LPO programme: 24 Sep 2023 Eastbourne - Tchaikovsky’s Fourth (Alessandro Crudele/Chloë Hanslip)

2023/24 concert season at Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre

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

Congress Theatre, Eastbourne

Sunday 24 September 2023 | 3.00pm

Tchaikovsky’s Fourth

Mendelssohn

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (13’)

Mendelssohn

Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (27’)

Interval (20’)

Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (44’)

Alessandro Crudele conductor

Chloë Hanslip violin

2.15pm | Free pre-concert performance

Join us for a special free performance in the foyer, given by young musicians from Create Music, the music education hub for Brighton and East Sussex.

Contents

2

3

5

The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide. Concert presented by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in association with Eastbourne Borough Council

13

14

Welcome to the Congress Theatre

Theatre Director Chris Jordan

LPO news

Welcome to this afternoon’s concert, which opens the London Philharmonic Orchestra 2023/24 Eastbourne season. As always, we are pleased to welcome back the London Philharmonic Orchestra and its patrons to the Congress Theatre.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra and the people of Eastbourne have a wonderful history together: this season marks 60 years since the Orchestra first performed in the town, under its founder Sir Thomas Beecham in 1934. It was the LPO that gave the first ever performance at the Congress Theatre when it originally opened in 1963, and the first performance when it re-opened after refurbishment in 2017. The Orchestra has now given over 350 concerts here, performing with countless esteemed conductors and soloists, as well as introducing many exciting new artists to the stage for the first time.

The historic theatre in which you are now seated is unique in that it is conceived to be a perfect cube and has fantastic acoustics to enhance your experience of live music. Whether this is your first visit or you are a season regular, we hope you enjoy your experience at our venue. We thank you for continuing to support the concert series. Please sit back in your seats and enjoy the concert and your visit here.

As a courtesy to others, please ensure mobile phones are switched off during the performance. Please also note that photography and recording are not allowed in the auditorium unless announced from the stage. Thank you.

Today’s pre-concert performance by Create Music

We’d like to extend a special welcome to the young musicians from Create Music who join us today. Create Music is the music hub lead for Brighton and East Sussex, offering high-quality, inclusive music and arts education for children, young people and adults in the area.

Today’s Create Music group join us in celebrating the 60th anniversary of our residency at the Congress Theatre by giving a special foyer performance before our concert. These young musicians also met LPO players earlier today, with an opportunity to ask questions and find out what it’s like to be a professional musician. We’re delighted to welcome these young musicians and look forward to lots more collaboration with talented young musicians in Eastbourne and the surrounding areas.

LPO Junior Artists – Overture

On 25 July we held our very first LPO Junior Artists Overture Day in Eastbourne, in collaboration with local music education hub Create Music. Nearly 40 instrumentalists aged 10–15 spent the day exploring music from Bizet’s opera Carmen. They rehearsed alongside LPO musicians, Foyle Future Firsts and LPO Junior Artists, got expert tips on their playing, and found out more about life behind the scenes of a professional orchestra, before ending the day with a celebratory performance enjoyed by family, friends and guests including local councillors.

Our Overture Days in London and Eastbourne are free of charge and open to all players of orchestral instruments of a suitable age and standard, but priority is given to young musicians from under-represented backgrounds and communities who may be eligible for our main LPO Junior Artists programme in the future.

Enjoyed today’s concert?

Help us to share the wonder of the LPO by making a donation today. Use the QR code to donate via the LPO website, or visit lpo.org.uk/donate. Thank you.

lpo.org.uk/overture

LPO Junior Artists: Overture is generously supported by the Kirby Laing Foundation, the TIOC Foundation and The Victoria Wood Foundation.

