how streamed concerts come together for broadcast.
Out of respect for our staff and visitors, we ask that you continue to wear a face covering inside our venues if you are able to do so. Thank you.
Find LPO Offstage on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast, or wherever you listen. lpo.org.uk/podcast
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
On stage tonight First Violins
Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich
Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Kate Oswin Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra
Lasma Taimina
Chair supported by Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G. Cave
Minn Majoe Yang Zhang
Chair supported by Eric Tomsett
Katalin Varnagy
Chair supported by Sonja Drexler
Rasa Zukauskaite Martin Höhmann
Chair supported by Chris Aldren
Eleanor Bartlett Thomas Eisner Gabriela Opacka Catherine Craig Amanda Smith Morane Cohen-Lamberger Georgina Leo
Second Violins
Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan
Emma Oldfield Helena Smart Fiona Higham
Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley
Kate Birchall Nynke Hijlkema Ashley Stevens Sioni Williams Nancy Elan Sarah Thornett Joseph Maher Lyrit Milgram Marie-Anne Mairesse Anna Croad
Violas
David Quiggle Principal Richard Waters Co-Principal Ting-Ru Lai Benedetto Pollani Katharine Leek Alistair Scahill Martin Wray Richard Cookson
Stanislav Popov Lucia Ortiz Sauco Charles Cross Rachel Benjamin
Cellos
Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden
Pei-Jee Ng Co-Principal Francis Bucknall David Lale Gregory Walmsley Laura Donoghue Elisabeth Wiklander Helen Rathbone Tom Roff George Hoult
Double Basses
Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar Co-Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Tom Walley Laura Murphy Charlotte Kerbegian Lowri Morgan
Horns
James Pillai Guest Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Duncan Fuller
Trumpets
Paul Beniston* Principal James Fountain* Principal Anne McAneney
Trombones
Mark Templeton* Principal Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
David Whitehouse
Bass Trombone
Lyndon Meredith Principal
Tuba
Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal
Timpani
Simon Carrington* Principal Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE
Percussion
Flutes
Juliette Bausor Principal Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp
Hannah Grayson Stewart McIlwham*
Piccolo
Stewart McIlwham* Principal
Oboes
Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday
Henry Baldwin Principal Keith Millar
Harp
Rachel Masters Principal
Assistant Conductor Edmund Whitehead
* Holds a professorial appointment in London
Clarinets
Benjamin Mellefont Principal Thomas Watmough Chair supported by Roger Greenwood
Bassoons
Jonathan Davies Principal Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey
Gareth Newman
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The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporter whose player is not present at this concert: Dr Barry Grimaldi
London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
© Benjamin Ealovega
London Philharmonic Orchestra
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 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.
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 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 highlights include Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under Vladimir Jurowski, and a commemorative box set of historic recordings with former Principal Conductor Sir Adrian Boult.
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 September 2021 Edward Gardner became the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor, succeeding Vladimir Jurowski, who became Conductor Emeritus in recognition of his transformative impact on the Orchestra as Principal Conductor from 2007–21. Karina Canellakis is the Orchestra’s current Principal Guest Conductor and Brett Dean is the Orchestra’s current Composer-in-Residence.
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 Orchestra is resident at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. It also enjoys flourishing residencies in Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Pieter Schoeman
The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians, and recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its 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. Its 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. Over the pandemic period the LPO further developed its relationship with UK and international audiences through its ‘LPOnline’ digital content: over 100 videos of performances, insights, and introductions to playlists, which collectively received over 3 million views worldwide and led to the LPO being named runner-up in the Digital Classical Music Awards 2020. From Autumn 2020 the Orchestra was delighted to be able to return to its Southbank Centre home to perform a season of concerts filmed live and streamed free of charge via Marquee TV.
© Benjamin Ealovega
Leader
Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. He is also a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance. 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 London’s Royal Festival Hall. As a chamber musician he regularly appears at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. His chamber music partners have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Veronika Eberle, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Boris Garlitsky, JeanGuihen Queyras, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Martin Helmchen.
