London Philharmonic Orchestra 24 Nov 2018 Brighton concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

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2018/19 Concert Season

AT brighton dome concert hall

concert programme

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation Principal Guest Conductor ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADA Leader pieter schoeman supported by Neil Westreich Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

Brighton Dome Concert Hall Saturday 24 November 2018 | 7.30pm

Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (15’) Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (27’) Interval (20’) Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending (13’) Beethoven Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60 (32’)

Graham Ross conductor Carolin Widmann violin

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

Contents 2 Welcome Orchestra news 3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Kevin Lin 6 Graham Ross 7 Carolin Widmann 8 Programme notes 11 Recommended recording 12 Next concerts 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration

Welcome

Orchestra news

Welcome to Brighton Dome

Christmas gifts from the LPO

Chief Executive Andrew Comben We hope you enjoy the performance and your visit to Brighton Dome. For your comfort and safety, please note the following: LATECOMERS may not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance. Some performances may contain no suitable breaks.

Searching for the perfect Christmas present for the music lover in your life? Look no further. With more than 100 CD releases on the LPO label, tickets for concerts in London, Eastbourne or Brighton, gift vouchers and memberships, there’s something for everyone. Share the joy of music and make it a Christmas to remember. Visit lpo.org.uk/gifts to explore the full collection, or call the LPO Ticket Office on 020 7840 4242.

SMOKING Brighton Dome is a no-smoking venue.

On location with Belmond

INTERVAL DRINKS may be ordered in advance at the bar to avoid queues.

Continuing our ongoing partnership with luxury travel collection Belmond, LPO musicians have been invited to perform at some of Belmond’s most iconic destinations during 2018/19. The series began in Sicily in September, when an LPO brass ensemble gave two intimate recitals bringing together the best of British and Italian music. Later in September, an LPO sextet travelled to Belmond Hotel das Cataratas beside the Iguaçu Falls in Brazil, where they performed music by the country's most celebrated composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos.

PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium. RECORDING is not allowed in the auditorium. MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before entering the auditorium. Thank you for your co-operation. The concert at Brighton Dome on 24 November 2018 is presented by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in association with Brighton Dome. Brighton Dome gratefully acknowledges the support of Brighton & Hove City Council and Arts Council England.

The next instalment of the series will be in April 2019, under the starry skies of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, where unspoilt wilderness and game surrounds Belmond Eagle Island Lodge. LPO musicians will celebrate the breathtaking surroundings with a wind quintet arrangement of Saint-Saëns’s much-loved Carnival of the Animals. For more information visit belmond.com/lpo

The Nutracker at the Royal Albert Hall Brighton Dome is managed by Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival, which also runs the annual threeweek Brighton Festival in May. brightondome.org | brightonfestival.org

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The London Philharmonic Orchestra has long been renowned for its prowess in the opera pit at Glyndebourne, but this Christmas we’ll be branching out into ballet. The Orchestra has been invited to accompany Tchaikovsky’s festive favourite The Nutcracker with Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Royal Albert Hall from 28–31 December. For more information and booking visit royalalberthall.com or call the Royal Albert Hall Box Office on 020 7589 8212.

On stage tonight

First Violins Kevin Lin Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Catherine Craig Martin Hรถhmann Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Evin Blomberg Georgina Leo Lasma Taimina Kana Kawashima Essi Kiiski Alice Hall Anna Croad Katherine Waller Gabriela Opacka Second Violins Eriko Nagayama Guest Principal Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Joseph Maher Ashley Stevens Kalliopi Mitropoulou Harry Kerr John Dickinson Nicole Stokes Gavin Davies Margaret Jackson Suzannah Quirke Emma Martin

Violas David Quiggle Principal Katharine Leek Benedetto Pollani Naomi Holt Luca Casciato Martin Wray Cameron Campbell Jill Valentine Stephanie Edmunsen

Oboes Tristan Cox Guest Principal Katherine Bryer

Cellos Pei-Jee Ng Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Sibylle Hentschel Leo Melvin Anne Chauveau Katie Burke

Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Luke Tucker

Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Tom Walley Laurence Lovelle Simon Oliver Jakub Cywinski Katy Furmanski