First Violins

Pieter Schoeman* Leader

Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Lasma Taimina

Chair supported by Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G. Cave

Minn Majoe

Cassandra Hamilton

Quentin Capozzoli

Katalin Varnagy

Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

Elizaveta Tyun

Amanda Smith

Katherine Waller

Eleanor Bartlett

Maeve Jenkinson

Sylvain Vasseur

Second Violins

Ray Liu Guest Principal

Helena Smart

Fiona Higham

Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Ashley Stevens

Joseph Maher

Harry Kerr

Alison Strange

Emma Purslow

Caroline Heard

Eloise MacDonald

Violas

Caroline Harrison Guest Principal

Martin Wray

Benedetto Pollani

Laura Vallejo

Lucia Ortiz Sauco

Daniel Cornford

Julia Kornig

Jill Valentine

Cellos

Tim Walden Guest Principal

Susanna Riddell

Tom Roff

Auriol Evans

Hee Yeon Cho

Colin Alexander

On stage today

Double Basses

Kevin Rundell* Principal

Hugh Kluger

Tom Walley

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

Laura Murphy

Flutes

Fiona Kelly Guest Principal

Ruth Harrison

Piccolo

Marta Santamaria

Oboes

Ian Hardwick* Principal

Emily Cockbill

Clarinets

Benjamin Mellefont Principal

Thomas Watmough

Chair supported by Roger Greenwood

Paul Richards*

Bassoons

John McDougall Guest Principal

Hunter Gordon

Contrabassoon

Claire Webster

Horns

John Ryan* Principal

Martin Hobbs

Gareth Mollison

Duncan Fuller

Elise Campbell

Trumpets

Tom Nielsen Principal

Anne McAneney*

Tom Watts

Trombones

David Whitehouse Principal

Merin Rhyd

Bass Trombone

Lyndon Meredith Principal

Tuba

Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Timpani

Simon Carrington* Principal

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Percussion

Andrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins

Karen Hutt

Chair supported by Mr B C Fairhall

Oliver Butterworth

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

The LPO also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert:

William & Alex de Winton

Friends of the Orchestra

Dr Barry Grimaldi

Sir Simon Robey

Bianca & Stuart Roden

Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Eric Tomsett

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Uniquely groundbreaking and exhilarating to watch and hear, the London Philharmonic Orchestra has been celebrated as one of the world’s great orchestras since Sir Thomas Beecham founded it in 1932. With every performance we aim to bring wonder to the modern world and cement our position as a leading orchestra for the 21st century.

Our home is at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, where we’re at the beating heart of London’s cultural life. You’ll also find us at our resident venues in Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden, and on tour throughout the UK and internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. Each summer we’re resident at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, combining the magic of opera with Glyndebourne’s glorious setting in the Sussex countryside.

Sharing the wonder

You’ll find us online, on streaming platforms, on social media and through our broadcast partnership with Marquee TV. During the pandemic period we launched ‘LPOnline’: over 100 videos of performances, insights and introductions to playlists, which led to us being named runner-up in the Digital Classical Music Awards 2020. During 2023/24 we’re once again be working with Marquee TV to broadcast selected live concerts, so you can share or relive the wonder from your own living room.

Our conductors

Our Principal Conductors have included some of the greatest historic names like Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In 2021 Edward Gardner became our 13th Principal Conductor, taking the Orchestra into its tenth decade. Vladimir Jurowski became Conductor Emeritus in recognition of his impact as Principal Conductor from 2007–21. Karina Canellakis is our current Principal Guest Conductor and Tania León our Composer-in-Residence.

Soundtrack to key moments

Everyone will have heard the London Philharmonic Orchestra, whether it’s playing the world’s National Anthems at every medal ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, our iconic recording with Pavarotti that made Nessun Dorma a global football anthem, or closing the flotilla at The Queen’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. And you’ll almost certainly have heard us on the soundtracks for major films including The Lord of the Rings

We also release live, studio and archive recordings on our own label, and are the world’s most-streamed orchestra, with over 15 million plays of our content each month.

© Mark Allan

Pieter Schoeman Leader

Next generations

There’s nothing we love more than seeing the joy of children and families enjoying their first musical moments, and we’re passionate about equipping schools and teachers through schools’ concerts, resources and training. Reflecting our values of collaboration and inclusivity, our OrchLab and Open Sound Ensemble projects offer music-making opportunities for adults and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Our LPO Junior Artists programme is leading the way in creating pathways into the profession for young artists from under-represented communities, and our LPO Young Composers and Foyle Future Firsts schemes support the next generation of professional musicians, bridging the transition from education to professional careers. We also recently launched the LPO Conducting Fellowship, supporting the development of outstanding early-career conductors from backgrounds currently under-represented in the profession.

Looking forward

The centrepiece of our 2023/24 season is our spring 2024 festival The Music in You. Reflecting our adventurous spirit, the festival embraces all kinds of expression – dance, music theatre, and audience participation. We’ll collaborate with artists from across the creative spectrum, and give premieres by composers including Tania León, Julian Joseph, Daniel Kidane, Victoria Vita Polevá, Luís Tinoco and John Williams.