September 2021 saw the opening of a new live concert season at the Royal Festival Hall, featuring many of the world’s leading musicians including Sheku KannehMason, Klaus Mäkelä, Renée Fleming, Bryn Terfel and this season’s Artist-in-Residence, Julia Fischer. The Orchestra is delighted to be continuing to offer digital streams to selected concerts throughout the season through its ongoing partnership with Intersection and Marquee TV.
Pieter has performed numerous times as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Highlights have included an appearance as both conductor and soloist in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at the Royal Festival Hall, the Brahms Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, and the Britten Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the LPO Label to great critical acclaim.
lpo.org.uk
Pieter has appeared as Guest Leader with the BBC, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon and Baltimore symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. Pieter’s chair in the LPO is generously supported by Neil Westreich.
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Edward Gardner Principal Conductor, London Philharmonic Orchestra
He also continued his 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 Night of the BBC Proms.
© Benjamin Ealovega
Music Director of English National Opera for ten years (2006–15), Edward has an ongoing relationship with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where he has conducted productions of La damnation de Faust, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier and Werther. In London he has future plans with the Royal Opera House, where he made his debut in 2019 in a new production of Káťa Kabanová and returned for Werther the following season. The 2021/22 season will see Edward make his debut with the Bayerische Staatsoper in a new production of Peter Grimes. Elsewhere, he has conducted at La Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera, Den Norske Opera and Ballet, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra National de Paris.
Edward Gardner began his tenure as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2021; he is also Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, a position he has held since October 2015.
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.
During the 2021/22 season Edward conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in eleven concerts at the Royal Festival Hall, including five UK premieres. In September 2021 he and the LPO appeared at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, and later this month they will undertake an extensive tour of Germany with tonight’s soloist, Jan Lisiecki.
Born in Gloucester in 1974, Edward was educated at the University of Cambridge 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).
Edward opened the Bergen Philharmonic 2021/22 season with a performance of John Adams’s Harmonium. Further highlights include an all-Stravinsky programme and new commissions by Thomas Larcher, Ryan Wigglesworth and Rebecka Ahvenniemi. Following recent tours to Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam and at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival, the orchestra will perform in Barcelona and Paris this season. In demand as a guest conductor, the previous two seasons saw Edward debut with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Wiener Symphoniker; while returns included engagements with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Montreal Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Philharmonia Orchestra and Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano.
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Jan Lisiecki piano
Grammophon released Chopin’s complete Nocturnes, marking Jan Lisiecki’s eighth album for the prestigious label. At the age of 18, Jan Lisiecki became both the youngest ever recipient of Gramophone’s Young Artist Award, and received the Leonard Bernstein Award. He was named UNICEF Ambassador to Canada in 2012. © Christoph Köstlin
Following tonight’s concert, Jan will travel to Germany with the Orchestra and Edward Gardner, reprising Schumann’s Piano Concerto in Stuttgart, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Berlin, Essen and Hamburg.
Jan Lisiecki’s interpretations and technique speak to a maturity beyond his age. At 26, the Canadian annually performs over 100 concerts worldwide, and has worked closely with conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Daniel Harding, Manfred Honeck and Claudio Abbado. Following an acclaimed series of ‘Night Music’ recitals at the Würzburg Residence in Germany, Jan Lisiecki recently presented both a new solo recital programme and a Beethoven Lieder cycle with baritone Matthias Goerne at the Salzburg Festival. Recent return invitations include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, for performances at Carnegie Hall and the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. Jan has also appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre de Paris, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 15, Jan Lisiecki signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The label launched its celebrations of the 2020 Beethoven anniversary year with the release of a live recording of all five of the composer’s piano concertos from the Konzerthaus Berlin, with Jan Lisiecki leading the Academy of St Martin in the Fields from the piano. In March 2020, a Beethoven Lieder cycle with Matthias Goerne followed, which was awarded the Diapason d’Or. Earlier recordings have been awarded the JUNO and ECHO Klassik awards. In August 2021, Deutsche
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Programme notes Edvard Grieg 1843–1907
Lyric Suite 1891, orch. by Anton Seidl 1894
1 Bell-Ringing 2 Norwegian March 3 Notturno 4 March of the Dwarfs In an age when colossal conceptions triumphed, when Wagner’s operatic Ring Cycle was hailed and imitated everywhere, Edvard Grieg made his name largely as a miniaturist. Apart from the justly famous Piano Concerto, his most significant works are intimate or small-scale: chamber music, songs, and above all his wonderful solo piano pieces, many of them miniature romantic masterpieces. His Lyric Pieces for piano, published in eight volumes over three decades, became as popular as Mendelssohn’s much-loved Songs Without Words, and for a similar reason: they are vivid, atmospheric, melodically glorious, and playable by any decently accomplished amateur.
