LPO programme: 27 Sep 2023 - Johan Dalene plays Sibelius (Edward Gardner, conductor)

2023/24 concert season at the Southbank Centre

Free concert programme

Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis

Conductor

Artistic Director Elena Dubinets Chief Executive David Burke Leader Pieter Schoeman supported by Neil Westreich

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

Wednesday 27 September 2023 | 7.30pm

Johan Dalene plays Sibelius

Felix Mendelssohn

Hebrides Overture (10’)

Sibelius

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 (31’)

Interval (20’)

Brahms

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (45’)

Contents

2 Welcome LPO news

3 On stage tonight

4 London Philharmonic Orchestra

5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman

6 Edward Gardner

7 Johan Dalene

8 Programme notes

12 Recommended recordings

13 Next concerts

14 Brahms on the LPO Label

17 Sound Futures donors

18 Thank you

20 LPO administration

Edward Gardner conductor

Generously supported by Aud Jebsen

Johan Dalene violin

The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide. Concert presented by the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Works from tonight’s concert are being filmed for future broadcast on Marquee TV. We would be grateful if audience noise during the performance could be kept to a minimum, and if audience members could kindly hold applause until the end of each full work. Thank you for your co-operation.

Principal Conductor Edward Gardner supported by Aud Jebsen

Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski Patron HRH The Duke of Kent KG

Welcome LPO news

Welcome to the Southbank Centre

We’re the largest arts centre in the UK and one of the nation’s top visitor attractions, showcasing the world’s most exciting artists at our venues in the heart of London. We’re here to present great cultural experiences that bring people together, and open up the arts to everyone.

The Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Hayward Gallery, National Poetry Library and Arts Council Collection. We’re one of London’s favourite meeting spots, with lots of free events and places to relax, eat and shop next to the Thames.

We hope you enjoy your visit. If you need any information or help, please ask a member of staff. You can also write to us at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, or email hello@southbankcentre.co.uk

Subscribers to our email updates are the first to hear about new events, offers and competitions. Just head to our website to sign up.

Drinks

You are welcome to bring drinks from the venue’s bars and cafés into the Royal Festival Hall to enjoy during tonight’s concert. Please be considerate to fellow audience members by keeping noise during the concert to a minimum, and please take your glasses with you for recycling afterwards. Thank you.

Enjoyed tonight’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.

Tonight’s concert on Marquee TV

We are delighted that a selection of concerts from our LPO 2023/24 Royal Festival Hall season are being filmed for broadcast on Marquee TV. Works from this evening’s concert are being filmed for broadcast on Saturday 21 October 2023 at 7pm. The performance will remain available to watch free of charge for 48 hours without a Marquee TV subscription.

If you would like to subscribe for unlimited access to Marquee TV’s extensive range of music, opera, theatre and dance productions, you can enjoy 50% off with code LPO2023. Visit welcome.marquee.tv/lpo-2023 to find out more, enjoy a free trial or subscribe.

Tune In: new issue out now

Hot off the press is the Autumn 2023 edition of our twice-yearly LPO magazine, Tune In As well as all the latest news, it features exclusive interviews and behindthe-scenes content. Scan the QR code or visit issuu.com/londonphilharmonic to read Tune In online, or call 020 7840 4200 to request a copy in the post.

Just released: Elgar – The Legacy

In February 1933, just four months after the LPO was founded, Edward Elgar had already begun making his own recordings with the new Orchestra. Over the summer we launched a new series of digital recordings celebrating the legacy of Elgar as a composer and conductor.

Volume 1 is out now on all streaming services, with three further volumes to follow. Each release includes a digital booklet with insightful notes by Andrew Neill, former Chairman of the Elgar Society, offering a compelling narrative of Elgar’s creative vision and the historical and technological context of the recordings.

lpo.org.uk/recordings

First Violins

Pieter Schoeman* Leader

Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Alice Ivy-Pemberton Co-Leader

Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader

Kate Oswin

Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Lasma Taimina

Chair supported by Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik

V. G. Cave

Minn Majoe

Thomas Eisner

Cassandra Hamilton

Yang Zhang

Martin Höhmann

Katalin Varnagy

Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

Elizaveta Tyun

Nilufar Alimaksumova

Sophie Phillips

Second Violins

Tania Mazzetti Principal

Emma Oldfield Co-Principal

Molly Cockburn

Kate Birchall

Nancy Elan

Fiona Higham

Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Joseph Maher

Marie-Anne Mairesse

Sioni Williams

Ricky Gore

Lyrit Milgram

Sheila Law

Nynke Hijlkema

Charlie MacClure

Violas

Caroline Harrison Guest Principal

Martin Wray

Katharine Leek

Lucia Ortiz Sauco

Benedetto Pollani

Michelle Bruil

Alistair Scahill

James Heron

Kate De Campos

Raquel López Bolívar

On stage tonight

Cellos

Kristina Blaumane Principal

Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden

Waynne Kwon

Francis Bucknall

David Lale

Sue Sutherley

Helen Thomas

George Hoult

Sibylle Hentschel

Double Basses

Kevin Rundell* Principal

Sebastian Pennar Co-Principal

George Peniston

Laura Murphy

Lowri Morgan

Adam Wynter

Flutes

Juliette Bausor Principal

Stewart McIlwham*

Oboes

Rainer Gibbons Guest Principal

Alice Munday

Clarinets

Benjamin Mellefont Principal

Thomas Watmough

Chair supported by Roger Greenwood

Bassoons

Jonathan Davies Principal

Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey

Hunter Gordon

Contrabassoon

Simon Estell* Principal

Horns

John Ryan* Principal

Annemarie Federle Principal

Martin Hobbs

Mark Vines Co-Principal

Gareth Mollison

Trumpets

Paul Beniston* Principal

Tom Nielsen Co-Principal

Trombones

Mark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

Bass Trombone

Lyndon Meredith Principal

Timpani

Simon Carrington* Principal

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Assistant Conductor

Charlotte Politi

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

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

Gill & Garf Collins

Mr B C Fairhall

Friends of the Orchestra

Dr Barry Grimaldi

Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

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 here 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.

© Benjamin Ealovega

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

Edward Gardner

Principal Conductor, London Philharmonic Orchestra

In demand as a guest conductor, recent seasons have seen Edward make debuts with the Cleveland Symphony, Staatskapelle Berlin, Bavarian Radio Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony and Vienna Symphony orchestras; while returns have included engagements with the Chicago Symphony, Montreal Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano. He also continued his longstanding collaboration with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where he was Principal Guest Conductor from 2010–16, and with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, whom he has conducted at both the First and Last Nights of the BBC Proms.

Edward Gardner has been Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since September 2021. He is also Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, a position he will relinquish at the end of the 2023/24 season. From August 2024 he will undertake the Music Directorship of the Norwegian Opera and Ballet, having been their Artistic Advisor since February 2022.

During the 2023/24 season Edward will conduct the LPO in ten concerts at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, and tour with the Orchestra to South Korea, Taiwan, and major European cities including Paris, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Bruges. As part of the LPO's cross-arts festival ‘The Music in You’ in spring 2024, Edward will conduct concerts including Haydn’s The Creation; a reinvention of Szymanowski’s ballet Harnasie in collaboration with choreographer Wayne McGregor; Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins; and Mozart’s Mass in C minor. Other highlights with the Orchestra this season include Holst’s The Planets and Stravinsky’s Petrushka

Edward opened the Bergen Philharmonic season earlier this month with Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. He completes his tenure as Chief Conductor at the closing of next summer's Bergen International Festival, conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. The orchestra will be joined by several choirs, including the Edvard Grieg Kor, of which Edward is the Principal Conductor.

As Artistic Advisor of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, this season Edward will conduct a triple-bill of Schumann’s Frauen-Liebe und Leben, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy. Future plans with the company include a Wagner Ring Cycle commencing in spring 2026.

Music Director of English National Opera for eight years (2007–15), Edward has also built a strong relationship with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where he has conducted productions of The Damnation of Faust, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier and Werther In London he made his Royal Opera House debut in 2019 in a new production of Káťa Kabanová, followed by Werther a season later. Elsewhere, he has conducted at the Bavarian State Opera, La Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra National de Paris, and this season he will conduct a double-bill of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Poulenc's La voix humaine at Teatro di San Carlo.

A passionate supporter of young talent, Edward founded the Hallé Youth Orchestra in 2002 and regularly conducts the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He has a close relationship with The Juilliard School of Music and with the Royal Academy of Music, which appointed him its inaugural Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Chair in 2014.