Rising stars making their debuts with us in 2023/24 include conductors Tianyi Lu, Oksana Lyniv, Jonathon Heyward and Natalia Ponomarchuk, accordionist João Barradas and organist Anna Lapwood. We also present the long-awaited conclusion of Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski’s Wagner Ring Cycle, Götterdämmerung, and, as well as our titled conductors Edward Gardner and Karina Canellakis, we welcome back classical stars including Anne-Sophie Mutter, Robin Ticciati, Christian Tetzlaff and Danielle de Niese. lpo.org.uk

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 the Southbank Centre’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, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Martin Helmchen and Julia Fischer.

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.

Pieter has appeared as Guest Leader with the BBC, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon and Baltimore symphony orchestras; the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras; and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Pieter’s chair in the LPO is generously supported by Neil Westreich.

© Benjamin Ealovega

Alessandro Crudele conductor

Orchestra Unimi in Milan, which under his tenure as Music Director became one of the most respected orchestras in the city. In the same period he was a regular guest of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala, and in more recent years he has established a collaboration with the Jeune Orchestre International de Monte-Carlo and the Orchesterzentrum NRW in Germany.

Alessandro Crudele is one of the most outstanding and versatile conductors to have emerged from Italy in recent years. Among the orchestras he has conducted, and will conduct this coming season, are the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, Berlin Symphony, Bochum Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Israel Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais, Sofia Philharmonic, FOK Prague Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica George Enescu and Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini.

Alessandro Crudele is a recording artist with Linn Records – his first release, in June 2022, was a highly acclaimed album with the London Philharmonic Orchestra featuring orchestral works by Respighi. Last month saw the release of his second album, with music by Britten and Elgar performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra, featuring violinist Michael Barenboim. Today is his concert debut with the LPO.

From 2018–22 Alessandro held the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the RTS Symphony Orchestra in Belgrade. He is also a frequent guest in Asia, where he has conducted the Malaysian Philharmonic, Shanghai Philharmonic and Shenzhen Symphony orchestras, as well as the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, with whom he has built a strong relationship since his successful debut in 2011. He made his debut in Japan with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in 2016.

Keen to nurture young musicians, Alessandro Crudele has devoted a great deal of time to working with young artists, and collaboration with youth orchestras is still one of his priorities. As a student he founded the

Alessandro Crudele was born in Milan, and studied violin and composition at the Conservatorio di Milano. His education as a conductor started at an early age. From 1999–2003 he studied under Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, where he was awarded several scholarships and the prestigious Diploma d’Onore. He received further instruction from Christoph von Dohnányi and Sir Simon Rattle. Alessandro currently lives in Berlin.

© Marco Borggreve

Chloë Hanslip violin

concertos by John Adams with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin, and Bruch Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra on Warner Classics, for which she won a Classical BRIT ‘Young British Classical Performer’ (2003). Recital discs followed on Hyperion (York Bowen, Medtner), as well as concertos by Vieuxtemps, Schoeck and Glazunov.

Born in 1987, British violinist Chloë Hanslip has already established herself as an artist of distinction on the international stage. Prodigiously talented, she made her BBC Proms debut aged 14 and her US concerto debut at 15, and has performed at major venues in the UK (Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall) and Europe (Vienna Musikverein, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Paris Louvre and Salle Gaveau, St Petersburg Hermitage), as well as New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Arts Space in Tokyo and the Seoul Arts Centre. She has appeared with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Norwegian Radio, Real Filharmonia Galicia, Vienna Tonkünstler, Czech National Symphony, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Tampere Philharmonic and RAI National Symphony orchestras. She made her debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2018, when she performed Brahms’s Violin Concerto at Dorking Concert Hall, conducted by Jessica Cottis.

Further afield, Chloës engagements have included the Cincinnati Symphony, Houston Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and Singapore Symphony orchestras. She has collaborated with conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Mariss Jansons, Paavo Järvi, Jakub Hrůša, Pietari Inkinen, Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko, Dmitri Slobodeniouk, Juraj Valčuha and Xian Zhang.

Chloë has an extensive discography, having recorded for Warner Classics, Hyperion, Naxos and Rubicon Classics. Her latest releases include the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas in three volumes on Rubicon Classics with regular duo partner, pianist Danny Driver: ‘instantly engaging, thanks to the warmth and clarity of Hanslip’s playing and the obvious rapport between the musicians’ (The Strad). Her other recordings include

Chloë Hanslip’s wide-ranging repertoire spans concertos by Britten, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Brahms, Korngold, Shostakovich, Barber, Bernstein, Delius, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Walton and Sibelius. With a particular passion for contemporary repertoire, she has championed works by John Adams, Philip Glass, John Corigliano, Michael Nyman, Huw Watkins, Michael Berkeley, Peter Maxwell Davies and Brett Dean. A committed chamber musician, she is a regular participant at festivals across Europe including Båstad, West Cork, Prussia Cove and Kutna Hora, with recital partners including Angela Hewitt, Danny Driver and Charles Owen. Alongside her performing career, Chloë is a Visiting Professor at London’s Royal Academy of Music and an Ambassador for the charity Future Talent.

