London Philharmonic Orchestra 7 Dec 2016 concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

MUSIC IS OUR WORLD. WE WANT TO SHARE ITS ASTONISHING POWER AND WONDER WITH YOU. Concert programme lpo.org.uk

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

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 7 December 2016 | 7.30pm

Glinka Spanish Overtures Nos. 1 & 2 (20’) Prokofiev Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 58 (35’) Interval (20’) Dargomyzhsky Baba-Yaga (Fantasy-Scherzo) (7’) Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 (Little Russian) (33’)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Steven Isserlis cello

Concert generously supported by Victoria Robey OBE

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

Contents 2 Welcome LPO news 3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 Vladimir Jurowski 7 Steven Isserlis 8 Programme notes 9 New on the LPO Label: Beethoven 11 Recommended recordings Next concerts 12 2016 FUNharmonics Appeal 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration

Welcome

Welcome to Southbank Centre We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries please ask any member of staff for assistance. Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO! Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Feng Sushi and Topolski, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall. If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone 020 7960 4250, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk We look forward to seeing you again soon. Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery are closed for essential refurbishment until 2018. During this period, our resident orchestras are performing in venues including St John's Smith Square. Find out more at southbankcentre.co.uk/sjss A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

LPO news

2016 FUNharmonics Appeal We’ve just launched our 2016 Annual Appeal, which this year is supporting our series of FUNharmonics family concerts. Comprising hour-long fun, interactive concerts designed especially for children, plus pre-concert ‘have a go’ sessions and hands-on craft workshops themed around the concert repertoire, FUNharmonics offer an amazing way for children and their families to experience orchestral music. We’re asking you to help us make these experiences accessible to as many people as possible. Give to the appeal and fund the elements that make up a FUNharmonics day, supporting us in keeping the pricing of these concerts affordable for all. See page 12 for more details or visit lpo.org.uk/appeal LPO Junior Artists This season, we are excited to welcome eight talented teenage musicians to the LPO family – our first cohort of ‘LPO Junior Artists’. A new pilot scheme launching this evening, LPO Junior Artists is an orchestral experience programme for young instrumentalists from backgrounds and communities traditionally underrepresented in the orchestral sector. Its aims are opening up an industry – both to the young people and their parents – in which progression can be prone to networking and insider knowledge; to enhance skills, both musical and non-musical; and to promote diversity and celebrate music more widely. lpo.org.uk/juniorartists

PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium. LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance. RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended. MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins.

Christmas gifts from the LPO Still searching for an unusual present this year for a music lover? The London Philharmonic Orchestra has a fantastic range of gifts on offer. How about...

• A luxury package comprising two top-price tickets to an LPO concert of the recipient’s choice, plus a bestselling LPO Tchaikovsky Symphonies CD • A year’s membership of our Friends or Contemporaries scheme • An annual CD subscription with a brand new release delivered directly to the recipient each month • LPO gift vouchers (available for any amount from £1) that are valid for a year and can be used to buy LPO concert tickets or CDs Browse the full selection at lpo.org.uk/gifts or call the LPO Ticket Office on 020 7840 4242.

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On stage tonight

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Liana Gourdjia Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Ilyoung Chae Chair supported by the Candide Trust

Ji-Hyun Lee Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Martin Höhmann Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Grace Lee Rebecca Shorrock Caroline Sharp Caroline Frenkel Second Violins Andrew Storey Principal Helena Smart Jeongmin Kim Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Tania Mazzetti Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Robin Wilson Harry Kerr Sheila Law

Violas Cyrille Mercier Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Alistair Scahill Daniel Cornford Stanislav Popov Martin Fenn

Flutes Juliette Bausor Principal Sue Thomas* Sub-Principal

Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal

Clarinets Timothy Lines Guest Principal Thomas Watmough Sub-Principal

Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden

Pei-Jee Ng Co-Principal Francis Bucknall Santiago Carvalho† Chair co-supported by Molly & David Borthwick