Trumpets Gywn Owen Guest Principal Anthony Cross

Flutes Katie Bedford Guest Principal Stewart McIlwham*

Clarinets Thomas Watmough Principal Chair supported by Roger Greenwood

Alex Cattell

Horns Timothy Ellis Guest Principal Ollie Johnson

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Andrew Davenport William & Alex de Winton Sonja Drexler Friends of the Orchestra Dr Barry Grimaldi Countess Dominique Loredan Geoff & Meg Mann Sir Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Eric Tomsett Laurence Watt Neil Westreich

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal Percussion Feargus Brennan Guest Principal

* Holds a professorial appointment in London Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic’s closing concert took excellence and courageous programme planning to levels of expectation and emotional intensity more than once defying belief. Here was an orchestra in terrific form, rising to every challenge. Classicalsource.com (LPO at Royal Festival Hall, 2 May 2018: Panufnik, Penderecki & Prokofiev)

One of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with its reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-looking ensembles. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, has its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and local communities. The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is the Orchestra’s current Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, and in 2017 we celebrated the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary partnership. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in 2015. The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Throughout 2018 we explore

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the life and music of Stravinsky in our series Changing Faces: Stravinsky’s Journey, charting the life and music of one of the 20th century’s most influential composers. In 2019 we celebrate the music of Britain in our festival Isle of Noises, exploring a range of British and Britishinspired music from Purcell to the present day. Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2018/19 season include a major tour of Asia including South Korea, Taiwan and China, as well as performances in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Switzerland and the USA.

Kevin Lin leader

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 100 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include a Poulenc disc conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 under Vladimir Jurowski, and a film music disc under Dirk Brossé. In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians. In 2017/18 we celebrated the 30th anniversary of our Education and Community department, whose work over three decades has introduced so many people of all ages to orchestral music and created opportunities for people of all backgrounds to fulfil their creative potential. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the LPO Young Composers programme; the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme; and the LPO Junior Artists scheme for talented young musicians from communities and backgrounds currently underrepresented in professional UK orchestras. The Orchestra’s work at the forefront of digital engagement and social media has enabled it to reach even more people worldwide: as well as a YouTube channel and regular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on social media. lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra youtube.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

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

instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

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Graham Ross conductor

To say he’s impressive would be an understatement.

The Telegraph, August 2014

Graham Ross has established an exceptional reputation as a sought-after conductor and composer of a very broad range of repertoire. His performances around the world and his extensive discography have earned consistently high international praise, including a Diapason d’Or, Le Choix de France Musique and a Gramophone Award nomination. As a guest conductor Graham has worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Aalborg Symfoniorkester, Aurora Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra and Salomon Orchestra, making his debuts in recent seasons with the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers, DR Vokal Ensemblet (Danish National Vocal Ensemble), London Mozart Players, European Union Baroque Orchestra and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as acting as Assistant Conductor to Vladimir Jurowski with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tonight’s concert is his debut conducting appearance with the LPO. Graham is Co-Founder and Principal Conductor of The Dmitri Ensemble, and, since 2010, Fellow and Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he directs the internationally renowned Choir. Highlights in the 2018/19 season include concerts with the Choir of Clare College in the Palau de la Música Barcelona, at Westminster Cathedral and across the USA, Canada, Mexico and Spain, as well as Britten’s War Requiem in King’s College Chapel. In recent seasons Graham’s work has taken him to Sydney Opera House, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and across the USA and Europe. At the age of 25 he made his BBC Proms and Glyndebourne debuts, with

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other opera projects taking him to Jerusalem, London, Aldeburgh and Provence. A passionate believer in the unveiling of both unjustly neglected and newly written works, he has conducted and recorded world premieres by a wide spectrum of composers including James MacMillan, Judith Bingham, Giles Swayne, Vaughan Williams, Imogen Holst, Lydia Kakabadse, Nico Muhly, Jocelyn Pook, Brett Dean and Matthew Martin. Since 2011 he has recorded exclusively for Harmonia Mundi. Recent recordings include Reformation 1517–2017 with the Choir of Clare College and Clare Baroque, and Shostakovich Chamber Symphonies with The Dmitri Ensemble. As a composer, commissions have included the BBC Concert Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, National Youth Choir of Great Britain, O Duo, Park Lane Group, The Prince Consort, Solstice Quartet and Wigmore Hall. As an animateur and through outreach work he has conducted projects in Tower Hamlets, Wigmore Hall, English National Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and overseas in Nigeria, Palestine, across Europe and the USA. Graham Ross studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and conducting at the Royal College of Music, London. He held a conducting scholarship with the London Symphony Chorus, has served as assistant conductor for Roger Norrington, Vladimir Jurowski and Diego Masson, and acted as Chorus Master for Colin Davis, Mark Elder, Ivor Bolton, Edward Gardner, Richard Tognetti and Lars Ulrik Mortensen.