more 20th- than 19th-century (one can imagine Debussy or Ravel loving it), and Grieg’s orchestration subtly enhances its impressionistic freshness and originality. After this comes the confident, swinging triple-time energy of the ‘Norwegian March’ – the Norwegian title ‘Gangar’ makes it clear that this is a march for farmworkers rather than soldiers (military marches don’t usually feature loose-limbed syncopations!). ‘Notturno’ is a wonderful romantic mood-picture, its yearning lyricism and ecstatic climax punctuated by touching evocations of nocturnal birdsong. Finally, ‘March of the Dwarfs’ (in Norwegian ‘Trolls’) is a spooky Nordic romp, with a main theme that instantly suggests impish mocking laughter. The sweetly songful middle section is a reminder that in Nordic mythology trolls can either appear as hideous or beguilingly, dangerously beautiful; but the ugly truth will always out in the end, as this delicious little tone-poem makes quite clear.
In 1894 Anton Seidl, conductor of the New York Philharmonic, made orchestrations of four movements from Book Five of the Lyric Pieces – he chose the four movements listed above, though not in that order. Grieg, however, wasn’t entirely convinced by the sound. Seidl was a devotee of Wagner, and his orchestrations had a typically Wagnerian opulence and plush depth of sound; Grieg preferred something lighter, more transparent. After Seidl’s death in 1898 Grieg got hold of the score and revised it to make his own Lyric Suite. He also changed Seidl’s selection, substituting the tenderly melancholic ‘Shepherd Boy’ for ‘Bell-Ringing’; but he did also orchestrate ‘BellRinging’, and for tonight’s performance Edward Gardner has included it as the first movement in place of ‘Shepherd Boy’. It’s a remarkable movement, juxtaposing bell-like fifth chords in a way that sounds
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Programme notes Robert Schumann 1810–56
Piano Concerto in A minor 1841/45
Jan Lisiecki piano 1 Allegro affettuoso 2 Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso – 3 Allegro vivace Schumann’s Piano Concerto is one of his finest largescale creations. It feels as though it must have been conceived in a single flight of poetic invention. In fact it was written in two completely separate instalments, and at two very different periods in Schumann’s life. The first movement originally appeared as a self-sufficient ‘Fantasie’ for piano and orchestra in 1841 – the year that also saw the composition of the First Symphony, the original version of the Fourth, and the orchestral Overture, Scherzo and Finale. Schumann’s long-awaited marriage to the brilliant concert pianist Clara Wieck the previous year had, it seems, released a torrent of creativity.
The result was one of Schumann’s most daring and romantically delightful works. The piano’s downwardplunging opening gesture – after a single incisive chord from the full orchestra – is unlike the beginning of any concerto before. It clearly left a strong impression on the composer Edvard Grieg, who began his famous Piano Concerto (also in A minor) with a strikingly similar gesture. And although Schumann’s first movement appears to be full of melodic ideas, most of these derive directly from the wind-piano tune that follows that dramatic opening: so much so that the movement has been described as ‘monothematic’ – also very unusual for an early 19th-century concerto.
