LPO programme: 27 Oct 2024 Eastbourne - Beethoven's Seventh
2024/25 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 KBE 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 27 October 2024 | 3.00pm
Beethoven’s Seventh
Sibelius Finlandia (8’)
Dvořák
Cello Concerto (40’)
Interval (20’)
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 (36’)
Vinay Parameswaran conductor
Sterling Elliott* cello
*Alexandra Jupin Award recipient: an annual award for an artist making their debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
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
Welcome to the Congress Theatre
Theatre Director Chris Jordan General Manager Neil Jones
We extend a warm welcome to the members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and to the artists making their debuts with the Orchestra today – and of course to every one of you, our valued audience members.
Following the success of last year’s concert season, in May this year we were thrilled to host an LPO BrightSparks schools concert for local Key Stage 2 students and their teachers, and to play a part in supporting the fantastic educational work this Orchestra delivers.
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 concert or you are a season regular, we hope you enjoy your experience at our venue. Please speak to a member of our staff if you have any comments you’d like to make about your visit. We thank you for continuing to support the concert series. Please sit back in your seats and enjoy your afternoon with us.
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.
Enjoying the concert?
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The paper used for all LPO brochures and concert programmes has been sourced from responsibly managed forests, certified in accordance with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). It is also Carbon Balanced, meaning the carbon impact of its production is offset by the World Land Trust through the purchase and preservation of ecologically important forestry under imminent threat of clearance.
Music for everyone: the LPO in Eastbourne
As well as our Sunday concerts here at the Congress Theatre, we’re thrilled to carry on sharing the wonder of classical music beyond the concert hall this season, working with our local partners in and around Eastbourne to offer musical opportunities for people of all ages.
Partnering with Create Music, the music education hub for Brighton & Hove and East Sussex, and with West Sussex Music, this season we’re offering more exciting musical opportunities for young people in Eastbourne, Brighton and beyond. From unique experiences on our concert days to engaging, free LPO Overture days during school holidays, young musicians have the chance to connect with LPO players, refine their skills, and perform for their families and friends. Keep an eye out for details of our next LPO Overture Day in Eastbourne next spring!
In May we performed our first ever BrightSparks schools’ concert at the Congress Theatre, offering Key Stage 2 children the unforgettable experience of hearing a full orchestra live and up close – and we can’t wait to do it again on Thursday 12 June 2025! Visit lpo.org.uk/brightsparks to find out more or sign up to our schools’ mailing list.
Beyond our work with children and young people, we’re forging partnerships with other local organisations too. Last Christmas, an LPO brass ensemble performed at Langney Shopping Centre at the launch of the new community library ‘The Huddle’, and, further along the coast in Shoreham, we recently partnered with the charity Soundcastle on ‘People’s Music’, a transformative project working with individuals on a mental health recovery journey or struggling with feelings of isolation. Other recent projects include a collaboration with the amateur Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra, in which our LPO players have immersed themselves in the orchestra’s rehearsals, sitting sideby-side with their counterparts, sharing expertise and support in the lead-up to their concerts.
If you’re aware of an organisation that could benefit from collaborating with us, or if you’d like to get involved, we’re all ears. Contact Claudia Clarkson, our Regional Partnerships Manager, at claudia.clarkson@lpo.org.uk, and let’s explore how we can make a difference together.
The LPO’s activities with South Coast communities are generously supported by Garfield Weston Foundation, TIOC Foundation, and donors to the LPO’s Arts for Impact Big Give campaign.