Carolin Widmann violin

The most penetrating, unfussy account of the Mendelssohn concerto I have heard in years. The concerto is taken by Widmann back to its intimate origins in the Mendelssohn parlour, played as domestic conversation and communication. So much pleasure, so much pain. A recording to last a lifetime. Norman Lebrecht, Musical Toronto (Mendelssohn/Schumann Violin Concertos, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, ECM Records)

A wonderfully versatile musician, Carolin Widmann’s activities span the great classical concertos, new commissions specially written for her, solo recitals, a wide variety of chamber music and, increasingly, period instrument performances, including playing/ directing from the violin. Carolin was awarded the Bayerischer Staatspreis for Music in 2017, honouring her individuality and exceptional musicianship. She was also the recipient of an International Classical Music Award for her critically acclaimed recording of the Mendelssohn and Schumann Violin Concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, released in August 2016 by ECM and which she herself conducted from the violin. Named ‘Musician of the Year’ at the International Classical Music Awards 2013, Carolin Widmann has enjoyed collaborations with some of the world’s leading orchestras include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Orchestre National de France, Tonhalle Zurich, Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony, Bayerische Rundfunk and Sydney Symphony, with distinguished conductors such as Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowski, Riccardo Chailly, Roger Norrington, Edward Gardner, Sakari Oramo, Marek Janowski, Christoph von Dohnányi and Pablo Heras-Casado. In March 2015 Carolin gave the world premiere of the violin concerto In lieblicher Bläue written for her by Julian Anderson, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski at Royal Festival Hall, subsequently released on the LPO Label (LPO-0089).

Highlights of Carolin’s 2018/19 season include invitations to the Berlin Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, RSB Orchester Berlin, Gulbenkian Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig. She will give the world premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Violin Concerto No. 2 at Suntory Hall in Tokyo and will perform the work in Europe with the Orchestre de Paris and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding, and with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Alte Oper under Andrés Orozco-Estrada. She will also embark on major recital tours of North and South America and Italy, and will return to the Vienna Konzerthaus to perform an all-Beethoven recital. Carolin Widmann has a special interest in connecting with other art forms: she has performed in choreographed concerts by dancer Sasha Waltz at the Mozartwoche Salzburg and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg; played a solo recital at a football stadium in Frankfurt in a project curated by architect Daniel Libeskind; and devised concert programmes to be performed at museums such as the Museum Ludwig Cologne and the Museum of Modern Art MMK in Frankfurt. In March 2019 she will take part in a project by performance artist Marina Abramović. Carolin Widmann was born in Munich and studied with Igor Ozim in Cologne, Michèle Auclair in Boston and David Takeno at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Since 2006 she has been Professor of Violin at Leipzig’s University of Music and Theatre. She plays a G.B. Guadagnini violin from 1782.

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Programme notes

Speedread Tonight’s concert includes two much-loved pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, for string orchestra with a solo quartet and a distant second orchestra (1910), bears witness to his admiration for Tudor music in its choice of theme, its use of the old modes of church music, and its adoption of the sectional form of the viol fantasy. The Lark Ascending, for violin and small orchestra (1914/20), testifies to his love of the English countryside, of English folk music, and – with its basis in a poem by George Meredith – of English literature. Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor (1838–44) is one of the most treasured of all violin concertos: perfectly written for the solo instrument,

Ralph Vaughan Williams

purposefully shaped and full of memorable melodies. Its three movements are continuous: a held bassoon note leads from the first movement into the slow movement; and an interlude links the calm lyricism of the slow movement to the dancing lightness of the finale. Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony (1806) is a deceptively modest work: yet its relatively compact proportions encompass a slow introduction and first Allegro with an impressive sense of space, an Adagio in which the underlying slow tempo only occasionally emerges from beneath the surface detail, a scherzo in which the trio section comes round twice, and a finale of good humour and wit.