Highlights of Chloë’s 2023/24 season include concerto engagements with the Royal Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Gävle Symphony and Czech National Symphony orchestras. She will also record the lesserknown concertos by Robert Russell Bennett and Vernon Duke for Chandos Records with the Singapore Symphony under the baton of Andrew Litton, and embark on an extensive UK tour with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. She returns twice to the Wigmore Hall alongside regular duo partner Danny Driver, including a BBC Radio 3 live broadcast concert.

Chloë studied for ten years with the Russian pedagogue Zakhar Bron, and has also worked with Christian Tetzlaff, Robert Masters, Ida Haendel, Salvatore Accardo and Gerhard Schulz. She plays a Nicolo Amati violin kindly loaned to her through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous sponsor.

Video: Walk & Talk with Chloë Hanslip

Join Chloë for a quick-fire ‘Walk & Talk’ Q&A with our Digital Creative, Greg Felton. To watch, scan the QR code or visit youtube.com/ londonphilharmonicorchestra

© Kaupo Kikkas

Programme notes

Felix Mendelssohn

1809–47

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage

1828,

rev. 1834

The great German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was sometimes surprisingly cool towards composers inspired by his work – he famously gave brush-offs to both Beethoven and Schubert – but in the case of Mendelssohn there was a history of affection between them that smoothed the way. At the age of twelve, Mendelssohn had been taken by his teacher to meet Goethe at Weimar, and soon was writing back to his family in Berlin: ‘Every afternoon Goethe opens the piano saying “I haven’t heard you at all today, give me a little noise”; and then he will sit down beside me and when I am finished I ask for a kiss or take one. You cannot imagine his kindness and friendliness.’

Seven years later Mendelssohn, already the composer of a brilliant overture to Shakespeare’s play

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, produced a new overture based on two poems by Goethe: Meeresstille (Calm Sea) and Glückliche Fahrt (Prosperous Voyage). The overture as a form had only recently escaped from its original theatrical function into a new concert-hall existence as a short descriptive piece, and Mendelssohn evidently found plenty to inspire him in Goethe’s contrasted verses. Though he was not the first to have been so moved (Beethoven had made a choral setting of the poems in 1815, and Schubert had set Meeresstille as a song that same year), his treatment has become the best known.

The subject of Calm Sea is not the smooth surface friendly to sufferers of seasickness, but rather the torpid, windless conditions which, in the age of sail, rendered a ship depressingly immobile. Goethe even refers to a ‘fearful and deathly stillness’, depicted by Mendelssohn in a sombre adagio, only sluggishly agitated by contrapuntal undercurrents.

Eventually a solo flute raises a breeze, the mist clears and after a rush of orchestral excitement the vessel is underway to a heroic, Beethovenian melody. There follow passages of plain sailing (‘the zephyrs are

whispering’) interspersed with the nimble activity of the sailors, until, to welcoming fanfares and timpani cannonades, land is sighted. The voyage is over, and the overture ends with a contented sigh of relief.

Programme note © Lindsay Kemp Courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London

Programme notes

Felix Mendelssohn

1809–47

Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 1845

Chloë Hanslip violin

1 Allegro molto appassionato –

2 Andante –

3 Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto

The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto is one of the bestloved in the repertoire, but it deserves recognition, too, as one of the greatest and most significant. So familiar has it become that it is easy to overlook the fact that it is full of innovation, that the writing for the soloist is brilliantly conceived throughout, and that its effortless melodies and translucent scoring are the work of a master craftsman at his most inspired. Its influence on later concerto composers can also be too easily missed, to the extent that the great 20th-century analyst Donald Tovey wrote of envying ‘the enjoyment of anyone who should hear the Mendelssohn Concerto for the first time and find that, like Hamlet, it was full of quotations.’