David Lale Elisabeth Wiklander Chair supported by Drs Oliver & Asha Foster

Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Helen Rathbone Sibylle Hentschel Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar Sub-Principal George Peniston Laurence Lovelle Damián Rubido González Thomas Walley Lowri Morgan Charlotte Kerbegian

Chair co-supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal

David Whitehouse Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Gareth Newman

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* Principal Chair supported by Laurence Watt

Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday

Horns David Pyatt* Principal

Cornets Toby Street Anne McAneney*

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Martin Owens Harp Rachel Masters Principal

Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison

Assistant Conductor Kelly Lovelady

Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney*

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

† Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Toby Street Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Sonja Drexler • Dr Barry Grimaldi

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Jurowski and the LPO can stand alongside the top international orchestras with pride. Richard Fairman, Financial Times, September 2015

Recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most forwardlooking ensembles. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, releases CDs on its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and local communities. The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is currently the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, appointed in 2007. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence. The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Throughout 2016 the LPO joined many of the UK’s other leading cultural institutions in Shakespeare400, celebrating the Bard’s legacy 400

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years since his death. In 2017 we will collaborate with Southbank Centre on Belief and Beyond Belief: a year-long multi-artform festival. Other 2016/17 season highlights include the return of Osmo Vänskä to conduct the Sibelius symphonies alongside major British concertos by Britten, Elgar, Walton and Vaughan Williams; Jurowski’s continuation of his Mahler and Brucker symphony cycles; landmark contemporary works by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams and Gavin Bryars; and premieres of new works by Aaron Jay Kernis and the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence Magnus Lindberg. Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: last season included visits to Mexico,

Pieter Schoeman leader

Spain, Germany, the Canary Islands and Russia; and tours in 2016/17 include New York, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland.

In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians through an energetic programme of activities for young people. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the Young Composers Programme; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Its work at the forefront of digital engagement has enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download from iTunes and, as well as regular concert streamings and a popular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on social media. lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra youtube.com/c/londonphilharmonicorchestra instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 90 releases available on CD and to download: recent additions include a disc of Stravinsky works with Vladimir Jurowski, Act 1 of Wagner’s Die Walküre with Klaus Tennstedt, and Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 with Kurt Masur (see page 9).

Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. Born in South Africa, Pieter made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. Five years later he won the World Youth Concerto Competition in Michigan. Aged 17, he moved to the US to further his studies in Los Angeles and Dallas. In 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman who, after several consultations, recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. 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 Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chamber musician he regularly appears at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. At the invitation of Yannick Nézet-Séguin he has been part of the ‘Yannick and Friends’ chamber group, performing at festivals in Dortmund and Rheingau. Pieter has performed several times as a soloist with the LPO, and his live recording of Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov was released on the Orchestra’s own label to great critical acclaim. He has also recorded numerous violin solos for film and television, and led the LPO in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. In April 2016 he was Guest Leader with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra for Kurt Masur’s memorial concert. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter’s chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich.

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Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Jurowski’s performances with the LPO these days really are unmissable.

The Times, March 2015

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow and studied at the Music Academies of Dresden and Berlin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival conducting Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, and the same year saw his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Nabucco. Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming Principal Conductor in 2007. In October 2015 he was appointed the next Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-sinfonieorchester Berlin, a position he will take up in September 2017. Jurowski also maintains his position as Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra). He has previously held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997–2001), Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–03), Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–09), and Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001–13). He is a regular guest with many leading orchestras in both Europe and North America, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome; the New York Philharmonic; The Philadelphia Orchestra; The Cleveland Orchestra; the Boston, San Francisco and Chicago symphony orchestras; and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