First Violins
Alice Ivy-Pemberton Leader
Minn Majoe
Chair supported by Dr Alex & Maria Chan
Elizaveta Tyun
Alice Apreda Howell
Sophie Phillips
Amanda Smith
Eleanor Bartlett
Chu-Yu Yang
Maeve Jenkinson
Camille Buitenhuis
Daniel Pukach
Tayfun Bomboz
Second Violins
Emma Oldfield Principal
Kate Birchall
Joseph Maher
Ashley Stevens
Joseph Maher
Sioni Williams
Vera Beumer
Lyrit Milgram
Caroline Heard
José Nuno Cabrita Matias
Olivia Ziani
Violas
Philip Nolte Guest Principal
Benedetto Pollani
Martin Wray
Chair supported by David & Bettina Harden
Mark Gibbs
Anita Kurowska
Rachel Robson
Abby Bowen
Charles Cross
Cellos
Jonathan Ayling Guest Principal
Francis Bucknall
Sue Sutherley
Tom Roff
Helen Thomas
Iain Ward
On stage today
Double Basses
Kevin Rundell* Principal
Charlotte Kerbegian
Tom Morgan
Thea Sayer
Flutes
Fiona Kelly Guest Principal
Stewart McIlwham*
Oboes
Ian Hardwick* Principal
Luiz De Campos
Clarinets
James Gilbert Guest Principal
James Maltby
Bassoons
Simon Estell* Principal
Helen Storey Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra
Horns
John Ryan* Principal
Martin Hobbs
Amadea Dazeley-Gaist
Jason Koczur
Alec Ross
Trumpets
Paul Beniston* Principal
Tom Nielsen Co-Principal
David Hilton
Trombones
Mark Templeton* Principal Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
David Whitehouse
Bass Trombone
Guy Berry
Tuba
Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Timpani
Jonathan Phillips Guest Principal
Percussion
Ignacio Molins Guest Principal
Harry Lovell-Jones
*Professor at a London conservatoire
The LPO also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert:
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. Our mission is to share wonder with the modern world through the power of orchestral music, which we accomplish through live performances, online, and an extensive education and community programme, cementing 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 worldwide. In 2024 we celebrated 60 years as Resident Symphony Orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, combining the magic of opera with Glyndebourne’s glorious setting in the Sussex countryside.
Soundtrack to key moments
Everyone will have heard the Grammy-nominated London Philharmonic Orchestra, whether it’s playing the world’s National Anthems for 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
Sharing the wonder worldwide
We’re one of the world’s most-streamed orchestras, with over 15 million plays of our content each month. In 2023 we were the most successful orchestra worldwide on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, with over 1.1m followers across all platforms, and in spring 2024 we featured in a TV documentary series on Sky Arts: ‘Backstage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra’, still available to watch via Now TV. During 2024/25 we’re once again working with Marquee TV to broadcast selected live concerts to enjoy from your own living room.
Our conductors
Our Principal Conductors have included some of the greatest historic names like Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In 2021 Edward Gardner became our 13th Principal Conductor, and 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.
Next generations
We’re committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians and music-lovers: we love seeing the joy of children and families experiencing their first musical moments, and we’re passionate about inspiring schools and teachers through dedicated concerts, workshops,
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 disabilities and special educational needs.
Today’s young instrumentalists are the orchestra members of the future, and we have a number of opportunities to support their progression. Our LPO Junior Artists programme leads 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 two outstanding early-career conductors from backgrounds under-represented in the profession.
2024/25 season
Principal Conductor Edward Gardner leads the Orchestra in an exciting 2024/25 season, with soloists including Joyce DiDonato, Leif Ove Andsnes, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Víkingur Ólafsson and Isabelle Faust, and works including Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis joins us for three concerts including Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, and Mozart with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor. We’ll also welcome back Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski, as well as guest conductors including Mark Elder, Lidiya Yankovskaya, Robin Ticciati and Kevin John Edusei.
Throughout the season we’ll explore the relationship between music and memory in our ‘Moments Remembered’ series, featuring works like Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony, Strauss’s Metamorphosen and John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls. During the season there’ll be the chance to hear brand new works by composers including Freya Waley-Cohen and David Sawer, as well as performances by renowned soloists violinist Gidon Kremer, sarod player Amjad Ali Khan, soprano Renée Fleming and many more. The season also features tours to Japan, the USA, China and across Europe, as well as a calendar bursting with performances and community events in our Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden residencies.
Alice Ivy-Pemberton Leader
Alice Ivy-Pemberton joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader in February 2023.
Praised by The New York Times for her ‘sweet-toned playing’, Alice has performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician to international acclaim. While growing up in New York City and studying with Nurit Pacht, Alice made a nationally televised Carnegie Hall debut aged ten, and was a finalist at the Menuhin International Competition at the age of 12.
