LPO concert programme: 24 Nov 2021 - Seascapes and Visions (Klaus Mäkelä/Truls Mørk) by London Philharmonic Orchestra

2021/22 concert season at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

Concert programme

Principal Conductor Edward Gardner supported by Aud Jebsen 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 24 November 2021 | 7.30pm

Seascapes and Visions Messiaen Les offrandes oubliées (13’) Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 (19’) Interval (20’) Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (10’) Debussy La mer (23’) Klaus Mäkelä conductor Truls Mørk cello Concert generously supported by Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet

Free pre-concert event: Crisis Creates 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall Members of Crisis – all adults who have experienced homelessness – perform music they have created with LPO musicians and a workshop leader during a week-long creative project. Using the music of the Orchestra as inspiration, participants bring their own experiences and creativity to collaborate and create something new and powerful.

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

Contents 2 Welcome Recommended recordings 3 On stage tonight 4 London Philharmonic Orchestra 5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 Klaus Mäkelä 7 Truls Mørk 8 Programme notes 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Thank you 16 LPO administration

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Welcome to the Southbank Centre

LPO news Royal Philharmonic Society Award

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.

VOpera’s virtual lockdown production of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortileges, performed by the LPO and first broadcast in November 2020, has won the Opera and Music Theatre category at the 2021 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards. The winners were announced on 1 November in a ceremony at Wigmore Hall, in which the judging panel said: ‘This digital production burst out of nowhere, courtesy of the newly-formed company Vopera. It’s a spectacular creation that generated welcome employment for a raft of housebound talent, sublimely supported by an ensemble of London Philharmonic players. It lifted spirits and wittily spoke to current times.’

Eating, drinking and shopping? Take in the views over food and drinks at the Riverside Terrace Cafe, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall. Visit our shops for products inspired by our great cultural experiences, iconic buildings and central London location. Explore across the site with Beany Green, Côte Brasserie, Foyles, Giraffe, Honest Burger, Las Iguanas, Le Pain Quotidien, Ping Pong, Pret, Strada, Skylon, Slice, Spiritland, wagamama and Wahaca. If you would like to get in touch with us following your visit, please write to: Visitor Contact Team, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk

This is the latest in a stream of awards for the production, which was directed by Rachael Hewer, produced by Tamzin Aitken and conducted by Lee Reynolds: it previously won the Opera category of the 2021 South Bank Sky Arts Awards and a 2020 Digital Classical Music Award.

We look forward to seeing you again soon. A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

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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.

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

Mobiles and watches should be switched off before the performance begins.

by Laurie Watt Messiaen: Les offrandes oubliées Tonhalle Orchester Zürich | Paavo Järvi (Alpha)

Enjoying your visit safely

Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 Truls Mørk | Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

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.

Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune London Philharmonic Orchestra | Serge Baudo (Amazon download/Classics For Pleasure) or Sinfonia of London | John Wilson (Chandos) Debussy: La mer Stéphane Denève | Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Chandos)

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.

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

On stage tonight First Violins

Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Lasma Taimina Chair supported by Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G. Cave

Minn Majoe Yang Zhang

Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Martin Höhmann

Chair supported by Chris Aldren

Katalin Varnagy

Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

Ronald Long Amanda Smith Nilufar Alimaksumova Alice Hall Cassi Hamilton Jeff Moore Joseph Devalle Caroline Sharp

Second Violins

Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan

Emma Oldfield Kate Birchall Ashley Stevens Fiona Higham

Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Nancy Elan Joseph Maher Sioni Williams Nynke Hijlkema Sheila Law Eleonora Consta Alison Strange Claudia Tarrant-Matthews Sarah Thornett

Violas

Flutes

David Quiggle Principal Richard Waters Co-Principal Ting-Ru Lai Laura Vallejo Benedetto Pollani Katharine Leek Joseph Fisher Stanislav Popov Daniel Cornford Martin Wray Raquel Bolivar

Juliette Bausor Principal Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Hannah Grayson Stewart McIlwham*

Piccolo

Stewart McIlwham* Principal

Oboes

Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday

Cellos

Trumpets

Paul Beniston* Principal James Fountain* Principal Anne McAneney Tom Nielsen Ruth Shaddock