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His opera engagements have included Rigoletto, Jenůfa, The Queen of Spades, Hansel and Gretel and Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera; War and Peace at the Opéra National de Paris; Eugene Onegin at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre; Moses und Aron at Komische and Iolanta and Die Teufel von Loudun at Semperoper Dresden, and numerous operas at Glyndebourne including Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Cunning Little Vixen, Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons, and Ariadne auf Naxos. In 2015 he returned to the Komische Oper in Berlin for a universally acclaimed new production of Moses und Aron, and made his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich with Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel. Future highlights include his Salzburg Festival debut with Wozzeck, and his first return to Glyndebourne as a guest conductor, to lead the world premiere production of Brett Dean’s Hamlet. The Glyndebourne production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, led by Vladimir Jurowski with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Chorus, won the 2015 BBC Music Magazine Opera Award.

Watch Vladimir discussing his highlights of the LPO 2016/17 season: lpo.org.uk/jurowski1617

Steven Isserlis cello

He can have the listener in perpetual wonder at the ingredients of his art...

The Australian

Acclaimed worldwide for his profound musicianship and technical mastery, British cellist Steven Isserlis enjoys a uniquely varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster. He appears regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, including in the 2016/17 season the London Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Zurich Tonhalle orchestras; and gives recitals every season in major musical centres. As a chamber musician, he has curated concert series for many prestigious venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s 92nd St Y and Zankel Hall, and the Salzburg and Verbier festivals. Unusually, he also directs chamber orchestras from the cello in classical programmes. Steven has a strong interest in historical performance, working with many period-instrument orchestras and giving recitals with harpsichord and fortepiano. He is also a keen exponent of contemporary music and has premiered many new works including John Tavener’s The Protecting Veil, Thomas Adès’s Lieux retrouvés and György Kurtág’s For Steven.

For the past 19 years Steven Isserlis has been Artistic Director of the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, Cornwall. He also enjoys playing for children, and has created three musical stories with the composer Anne Dudley. His two books for children, published by Faber, have been translated into many languages; a new book, a commentary on Schumann’s famous Advice for Young Musicians, has recently been published, again by Faber. The recipient of many awards, Steven Isserlis’s honours include a CBE in recognition of his services to music, and the Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau (Germany). He gives most of his concerts on the Marquis de Corberon (Nelsova) Stradivarius of 1726, kindly loaned to him by the Royal Academy of Music.

stevenisserlis.com @StevenIsserlis

Steven Isserlis’s award-winning discography includes Bach’s complete Solo Cello Suites for Hyperion (Gramophone’s Instrumental Album of the Year); Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano with Robert Levin; and the Elgar and Walton concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Paavo Järvi. Steven’s latest release is the Brahms Double Concerto with Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, coupled with the 1854 version of Brahms’s B major Piano Trio with Jeremy Denk.

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Programme notes

Speedread ‘The trouble with a folk-song’, wrote the composer Constant Lambert, ‘is that once you have played it through there is nothing much to do except play it over again and play it rather louder.’ Well, not quite. In 1848 the composer Mikhail Glinka took the Russian wedding dance, Kamarinskaya, and transformed it into an eight-minute orchestral showpiece. He simply repeated the tune – sometimes louder, sometimes quieter – but each time with new and more brilliant orchestral colours. This evening we hear two short overtures by Glinka based on Spanish folk-dances.

Mikhail Glinka

A whole school of Russian composers followed in Glinka’s footsteps. His breakthrough gave a distinctively Russian timbre both to the music of his pupil Dargomyzhsky and to Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony. The idea that instrumental colour and sheer, tuneful force of musical personality can make a piece fly was one that Prokofiev, too, learned at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. Nearly a century after Glinka, and in a very different world, even the very first notes of Prokofiev’s Concerto somehow sound pungently, unmistakably, Russian.

