2024/25 season at the Southbank Centre FREE 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
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
Saturday 2 November 2024 | 7.30pm
Tchaikovsky’s Sixth
Saariaho
Lumière et Pesanteur (Light and Heaviness) (6’)
Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 3 (34’)
Interval (20’)
Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) (45’)
Karina Canellakis conductor
Vadym Kholodenko
piano
Welcome LPO news
Welcome to the Southbank Centre
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If you don’t want to take your programme home, please make use of the recycling bins in the Royal Festival Hall foyers. Please also use these bins to recycle any plastic drinks glasses after the concert. Thank you.
The Chamber Sessions: LPO at St John’s Waterloo
We’re excited to announce ‘The Chamber Sessions’, a series of hour-long 6.30pm concerts at St John’s Church, Waterloo, in spring 2025. This follows the success of our 2024 chamber series at St John’s. It’s great to continue our partnership as the church celebrates its 200th year, bringing audiences closer to the music and highlighting the talents of our musicians in a more intimate setting.
The series launches on Thursday 23 January 2025 with a performance featuring LPO Wind Principals in quintet works by Mozart, Hindemith and Valerie Coleman. On Saturday 22 February, a string trio will bring Andrew Norman’s Companion Guide to Rome to life – a captivating musical journey inspired by the city’s churches, after which the New London Chamber Choir will join us for Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel, an evocative soundscape paying homage to the visionary artist Mark Rothko. Finally, on Friday 7 March, we present an exciting programme of contemporary works featuring a vibrant mix of styles, by LPO Composer-inResidence Tania León, former LPO Young Composer Daniel Kidane, Hannah Kendall, Jessie Montgomery and Brian Raphael Nabors.
Tickets are £12–£15: see full details and book now at lpo.org.uk/thechambersessions
Christmas gifts from the LPO
Starting to plan your Christmas shopping? LPO gift vouchers are the perfect option – vouchers can be purchased for any amount, are presented in a smart gift card, and can be redeemed against any concert in the LPO season at the Southbank Centre within a year of purchase. Or how about a gift membership to our LPO Friends scheme? Get up close to the Orchestra with opportunities to see behind the scenes at members’ rehearsals and special events throughout the season. It’s the perfect gift for music connoisseurs and newcomers alike. Gift membership starts at just £60 (£6 per month equivalent).
Visit lpo.org.uk/gifts to find out more or buy online.
First Violins
Pieter Schoeman* Leader
Chair supported by Neil Westreich
Alice Ivy-Pemberton Co-Leader
Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader
Minn Majoe
Chair supported by Dr Alex & Maria
Chan
Martin Höhmann
Elizaveta Tyun
Cassandra Hamilton
Katalin Varnagy
Thomas Eisner
Chair supported by Ryze Power
Yang Zhang
Gabriel Bilbao
Nilufar Alimaksumova
Amanda Smith
Jamie Hutchinson
Rasa Zukauskaite
Second Violins
Tania Mazzetti Principal
Claudia Tarrant-Matthews
Marie-Anne Mairesse
Nancy Elan
Nynke Hijlkema
Joseph Maher
Kate Birchall
Fiona Higham
Chair supported by David & Yi
Buckley
Ashley Stevens
Sioni Williams
Sarah Thornett
Ricky Gore
Paula Clifton-Everest
Lyrit Milgram
Violas
On stage tonight
Benjamin Roskams
Guest Principal
Martin Wray
Chair supported by David & Bettina
Harden
Benedetto Pollani
Laura Vallejo
Lucia Ortiz Sauco
Rachel Robson
Julia Doukakis
Toby Warr
Raquel López Bolívar
Daniel Cornford
Luca Casciato
Kate De Campos
Cellos
Richard Birchall
Guest Principal
Waynne Kwon
David Lale
Wallis Power
Sue Sutherley
Tom Roff
Iain Ward
Hee Yeon Cho
Victoria Harrild
Ben Rogerson
Double Basses
Kevin Rundell* Principal
Hugh Kluger
Laura Murphy
Tom Walley
Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Lowri Estell
Charlotte Kerbegian
Emma Prince
Ben Havinden-Williams
Flutes
Juliette Bausor Principal
Anna Kondrashina
Stewart McIlwham*
Piccolo
Stewart McIlwham* Principal
Oboes
John Roberts
Guest Principal
Alice Munday
Clarinets
Benjamin Mellefont* Principal
Chair supported by Sir Nigel Boardman & Prof. Lynda Gratton
Beth Crouch
Bass Clarinet
Paul Richards* Principal
Bassoons
Jonathan Davies* Principal
Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey
Helen Storey
Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra
Simon Estell*
Contrabassoon
Simon Estell* Principal
Horns
John Ryan* Principal Annemarie Federle
Principal
Chair supported by Victoria Robey CBE
Martin Hobbs
Mark Vines Co-Principal
Gareth Mollison
Trumpets
Paul Beniston* Principal
Tom Nielsen Co-Principal
Anne McAneney*
Chair supported in memory of Peter Coe
Trombones
Mark Templeton* Principal
Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
David Whitehouse
Bass Trombone
Lyndon Meredith Principal
Tuba
Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal
Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Timpani
Simon Carrington* Principal
Chair supported by Victoria Robey CBE
Percussion
Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins
Oliver Yates
Francesca Lombardelli
Harp
Rachel Masters Guest Principal
Celeste
Catherine Edwards
Assistant Conductor
Juya Shin
*Professor at a London conservatoire
The LPO also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert:
Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik
V. G. Cave
Roger Greenwood
Dr Barry Grimaldi
Bianca & Stuart Roden
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. 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. lpo.org.uk
Pieter Schoeman Leader
Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. He is also a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance.
Pieter has performed worldwide as a soloist and recitalist in such famous halls as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s Rachmaninoff 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, Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2, 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.
Principal Guest Conductor, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Karina Canellakis has been Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since September 2021, and recently extended her contract for a further three years, to the end of the 2026/27 season. She has also been Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (RFO) since 2019. Universally acclaimed for symphonic and operatic performances characterised by their emotional impact, interpretive depth and technical command, Karina is welcomed by the finest musical institutions across the globe.
Tonight is the second of three Royal Festival Hall concerts with the LPO this season – on 29 January 2025 Karina returns for a programme of Sibelius and Mozart with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor. Last season she conducted the LPO in three concerts at the Royal Festival Hall, and led the Orchestra on tour to Munich and Vienna.
As Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Karina programmes and leads a diverse and eclectic 2024/25 season of new works by living composers alongside great masterworks, at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. Symphonic highlights include Mahler’s Third Symphony, Brahms’s German Requiem and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius
Guest engagements this season include debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden, as well as return visits to the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Washington DC’s National Symphony Orchestra.
This December, Karina returns to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées to conduct Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites with Les Siècles. She conducts at least one opera-in-concert each season with the RFO at the Concertgebouw, and this season will lead Janáček’s From the House of the Dead, completing a cycle of Janáček operas over the past three seasons. Last season she also led Wagner’s complete Siegfried, having previously conducted acts from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Die Walküre. She made her Santa Fe Opera debut last summer with Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, and in previous seasons has conducted a wide range of the opera canon including Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte and Le nozze di Figaro
April 2023 saw the start of a multi-album collaboration between Karina, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Pentatone with their debut release: Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and Four Orchestral Pieces, earning a GRAMMY nomination. Her second album for Pentatone, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, is due for release in February 2025. Karina and the RFO were also featured artists for the launch of Apple Music Classical with a recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Alice Sara Ott.
Since winning the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award in 2016, Karina has developed close relationships with several of the world’s leading orchestras. She was Principal Guest Conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2019–23, and in 2023/24 was a featured Artist-in-Residence at Vienna’s Musikverein. She has toured Australia and will make her debut in Japan in July 2025.
Already known to many in the classical music world as a virtuoso violinist, Karina was encouraged to pursue conducting by Sir Simon Rattle while playing in the Berlin Philharmonic’s Orchestre-Akademie. She performed for several years as soloist, guest leader and chamber musician, spending many summers at the Marlboro Music Festival, until conducting eventually became her focus.
Karina Canellakis was born and raised in New York City. She now makes her home in Amsterdam with her husband and two children.