Born in Gloucester in 1974, Edward was educated at Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music. He went on to become Assistant Conductor of the Hallé and Music Director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera. His many accolades include being named Royal Philharmonic Society Award Conductor of the Year (2008), an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera (2009), and an OBE for Services to Music in The Queen’s Birthday Honours (2012).

Edward Gardner’s position at the LPO is generously supported by Aud Jebsen.

© Photographer London

Johan Dalene violin

Equally passionate about chamber music, Johan recently made his USA recital debuts, at New York’s Carnegie Hall and San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall. Other highlights include a new collaboration with Igor Levit and Julia Hagen, performing at London’s Wigmore Hall and the Heidelberg Festival; a collaboration with the Jussen Brothers for the Mecklenburg-Vorpommen Festival; and recitals at the Zurich Tonhalle, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Hyogo Performing Arts Centre and Oslo Opera House.

Winner of the prestigious Carl Nielsen Competition in 2019, Swedish-Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene ‘is not just a virtuoso like many others, he is a voice. He has a tone, a presence’ (Diapason). At the age of 23, he has performed with leading orchestras and in celebrated recital halls worldwide. His ability to ‘make his Stradivarius sing like a master’ (Le Monde), coupled with his refreshingly honest musicality and his engagement with musicians and audiences alike, has won him countless admirers. In 2022 he was named Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year.

In 2023/24 Johan will showcase his flair for curation as he becomes Artist-in-Residence with the Gavle Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras, working with conductors such as Andrew Manze, Jaime Martín and Domingo Hindoyan, as well as presenting chamber music projects. An advocate for new music, Johan will also perform a violin concerto written for him by Tebogo Monnakgotla, having given the world premiere with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and John Storgårds in April 2023.

Johan Dalene made his London Philharmonic Orchestra debut in September 2022 at Saffron Hall, where he performed Sibelius’s Violin Concerto under Karina Canellakis. Other recent and forthcoming highlights include his 2022 debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jordan de Souza; debut performances with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Sakari Oramo, the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov, the San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen, and the Spanish National Orchestra and Jaime Martín; as well as return appearances with the Swedish Radio Symphony and New Japan Philharmonic orchestras.

Recording exclusively for BIS, Johan released his third album in March 2022. It features the Nielsen and Sibelius concertos with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and John Storgårds, and garnered Johan a third coveted ‘Editor’s Choice’ from Gramophone Magazine, as well as a prestigious Swedish Grammis Award. His first recording featured the Tchaikovsky and Barber violin concertos with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, and was praised by BBC Music Magazine as ‘one of the finest violin debuts of the last decade’. His second disc, of Nordic recital music, was released in 2021 and received a prestigious Diapason D’Or.

Johan began playing the violin at the age of four and made his professional concerto debut three years later. In 2016 he was student-in-residence at Switzerland’s Verbier Festival (where he made his performance debut in 2021), and in 2018 was accepted on to the Norwegian Crescendo programme, where he worked closely with mentors Janine Jansen, Leif Ove Andsnes and Gidon Kremer. Andsnes subsequently invited Johan to play at the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival and they performed together again in 2019 at the Bergen International Festival. During the 2020/21 season Johan was Artist-in-Residence with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, performing concertos, recitals and chamber music with members of the orchestra.

Johan studied with Per Enoksson at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, as well as with Janine Jansen, and has participated in masterclasses with distinguished teachers including Dora Schwarzberg, Pamela Frank, Gerhard Schulz and Henning Kraggerud. He has been awarded various scholarships and prizes, notably from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, The Anders Wall Giresta Scholarship, Queen Ingrid’s Honorary Scholarship, The Norwegian Soloist Prize, The Håkan Mogren Foundation Prize, Equinor Classical Music Award, Sixten Gemzéus Stora Musikstipendium, The G.T. Bäckmans Kulturstipendium, Norrköping Kommuns Kulturstipendium and Rolf Wirténs Kulturpris. Johan plays the 1725 ‘Duke of Cambridge’ Stradivarius, generously on loan from the Anders Sveaas’ Charitable Foundation.