Then, in 1844, after Schumann and Clara had returned from a concert tour of Russia, Schumann experienced a crippling mental breakdown, followed by a terrible plunge into depression. At the end of the year he and Clara moved to Dresden with their two children, where gradually Schumann’s spirits began to recover. For a long time Schumann was unable to compose, but by the end of 1845 he completed his Symphony No. 2, a work that bears witness to his struggles to regain stability. And just before he started the Symphony, Schumann added two more movements to the ‘Fantasie’, thus transforming it into the Piano Concerto. How long the ideas for these two movements had been incubating in his mind is impossible to say, but it is certain that the act of putting them to paper was a major step forward on his road to psychological recovery.
But it is the dream-like quality Schumann brings to this musical argument that is most original of all. The piano writing may be challenging, but the real challenge is to the player’s poetic imagination. Even the first movement’s solo cadenza is more like a meditation than a bravura display. In general the relationship between the piano and the orchestra is neither as one-sided nor as competitive as in most romantic concertos. Tender intimacy is much more typical. A couple of years before he began the first movement, Schumann had written of his hope that a new kind of ‘genius’ might soon emerge: one ‘who will show us in a newer and more brilliant way how orchestra and piano may be combined, how the soloist, dominant at the keyboard, may unfold the wealth of his instrument and his art, while the orchestra, no longer a mere spectator, may interweave its manifold
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Programme notes facets into the scene.’ In the Piano Concerto he fulfilled his own prophecy. The chamber-like intimacy continues through the gentle Intermezzo Schumann placed as the Concerto’s second movement – and again the way in which one motif seems to unfold from another is achieved with great subtlety. Just before the end of the movement comes a wonderful inspiration. Clarinets and bassoons recall the seminal first phrase of the first movement’s original melody – first in the major key, then in the minor – while the piano adds magical liquid figurations (as though dreamily recalling the Concerto’s arresting opening). Then the finale launches suddenly into an exhilarating, seemingly unstoppable waltz. It is hard to believe that the man who wrote this gloriously alive dance music was at the time emerging from chronic depression. The ending in particular sounds like an outpouring of the purest joy.
Have you checked out our LPO podcast, LPO Offstage yet? Now in its third series, each weekly episode takes a look at a different aspect of behind-the-scenes life in the LPO, bringing you closer than ever to the world of orchestral music.
Interval – 20 minutes
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Robert Schumann
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Photo courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Programme notes Jean Sibelius 1865–1957
Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 43 1902
1 Allegretto 2 Tempo Andante, ma rubato 3 Vivacissimo – Lento e suave – Tempo primo – Lento e suave – 4 Finale: Allegro moderato
outline a three-note rising figure, moving upwards in simple steps. This is the seed from which almost everything in this music grows. But at first the growth is hesitant, broken by pauses and expectant silences. Eventually the pace and excitement mount, but this too seems to run out of steam, and a nervous oboe figure, with murmuring string accompaniment initiates a long, striving build up. At the height of this long crescendo, triumphant brass fanfares burst through, culminating in a grand restatement of the opening material, now without its earlier hesitancy. A brief recapitulation leads to a calmer coda, the opening rising string figures now falling to rest.
Sibelius once told his fellow composer Gustav Mahler that, for him, writing symphonies was about finding ‘the profound logic that establishes a connection between all the motifs’. True, no 20th-century composer is more profoundly logical than Sibelius at his best: following the development of a whole movement from a tiny thematic ‘germ’ can be like watching a speeded-up film of a plant growing from a seed to full flower. But it’s also clear that there is much more to a work like the Second Symphony than abstract development. In fact the slow second movement began life as a tone-poem about the final struggle between Don Juan and Death – it’s still possible to trace the outlines of the story in the music – while the triumphant emergence of the majestic Finale theme from the stormy ending of the third movement is much more than a clever piece of musical engineering. For many of Sibelius’s fellow Finns, listening to the Symphony’s first performance in 1902, this passage in particular expressed the nation’s growing hope of independence after a century of Russian domination. In fact the Second Symphony soon came to be known as the ‘Symphony of Liberation’. For his part, Sibelius never completely confirmed or denied this interpretation, but it’s hard to believe that the fate of his oppressed but heroically defiant native country didn’t leave a deep imprint on this music – and especially on its blazingly positive conclusion.