Combining fierce pianism, an unrivalled breadth of repertoire, and a level of interpretative refinement that ascends to the realms of poetry, Vadym Kholodenko is an artist the likes of which the world has rarely seen since the great pianists of the Golden Age. A Gold Medallist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, his distinguished pianism and profound artistic gifts have led to invitations from many of the world’s finest orchestras and concert halls. Vadym made his London Philharmonic Orchestra debut in March 2023, when he stepped in at short notice to perform Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 under Karina Canellakis here at the Royal Festival Hall.
Vadym Kholodenko’s 2024/25 season sees debuts with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sir Antonio Pappano, the Filarmonica della Scala under Susanna Mälkki, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Karina Canellakis, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Marie Jacquot, amongst others. Other recent and forthcoming concerto highlights include with leading orchestras in North America (Atlanta, Cincinnati and Indianapolis symphony orchestras, The Philadelphia Orchestra); Europe (Budapest Festival Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Orquesta Nacional de España and Royal Scottish National Orchestra); and Asia & the Far East (National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra).
Vadym has held the position of Artist-in-Residence with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas, and the SWR Symphonieorchester in Stuttgart. This season he is Artist-in-Residence at the Bechstein Hall – a new chamber music venue in London's Wigmore Street.
Vadym Kholodenko has forged strong musical partnerships with many of the world’s leading conductors including Karina Canellakis, Myung-Whun Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Marie Jacquot, Cristian Măcelaru, Susanna Mälkki, Jun Märkl, Gemma New, Sir Antonio Pappano, Dima Slobodeniouk, Thomas Søndergård, Krzyzstof Urbański and Kazuki Yamada, amongst others.
In recital, he appears on the world’s leading stages –from London, Paris and Vienna, to Boston, Chicago and New York – where he is praised for his ‘iron-clad technique, capable of moments of crystalline delicacy’ (The Guardian). He is also a thoughtful and committed chamber musician, enjoying collaborations with such artists as Clara Jumi-Kang, Anastasia Kobekina, Vadim Repin, and the Belcea and Jerusalem string quartets. He has made numerous recordings with violinist Alena Baeva, with whom recent and forthcoming appearances include concerts in London, Florence and Paris.
Vadym Kholodenko’s knowledge and command of the piano literature is unrivalled, and he holds a vast array of active repertoire. His discography encompasses solo piano works by a diverse list of composers (J S Bach, Balakirev, Beethoven, Chaplygin, Kurbatov, Liszt, Medtner, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Rzewski, Schubert, Scriabin, Siloti, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, amongst others). Recordings for the Harmonia Mundi label include Grieg’s Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and the complete cycle of Prokofiev’s piano concertos. His recordings have received such accolades as Editor’s Choice in BBC Music Magazine and a much-coveted Diapason d’Or de l’année. His latest release – a pairing of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Frederic Rzewski's The People United Will Never Be Defeated! for the Quartz Music label (2022) – met with tremendous critical acclaim.
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Vadym Kholodenko took his first piano lessons at the age of six, and began touring internationally at 13 years old. He was educated at the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, under renowned pedagogues Natalia Gridneva, Borys Fedorov and Vera Gornostaeva. He won First Prizes at the Sendai International Piano Competition (2010) and the Schubert International Piano Competition (2011), before taking the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013. He is now resident in Luxembourg.
Tonight Vadym Kholodenko plays a Fazioli piano, which has kindly been provided by Jaques Samuel Pianos.
Programme notes
Kaija Saariaho
1952–2023
Lumière et Pesanteur (Light and Heaviness)
2009
The expressions of appreciation and sorrow that followed Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s death last June at the age of 70 registered something of her unusual stature among contemporary composers. Tonight’s work, Lumière et Pesanteur (‘Light and Heaviness’), was composed in 2009 and dedicated to her lifelong friend, the Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Saariaho wrote that the work was ‘inspired by Salonen’s performance of my La Passion de Simone in Los Angeles, January 2009. This piece is an arrangement based on the eighth station of the Passion, which I know that he especially likes.’ The close friendship between Saariaho and Salonen dated back to student days in their native Finland, where they studied at the Sibelius Conservatory in Helsinki. Magnus Lindberg rounded out this compositional trio, which in 1977 helped to found a new music society called Korvat Auki (Ears Open).