Programme notes

Felix Mendelssohn

1809–47

Hebrides Overture

1830

In 1829, the 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn made his first visit to Britain. He was awestruck by London: ‘the grandest and most complicated monster on the face of the earth’, he wrote to his family, back in Berlin. Then, with his older friend Karl Klingemann, he set off for Scotland. Edinburgh delighted his romantic imagination: ‘Few of my Switzerland reminiscences can compare to this; everything looks so stern and robust, half enveloped in haze or smoke or fog’. The idea of composing a ‘Scottish’ Symphony was born around this time. On the other hand, a visit to the world-famous novelist Sir Walter Scott at his home at Abbotsford was something of an anticlimax: ‘We drove eighty miles and lost a day for the sake of at best one half-hour of superficial conversation’.

Then, in August, came the encounter that yielded the richest musical results. Klingemann and Mendelssohn made the long, difficult land-sea journey to the Hebridean islands. Mendelssohn was overwhelmed by the dramatic coastal scenery, especially the island of Staffa, with its huge sea cave, framed by vast basaltic columns – according to legend the abode of the legendary hero Fingal. ‘In order to make you understand how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me’, he wrote home, ‘the following came to my mind there’. And in the letter, underneath those words, is a sketch for what is unmistakably the opening of the Hebrides Overture, with its short but pregnant repeated motif for violas, cellos and bassoon. From this grew one of the greatest of all romantic tone-poems.

Broadly speaking, Mendelssohn keeps to the outlines of classical ‘sonata form’: two contrasting themes, both recapitulated after a powerful central ‘development’ section. But what is most impressive about the Overture is its sustained imaginative flight. One moment huge open vistas are evoked, the next we are offered musical ‘close-ups’ of waves dashing against rocks or scudding storm clouds; and always in the background is the swell of the sea, rising to a thrilling final climax before fading

mysteriously at the end. ‘The best I have to tell you’, Mendelssohn wrote after that enthralling sea voyage, ‘is described exactly in the music’. And nearly two centuries later, the Hebrides Overture tells that story as vividly as ever.

Courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London

Felix Mendelssohn

Programme notes

Jean Sibelius

1865–1957

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

1904–05

Johan Dalene violin

1 Allegro moderato

2 Adagio di molto

3 Allegro, ma non tanto

In Sibelius’s diary of 1915 there’s a sad little entry: ‘Dreamt I was twelve years old and a virtuoso.’ There had been a time when a career as a concert solo violinist had been a real possibility. Sibelius’s violin teacher at the Helsinki University, Mitrofan Vasiliev, had pronounced him a ‘genius’. But something seems to have gone disastrously wrong with Sibelius’s confidence. He thought of renouncing music altogether – ‘and living the life of an idiot, for which I’m well qualified.’ Eventually Sibelius bowed to what he believed to be the ruling of Fate – he was to be a composer, not a violinist – but not without lasting regret.

Then, at the turn of century, Sibelius met the man who was to become one of his most important friends, Axel Carpelan. Carpelan presented Sibelius with a long to-do list: he should go to Italy, should write another symphony, music for Shakespeare’s plays, a violin concerto ... Sibelius did all these things; but one can imagine how mixed his feelings must have been when he came to tackle the Concerto. It may be significant, but the time immediately before and during Sibelius’s work on the Violin Concerto in 1904 was marked by one of his worst periods of alcoholism. The slow movement of the Concerto was apparently sketched out during an epic three-day hangover. It is unlikely he would have finished the score at all without the support of his heroically patient wife Aino. Sibelius’s brother Christian (a clinical psychiatrist), begged him to stop drinking, but Sibelius protested his own weakness: ‘When I am standing in front of a grand orchestra and have drunk Jean Sibelius

Programme notes

a half-bottle of champagne, then I conduct like a young god. Otherwise I am nervous and tremble, feel unsure of myself, and then everything is lost. The same is true of my visits to the bank manager.’