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

1872–1958

The Tallis Fantasia is one of the works with which, after a long apprenticeship, Vaughan Williams established himself as a major figure in British music. Its rapt opening chords must have made a striking impression at its first performance, in the great resonant nave of Gloucester Cathedral at the 1910 Three Choirs Festival. Not only do they establish the work’s predominant mood of contemplative ecstasy, but they are also distinctively modal – that is, based on the scales other than the conventional major and minor which Vaughan Williams had found both in English folksong and in Tudor church music, and which were now beginning to permeate his own mature musical language. The theme of the Fantasia, heard in full shortly after the beginning, is a hymn tune that Thomas Tallis wrote 8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

for Archbishop Matthew Parker’s Metrical Psalter of 1567. This is treated not in strict variation form, but in a freer sectional structure suggested by Elizabethan and Jacobean fantasies for viols; sometimes it is broken up into short motifs for ‘symphonic’ development, sometimes it sparks off a more rhapsodic flow of associated ideas. The scoring is for strings in three groups: a solo quartet, the main orchestra, and a smaller second orchestra, placed at a distance. The solo players make their first independent appearance in an episode based on a lyrical melody derived from the second half of the Tallis theme; then towards the end the first solo violin restates the theme itself with a twining counter-melody on solo viola, introducing a coda which ends on a sonorous major chord.

Felix Mendelssohn 1809–47

Felix Mendelssohn learned the violin as well as the piano from an early age, and composed a violin concerto and a double concerto for violin and piano during his prodigious early years. But the famous Violin Concerto dates from much later in his all too short life. It was intended from the start for his friend Ferdinand David, the leader of the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra of which Mendelssohn was conductor. In July 1838 he wrote to David: ‘I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my mind, the beginning of which gives me no peace.’ However, he did not return to the project in earnest until the summer of 1840, and completed the work only in September 1844 – and even after that he adjusted many details, often in consultation with David. The first performance finally took place at a Gewandhaus concert in March 1845, with David as soloist, and the Danish composer Niels Gade conducting.

Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 Carolin Widmann violin 1 Allegro molto appassionato – 2 Andante – 3 Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace

The Concerto owes its abiding popularity to its combination of Classical grace and Romantic warmth. This is mirrored in its formal design: although it belongs in the tradition of three-movement concertos so firmly established by Mozart and Beethoven, it also has elements of the newer type of continuous virtuoso concerto pioneered by Weber in his piano Concert Piece and Spohr in his violin ‘Song Scene’. The opening movement, for example, lacks the traditional weighty orchestral prelude before the first solo entry; and the cadenza is closely integrated with the rest of the movement, coming – earlier than usual – at the end of the development section, and continuing under the return of the first subject. Moreover, the three movements are intended to be played without a break. The first is linked to the second by a solo bassoon; and although the serene slow movement comes to a full close, it is succeeded by a brief, expressive interlude leading from its C major tonality to the E major of the sparkling rondo finale.

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

Save the date...

Wagner: Die Walküre Sunday 27 January 2019 | 4.00pm Royal Festival Hall Following the success of Das Rheingold in January 2018, Vladimir Jurowski presents the second instalment of our Wagner Ring Cycle. For full cast details visit lpo.org.uk/walkure

Tickets £25–60 (premium seats £80) Book via lpo.org.uk or call 020 7840 4242 Transaction fee £1.75 online/ £2.75 phone

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

Programme notes continued

Ralph Vaughan Williams

The Lark Ascending Carolin Widmann violin

1872–1958

Vaughan Williams’s much-loved pastoral ‘romance for violin and orchestra’ (consisting of woodwind, horns, triangle and strings) was composed just before the First World War, and revised in 1920. The first performance was in London in June 1921: Adrian Boult conducted, and the soloist was the work’s dedicatee Marie Hall, who as a girl had been taught the violin by Elgar. The Lark Ascending has roughly the shape of an arch, beginning and ending slowly but with a slightly more animated middle section, and at the centre of that a brief quick episode (though the marking is still Allegro tranquillo). Its musical language is soaked in English folksong, though without direct quotations. But its unique character stems from the cadenzas for the soloist which frame and punctuate this outline, and the solo arabesques which decorate so much of the piece. As the composer’s widow Ursula memorably wrote, Vaughan Williams ‘made the violin become both the bird’s song and its flight, being, rather than illustrating, the poem from which the title was taken’. Lines from that poem, by George Meredith (1828–1909), are printed at the head of the score:

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He rises and begins to round, He drops the silver chain of sound, Of many links without a break In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake

******

Till lost on his aërial wings In light, and then the fancy sings.