Alice earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho as a fully-funded recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. During her studies she won Juilliard’s Violin Concerto Competition, performed extensively with the New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra, and led orchestras under the baton of Barbara Hannigan, Xian Zhang and Matthias Pintscher. Upon graduating in 2022 she was awarded the Polisi Prize and a Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant in recognition of ‘tremendous talent, promise, creativity, and potential to make a significant impact in the performing arts’.
An avid chamber musician, Alice has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Anthony Marwood, Gil Shaham and members of the Belcea, Doric, Juilliard and Brentano string quartets, and performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Festival appearances include Music@Menlo, Moritzburg and Yellow Barn. Also a passionate advocate for new music and its social relevance, Alice created Drowning Monuments, a noted multimedia project on climate change that brought together five world premieres for solo violin.
Vinay Parameswaran
conductor
Internationally recognised for his energetic presence, imaginative programming and compelling musicianship, Vinay Parameswaran is one of the most exciting and versatile young conductors on the podium today. Recent highlights include debuts with the Phoenix Symphony, San Antonio Philharmonic, Knoxville Symphony, Charlotte Symphony and Houston Symphony orchestras; return appearances with the Nashville Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic orchestras; opera productions for Curtis Opera Theatre and Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; and education and family concerts with the Chicago and New Jersey symphony orchestras. Today is his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and this season also sees his debuts with the Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Chicago Sinfonietta and Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
In the 2021/22 season Vinay concluded five seasons with The Cleveland Orchestra, where he was Assistant Conductor from 2017/18 and promoted to Associate Conductor in 2021. During this period, he conducted many concerts each season at Severance Hall, Blossom Music Festival and on tour. As Music Director, he led the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra on an acclaimed four-city European tour that included a performance at the Musikverein in Vienna.
Prior to his position with The Cleveland Orchestra, Vinay was the Associate Conductor of the Nashville Symphony for three seasons. He led over 150 performances, which included his subscription debut with the Orchestra in 2016/17, conducting works by Gabriella Smith, Grieg and Prokofiev. Other highlights have included debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, North Carolina
Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony and Jacksonville Symphony orchestras; and the Louisville and Grant Park orchestras.
Equally at home in symphonic and operatic repertoire and in the recording studio, Vinay Parameswaran has led performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love and Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen with Curtis Opera Theatre. In Cleveland, he has assisted Franz Welser-Möst on productions of Verdi’s Otello, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. In 2020/21 he recorded the album Two x Four with the Curtis Ensemble and violinists Jaime Laredo and Jennifer Koh, featuring works by Bach, David Ludwig, Philip Glass and Anna Clyne, as well as recording a selection of concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra for its digital streaming platform.
Vinay Parameswaran was a Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, and has participated in masterclasses with David Zinman at the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, as well as with Marin Alsop and Gustav Meier at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. He was the recipient of a Career Assistance Award by the Solti Foundation U.S. in May 2021.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Vinay Parameswaran graduated with honours from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in music and political science. At Brown, he began his conducting studies with Paul Phillips. He received an Artist Diploma in conducting from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with renowned pedagogue Otto-Werner Mueller as the Albert M. Greenfield Fellow.
Sterling Elliott cello
Acclaimed for his stellar stage presence and joyous musicianship, American cellist Sterling Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and winner of the Senior Division of the 2019 National Sphinx Competition.
In May this year, Sterling was proud to be announced as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist for 2024–26, and looks forward to numerous upcoming studio recordings and performances, both solo and with the BBC orchestras. This concert is his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Having made his Wigmore Hall debut in February 2024, this season Sterling also makes debuts in Europe at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg among others, as well as a return to Wigmore Hall. Earlier this week he was a featured soloist in ‘Classic FM Live’ at the Royal Albert Hall. Further afield, this season he makes his New Zealand debut at the ‘At World’s Edge’ chamber music festival near Queenstown.
Sterling has appeared with major US orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, with conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Thomas Wilkins, Jeffrey Kahane and Mei-Ann Chen, among others. He recently gave the world premiere of a new orchestral version of John Corigliano’s Phantasmagoria, commissioned for him by a consortium of orchestras including the Orlando Philharmonic and music director Eric Jacobsen. Sterling has also worked with the Minnesota Orchestra, as well as the Charlotte, Cincinnati, Colorado, Fort Worth, Grand Rapids, New Jersey, North Carolina, San Antonio and Pacific symphony orchestras.