Mark Swed, the distinguished music critic of the Los Angeles Times, wrote frequently over the years about Salonen’s performances of Saariaho’s music as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and offered a moving tribute upon her death: ‘There has been an enormous outpouring of love for Saariaho on hearing of her death at 70 from glioblastoma. Composers are admired; they are revered; they get under our skin, leaving us with sounds that remain in our consciousness; the best can seem essential to our very being. But beloved? That’s rare.’
As Saariaho explained, Lumière et Pesanteur grew out of La Passion de Simone (2006), a 75-minute opera/oratorio that she composed with two longtime collaborators: the Lebanese-French librettist Amin Maalouf and the theatre director Peter Sellars, who staged the premiere in Vienna. La Passion de Simone is scored for soprano, chorus, orchestra and electronics, and unfolds in 15 parts, or what Saariaho calls ‘stations’, referring to the Stations of the Cross in the tradition of Passion plays. The work explores the life, suffering and death of Simone Weil (1909–43), the Jewish-French philosopher, mystic and social activist who starved herself to death during the Second World War as an act of solidarity, and whose extensive writings had long inspired Saariaho: ‘The combination of Weil’s severe asceticism and her passionate quest for truth has appealed to me ever since I first read her thoughts.’
The eighth station, of which Salonen was particularly fond, is at the mid-point in the work and includes a brief text at the beginning – ‘God withdraws so as not to be loved as a miser loves treasure.’ In Lumière et Pesanteur, this is transferred to solo trumpet and then clarinet, while the rest of the movement remains the same.
Lasting just some six minutes, Lumière et Pesanteur is well suited as both a concert opener and a distillation of some of Saariaho’s idiomatic style, notably its calm, mysterious, luminous shifting of sounds. There is little
rhythmic sense or pulse – the music softly floats – and the ear is drawn to slow-motion harmonies, colours and changing timbres, as well as to the lyricism of its melodic material.
As turning points go, this one was big. While some ideas in Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto date from the late 1790s, the piece – completed in 1800 – is effectively his first large-scale orchestral creation of the 19th century. More significant than the calendar date, however, was the Concerto’s timing in the composer’s own life journey. Beethoven was at work on the piece as he began to realise that the problems with his hearing weren’t going to improve; that they were, in fact, likely to develop into complete deafness.
That realisation had a cataclysmic effect on Beethoven as a person and shot entirely new sentiments and concepts into his music, starting with this piece. One of the most obvious implications of the composer-pianist’s impending deafness – one he knew about all too well –was his potential inability to perform and improvise on stage with an orchestra.
The soloist’s part in the Third Concerto, therefore, is that bit more defined. The pianist takes on a noticeably more individual, imposing and energetic role. Cadenzas (the passages in which the soloist would traditionally improvise to demonstrate prowess) are written out in full: instructions for future pianists to obey to the letter long after Beethoven himself could no longer issue demonstration performances. The pianist’s more controlling role is also felt in the first movement’s coda, its ‘last word’. Here, Beethoven’s solo piano joins the orchestra, a strikingly presumptuous act with only one tentative precedent, in a concerto by Mozart.
In fact, Mozart’s K491 Concerto looms over many aspects of Beethoven’s Third – its key, the first movement shape and the use of themes built on ‘thirds’, to name but a few. But the feelings of heroic conflict and tension in this piece are entirely new. In Beethoven’s
Concerto, the piano initiates a stand-off against the orchestra in a manner unusual even for this composer. Major keys tussle with minor ones throughout the opening Allegro
In the slow movement, Beethoven reaches for expressive tools that can only be described, in aesthetic terms, as Romantic. The key (E major) is radiant but, together with its G major successor, quite distant from the C minor ‘home’ key. Moreover, the meditative qualities of the movement’s main ideas conjure a picture of Beethoven clinging on dearly to the music’s beauty as if he knew he’d soon not be able to hear at all.
The composer does his listeners the service, though, of sending them out with a gregarious final movement. Impish and witty this may sound, but its main theme, stated initially by the piano and immediately thereafter by the oboe, clarinet and horn, actually stretches to a whole eight bars, making it the longest Beethoven used in any of his concertos. That feels appropriate for a concerto longer than any that had gone before it, one that unequivocally heralds one of music history’s most potent revolutions.