For singing till his heaven fills, ’Tis love of earth that he instils, And ever winging up and up, Our valley is his golden cup, And he the wine which overflows To lift us with him as he goes.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60 1 Adagio – Allegro vivace 2 Adagio 3 Menuetto and Trio: Allegro vivace 4 Allegro ma non troppo

1770–1827

In the first years of the 19th century, Beethoven seems to have passed through a profound psychological crisis, prompted in part by his gradually encroaching deafness – and to have emerged from it bursting with creativity. The ‘Eroica’ Symphony, Third Piano Concerto and ‘Kreutzer’ Violin Sonata were completed in 1803; the first version of the opera Fidelio, Triple Concerto and ‘Appassionata’ Sonata for piano in 1805; and the Fourth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto and three ‘Rasumovsky’ string quartets all in 1806. Hard on their heels were to come the Mass in C and the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. And what makes this astonishing list all the more remarkable is that it includes several works of ground-breaking originality. At first glance, the Fourth Symphony is not among these: its only obvious formal innovation is the expansion of the scherzo (misnamed Minuet) to include two appearances of the trio section; and it is less ambitious in scale and scoring than the symphonies flanking it. But, as Sir Donald Tovey wrote in his unfinished study of Beethoven, ‘the Fourth Symphony, coming between the Eroica and the C minor, is one of those masterpieces which many people insist on despising for being satisfied with its own size.’

In any case, the Symphony plays such games with size, scale and speed that it becomes difficult to tell what ‘its own size’ really is. The introduction to the first movement, with its slow tempo, open textures, and early introduction of a note foreign to the home key, immediately creates a sense of enormous space. The main Allegro vivace, although it begins with a reassuring emphasis on that home key, later uses excursions into remote tonal areas to suggest a similar kind of expansion. The Adagio is in effect in two speeds at once: its busy surface figuration, most of it based on the opening drum-tap figure, gives an impression of great activity; only through a few strategically placed ‘windows’ in the texture is the essential stillness of the movement fully revealed. Even the brisk scherzo, with its trio sections no more than ‘a little slower’, has an underpinning of harmonic stability which gives it a sense of greater breadth than is at first apparent. But in the perpetual-motion finale speed is genuinely of the essence – except at the Haydnesque moment just before the end when the headlong main theme suffers a sudden loss of momentum. Programme notes © Anthony Burton

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 on the LPO Label Beethoven Symphony No. 1 Beethoven Symphony No. 4 Kurt Masur conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO-0093 | £9.99

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

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still to come this season AT brighton dome concert hall saturday 12 january 2019 7.30pm Beethoven Coriolan Overture Brahms Violin Concerto Dvořák Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)

‘Another stupendous concert in Brighton, thank you so much.’ Audience member

Jamie Phillips conductor Alexander Sitkovetsky violin

Wednesday 10 october 2018 7.30pm

saturday 6 april

Sibelius Pohjola’s Daughter Bax Tintagel Dvořák Piano Concerto Bartók Concerto Orchestra GriegforPiano Concerto

saturday 13 october 2018 friday 19 october 2018 7.30pm 7.30pm ‘Vänskä sculpted one of the 2019 7.30pm sharpest, most belligerent Poulenc Stabat Mater Glinka Overture, Ruslan and readings that these ears Orff Carmina Burana Ludmilla have heard.’ Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2

Jérémie Rhorer conductor Sibelius Suite, Belshazzar’s Feast Karina Canellakis conductor Louise Alder soprano Sibelius No. 5Toby Spence tenor Pierre-Laurent AimardSymphony piano

The Times on Vänskä conducting Sibelius with Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 the London Philharmonic Orchestra, October 2016

Simon Keenlyside baritone Osmo Vänskä conductor Concert generously supported by Dior London Philharmonic Choir Jan Lisiecki piano Tiffin Boys’ Choir

Alondra de la Parra conductor Benjamin Grosvenor piano Concert generously supported by Dior

Book ONLINE at BRIGHTONDOME.ORG or call 01273 709709 Season discounts available

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Sound Futures donors

We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. Thanks to their support, we successfully raised £1 million by 30 April 2015 which has now been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This has enabled us to create a £2 million endowment fund supporting special artistic projects, creative programming and education work with key venue partners including our Southbank Centre home. Supporters listed below donated £500 or over. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures. Masur Circle Arts Council England Dunard Fund Victoria Robey OBE Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Underwood Trust