Eerie pizzicato (plucked) figures for basses and cellos, followed by a lugubrious bassoon solo, set a more sombre tone for the slow movement. In his sketches for the original Don Juan tone-poem, Sibelius drafted out a programme for this first section: ‘Sitting in the twilight in my castle. A stranger comes in. I ask him more than once who he is. Finally he strikes up a song. Then Don Juan sees who it is – Death.’ It’s not hard to match this closely to the music. The sense of struggle grows darker, more painful, but a warmer, major-key theme for full strings (labelled ‘Christus’ in the sketches) brings welcome contrast. In this movement it is the darker music – ‘Death’ according to Sibelius’s abandoned programme – that wins.
In the first movement, profound logic and mounting optimism work hand in hand. The opening string chords
Continued overleaf
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Programme notes However that only makes the rushing vitality of the following Vivacissimo third movement all the more exhilarating. Twice this music is interrupted by a chantlike theme (led by oboe) in a slower tempo, but the second time this leads into a stormy transition, with scraps of a new theme heard first on bass instruments – Sibelius’s model here is clearly the thrilling Scherzo–Finale transition in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
On the LPO Label
Eventually the clouds part, and the scraps fuse into the superbly confident Finale theme, striding forward in three beats to the bar. This movement too has its darker episodes – Sibelius’s widow revealed that the plaintive oboe theme (above murmuring low strings) was composed in memory of her sister, who committed suicide – Death in another guise. But eventually the Finale theme returns with renewed vigour. Finally the tempo broadens and trumpets extend the theme into a radiant song of victory.
Sibelius Symphonies Nos. 2 & 7 Paavo Berglund conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra £9.99 | LPO–0005
Programme notes © Stephen Johnson
Recorded live at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on 16 February 2005 (No. 2) & 6 December 2003 (No. 7)
‘A performance of overwhelming intensity … very special’
Recommended recordings of tonight’s works
International Record Review
Grieg: Lyric Suite Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra | Neeme Järvi (Deutsche Grammophon)
All LPO Label releases are available on CD from all good retailers, and to download or stream via Spotify, Apple Music, Idagio and others.
Schumann: Piano Concerto Jan Lisiecki | Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia | Antonio Pappano (Deutsche Grammophon) Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 London Philharmonic Orchestra | Paavo Berglund (LPO Label LPO-0005: see right)
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
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
Welser-Möst Circle William & Alex de Winton John Ireland Charitable Trust The Tsukanov Family Foundation Neil Westreich
Tennstedt Circle Valentina & Dmitry Aksenov Richard Buxton The Candide Trust Michael & Elena Kroupeev Kirby Laing Foundation Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Alexey & Anastasia Reznikovich Sir Simon Robey Bianca & Stuart Roden Simon & Vero Turner The late Mr K Twyman
Solti Patrons Ageas John & Manon Antoniazzi Gabor Beyer, through BTO Management Consulting AG Jon Claydon Mrs Mina Goodman & Miss Suzanne Goodman Roddy & April Gow The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Mr James R.D. Korner Christoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia Ladanyi-Czernin Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski
The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust Mr Paris Natar The Rothschild Foundation Tom & Phillis Sharpe The Viney Family