An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
1840–93
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 (Pathétique)
In August 1893, as his Sixth Symphony was nearing completion, Tchaikovsky wrote to his nephew, ‘Bob’ Davidov: ‘I can tell you in all sincerity that I consider this symphony the best thing I have ever done. In any case, it is the most deeply felt. And I love it as I have never loved any of my compositions.’ Few would disagree with Tchaikovsky’s assessment of his last work, a masterpiece of frank and disturbing emotion whose
effect on the listener is made all the more powerful by the realisation that it reflects the composer’s depressive state of mind during his final year.
At the time he began work on it in February 1893, he had told Bob that it was ‘a programme symphony, but to a programme that should remain an enigma for everyone but myself: let them try and guess it! ... The theme is full
Programme notes
of subjective feeling, so much so that as I was mentally composing it ... I frequently shed tears.’ Death was certainly a subject that occupied Tchaikovsky’s mind at this time: although he presumably did not foresee his own demise the following autumn – almost certainly by his own hand – he did lose a number of close friends that year, and an early version of the programme scribbled down in 1892 had borne prominently the words ‘life’ and ‘death’. But a more fundamental impetus for the Sixth Symphony was surely the spectre that had haunted the composer for many years: Fate. For Tchaikovsky, this was the implacable power that frustrated all his hopes of happiness, and his previous two symphonies had both attempted to respond to it in some way: the Fourth had confronted and then tried to brush it aside, while the Fifth had scored a somewhat hollow-sounding victory. The Sixth – subtitled by the composer ‘Pathétique’ – finally gives in to total defeat.
The Sixth Symphony differs from its two predecessors in having no recurring motto theme; instead, it makes use of a number of themes suggestive of upwards struggle followed by downward collapse, an outline that mirrors the overall course of the Symphony. Its presence can be detected in the murky opening of the first movement, and the material of this introduction also forms the basis of the main Allegro non troppo
Recommended recordings of tonight’s works
by Laurie Watt
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Alfred Brendel | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Bernard Haitink (Decca download)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)
London Philharmonic Orchestra | Vladimir Jurowski (LPO Label LPO-0039: see right)
section’s restless first theme. A broad and passionate melody follows this, but any hope of consolation is violently shattered by the intervention of the central development section. This climaxes in a momentous and grinding downward sequence, and when the second theme re-emerges it is with a bitter irony that borders on pain. The passion subsides, however, and the movement closes in a mood of resignation.
The second movement promises brighter things, but its waltz-like geniality is undermined by a five-in-a-bar metre and a poignant trio and coda. It is followed by a brilliant movement in which scurrying preparations and fragments of melody lead to a seemingly joyful and triumphant march, but the descending accompaniment reminds us (as do similar figures throughout the work) that the gaiety is forced; happiness is still an illusion.
In the Finale it disappears forever in a bleak Adagio in which there is only hopelessness and dejection. It is a testament of despair in which optimism can find no place, and as the music sinks back into the depths from which it has struggled to rise, the final bars of Tchaikovsky’s most personal and sincere symphonic statement are soft but devastating.
Recorded live in concert at the Royal Festival Hall
Available on CD, and to download or stream via Spotify, Apple Music, Presto Music and others. Scan the QR code to listen now.
Víkingur Ólafsson plays Brahms
Wednesday 6 November 2024
7.30pm
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1
Freya Waley-Cohen Mother Tongue (world premiere)*
Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin Suite
Edward Gardner conductor Víkingur Ólafsson piano
*Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra
A Dark Century
Wednesday 27 November 2024
7.30pm
Schoenberg A Survivor from Warsaw Weinberg Violin Concerto Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar)
Andrey Boreyko conductor
Gidon Kremer violin Alexander Roslavets narrator/bass
London Philharmonic Choir
Swan Lake
Friday 29 November 2024
7.30pm
Weber Overture, Oberon Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme Tchaikovsky Selections from Swan Lake
Tianyi Lu conductor Zlatomir Fung cello
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 CBE
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
Anonymous donors
The American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
William & Alex de Winton
Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle
Aud Jebsen
In memory of Mrs Rita Reay
Sir Simon & Lady Robey CBE
Orchestra Circle
Mr & Mrs Philip Kan
Neil Westreich
Principal Associates
An anonymous donor
Mrs Irina Andreeva
Steven M. Berzin
Richard Buxton
Gill & Garf Collins
In memory of Brenda Lyndoe Casbon
In memory of Ann Marguerite Collins
Irina Gofman & Mr Rodrik V. G.