Given all this, it is surprising how little evidence of weakness – either intellectually or spiritually – there is in the Violin Concerto. The violin writing is masterly –an indication of how thoroughly Sibelius understood his instrument, even if he couldn’t bring himself to play it in public. Some of it is ferociously difficult – even in the ‘simplified’ revised version Sibelius made in 1905 –but on the whole it presents the kind of challenges that excite rather than intimidate virtuosos. The idea of mastery extends to every dimension of the Violin Concerto. Construction is taut, emotions are powerful but not uncontrolled, the long lyrical paragraphs (like the floating, soaring violin line at the very beginning) are always beautifully shaped – they never sprawl. There are moments, such as the impassioned second theme of the first movement, or virtually the whole of the central Adagio di molto, where the mood is achingly nostalgic, even pained. At the same time, in the magnificent solo cadenza at the heart of the first movement, for instance, there’s a sense of struggle –could this be Sibelius grappling with his inner demons? But the hand of the great symphonist, the master of organic logic, is always in evidence. And after the emotionally probing first and second movements comes an energetic, resolute finale, with a theme the musicologist Donald Tovey dubbed a ‘polonaise for polar bears’. The stern, stormy but unambiguously major-key ending suggests inner darkness confronted and defied – the composer very much the captain of his soul. In terms of Sibelius’s own life at the time, this may have been more fantasy than reality; but as art it’s resoundingly convincing.

Interval – 20 minutes

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

‘[He] has been in the throes of it all the time (and so have I). He has so many ideas forcing their way into his mind that he becomes quite literally dizzy. He’s awake night after night, plays wonderful things, and can’t tear himself away from the marvellous music he plays — there are so many ideas that one can’t believe it is true, all of them so rich in possibilities for development, so full of life.’

Sibelius’s wife Aino, in a letter to his friend Axel Carpelan during the composition of the Violin Concerto

Programme notes

Johannes Brahms

1833–97

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

1855–76

1 Un poco sostenuto – Allegro

2 Andante sostenuto

3 Un poco allegretto e grazioso

4 Adagio – Allegro non troppo, ma con brio

Few great concert works have taken longer to mature than Brahms’s First Symphony. Ideas probably began to take shape in Brahms’s mind around 1855, when he was 22. But five years later, Brahms’s confidante and ‘ideal’ love Clara Schumann – virtuoso pianist and widow of the composer Robert Schumann – was still urging him not to give up the struggle: ‘Such a sky of storm may yet lead to a symphony.’ Two years after that, in the summer of 1862, Clara received a surprise parcel containing the Symphony’s first movement – or at least an early version of it. ‘It begins somewhat severely’, she wrote to a friend, ‘but I have got used to it. The movement is full of beauties; the themes are treated with a mastery that grows more and more individual.’

Fourteen more years were to pass before Brahms was able to show Clara a completed score – and even then there were more revisions to follow. The problem was at least partly that Brahms had set himself such dauntingly high standards: his goal was to produce something worthy to set beside the greatest of all symphonists, Ludwig van Beethoven. ‘I shall never write a symphony’, Brahms told the conductor Hermann Levi in 1870. ‘You’ve no idea what it feels like with such a giant marching behind you.’ But his friends carried on a campaign of sustained encouragement, and the success of Brahms’s first orchestral masterpiece, Variations on a Theme of Haydn, in 1874 seems to have rekindled his ambition. By 1876 the First Symphony as we know it was finally ready. It was performed all over Europe, with increasing success. Soon, critics were calling it ‘Beethoven’s Tenth’ – but even that ringing

compliment made Brahms doubt himself all over again. Had he emerged from the giant’s shadow or not? When someone unwisely pointed out the ‘extraordinary’ similarity between the main theme of Brahms’s finale and the ‘Ode to Joy’ theme in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Brahms snapped back: ‘Yes, and still more extraordinary that any fool can hear it!’

It isn’t hard to hear echoes of Beethoven in the first movement’s surging momentum and grim, almost obsessive rhythmic determination. When Brahms first conceived this movement he was still struggling to come to terms with the final mental breakdown and suicide of his great friend and mentor Robert Schumann, Clara’s husband – another composer who worshipped Beethoven and strove to match up to his great example. But it’s also possible that the slow introduction – almost certainly added after the main Allegro was complete – contains a tribute to another of Brahms’s gods, Johann Sebastian Bach. The opening’s low throbbing bass notes could be an echo of the opening chorus of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. As Clara Schumann observed on receiving the 1862 version of this movement, the flow of ideas is remarkably sustained, and the climatic buildup to the return of the first Allegro theme is superbly, thrillingly engineered. Beethovenian perhaps, but what Brahms does at the end is completely original. The tempo drops and the pulsating bass notes of the introduction return, quietly this time. The end is neither thunderous triumph nor black tragedy; C minor turbulence gradually yields to ambiguous C major calm.