Haitink Patrons Mark & Elizabeth Adams Dr Christopher Aldren Mrs Pauline Baumgartner Lady Jane Berrill Mr Frederick Brittenden David & Yi Yao Buckley Mr Clive Butler Gill & Garf Collins Mr John H Cook Mr Alistair Corbett Bruno De Kegel Georgy Djaparidze David Ellen Christopher Fraser OBE David & Victoria Graham Fuller Goldman Sachs International Mr Gavin Graham Moya Greene Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Tony & Susie Hayes Malcolm Herring Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Mrs Philip Kan Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe Rose & Dudley Leigh Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons Miss Jeanette Martin Duncan Matthews QC Diana & Allan Morgenthau Charitable Trust Dr Karen Morton Mr Roger Phillimore Ruth Rattenbury The Reed Foundation The Rind Foundation Sir Bernard Rix
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David Ross & Line Forestier (Canada) 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 CBE AM Christopher Williams Peter Wilson Smith Mr Anthony Yolland and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous
London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
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 Anonymous donors Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet Mrs Christina Lang Assael Sir Simon & Lady Robey OBE
Orchestra Circle
The Candide Trust William & Alex de Winton Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Neil Westreich The American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Principal Associates
An anonymous donor Richard Buxton Gill & Garf Collins In memory of Brenda Lyndoe Casbon In memory of Ann Marguerite Collins Hamish & Sophie Forsyth The Tsukanov Family
Associates
Anonymous donors Steven M. Berzin Ms Veronika BorovikKhilchevskaya Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G. Cave The Lambert Family Charitable Trust Countess Dominique Loredan Mr & Mrs Makharinsky George Ramishvili Stuart & Bianca Roden Julian & Gill Simmonds In memory of Hazel Amy Smith Deanie & Jay Stein
Gold Patrons
An anonymous donor Chris Aldren David & Yi Buckley David Burke & Valerie Graham David & Elizabeth Challen In memory of Allner Mavis Channing Sonja Drexler The Vernon Ellis Foundation Peter & Fiona Espenhahn Marie-Laure Favre-Gilly de Varennes de Beuill Mr Roger Greenwood Malcolm Herring
Geoff & Meg Mann Harriet & Michael Maunsell Marianne Parsons Dr Wiebke Pekrull Mr Gerald Pettit Mr Roger Phillimore Gillian Pole Mr Michael Posen Mr Christopher Querée Sir Bernard Rix Mr Robert Ross Priscylla Shaw Patrick & Belinda Snowball Charlotte Stevenson Mr Robert Swannell Tony & Hilary Vines Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Marina Vaizey Jenny Watson CBE Mr John Weekes Christopher Williams
John & Angela Kessler Dame Theresa Sackler Scott & Kathleen Simpson Eric Tomsett Andrew & Rosemary Tusa The Viney Family Guy & Utti Whittaker
Silver Patrons
Mrs A Beare The Rt Hon. The Lord Burns GCB Bruno De Kegel Jan & Leni Du Plessis Ulrike & Benno Engelmann Simon & Meg Freakley Pehr G Gyllenhammar The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Sofiya Machulskaya Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva The Metherell Family Andrew Neill Peter & Lucy Noble Marianne Parsons Tom & Phillis Sharpe Laurence Watt Grenville & Krysia Williams
Principal Supporters
Anonymous donors Dr R M Aickin Mr Mark Astaire Sir John Baker Tessa Bartley Mr Geoffrey Bateman Mrs Julia Beine Mr Anthony Boswood Dr Carlos Carreno Mr Julien Chilcott-Monk Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen David & Liz Conway Mr Alistair Corbett Andrew Davenport Mr Simon Douglas Mr Richard Fernyhough Mrs Janet Flynn Mrs Ash Frisby Mr Stephen Goldring Mr Daniel Goldstein Mr Milton Grundy Prof. Emeritus John Gruzelier Nerissa Guest & David Foreman Michael & Christine Henry Mark & Sarah Holford Ivan Hurry Per Jonsson Alexandra Jupin & John Bean Richard & Briony Linsell Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter Mace Nicholas & Lindsay Merriman Andrew T Mills Simon & Fiona Mortimore John Nickson & Simon Rew Mr James Pickford Michael & Carolyn Portillo
Bronze Patrons
Anonymous donors Michael Allen Dr Manon Antoniazzi Julian & Annette Armstrong Roger & Clare Barron Mr Philip Bathard-Smith Sir Peter Bazalgette Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley Mr Bernard Bradbury Sally Bridgeland In memory of Julie Bromley Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Howard & Veronika Covington John & Sam Dawson Cameron & Kathryn Doley David Ellen Christopher Fraser OBE Virginia Gabbertas MBE David & Jane Gosman Mr Gavin Graham Mrs Dorothy Hambleton J Douglas Home The Jackman Family Jamie & Julia Korner Rose & Dudley Leigh Drs Frank & Gek Lim Nicholas & Felicity Lyons