Cave
Patricia Haitink
George Ramishvili
In memory of Kenneth Shaw
The Tsukanov Family
Mr Florian Wunderlich
Associates
In memory of Len & Edna Beech
Sir Nigel Boardman & Prof. Lynda Gratton
The Candide Trust
Stuart & Bianca Roden
In memory of Hazel Amy Smith
Gold Patrons
An anonymous donor
David & Yi Buckley
Dr Alex & Maria Chan
In memory of Allner Mavis Channing
In memory of Peter Coe
Michelle Crowe Hernandez
Hamish & Sophie Forsyth
Virginia Gabbertas MBE
Jenny & Duncan Goldie-Scot
Mr Roger Greenwood
Malcolm Herring
Julian & Gill Simmonds
Mr Brian Smith
Mr Jay Stein
Eric Tomsett
The Viney Family
Guy & Utti Whittaker
Silver Patrons
David Burke & Valerie Graham
Clive & Helena Butler
John & Sam Dawson
Ulrike & Benno Engelmann
Fiona Espenhahn in memory of Peter
Prof. Erol & Mrs Deniz Gelenbe
The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris
Charitable Trust
Iain & Alicia Hasnip
John & Angela Kessler
Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva
Dr Irene Rosner David
Tom & Phillis Sharpe
Jenny Watson CBE
Laurence Watt
Bronze Patrons
Anonymous donors
Chris Aldren
Alexander & Rachel Antelme
Annie Berglof
Nicholas Berwin
Lorna & Christopher Bown
Mr Bernard Bradbury
Richard & Jo Brass
Desmond & Ruth Cecil
Mr John H Cook
Emmanuelle & Thierry d’Argent
Mrs Elizabeth Davies
Guy Davies
Cameron & Kathryn Doley
Ms Elena Dubinets
David Ellen
Cristina & Malcolm Fallen
Mr Daniel Goldstein
David & Jane Gosman
Mr Gavin Graham
Mrs Dorothy Hambleton
Eugene & Allison Hayes
J Douglas Home
Mr & Mrs Jan
Mr & Mrs Ralph Kanza
Mrs Elena Kolobova & Mr Oleg
Kolobov
Rose & Dudley Leigh
Wg. Cdr. M T Liddiard OBE JP
RAF
Drs Frank & Gek Lim
Andrew T Mills
Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill
John Nickson & Simon Rew
Peter Noble & L Vella
Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina
Bindley
Simon & Lucy Owen-Johnstone
Andrew & Cindy Peck
Mr Roger Phillimore
Mr Michael Posen
Marie Power
Sir Bernard Rix
Baroness Shackleton
Tim Slorick
Sir Jim Smith
Mrs Maria Toneva
Mr Joe Topley & Ms Tracey Countryman
Mr & Mrs John C Tucker
Andrew & Rosemary Tusa
Galina Umanskaia
Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood
The Viney Family
Mr Rodney Whittaker
Grenville & Krysia Williams
Joanna Williams
Principal Supporters
Anonymous donors
Julian & Annette Armstrong
Chris Banks
Mr John D Barnard
Roger & Clare Barron
Mrs A Beare
Chris Benson
Peter & Adrienne Breen
Dr Anthony Buckland
Mr Julien Chilcott-Monk
Mr Alistair Corbett
David Devons
Deborah Dolce
In memory of Enid Gofton
Prof Emeritus John Gruzelier
Mrs Farrah Jamal
Bruce & Joanna Jenkyn-Jones
Per Jonsson
Tanya Joseph
Mr Ian Kapur
Jozef & Helen Kotz
Mr Peter Mace
Peter Mainprice
Miss Rebecca Murray
Mrs Terry Neale
Mr Stephen Olton
Mr James Pickford
Mr Robert Ross
Kseniia Rubina
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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