In recital, Sterling has recently performed under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, Shriver Hall in Baltimore, and the Tippett Rise Festival. He has appeared at Music@Menlo, Chamberfest in Cleveland, Chamberfest Northwest in Calgary, Music at Angel Fire and the La Jolla Music Society, and has performed chamber music with Nicola Benedetti, Stefan Jackiw and others at the Edinburgh Festival.
Sterling participates in several programmes alongside exceptionally talented young artists. In 2023 he joined the UK-based Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) as the YCAT–Music Masters Robey Artist. In April 2023 he was selected by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York for its Bowers Program, a three-year residency which will see performances in CMS tours across the USA, and subscription concerts at Alice Tully Hall. In spring 2022, Sterling participated in the radio programme Performance Today’s Young Artist Residency, which featured educational events, interviews and a radio feature. This season, he will receive a Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honour bestowed by the Sphinx Organization, with whom he has a long established relationship.
Born into a musical household, Sterling initially wanted to play the violin like his older brother and sister. After a bit of encouragement, he completed The Elliott Family String Quartet, an ensemble that enjoyed personalised arrangements of genres such as bluegrass, gospel and funk music.
Sterling is pursuing an Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick and Clara Kim, following completion of his Master of Music and undergraduate degrees at Juilliard. He is an ambassador of the Young Strings of America.
Sterling performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.
Sterling Elliott is the recipient of the 2024/25 LPO Alexandra Jupin Award: an annual award for an artist making their debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Programme notes
Jean Sibelius
1865–1957
Finlandia, Op. 26
1898–99
Before declaring itself independent in 1917, Finland was ruled by Sweden and thereafter by Russia. Resentment of the latter occupation reached a peak among Finns in 1899, when the Russian Governor-General Nikolay Bobrikov started to clamp down on Finnish autonomy and closed a number of Finnish-language newspapers. In November 1899, a three-day benefit event was organised to aid journalists in difficulty following the closures. For the occasion, the fast-rising composer Jean Sibelius wrote a series of seven musical portraits evoking Finland’s history culminating in a rousing finale: Finland Awakes.
Few could have missed the political implications of that not-so-subtle title, nor the nationalistic elements in the actual music. It was another month before Finland Awakes found its feet and its resonance. Robert Kajanus, conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic, organised a concert in which four of Sibelius’s portraits were revived, Finland Awakes included. Sibelius rearranged the piece and it took the form and title we know today. It opens with angry brass, snarling defensively before giving way to a hymn of hope and resolve, filled with the rhythmic inflections of the Finnish language and the bowed head of Lutheran obedience.
‘We fought 600 years for our freedom and I am part of the generation that achieved it. Freedom! My Finlandia is the story of this fight. It is the song of our battle, our hymn of victory.’
Jean Sibelius
Courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London
Programme notes
Antonín Dvořák
1841–1904
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
1894–95
Sterling Elliott cello
1 Allegro
2 Adagio ma non troppo 3 Allegro moderato
Few people are surprised today when a composer chooses to write a cello concerto. As the great examples by Dvořák, Elgar, Schumann, Walton and Shostakovich show, this noble, rich-toned, soulfully expressive and remarkably agile instrument makes a splendid concerto soloist. But when the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák wrote his Cello Concerto in 1894–5, even connoisseurs were surprised. When Johannes Brahms – composer of one of the greatest violin concertos in the repertoire – first saw Dvořák’s score, he exclaimed, ‘Why on earth didn’t I know that one could write a cello concerto like this? If I had only known, I would have written one long ago!’