Mendelssohn’s first ideas for it came in the summer of 1838. ‘I would like to write a violin concerto for you for next winter,’ he revealed in a letter to his friend Ferdinand David, then leader of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, of which Mendelssohn himself was conductor; ‘One in E minor is stuck in my head, and its beginning allows me no peace.’ In the event, it would take him another seven years to finish the work, with the next few bringing only the odd vague mention of it, despite gentle but understandable pressure from David. As a composer, conductor, pianist and administrator, Mendelssohn was one of the busiest musicians in Europe, and there must have been long periods when no

work was done on it at all, but there is also evidence that at one stage he started to redraft it as a piano concerto. At last, in the summer of 1844, he sat down and pushed it through to completion, though even then revisions continued – many on the advice of David – up to and after the premiere, given by David and the Gewandhaus (conducted by Niels Gade) on 13 March 1845.

The innovations in Mendelssohn’s Concerto are perhaps unobtrusive ones, but no less significant for that; many are concerned with connecting the piece up and making it less obviously sectional and formal. Thus, it opens with the lyrical main theme announced by the soloist without waiting for the customary orchestral introduction, the move into the central development section is smoothed over, and the return to the home key is reached by quiet stealth. This last achieved, Mendelssohn again subverts convention by introducing his solo cadenza (normally found near the end of the movement) and then cleverly overlapping it with the return of the main theme. A held note from the bassoon links the first movement to the second, a lyrical gem of song-like simplicity. It leads to a short passage wistfully reminiscent of the first movement’s main theme, but any suggestion of melancholy is soon forgotten when this turns out to be another transition, this time to the exhilarating Mendelssohnian lightness and grace that is the finale.

Interval – 20 minutes

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

Programme notes

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

1840–93

Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36

1877–78

1 Andante sostenuto – Moderato con anima

2 Andantino in modo di canzona

3 Scherzo (Pizzicato ostinato): Allegro

4 Finale: Allegro con fuoco

The years 1876 and 1877 were traumatic ones for Tchaikovsky. He was suffering increasingly from feelings of guilt over his homosexuality, and considerable mental torment from the fear of its discovery. As a result he underwent a personal crisis that eventually drove him not just to an ill-advised marriage to a young student (a disastrous affair which lasted only a few weeks in the summer of 1877), but also to near-madness and a pitiable suicide attempt.

Two orchestral works of this time clearly reflect Tchaikovsky’s disturbed state of mind. The first was the tone-poem Francesca da Rimini, composed in the autumn of 1876 and depicting the eternal damnation of Francesca and her lover Paolo, condemned in Dante’s Inferno to the second circle of Hell for their helpless but illicit passion. The second was the Fourth Symphony, composed the following year, which confronted another spectre that had been haunting Tchaikovsky: the destructive nature of Fate. The seeds may well have been sown by a performance of Carmen that the composer saw in Paris in early 1875, but they were undoubtedly brought to fruition by the harrowing events of the following two years. From these, Tchaikovsky emerged with a stronger-than-ever conviction of the power of ‘the fateful force that prevents the impulse to happiness from achieving its goal ... which hangs over your head like the sword of Damocles’.

Tchaikovsky wrote these words in a letter to his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, to describe the stark motto theme that opens the Symphony. The letter goes

Programme notes

on to outline for von Meck the feelings underlying the rest of the work, a useful guide to its comprehension even now, though only after it has been borne in mind that it was written after the music had been completed. Thus we learn that the oppressive waltz-tune that opens the fast section of the first movement signifies resignation in the face of Fate’s supremacy, and the lilting second theme (announced on clarinet) the desire to ‘turn away from reality and submerge oneself in daydreams’. But though the music strives for happiness, it is Fate that gains the upper hand, with the motto theme returning to dominate the later stages of the movement.

For Tchaikovsky, the slow movement – with its haunting oboe melody – evoked ‘the melancholy feeling which comes in the evening when, weary from your labour, you are sitting alone. You take a book, but it falls from your hand. A whole host of memories comes ... It’s both sad, yet somehow sweet to immerse yourself in the past.’ The ensuing Scherzo depicts less clearly defined emotions: Tchaikovsky refers vaguely to ‘capricious arabesques’, ‘drunken peasants’ and ‘a military procession’, but in truth a programme is irrelevant in this orchestral tour-de-force in which three themes –for pizzicato strings, woodwind and brass respectively –are first alternated, then wittily combined.

The Finale opens in a brilliant whirl of sounds which the sober Russian folk-tune ‘In the fields there stood a birch’ can only temporarily assuage. ‘If you find no reason for joy within yourself’, wrote Tchaikovsky, ‘go among the people. Observe how they can enjoy themselves, surrendering themselves wholeheartedly to joyful feelings.’ In the midst of the celebrations, however, the Fate theme from the first movement breaks in with an effect so devastating that the movement is brought to a standstill. But this time it cannot win. ‘You have only yourself to blame; do not say that everything in the world is sad. There are simple but strong joys’. The Symphony concludes in a blaze of glory, and the composer, for the time being at least, turns his back on Fate.