Trombones

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

David Whitehouse

Bass Trombone

Lyndon Meredith Principal

Pei-Jee Ng Principal Francis Bucknall David Lale Elisabeth Wiklander Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Helen Rathbone George Hoult Sibylle Hentschel David Bucknall

Cor Anglais

Double Basses

Paul Richards* Principal

Andrew Barclay* Principal

Bassoons

Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Keith Millar

Sue Böhling* Principal Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

Clarinets

Co-Principal

Timpani

Chair supported by Roger Greenwood

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Gareth Newman Principal Simon Estell* Angharad Thomas Patrick Bolton

Hugh Kluger George Peniston Lowri Morgan Adam Wynter Sam Rice Cathy Colwell

Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Benjamin Mellefont Principal Thomas Watmough

Bass Clarinet

Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar

Tuba

Contrabassoon

Simon Estell* Principal

Horns

John Ryan* Principal Diego Incertis Sánchez Guest Principal

Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison

Simon Carrington* Principal

Percussion

Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins

Harps

Rachel Masters Principal Tamara Young * Holds a professorial appointment in London The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Friends of the Orchestra Sir Simon Robey Bianca & Stuart Roden

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

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

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

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.

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.

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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.

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Klaus Mäkelä conductor

the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, and will tour to the UK and France.

With the Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä performed at the 2021 summer festivals of Granada and Aix-enProvence. For his first concert in the 2021/22 season he conducted a new work by Unsuk Chin entitled Spira, Strauss’s Four Songs, Op. 27, with soloist Lise Davidsen, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. His first season as Music Director also features the music of Ligeti and Dutilleux alongside Biber, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky. In the 2021/22 season Klaus appears as a Portrait Artist at the Vienna Konzerthaus, conducting the Vienna Symphony and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras, and playing cello in chamber music. He also guest conducts the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic. Last season he appeared with the Concertgebouworkest, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Tapiola Sinfonietta. As Artist-in-Residence at Spain’s Granada Festival he conducted the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada and Orchestre de Paris. At the Verbier Festival he conducted, and played cello in a chamber music programme.

Klaus Mäkelä is Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Turku Music Festival. An exclusive Decca Classics artist, he has recorded Sibelius’s complete symphonies with the Oslo Philharmonic as his first project for the label, to be released in 2022. Tonight is Klaus Mäkelä’s debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He returns to the Royal Festival Hall on 23 February 2022 to conduct the Orchestra in Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra and Javier Perianes premiering a new Piano Concerto by Jimmy López, and again on 26 February 2022 to conduct Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with soloist Daniel Lozakovich.

Klaus Mäkelä studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula and cello with Marko Ylönen, Timo Hanhinen and Hannu Kiiski. As a cellist he has performed with several Finnish orchestras and as a chamber musician with members of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

Klaus Mäkelä launched the Oslo Philharmonic’s 2021/22 season in August with a special concert featuring Kaija Saariaho’s Asteroid 4179: Toutatis, Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, two new works by Norwegian composer Mette Henriette, and Sibelius’s Lemminkäinen. A similarly wide range of repertoire is presented throughout his second season in Oslo, including major choral works by Bach, Mozart and Walton, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, and Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 10 and 14 with soloists Mika Kares and Asmik Grigorian. Recent and new works include compositions by Sally Beamish, Unsuk Chin, Jimmy Lopez, Andrew Norman and Kaija Saariaho. In spring 2022 Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic will perform the complete Sibelius symphony cycle at the Wiener Konzerthaus and

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Truls Mørk cello

the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra – where he was Artist in Residence, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he will give the UK premiere of the piece in May 2022. He has also given highly successful performances of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto conducted by the composer at the Royal Festival Hall, Lincoln Center and the Festival d’Aix en Provence. In collaboration with Klaus Mäkelä, he performed the Salonen Cello Concerto with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Other commissions include Rautavaara’s Towards the Horizon with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and John Storgårds; Haas’s Cello Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Jonathan Nott; Penderecki’s Concerto for Three Cellos with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit; and Hafliði Hallgrímsson’s Cello Concerto, co-commissioned by the Oslo Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony and Scottish Chamber orchestras.