Actually there’s no reason why Brahms should have known: in his and Dvořák’s day the cello was rarely played well as a solo instrument. In fact the situation seems to have lasted for some time after Dvořák’s death. As late as 1939, the famous Manchester Guardian critic Neville Cardus complained of ‘the waspin-the-window effect which most times we have to put up with whenever a cellist gets to work.’ But there is also the issue of balance. The cello may seem to have a powerful voice, but its lower notes in particular can easily be overwhelmed if the orchestral accompaniment is too rich and strong. But Dvořák copes superbly with this potential problem. Though he uses a relatively large orchestra, the cello soloist rarely has to contend with anything like its full force. There are loud, impressive orchestral tuttis, but in these passages the cellist is mostly silent. The result is that, given a reasonably
Programme notes
strong player, every note of the cello part should be audible. That must have been one of the Concerto’s features that so impressed Brahms.
Beyond that, Brahms can hardly fail to have been impressed by Dvořák’s melodic writing. The Cello Concerto brims over with wonderful long tunes and characterful short motifs. Not all of these are initially identified with the cello. Like most concertos of the ‘Classical’ era of Mozart and Beethoven, Dvořák begins the first movement with a long passage for orchestra alone. There is a darkly memorable theme for low woodwind at the start then, after the first big climax, a glorious long tune for solo horn. So when the cello enters for the first time, it not only has to cope with Dvořák’s technical assault course, it also has to establish a claim to these themes for itself.
In the slow movement, it is the cellist’s powers as an instrumental singer that are tested to the full. The first theme is relaxed and reflective, with strong suggestions of folksong. But this is interrupted by a darker minor-key central section. Here there is a definite autobiographical element. While Dvořák was working on the Concerto, he heard that his sister-in-law, Josefina Kaunitzova, was seriously ill – in his youth Dvořák had been in love with her. Josefina was particularly fond of Dvořák’s song ‘Leave me alone’ (Op. 82, No. 1), and in this slow movement he has the cello quote its melody just after the first stern entry of the trombones and tuba. This same melody reappears near the end of the finale –this time in response to the news of Josefina’s death. The finale’s opening march theme does return in triumph to end the Concerto, but that poignant reminiscence of lost love lingers in the memory – is this where the Concerto’s heart truly lies?
An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.
Ludwig van Beethoven
1770–1827
Symphony No. 7 in A major
1811–12
1
Poco sostenuto – Vivace
2 Allegretto 3 Presto – Assai meno presto
Four years separate Beethoven’s Sixth and Seventh symphonies, four years in which Beethoven’s health went into steep decline. Over the course of six months between 1811 and 1812 he was twice ordered by doctors to spend time at a spa in the Bohemian town of Teplitz to help him recover from a spate of illness. His diaries from this time convey his despondency and heartache, even admitting to thoughts of suicide. Where then, did Beethoven find the sunny demeanour that characterises his Seventh Symphony? Brisk, joyous and radiating warmth, it is one of Beethoven’s most carefree symphonic works, a symphony that Richard Wagner would later call ‘the apotheosis of the dance herself’.
Beethoven, for his part, referred to it as his ‘Grand Symphony in A’, adding in a letter to the impresario Johann Peter Salomon that he considered it ‘one of my best works’. And ‘grand’ is certainly a fitting description. The introduction to the opening Vivace is longer than any symphonic introduction ever composed before: it takes Beethoven nearly four suspense-laden minutes to reach the Vivace, by which time the last thing we are expecting is the ebullient romp that follows.
But it is the solemn Allegretto that has become the Symphony’s calling-card. Although it is not ‘slow’ in the traditional sense (Allegretto meaning ‘fairly brisk’), the Allegretto is the de facto slow movement in an otherwise spirited symphony. Muted both in tone and dynamics, this rather sombre series of variations upon a repetitive, walking theme has been compared to
Programme notes
a funeral procession – and for good reason. Just as the first movement was carried along by its propulsive rhythmic accompaniment, repetition abounds here too, but here the ‘long-short-short long-long’ ostinato has quite the opposite effect. Every time it seems to get going, we stall once more, as though the procession were inching forwards only to stop, take stock, and set off again. Only when Beethoven begins to spin out long, languorous countermelodies does the procession find its momentum and a remarkable grandeur emerges out of this rather unassuming theme, only to peter out and sidle off into the distance once more.