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OFFSTAGE

Our second home here on the South Coast was the focus of a recent episode of our ‘LPO Offstage’ podcast.

Episode 71, ‘Sussex Life’, featured local residents and LPO musicians Tom Watmough and Kate Leek, and Arts Ambassador for Eastbourne, Chris Connelley, in conversation with host YolanDa Brown.

Listen for free at lpo.org.uk/podcast

Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp

Take the music with you. Stream Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4

Scan the QR code to listen instantly now

5

All LPO Label recordings are available on CD from all good outlets, and to download or stream via Apple Music Classical, Spotify, Idagio and others.

BrightSparks Schools’ Concert

Coming to Eastbourne in 2024!

Thursday 9 May 2024

Congress Theatre, Eastbourne

This season we’re very excited to bring our popular BrightSparks schools’ concerts to Eastbourne for the first time!

This daytime performance is an opportunity for Key Stage 2 children to experience the thrill of hearing a full orchestra.

Tickets £3 per pupil (accompanying teachers free of charge).

This includes a free INSET session and written resources for teachers.

Booking for schools opens in the spring – for updates sign up at lpo.org.uk/brightsparks

Next LPO concerts at Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre

BRAHMS’S SECOND

Sunday 22 October 2023 | 3.00pm

Weber Overture, Der Freischütz

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3

Brahms Symphony No. 2

Charlotte Politi conductor*

Samson Tsoy piano

MOZART & BEETHOVEN

Sunday 26 November 2023 | 3.00pm

Beethoven Overture, Fidelio

Mozart Clarinet Concerto

Beethoven Symphony No. 4

Bertie Baigent conductor

Benjamin Mellefont clarinet

ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO

Sunday 14 January 2024 | 3.00pm

Smetana Overture, The Bartered Bride

Elgar Cello Concerto

Dvořák Symphony No. 7

Gabriella Teychenné conductor

Laura van der Heijden cello

Tickets from £16 Students £7 (exc. premium seats)

eastbournetheatres.co.uk

Ticket Office: 01323 412000

*Inaugural participant in the LPO Conducting Fellowship programme. The LPO Conducting Fellowship programme is generously supported by Patricia Haitink with additional support from Gini and Richard Gabbertas.

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

The American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Anonymous donors

Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet

Aud Jebsen

In memory of Mrs Rita Reay

Sir Simon & Lady Robey OBE

Orchestra Circle

William & Alex de Winton

Edward Gardner & Sara Övinge

Patricia Haitink

Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle

Mr & Mrs Philip Kan

Neil Westreich

Principal Associates

Richard Buxton

Gill & Garf Collins

In memory of Brenda Lyndoe

Casbon

In memory of Ann Marguerite Collins

Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G. Cave

George Ramishvili

The Tsukanov Family

Mr Florian Wunderlich

Associates

Mrs Irina Andreeva

In memory of Len & Edna Beech

Steven M. Berzin

The Candide Trust

John & Sam Dawson

HSH Dr Donatus, Prince of Hohenzollern

Stuart & Bianca Roden

In memory of Hazel Amy Smith

Gold Patrons

David & Yi Buckley

In memory of Allner Mavis Channing

Sonja Drexler

Peter & Fiona Espenhahn

Mr B C Fairhall

Hamish & Sophie Forsyth

Virginia Gabbertas MBE

Mr Roger Greenwood

Malcolm Herring

Julian & Gill Simmonds

Eric Tomsett

The Viney Family

Guy & Utti Whittaker

Silver Patrons

Dame Colette Bowe

David Burke & Valerie Graham

Cameron & Kathryn Doley

Ulrike & Benno Engelmann

Dmitry & Ekaterina Gursky

The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris

Charitable Trust

John & Angela Kessler

Mrs Elena & Mr Oleg Kolobov

Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva

Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina

Bindley

Tom & Phillis Sharpe

Mr Joe Topley & Ms Tracey

Countryman

Andrew & Rosemary Tusa

Laurence Watt

Bronze Patrons

Anonymous donors

Chris Aldren

Michael Allen

Mrs A Beare

Mr Anthony Blaiklock

Lorna & Christopher Bown

Mr Bernard Bradbury

Simon Burke & Rupert King

Desmond & Ruth Cecil

Mr John H Cook

Deborah Dolce

Ms Elena Dubinets

David Ellen

Christopher Fraser OBE

Mr Daniel Goldstein

David & Jane Gosman

Mr Gavin Graham

Lord & Lady Hall

Mrs Dorothy Hambleton

Iain & Alicia Hasnip

Eugene & Allison Hayes

J Douglas Home

Molly Jackson

Mrs Farrah Jamal

Mr & Mrs Jan

Mr & Mrs Ralph Kanza

Mr Peter King

Jamie & Julia Korner

Rose & Dudley Leigh

Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE

JP RAF

Drs Frank & Gek Lim

Mr & Mrs Makharinsky

Mr Gordon McNair

Andrew T Mills

Denis & Yulia Nagy

Andrew Neill

Jamie Njoku-Goodwin

Peter & Lucy Noble

Oliver & Josie Ogg

Mr Stephen Olton

Simon & Lucy Owen-Johnstone

Mr Roger Phillimore

Mr Michael Posen

Saskia Roberts

John Romeo

Priscylla Shaw

Mr & Mrs John C Tucker

Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood

Karina Varivoda

Jenny Watson CBE

Grenville & Krysia Williams

Joanna Williams

Principal Supporters

Anonymous donors

Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle

Mr John D Barnard

Roger & Clare Barron

Dr Simona Cicero & Mr Mario Altieri

Mr Alistair Corbett

Guy Davies

David Devons

Igor & Lyuba Galkin

Alexander Greaves

Prof Emeritus John Gruzelier

Michael & Christine Henry

Mrs Maureen Hooft-Graafland

Per Jonsson

Mr Ian Kapur

Ms Elena Lojevsky

Pippa Mistry-Norman

Mrs Terry Neale

John Nickson & Simon Rew

Mr James Pickford

Filippo Poli

Mr Robert Ross

Martin & Cheryl Southgate

Mr & Mrs G Stein

Christopher Williams

Supporters

Anonymous donors

Mr Francesco Andronio

Julian & Annette Armstrong

Mr Philip Bathard-Smith

Emily Benn

Mr Julien Chilcott-Monk

Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington

Mr Peter Coe

Mr Joshua Coger

Miss Tessa Cowie

Caroline Cox-Johnson

Mr Simon Edelsten

Will Gold

Mr Stephen Goldring

Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh

Mr Geordie Greig

Mr Peter Imhof

The Jackman Family

Mr David MacFarlane

Paul & Suzanne McKeown

Nick Merrifield

Dame Jane Newell DBE

Mr David Peters

Nicky Small

Mr Brian Smith

Mr Michael Timinis

Mr & Mrs Anthony Trahar

Tony & Hilary Vines

Mr John Weekes

Mr Roger Woodhouse

Mr C D Yates

Hon. Benefactor

Elliott Bernerd

Hon. Life Members

Alfonso Aijón

Kenneth Goode

Carol Colburn Grigor CBE

Pehr G Gyllenhammar

Robert Hill

Keith Millar

Victoria Robey OBE

Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

Timothy Walker CBE AM

Laurence Watt

Thomas Beecham Group Members

David & Yi Buckley

Gill & Garf Collins

William & Alex de Winton

Sonja Drexler

Mr B C Fairhall

The Friends of the LPO

Roger Greenwood

Dr Barry Grimaldi

Mr & Mrs Philip Kan

John & Angela Kessler

Sir Simon Robey

Victoria Robey OBE

Bianca & Stuart Roden

Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Julian & Gill Simmonds

Eric Tomsett

Neil Westreich

Guy & Utti Whittaker

Corporate Donor

Barclays

LPO Corporate Circle

Principal

Bloomberg

Carter-Ruck Solicitors

French Chamber of Commerce

Tutti

Lazard

Natixis Corporate Investment

Banking

Sciteb Ltd

Walpole

Preferred Partners

Jeroboams

Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd

Neal’s Yard

OneWelbeck

Sipsmith Steinway

In-kind Sponsor

Google Inc

Thank you

Trusts and Foundations

ABO Trust

The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust

BlueSpark Foundation

The Boltini Trust

Borrows Charitable Trust

Cockayne – Grants for the Arts

The London Community Foundation

Dunard Fund

Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation

Foyle Foundation

Garrick Charitable Trust

Idlewild Trust

Institute Adam Mickiewicz

John Coates Charitable Trust

John Horniman’s Children’s Trust

John Thaw Foundation

Kirby Laing Foundation

The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music

Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust

Lucille Graham Trust

The Marchus Trust

PRS Foundation

The R K Charitable Trust

The Radcliffe Trust

Rivers Foundation

Rothschild Foundation

Scops Arts Trust

TIOC Foundation

The Thriplow Charitable Trust

Vaughan Williams Foundation

The Victoria Wood Foundation

The Viney Family

and all others who wish to remain anonymous.