Truls Mørk’s compelling performances, combining fierce intensity, integrity and grace, have established him as one of the pre-eminent cellists of our time. He performs with the most distinguished orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic and Leipzig Gewandhausorchester. In North America he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conductor collaborations include Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Manfred Honeck, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Christoph Eschenbach, amongst others.

With an impressive recording output, Truls Mørk has recorded many of the great cello concertos for labels such as Virgin Classics, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Ondine, Arte Nova and Chandos, many of which have won international awards including Gramophone, Grammy, Midem and ECHO Klassik awards. These include Dvořák’s Concerto (Mariss Jansons/Oslo Philharmonic); Britten’s Cello Symphony and Elgar’s Concerto (Sir Simon Rattle/CBSO); Miaskovsky’s Concerto and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante (Paavo Järvi/CBSO); Dutilleux (Myung-Whun Chung/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France); and Rautavaara’s Towards the Horizon (John Storgårds/Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra), as well as the complete Bach Cello Suites and Britten Cello Suites. His most recent recordings include Shostakovich’s Concertos with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko; Massenet’s works for cello and orchestra with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Neeme Järvi; and the Saint-Saëns Concertos with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Neeme Järvi.

The 2021/22 season sees returns to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hr-Sinfonieorchester and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, among others. Truls Mørk will be Artist-in-Residence at the Tongyeong Festival in Korea, opening the Festival with Dvořák’s Cello Concerto under Dalia Stasevska. He will also perform Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Poppen, and in recital with Hie-Yon Choi.

Initially taught by his father, Truls Mørk continued his studies with Frans Helmerson, Heinrich Schiff and Natalia Schakowskaya. Early in his career he won the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition (1982), the Cassado Cello Competition (1983), the Unesco Prize at the European Radio-Union Competition in Bratislava (1983), and the Naumberg Competition in New York (1986).

A great champion of contemporary music, Truls Mørk has given in excess of 30 premieres. In the 2019/20 season he premiered Victoria Borisova-Ollas’s cello concerto Oh Giselle, Remember Me, commissioned by

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Programme notes Olivier Messiaen 1908–92

Les offrandes oubliées (The Forgotten Offerings): méditation symphonique 1930 1 Très lent, douloureux, profondément triste (Very slow, grief-stricken, profoundly sad) – 2 Vif, féroce, désespéré, haletant (Ferocious, desperate, gasping for breath) – 3 Extrêmement lent (avec une grande pitié et une grande amour) (Extremely slow, with great compassion and great love)

The first movement is marked ‘very slow, grief-stricken, profoundly sad’, and consists of a single melody in a free time reminiscent of plainchant, mostly for the muted strings (except double basses) in octaves over wind harmonies, but with interpolated bars of rich string harmonies; as a coda, cellos, basses and bassoons introduce a new fragment of melody. The quick central movement maintains the mood of its initial marking, ‘ferocious, desperate, gasping for breath’, through a series of panels in changing metres and featuring mostly rising phrases coloured by fierce string attacks, sharp accents in the brass, and whistling violin harmonics. At the end, the melodic fragment from the coda of the first movement returns, slightly extended. It is then expanded further as the melody of the ‘extremely slow’ final movement, played by muted first violins with the harmonic support of four solo second violins and five solo violas, also muted, and marked ‘with great compassion and great love’.

Olivier Messiaen’s ‘symphonic meditation’ Les offrandes oubliées (‘The Forgotten Offerings’) is an early work, written in the summer of 1930 as he was leaving the Paris Conservatoire, and first performed the following year. It lacks some of the fingerprints of his later music, in particular his use of birdsong. But it already shows many elements of his mature musical language: harmonies based on his own modal system, which appear to drift rather than moving purposefully to cadences; rhythms often in varying groupings of two and three beats; and orchestration in alternating blocks of sound, reminiscent of an organist’s use of different registrations. The piece is also typical of Messiaen at most periods of his life in its specifically Christian subject-matter. The ‘offerings’ of the title are Christ’s self-sacrifice on the Cross and the act of Eucharist that commemorates this; and it is when these are ‘forgotten’, Messiaen explains in a prefatory poem, that mankind descends into sin. This is the basis of the work’s plan of three short, continuous movements, which in his published piano arrangement the composer entitled respectively ‘The Cross’, ‘Sin’ and ‘The Eucharist’.