The Rothschild Foundation Tom & Phillis Sharpe The Viney Family

Haitink Patrons Mark & Elizabeth Adams Dr Christopher Aldren Mrs Pauline Baumgartner Welser-Möst Circle Lady Jane Berrill William & Alex de Winton Mr Frederick Brittenden John Ireland Charitable Trust David & Yi Yao Buckley The Tsukanov Family Foundation Mr Clive Butler Neil Westreich Gill & Garf Collins Tennstedt Circle Mr John H Cook Valentina & Dmitry Aksenov Mr Alistair Corbett Richard Buxton Bruno De Kegel The Candide Trust Georgy Djaparidze Michael & Elena Kroupeev David Ellen Kirby Laing Foundation Christopher Fraser OBE & Lisa Fraser Mr & Mrs Makharinsky David & Victoria Graham Fuller Alexey & Anastasia Reznikovich Goldman Sachs International Sir Simon Robey Mr Gavin Graham Bianca & Stuart Roden Moya Greene Simon & Vero Turner Mrs Dorothy Hambleton The late Mr K Twyman Tony & Susie Hayes Malcolm Herring Solti Patrons Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Ageas Mrs Philip Kan John & Manon Antoniazzi Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe Gabor Beyer, through BTO Rose & Dudley Leigh Management Consulting AG Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons Jon Claydon Miss Jeanette Martin Mrs Mina Goodman & Miss Duncan Matthews QC Suzanne Goodman Diana & Allan Morgenthau Roddy & April Gow Charitable Trust The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Dr Karen Morton Charitable Trust Mr Roger Phillimore Mr James R.D. Korner Ruth Rattenbury Christoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia The Reed Foundation Ladanyi-Czernin The Rind Foundation Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust Sir Bernard Rix David Ross & Line Forestier (Canada) Mr Paris Natar

Carolina & Martin Schwab Dr Brian Smith Lady Valerie Solti Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Miss Anne Stoddart TFS Loans Limited Marina Vaizey Jenny Watson Guy & Utti Whittaker Pritchard Donors Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Mrs Arlene Beare Mr Patrick & Mrs Joan Benner Mr Conrad Blakey Dr Anthony Buckland Paul Collins Alastair Crawford Mr Derek B. Gray Mr Roger Greenwood The HA.SH Foundation Darren & Jennifer Holmes Honeymead Arts Trust Mr Geoffrey Kirkham Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter Mace Mr & Mrs David Malpas Dr David McGibney Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Mr Christopher Querée The Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer Charitable Trust Timothy Walker AM Christopher Williams Peter Wilson Smith Mr Anthony Yolland and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous

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Thank you

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

Artistic Director’s Circle An anonymous donor Sir Simon & Lady Robey OBE Orchestra Circle The Candide Trust Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Neil Westreich The Tsukanov Family Dr James Huang Zheng (of Kingdom Music Education Group) Principal Associates Gabor Beyer, through BTO Management Consulting AG In memory of Ann Marguerite Collins Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Associates Steven M. Berzin Kay Bryan William & Alex de Winton George Ramishvili Stuart & Bianca Roden In memory of Hazel Amy Smith Gold Patrons David & Yi Buckley John Burgess Richard Buxton In memory of Allner Mavis Channing Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport Sonja Drexler Mrs Gillian Fane Marie-Laure Favre-Gilly de Varennes de Beuill Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Virginia Gabbertas Mr Roger Greenwood The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe Countess Dominique Loredan Geoff & Meg Mann

Sally Groves & Dennis Marks Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski Melanie Ryan Julian & Gill Simmonds Eric Tomsett The Viney Family Laurence Watt Silver Patrons Dr Christopher Aldren Peter Blanc Georgy Djaparidze Ulrike & Benno Engelmann Peter & Fiona Espenhahn Will & Kate Hobhouse Matt Isaacs & Penny Jerram John & Angela Kessler The Metherell Family Simon Millward Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley Susan Wallendahl Guy & Utti Whittaker

Drs Frank & Gek Lim Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Peter & Lucy Noble Noel Otley JP & Mrs Rachel Davies Jacopo Pessina Mr Roger Phillimore Mr Michael Posen Tatiana Pyatigorskaya Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Tom & Phillis Sharpe Mr Christopher Stewart Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Andrew & Rosemary Tusa Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Marina Vaizey Grenville & Krysia Williams Christopher Williams Ed & Catherine Williams Mr Anthony Yolland