Continued overleaf

Programme notes

Heroic struggle is forgotten in the two central movements. In the Andante sostenuto it is melody that carries the argument, reaching its apotheosis in a ravishing violin solo in the final moments. The opening theme of the Un poco allegretto e grazioso is all relaxed charm – a far cry from the cosmic dance energy of the typical Beethovenian scherzo. More energetic music follows, but as a whole the effect is to heighten our expectations of the finale, which now has to be an effective counterweight to the first movement, confronting and finally resolving its tragic tensions. The opening brings an immediate darkening, after which the music seems to be groping in the shadows for something definitive – the outline of a fully-fledged theme, perhaps. A sudden timpani fortissimo dispels the gloom: to warm harmonies on trombones (their first appearance in the Symphony) a noble horn theme sounds through shimmering strings. This was the theme Brahms noted in a letter to Clara Schumann in 1868, adding the words, ‘High on the mountain, deep in the valley, I send you a thousand greetings.’ The vision fades, then a confident, forward striding tune begins the Allegro non troppo ma con brio – Brahms’s reply to Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ theme. There are reminders of the first movement’s heroic struggle, but this time the ending is unambiguous, with a forcefully affirmative brass hymn tune heralding a victorious final dash to the finishing post.

Programme notes © Stephen Johnson

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

by Laurie Watt

Felix Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | Edward Gardner (Chandos)

Sibelius: Violin Concerto

Johan Dalene | Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra | John Storgårds (BIS) or Ida Haendel | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | Simon Rattle (Testament)

Brahms: Symphony No. 1

London Philharmonic Orchestra | Vladimir Jurowski (LPO Label LPO-0043: see page 14)

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Johannes Brahms

Next LPO concerts at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

TCHAIKOVSKY’S FOURTH

Saturday 30 September 2023 | 7.30pm

Beethoven Overture, Egmont

Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4

Edward Gardner conductor Christian Tetzlaff violin

DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION

Wednesday 25 October 2023 | 7.30pm

R Strauss Don Juan

Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand

Tania León Horizons (UK premiere)

R Strauss Death and Transfiguration

Karina Canellakis conductor Cédric Tiberghien piano

CANELLAKIS CONDUCTS

SHOSTAKOVICH

Saturday 28 October 2023 | 7.30pm

Beethoven Overture, The Creatures of Prometheus

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2

Shostakovich Symphony No. 8

Karina Canellakis conductor Jonathan Biss piano

Take the music with you. Stream Brahms on the LPO Label.

Scan the QR codes to listen instantly now

‘Superbly conceived as a whole, emotionally coherent and compelling ... The ending is roof-raising, and I’m glad that they left the applause in … after the invigorating coda, I feel like joining in.’

Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

A German Requiem

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor

Elizabeth Watts soprano

Stéphane Degout baritone

London Philharmonic Choir

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.

LPO-0043

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

LPO-0075

LPO-0045

The Arts Desk

More for Brahms lovers this season

Canellakis conducts Brahms

Wednesday 21 February 2024

7.30pm

Royal Festival Hall

Mussorgsky (orch. Shostakovich)

Dawn on the Moscow River (Prelude to Khovanshchina)

Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1

Brahms Symphony No. 4

Karina Canellakis conductor Pablo Ferrández cello

Coming soon on the LPO Label

EDWARD GARDNER CONDUCTS BERLIOZ

THE DAMNATION OF FAUST

Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall on 4 February 2023

Karen Cargill Marguerite

John Irvin Faust

Christopher Purves Mephistopheles

Jonathan Lemalu Brander

London Philharmonic Choir

London Symphony Chorus

London Youth Choirs

LPO-0128

Apple Music Classical exclusive release

3 November 2023

General release

3 February 2024

Bachtrack.com review of the concert performance, 4 February 2023

Look for the Apple Music

Classical app for iPhone and Android in the App Store or Google Play Store.

Pablo Ferrández

Karina Canellakis

‘Gardner was in complete control of his forces, leading the LPO in a richly textured reading of the score, abundant in both detail and drama.’