Programme note © Anthony Burton

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Programme notes Les bras étendus, triste jusqu’à la mort, sur l’arbre de la Croix vous répandez votre sang. Vous nous aimez, doux Jésus, nous l’avions oublié.

Arms stretched out, sad unto death, on the tree of the Cross you shed your blood. You love us, sweet Jesus: we had forgotten that.

Poussé par la folie et le dard du serpent, dans une course haletante, effrénée, sans relâche, nous descendions dans le péché comme dans un tombeau.

Driven by madness and the serpent’s bite on a panting, frantic, unceasing course, we descended into sin as into a tomb.

Voici la table pure, la source de la charité, le banquet du pauvre, voici la Pitié adorable offrant le pain de la Vie et de l’Amour. Vous nous aimez, doux Jésus, nous l’avions oublié.

Here is the spotless table, the source of charity, the poor man’s banquet; here is Pity to be worshipped, offering the bread of Life and Love. You love us, sweet Jesus: we had forgotten that.

– Olivier Messiaen, prefatory poem to Les Offrandes oubliées

Olivier Messiaen

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Programme notes Camille Saint-Saëns 1835–1921

Cello Concerto No. 1 1872

Truls Mørk cello 1 Allegro non troppo – Animato – Allegro molto – Tempo I – 2 Allegretto con moto – (cadenza) – Tempo I – Un peu moins vite – 3 Molto allegro Saint-Saëns wrote two cello concertos, of which this is the more popular. He composed the piece in 1872 when he was 37 years old and it was premiered on 19 January 1873 by its dedicatee, the Belgian cellist Auguste Tolbecque, accompanied by the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra.

French composer Camille Saint-Saëns said of his musical style: ‘I am an eclectic spirit. It may be a great defect, but I cannot change it: one cannot make over one’s personality.’ He further explained in his memoirs: ‘Music is something besides a source of sensuous pleasure and keen emotion ... He who does not get absolute pleasure from a simple series of wellconstructed chords, beautiful only in their arrangement, is not really fond of music.’

The Cello Concerto No. 1 is in three main sections, played without a break, and begins with a short orchestral chord followed by the immediate entry of the cello. The work is unified throughout by the powerful main theme introduced in the first movement, which is contrasted with a deliciously lyrical secondary melody. During the graceful, good-humoured central section the soloist plays a cadenza (a virtuosic solo display), and in the finale is given more opportunities to dazzle as Saint-Saëns combines new themes with earlier material, drawing together the Concerto’s different elements to reach a thrilling conclusion.

This ability to embrace different ideas, and to enjoy the essential elements of music, proved not to be a ‘defect’ but an advantage. Today, Saint-Saëns is perhaps best known for his light-hearted Carnival of the Animals, a work he refused to have published during his lifetime apart from one movement, ‘The Swan’ for cello and two pianos or orchestra, in which he revealed his particular affinity for the cello. The Carnival is now enjoyed alongside the composer’s more ‘serious’ works because audiences appreciate the versatility of a musician able to range between humour and complexity.

Programme note © Joanna Wyld

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

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Programme notes Claude Debussy 1862–1918

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune 1894

Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune is a key work in the development of Western music, in which the purposeful harmonic movement of the German tradition from Bach to Wagner is replaced by an apparently instinctive drifting from chord to chord in support of the all-important melodic line. The piece was suggested by the eclogue L’après-midi d’un faune by the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé, first published in 1876 – a languorous and sensual evocation of the dreams and meditations of a faun (a mythical creature, half-man and half-beast) in drowsy afternoon heat. Debussy planned in 1892 to write a set of three orchestral pieces based on the poem, a prelude, interlude and final paraphrase. But work on his opera Pelléas et Mélisande intervened, and he completed only the Prelude, which was first performed in 1894. Mallarmé himself described Debussy’s piece as an ‘illustration ... which presents no dissonance with my text. Instead’, he went on with a glowing procession of nouns which acts as a remarkable encapsulation of Debussy’s art, ‘it goes much further into the nostalgia and light with subtlety, malaise and richness.’ Programme note © Anthony Burton