There is nothing unassuming, however, about the scherzo that follows. Composed in F major, that same errant key that made its first appearance in the expansive introduction, the scherzo is a whirlwind of
tossed-out melodic fragments and sudden dynamic contrasts, relaxing only briefly in the more measured, rustic trio sections – which again recall elements of the composer’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony. And then, with little more than a couple of punchy chords to pull us back to the home key, Beethoven launches headlong into the finale, a wild, unbound Allegro that Tchaikovsky called ‘a whole series of images, full of unrestrained joy, full of bliss and pleasure of life’. While the conductor Thomas Beecham was rather less kind (‘What can you do with it? It’s like a lot of yaks jumping about’), there is no denying its physicality. Joy spills over into raucousness, the gloom of the Allegretto long forgotten, as the finale hurtles along with an earthy, unrestrained energy that flirts with dance but borders on bedlam.
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Tune In: new issue out now
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Mr Andrea Santacroce & Olivia Veillet-Lavallée
Penny Segal
Priscylla Shaw
Michael Smith
Mr & Mrs G Stein
Dr Peter Stephenson
Ben Valentin KC
Sophie Walker
Christopher Williams
Liz Winter
Elena Y Zeng
Supporters
Anonymous donors
Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle
Robert & Sarah Auerbach
Dr Simona Cicero & Mr Mario Altieri
Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington
Sarah Connor
Miss Tessa Cowie
Andrew Davenport
Stephen Denby
Mr Simon Edelsten
Steve Goldring
In memory of Derek Gray
Nick Hely-Hutchinson
The Jackman Family
Molly Jackson
Jan Leigh & Jan Rynkiewicz
Mr David MacFarlane
Simon Moore
Simon & Fiona Mortimore
Dana Mosevicz
Dame Jane Newell DBE
Diana G Oosterveld
Mr David Peters
Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh
Clarence Tan
Tony & Hilary Vines
Dr June Wakefield
Mr John Weekes
Mr Roger Woodhouse
Mr C D Yates
Hon. Benefactor
Elliott Bernerd
Hon. Life Members
Alfonso Aijón
Carol Colburn Grigor CBE
Pehr G Gyllenhammar
Robert Hill
Keith Millar
Victoria Robey CBE
Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE
Cornelia Schmid
Timothy Walker CBE AM
Laurence Watt
Thomas Beecham
Group Members
Sir Nigel Boardman & Prof. Lynda Gratton
David & Yi Buckley
In memory of Peter Coe
Dr Alex & Maria Chan
Garf & Gill Collins
William & Alex de Winton
The Friends of the LPO
Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G.
Cave
Mr Roger Greenwood
Barry Grimaldi
David & Bettina Harden
Mr & Mrs Philip Kan
Mr & Mrs John Kessler
Sir Simon Robey
Victoria Robey OBE
Stuart & Bianca Roden
Julian & Gill Simmonds
Eric Tomsett
Neil Westreich
Guy & Utti Whittaker
LPO Corporate Circle
Principal
Bloomberg
Carter-Ruck Solicitors
French Chamber of Commerce
Ryze Power
Tutti
German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce
Lazard
Natixis Corporate Investment
Banking
Walpole
Thank you
Preferred Partners
Jeroboams
Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd
Neal’s Yard Remedies
OneWelbeck
Sipsmith
Steinway & Sons
In-kind Sponsor Google
Inc
Trusts and Foundations
ABO Trust
Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne
BlueSpark Foundation
The Boltini Trust
Candide Trust
Cockayne Grants for the Arts in London
Dunard Fund
Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
Foyle Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
Garrick Charitable Trust
The Golsoncott Foundation
Jerwood Foundation
John Coates Charitable Trust
John Horniman’s Children’s Trust
John Thaw Foundation
Idlewild Trust
Institute Adam Mickiewicz
Kirby Laing Foundation
The John S Cohen Foundation
The Lennox Hannay Charitable Trust
Kurt Weill Foundation
Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust
Lucille Graham Trust
The Marchus Trust
Maria Bjӧrnson Memorial Fund
PRS Foundation
The R K Charitable Trust
The Radcliffe Trust
Rivers Foundation
Rothschild Foundation
Scops Arts Trust
TIOC Foundation
Vaughan Williams Foundation
The Victoria Wood Foundation
The Viney Family
The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust
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 MBE
Damien Vanderwilt
Marc Wassermann
Elizabeth Winter
Catherine Høgel Hon. Director
LPO International Board of Governors
Natasha Tsukanova Chair
Mrs Irina Andreeva
Steven M. Berzin
Shashank Bhagat
Irina Gofman
Olivia Ma
George Ramishvili Florian Wunderlich
London Philharmonic Orchestra Administration
Board of Directors
Dr Catherine C. Høgel Chair
Nigel Boardman Vice-Chair
Mark Vines* President
Kate Birchall* Vice-President
Emily Benn
David Buckley
David Burke
Michelle Crowe Hernandez
Deborah Dolce
Elena Dubinets
Simon Estell*
Tanya Joseph
Katherine Leek*
Minn Majoe*
Tania Mazzetti*
Jamie Njoku-Goodwin
Neil Westreich
David Whitehouse*
Simon Freakley (Ex officio –Chairman of the American Friends of the LPO)
*Player-Director
Advisory Council
Roger Barron Chairman
Christopher Aldren
Kate Birchall
Richard Brass
Helen Brocklebank
YolanDa Brown OBE
David Burke
Simon Burke
Simon Callow CBE
Desmond Cecil CMG
Jane Coulson
Andrew Davenport
Guillaume Descottes
Cameron Doley
Elena Dubinets
Lena Fankhauser
Christopher Fraser OBE
Jenny Goldie-Scot
Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS
Nicholas Hely-Hutchinson DL
Dr Catherine C. Høgel
Martin Höhmann
Jamie Korner
Andrew Neill
Nadya Powell
Sir Bernard Rix
Victoria Robey CBE
Baroness Shackleton
Thomas Sharpe KC
Julian Simmonds
Daisuke Tsuchiya
Mark Vines
Chris Viney
Laurence Watt
Elizabeth Winter
New Generation Board
Ellie Ajao
Peter De Souza
Vivek Haria
Rianna Henriques
Pasha Orleans-Foli
Zerlina Vulliamy
General Administration
Elena Dubinets
Artistic Director
David Burke
Chief Executive
Ineza Grabowska
PA to the Executive & Office Manager
Concert Management
Roanna Gibson
Concerts & Planning Director
Graham Wood
Concerts & Recordings Manager
Maddy Clarke
Tours Manager
Madeleine Ridout
Glyndebourne & Projects Manager
Alison Jones
Concerts & Artists Co-ordinator
Dora Kmezić
Concerts & Recordings
Co-ordinator
Tom Cameron
Concerts & Tours Assistant
Matthew Freeman
Recordings Consultant
Andrew Chenery
Orchestra Personnel Manager
Helen Phipps
Orchestra & Auditions Manager
Sarah Thomas
Martin Sargeson Librarians
Laura Kitson
Stage & Operations Manager
Stephen O’Flaherty
Deputy Operations Manager
Benjamin Wakley
Deputy Stage Manager
Finance
Frances Slack
Finance Director
Dayse Guilherme
Finance Manager
Jean-Paul Ramotar Finance & IT Officer
Education & Community
Talia Lash
Education & Community Director
Lowri Davies
Eleanor Jones
Education & Community Project Managers
Hannah Smith
Education & Community Co-ordinator
Claudia Clarkson Regional Partnerships Manager
Development
Laura Willis
Development Director
Rosie Morden
Individual Giving Manager
Owen Mortimer Corporate Relations Manager
Anna Quillin
Trusts & Foundations Manager
Eleanor Conroy
Development Events Manager
Al Levin
Development Co-ordinator
Holly Eagles Development Assistant
Nick Jackman
Campaigns & Projects Director
Kirstin Peltonen
Development Associate
Marketing
Kath Trout
Marketing & Communications Director
Sophie Lonergan (née Harvey)
Marketing Manager
Rachel Williams
Publications Manager
Gavin Miller
Sales & Ticketing Manager
Josh Clark
Data, Insights & CRM Manager
Georgie Blyth
Press & PR Manager
Greg Felton
Digital Creative
Alicia Hartley
Digital & Marketing Co-ordinator
Isobel Jones
Marketing Co-ordinator
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
Printer John Good Ltd
Cover photograph Jason Bell
2024/25 season design
JMG Studio
Printer John Good Ltd
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