Latest releases on the LPO Label

JAMES MACMILLAN

CHRISTMAS ORATORIO

Mark Elder conductor

Lucy Crowe soprano | Roderick Williams baritone

London Philharmonic Choir

LPO-0125

Released November 2022

Scan to listen or find out more

COMING SOON

STRAVINSKY VOL. 2

JUROWSKI CONDUCTS

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

LPO-0126

Released April 2023

Scan to listen or find out more

COMING SOON

BERLIOZ

THE DAMNATION OF FAUST

Edward Gardner conductor

Karen Cargill | John Irvin | Christopher Purves

Jonathan Lemalu | London Philharmonic Choir

London Symphony Chorus | London Youth Choirs

Apple Music Classical exclusive release Nov 2023

General release Feb 2024 (LPO-0128)

STRAVINSKY VOL. 3

JUROWSKI CONDUCTS

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Angharad Lyddon | Sam Furness | Matthew Rose

Elizabeth Atherton | Maria Ostroukhova

Joel Williams | Theodore Platt | Joshua Bloom

Maxim Mikhailov | London Philharmonic Choir

LPO-0127

Due for release Spring 2024

Our CDs are available from all good outlets, and all releases are available to download or stream online.

Sound Futures donors

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

Masur Circle

Arts Council England

Dunard Fund

Victoria Robey OBE

Emmanuel & Barrie Roman

The Underwood Trust

Welser-Möst Circle

William & Alex de Winton

John Ireland Charitable Trust

The Tsukanov Family Foundation

Neil Westreich

Tennstedt Circle

Valentina & Dmitry Aksenov

Richard Buxton

The Candide Trust

Michael & Elena Kroupeev

Kirby Laing Foundation

Mr & Mrs Makharinsky

Alexey & Anastasia Reznikovich

Sir Simon Robey

Bianca & Stuart Roden

Simon & Vero Turner

The late Mr K Twyman

Solti Patrons

Ageas

John & Manon Antoniazzi

Gabor Beyer, through BTO Management Consulting AG

Jon Claydon

Mrs Mina Goodman & Miss Suzanne

Goodman

Roddy & April Gow

The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust

Mr James R.D. Korner

Christoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia

Ladanyi-Czernin

Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski

The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust

Mr Paris Natar

The Rothschild Foundation

Tom & Phillis Sharpe

The Viney Family

Haitink Patrons

Mark & Elizabeth Adams

Dr Christopher Aldren

Mrs Pauline Baumgartner

Lady Jane Berrill

Mr Frederick Brittenden

David & Yi Yao Buckley

Mr Clive Butler

Gill & Garf Collins

Mr John H Cook

Mr Alistair Corbett

Bruno De Kegel

Georgy Djaparidze

David Ellen

Christopher Fraser OBE

David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Goldman Sachs International

Mr Gavin Graham

Moya Greene

Mrs Dorothy Hambleton

Tony & Susie Hayes

Malcolm Herring

Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle

Mrs Philip Kan

Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe

Rose & Dudley Leigh

Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons

Miss Jeanette Martin

Duncan Matthews KC

Diana & Allan Morgenthau

Charitable Trust

Dr Karen Morton

Mr Roger Phillimore

Ruth Rattenbury

The Reed Foundation

The Rind Foundation

Sir Bernard Rix

David Ross & Line Forestier (Canada)

Carolina & Martin Schwab

Dr Brian Smith

Lady Valerie Solti

Mr & Mrs G Stein

Dr Peter Stephenson

Miss Anne Stoddart

TFS Loans Limited

Marina Vaizey

Jenny Watson

Guy & Utti Whittaker

Pritchard Donors

Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle

Mrs Arlene Beare

Mr Patrick & Mrs Joan Benner

Mr Conrad Blakey

Dr Anthony Buckland

Paul Collins

Alastair Crawford

Mr Derek B. Gray

Mr Roger Greenwood

The HA.SH Foundation

Darren & Jennifer Holmes

Honeymead Arts Trust

Mr Geoffrey Kirkham

Drs Frank & Gek Lim

Peter Mace

Mr & Mrs David Malpas

Dr David McGibney

Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner

Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill

Mr Christopher Querée

The Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer

Charitable Trust

Timothy Walker CBE AM

Christopher Williams

Peter Wilson Smith

Mr Anthony Yolland

and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous

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