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Mr David Russell Colin Senneck & the Hartley and District LPO Group Nigel Silby Mr Brian Smith Martin & Cheryl Southgate Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Mr Ian Tegner Dr June Wakefield Howard & Sheelagh Watson Roger Woodhouse Mr John Wright
Supporters
Anonymous donors Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Alexander & Rachel Antelme Julian & Annette Armstrong Lindsay Badenoch Mr Mark Bagshaw & Mr Ian Walker Mr John Barnard Mr John D Barnard Damaris, Richard & Friends Mr David Barrett Diana Barrett Mr Simon Baynham Nick & Rebecca Beresford Mr Paul Bland Mr Keith Bolderson Mr Andrew Botterill Julian & Margaret Bowden & Mr Paul Michel Richard & Jo Brass Mr & Mrs Shaun Brown Mr Alan C Butler Lady Cecilia Cadbury Mrs Marilyn Casford Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington J Clay Mr Joshua Coger Mr Martin Compton Mr Martin Connelly Mr Stephen Connock Miss Tessa Cowie Mr David Davies Mr Roderick Davies Mr David Devons Anthony & Jo Diamond Miss Sylvia Dowle Mr Andrew Dyke Mr Declan Eardly Mrs Maureen Erskine Mr Peter Faulk Mr Joe Field Ms Chrisine Louise Fluker Mr Kevin Fogarty Mr Richard France Mr Bernard Freudenthal Mrs Adele Friedland & Friends
London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
Thank you
Will Gold Mrs Alison Goulter Mr Andrew Gunn Mr K Haines Mr Martin Hale Roger Hampson Mr Graham Hart Mr & Mrs Nevile Henderson The Jackman Family Mr Ian Kapur Martin Kettle Mr Justin Kitson Ms Yvonne Lock Mrs Sally Manning Belinda Miles Dr Joe Mooney Christopher & Diane Morcom Dame Jane Newell DBE Oliver & Josie Ogg Mr Stephen Olton Mr David Peters Nadya Powell Ms Caroline Priday Mr Richard Rolls Mr Richard Rowland Mr & Mrs Alan Senior Tom Sharpe Mr Kenneth Shaw Ruth Silvestre Barry & Gillian Smith Mr David Southern Ms Mary Stacey Mr Simon Starr Mrs Margaret Thompson Philip & Katie Thonemann Mr Owen Toller Mrs Rose Tremain Ms Mary Stacey Ms Caroline Tate Mr Peter Thierfeldt Dr Ann Turrall Michael & Katie Urmston Dr June Wakefield Mr Dominic Wallis Mrs C Willaims Joanna Williams Mr Kevin Willmering Mr David Woodhead
LPO International Board of Governors
Hon. Benefactor
Simon Freakley Chairman Jay Goffman Alexandra Jupin William A. Kerr Kristina McPhee Natalie Pray Damien Vanderwilt Elizabeth Winter Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP
Elliott Bernerd
Hon. Life Members Alfonso Aijón Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Robert Hill Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE Laurence Watt
Corporate Donors
Barclays CHANEL Fund for Women in the Arts and Culture Pictet Bank
Natasha Tsukanova Chair Steven M. Berzin (USA) Veronika Borovik-Khilchevskaya (Cyprus) Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil (France) Aline Foriel-Destezet (France) Irina Gofman (Russia) Countess Dominique Loredan (Italy) Olivia Ma (Greater China Area) Olga Makharinsky (Russia) George Ramishvili (Georgia) Victoria Robey OBE (USA) Jay Stein (USA)
LPO Corporate Circle Leader freuds Sunshine
Principal Berenberg Bloomberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce
Thomas Beecham Group Members
Tutti Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Walpole
Chris Aldren David & Yi Buckley Gill & Garf Collins William & Alex de Winton Sonja Drexler The Friends of the LPO Irina Gofman Roger Greenwood Dr Barry Grimaldi Mr & Mrs Philip Kan John & Angela Kessler Countess Dominique Loredan Sir Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds Eric Tomsett Neil Westreich Guy & Utti Whittaker
Trialist Allianz Musical Insurance
Preferred Partners
Gusbourne Estate Lidl Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Steinway
In-kind Sponsor Google Inc
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:
Trusts and Foundations The Boltini Trust Borrows Charitable Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation The Candide Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts The London Community Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The Fidelio Charitable Trust Foyle Foundation Garrick Charitable Trust The Leche Trust Lucille Graham Trust John Horniman’s Children’s Trust John Thaw Foundation The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation Adam Mickiewicz Institute PRS Foundation The Radcliffe Trust Rivers Foundation The R K Charitable Trust Romanian Cultural Institute Rothschild Foundation RVW Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation Souter Charitable Trust The Stanley Picker Trust The Thomas Deane Trust The Thriplow Charitable Trust The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust The Victoria Wood Foundation The Viney Family The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust The William Alwyn Foundation
and all others who wish to remain anonymous. The LPO would also like to acknowledge all those who have made donations to the Play On Appeal and who have supported the Orchestra during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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London Philharmonic Orchestra • 10 November 2021 • Landscapes and Love Songs
London Philharmonic Orchestra Administration Board of Directors Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Martin Höhmann* President Dr Catherine C. Høgel Vice-Chairman Henry Baldwin* Vice-President Kate Birchall* David Buckley David Burke Bruno De Kegel Deborah Dolce Tanya Joseph Hugh Kluger* Al MacCuish Tania Mazzetti* Stewart McIlwham* Jamie Njoku-Goodwin Andrew Tusa Mark Vines* Neil Westreich Simon Freakley (Ex officio – Chairman of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra) *Player-Director
Advisory Council Martin Höhmann Chairman Robert Adediran Christopher Aldren Dr Manon Antoniazzi Roger Barron Richard Brass Helen Brocklebank Simon Callow CBE Desmond Cecil CMG Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Guillaume Descottes Cameron Doley Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Marianna Hay MBE 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
Finance
Julian Simmonds Barry Smith Martin Southgate Chris Viney Laurence Watt Elizabeth Winter
Frances Slack Finance Director Dayse Guilherme Finance Manager Jean-Paul Ramotar Finance and IT Officer
General Administration Elena Dubinets Artistic Director David Burke Chief Executive Chantelle Vircavs PA to the Executive
Education and Community Talia Lash Interim Education and Community Director Rebecca Parslow Education and Community Project Manager
Concert Management Roanna Gibson Concerts Director
Hannah Foakes Tilly Gugenheim Education and Community Project Co-ordinators
Graham Wood Concerts and Recordings Manager Fabio Sarlo Glyndebourne and Projects Manager
Development Laura Willis Development Director
Grace Ko Tours Manager
Vicky Moran Development Events Manager
Alison Jones Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator Christina Perrin Concerts and Tours Assistant Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant
Felix Lo Orchestra and Auditions Manager
Marketing Kath Trout Marketing and Communications Director Mairi Warren Marketing Manager Rachel Williams Publications Manager
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Greg Felton Digital Creative Kiera Lockard Marketing Assistant
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 Brian Cohen Mr Simon Owen-Johnstone Hon. Orthopaedic Surgeons
Kirstin Peltonen Development Associate
Damian Davis Transport Manager
Sophie Harvey Digital and Residencies Marketing Manager
Rosie Morden Individual Giving Manager
Nick Jackman Campaigns and Projects Director
Laura Kitson Stephen O’Flaherty Stage Managers
Ruth Knight Press and PR Manager
Mr Chris Aldren Honorary ENT Surgeon
Priya Radhakrishnan Georgia Wiltshire Development Assistants
Sarah Thomas Martin Sargeson Librarians
Gavin Miller Box Office Manager
Stef Woodford Corporate Relations Manager
Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager
Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager
Harrie Mayhew Website Manager
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 Cover photo James Wicks 2021/22 season identity JMG Studio Printer John Good Ltd