Bronze Patrons Anonymous donors Michael Allen Andrew Barclay Mr Geoffrey Bateman Peter & Adrienne Breen Mr Jeremy Bull Mr Alan C Butler Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Bruno De Kegel Mr John L G Deacon David Ellen Ignor & Lyuba Galkin Mrs Irina Gofman David Goldberg Mr Daniel Goldstein David & Jane Gosman Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Wim & Jackie Hautekiet-Clare Catherine Hogel & Ben Mardle J Douglas Home Mr James R. D. Korner Rose & Dudley Leigh

Principal Supporters Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Margot Astrachan Mr Philip Bathard-Smith Mr Edwin Bisset Dr Anthony Buckland Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Sir Alan Collins KCVO David & Liz Conway Mr Alistair Corbett Mrs Alina Davey Guy Davies Henry Davis MBE Mr Richard Fernyhough Patrice & Federica Feron Ms Kerry Gardner Malcolm Herring Ivan Hurry Per Jonsson Mr Ralph Kanza Ms Katerina Kashenceva Vadim & Natalia Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Mr Christopher Little

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Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter Mace Mr John Meloy Andrew T Mills Dr Karen Morton Dr Wiebke Pekrull Mr James Pickford Andrew & Sarah Poppleton Natalie Pray Mr Christopher Querée Martin & Cheryl Southgate Ms Nadia Stasyuk Matthew Stephenson & Roman Aristarkhov Louise Walton Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie Whitelock Liz Winter Bill Yoe Supporters Mr John D Barnard Mr Bernard Bradbury Mr Richard Brooman Mrs Alan Carrington Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington Mr Joshua Coger Mr Geoffrey A Collens Miss Tessa Cowie Lady Jane Cuckney OBE Mr David Devons Samuel Edge Manuel Fajardo & Clémence Humeau Mrs Janet Flynn Christopher Fraser OBE Will Gold Mr Peter Gray Mrs Maureen HooftGraafland The Jackman Family Mr David MacFarlane Mr Frederic Marguerre Mr Mark Mishon Mr Stephen Olton Mr David Peters Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh Mr David Russell Mr Kenneth Shaw

Ms Elizabeth Shaw Ms Natalie Spraggon & Mr David Thomson Mr John Weekes Joanna Williams Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Alfonso Aijón Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Robert Hill Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE Laurence Watt LPO International Board of Governors Natasha Tsukanova Chair Steven M. Berzin (USA) Gabor Beyer (Hungary) Kay Bryan (Australia) Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil (France) Joyce Kan (China/Hong Kong) Olivia Ma (Greater China Area) Olga Makharinsky (Russia) George Ramishvili (Georgia) Victoria Robey OBE (USA) Dr James Huang Zheng (of Kingdom Music Education Group) (China/ Shenzhen)

We are grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who assist with fundraising for our activities in the United States of America: Simon Freakley Chairman Xenia Hanusiak Alexandra Jupin William A. Kerr Kristina McPhee Natalie Pray Stephanie Yoshida Antony Phillipson Hon. Chairman Noel Kilkenny Hon. Director Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP Corporate Donors Arcadis Christian Dior Couture Faraday Fenchurch Advisory Partners IMG Pictet Bank Steppes Travel White & Case LLP

Corporate Members Gold freuds Sunshine Silver After Digital Berenberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce Bronze Ageas Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Walpole Preferred Partners Fever-Tree Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsor Google Inc Trusts and Foundations The Bernarr Rainbow Trust The Boltini Trust Sir William Boreman’s Foundation Borletti-Buitoni Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation The Candide Trust The Ernest Cook Trust Diaphonique, Franco-British Fund for contemporary music The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust Help Musicians UK

John Horniman’s Children’s Trust The Idlewild Trust Embassy of the State of Israel to the United Kingdom Kirby Laing Foundation The Lawson Trust The Leverhulme Trust Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation London Stock Exchange Group Foundation Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian Trust The Mercers’ Company Adam Mickiewicz Institute Newcomen Collett Foundation The Stanley Picker Trust The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust PRS For Music Foundation The Radcliffe Trust Rivers Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute The R K Charitable Trust The Sampimon Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust Spears-Stutz Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation The Thistle Trust UK Friends of the FelixMendelssohn-BartholdyFoundation The Clarence Westbury Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust The William Alwyn Foundation and all others who wish to remain anonymous.

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Administration

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

General Administration Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Education and Community Isabella Kernot Education and Community Director

Public Relations Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

Talia Lash Education and Community Manager