Debussy in 1908 © Atelier Nadar

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Programme notes Claude Debussy 1862–1918

La mer (The Sea): three symphonic sketches 1905/1909

1 De l’aube à midi sur la mer (From dawn to midday on the sea) 2 Jeux de vagues (Play of waves) 3 Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the wind and the sea) Debussy began La mer (‘The Sea’) in the summer of 1903, writing a substantial part of it while visiting his wife’s parents far inland in Burgundy. He continued to work on it over the next couple of years, after his elopement with Emma Bardac – sometimes in Paris, but also during holidays with Emma on the Normandy coast and in the Channel Islands. It was completed in March 1905, and received its first, unsuccessful, performance in Paris that October. The score was published that year, and reissued with some corrections and revisions in 1909 – by which time the work was on its way to acceptance as a masterpiece of the orchestral repertoire.

The ‘dawn’ introduction to the first movement presents two of these cyclic motifs, the first an incisive short–long figure, the second a double rising-and-falling curve. The main section introduces two distinct groups of ideas, the first surely suggested by the sparkle of sunlight on waves, the second – launched by the cellos in four-part harmony – by the perpetual heaving of the sea. But there is little recapitulation after this as the movement moves through the morning to a ‘very slow’ coda with a solemn horn chorale – another cyclic motif – evoking the brightness of the midday sun. The central movement, ‘Play of waves’, is even freer in form, with little more than a vestigial scherzo-and-trio outline overlaid by continuous thematic development and evolution. The finale, ‘Dialogue of the wind and the sea’, is built around four presentations of a sustained melody, opening out from its initial interval of a semitone, which appears in different contexts suggesting different weather conditions. But these rondo-like statements are inset into more continuous discussion of shorter motifs, including the cyclic ideas from the first movement, and culminating in a final blaze of oceanic glory.

Debussy had a great love of the sea, and of paintings of the sea: he admired Turner’s seascapes, and had Hokusai’s print The hollow of the wave off Kanagawa reproduced on the cover of the first edition of La mer. The music has a strong pictorial element, with the play of wind and light on the surface of the sea represented in brilliantly detailed writing for a large orchestra, including three of most of the woodwind, two cornets as well as two trumpets, and a pair of harps. However, the word ‘symphonic’ in the subtitle is also important, suggesting the work’s reliance on organic development of a number of short thematic motifs, and its adherence to the French tradition of the cyclic symphony in the way some of the most important of these motifs are heard in both the first movement and the finale.

Programme note © Anthony Burton

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

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

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 • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

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 In memory of Mrs Rita Reay Sir Simon & Lady Robey OBE

Orchestra Circle

The Candide Trust William & Alex de Winton Aud Jebsen 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

Nicholas & Felicity Lyons 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

Malcolm Herring 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

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

Michael & Carolyn Portillo 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

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

Thank you

Mrs Adele Friedland & Friends 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 The Marchus Trust 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 Sir William Boreman’s 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.

London Philharmonic Orchestra • 24 November 2021 • Seascapes and Visions

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

Stef Woodford Corporate Relations Manager

Alison Jones Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

Rosie Morden Individual Giving Manager

Christina Perrin Concerts and Tours Assistant

Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant

Priya Radhakrishnan Georgia Wiltshire Development Assistants

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager Sarah Thomas Martin Sargeson Librarians

Nick Jackman Campaigns and Projects Director

Laura Kitson Stephen O’Flaherty Stage Managers

Kirstin Peltonen Development Associate

Marketing

Damian Davis Transport Manager

Kath Trout Marketing and Communications Director

Felix Lo Orchestra and Auditions Manager

Mairi Warren Marketing Manager Rachel Williams Publications Manager Harrie Mayhew Website Manager

Gavin Miller Box Office Manager Ruth Knight Press and PR Manager Sophie Harvey Digital and Residencies Marketing Manager 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 Chris Aldren Honorary ENT Surgeon Mr Brian Cohen Mr Simon Owen-Johnstone Hon. 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 Cover photo James Wicks 2021/22 season identity JMG Studio Printer John Good Ltd