Board of the American Friends of the LPO

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

Kara Boyle

Jon Carter

Jay Goffman

Alexandra Jupin

Natalie Pray

Damien Vanderwilt

Marc Wassermann

Elizabeth Winter

Catherine Høgel Hon. Director

Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP

LPO International Board of Governors

Natasha Tsukanova Co-Chair

Martin Höhmann Co-Chair

Mrs Irina Andreeva

Steven M. Berzin

Shashank Bhagat

Veronika Borovik-Khilchevskaya

HSH Dr Donatus, Prince of Hohenzollern

Aline Foriel-Destezet

Irina Gofman

Olivia Ma

George Ramishvili

Sophie Schÿler-Thierry

Florian Wunderlich

London Philharmonic Orchestra Administration

Board of Directors

Dr Catherine C. Høgel Chair

Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Vice-Chair

Martin Höhmann* President

Mark Vines* Vice-President

Emily Benn

Kate Birchall*

David Burke

Deborah Dolce

Elena Dubinets

Tanya Joseph

Hugh Kluger*

Katherine Leek*

Minn Majoe*

Tania Mazzetti*

Jamie Njoku-Goodwin

Andrew Tusa

Neil Westreich

Simon Freakley (Ex officio –Chairman of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra)

*Player-Director

Advisory Council

Roger Barron Chairman

Christopher Aldren

Richard Brass

Helen Brocklebank

YolanDa Brown OBE

David Buckley

Simon Burke

Simon Callow CBE

Desmond Cecil CMG

Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG

Andrew Davenport

Guillaume Descottes

Cameron Doley

Christopher Fraser OBE

Jenny Goldie-Scot

Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS

Marianna Hay MBE

Nicholas Hely-Hutchinson DL

Amanda Hill

Dr Catherine C. Høgel

Martin Höhmann

Rehmet Kassim-Lakha

Jamie Korner

Geoff Mann

Andrew Neill

Nadya Powell

Sir Bernard Rix

Victoria Robey OBE

Baroness Shackleton

Thomas Sharpe KC

Julian Simmonds

Barry Smith

Martin Southgate

Chris Viney

Laurence Watt

Elizabeth Winter

General Administration

Elena Dubinets

Artistic Director

David Burke Chief Executive

Chantelle Vircavs PA to the Executive

Concert Management

Roanna Gibson

Concerts and Planning Director

Graham Wood

Concerts and Recordings Manager

Maddy Clarke

Tours Manager

Madeleine Ridout

Glyndebourne and Projects Manager

Alison Jones

Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

Robert Winup

Concerts and Tours Assistant

Matthew Freeman

Recordings Consultant

Andrew Chenery

Orchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah Thomas

Martin Sargeson

Librarians

Laura Kitson

Stage and Operations Manager

Stephen O’Flaherty

Deputy Operations Manager

Benjamin Wakley

Assistant Stage Manager

Felix Lo

Orchestra and Auditions Manager

Finance

Frances Slack

Finance Director

Dayse Guilherme

Finance Manager

Jean-Paul Ramotar

Finance and IT Officer

Education and Community

Talia Lash

Education and Community Director

Lowri Davies

Hannah Foakes

Education and Community Project Managers

Hannah Smith

Education and Community Co-ordinator

Claudia Clarkson Regional Partnerships Manager

Development

Laura Willis

Development Director

Rosie Morden

Individual Giving Manager

Siân Jenkins

Corporate Relations Manager

Anna Quillin

Trusts and Foundations Manager

Katurah Morrish

Development Events Manager

Eleanor Conroy

Al Levin

Development Co-ordinators

Nick Jackman

Campaigns and Projects Director

Kirstin Peltonen

Development Associate

Marketing

Kath Trout

Marketing and Communications Director

Sophie Harvey

Marketing Manager

Rachel Williams

Publications Manager

Gavin Miller

Sales and Ticketing Manager

Ruth Haines

Press and PR Manager

Hayley Kim

Residencies and Projects

Marketing Manager

Greg Felton

Digital Creative

Alicia Hartley

Digital and Marketing

Co-ordinator

Isobel Jones

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 Simon Owen-Johnstone

Hon. Orthopaedic Surgeon

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 illustration

Selman Hoşgör

2023/24 season identity

JMG Studio

Printer John Good Ltd