Spanish Overtures Nos. 1 & 2 (1845/49) 1 Capriccio brillante on the ‘Jota Aragonesa’ 2 Recollections of a Summer Night in Madrid

1804–57

By the time Russia’s first music college opened in 1860, Mikhail Glinka had been dead for three years. He’d grown up in a Russia in which ‘serious’ music (folksong was dismissed as ‘servants’ music’) was either a Western import or the monopoly of an ultraconservative Orthodox Church. The man who would come to be known as ‘the father of Russian music’ pieced together his musical education from studying scores, a few brief lessons with the visiting pianist John Field and eventually, periods of study in Milan and Berlin. Glinka’s fondness for travel never left him. In 1844 he headed south – first to Paris, and then, in mid-1845, to Spain. ‘Among our neighbours, the son of a merchant here by the name of Felix Castilla plays the guitar very energetically, especially the jota aragonesa, which I have committed to memory’, he wrote to his mother. He completed his Capriccio brillante sur le theme de la Jota Aragonesa for orchestra that year; a second Spanish 8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

fantasy, Souvenir d’une nuit d’été à Madrid followed in 1849. Glinka also gave each piece the more respectable title of Overture. In each case, it’s all about the colours. In the first Overture, Glinka does unsuspected and brilliant things with a single jaunty dance-tune, introduced (after some grandiose preliminaries) by the solo violin. In the second, his borrowed Spanish melodies include two seguidillas and another jota, framed by music that lightly but charmingly suggests the atmosphere of a scented evening. The point is that he’s taken ‘servants’ music’ and transformed it into something sustained, original and wonderfully effective. When he repeated the same trick with Russian material in Kamarinskaya, he created a national style.

Sergei Prokofiev

Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 58 (1933–38) Steven Isserlis cello 1 Andante – 2 Allegro giusto – 3 Theme (Allegro) and Variations

1891–1953

‘I don’t know your crazy instrument’. Sergei Prokofiev was blunt at the best of times; but the great Russianborn cellist Gregor Piatigorsky had a way of getting what he wanted. He was vague about his first exchange with Prokofiev on the subject of a concerto (according to Prokofiev it was in Paris in May 1932). Prokofiev asked Piatigorsky to show him some typical virtuoso cello music for inspiration. ‘You should not keep it in the house. It smells.’ But his own ideas were starting to form. A first movement and part of a second soon arrived in Piatigorsky’s post. Then, declaring that he found it impossible to work overseas, Prokofiev returned to Russia. Their paths diverged. Prokofiev finished the Concerto in 1938, and it was premiered in Moscow in 1938 by Lev Berezovsky; Piatigorsky finally gave the Western premiere in Boston in 1940. It wasn’t quite what he expected. Soviet critics, too – determined to prove that music that Prokofiev had conceived outside the

socialist paradise was inferior to the works he’d since completed under the Party’s guidance – were lukewarm. Prokofiev reworked it in 1951 as a substantially different ‘Symphony-Concerto’, Op. 125. But the Concerto has a distinctive personality of its own: fresh, fantastic, and shaped to make the most of the cello’s natural aptitude for song – and for melancholy. Its three linked movements (Prokofiev initially talked of a ‘fantasy’ for cello and orchestra) grow successively longer, but from the opening (where the cello pits its lyricism against a spiky march) onwards, the Concerto’s opposing moods generate a compelling tension. Despite the spiky energy of the scherzo-like second movement, melody wins through, and in the finale, a theme and four variations are interrupted by two interludes, a final reminiscence and a fiercely difficult cadenza. ‘It is slashing!’, cried Prokofiev, as Piatigorsky played to him, ‘Play it again!’ You can hear why.

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

New on the LPO Label: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4 Symphony No. 1 in C major | Symphony No. 4 in B flat major London Philharmonic Orchestra Kurt Masur conductor

£9.99 | LPO-0093 Available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets Download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and others

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

Programme notes continued

Alexander Dargomyzhsky

Baba-Yaga (Fantasy-Scherzo) (1862)

1813–69

Alexander Dargomyzhsky was the odd-man-out of Russian nationalist music. An amateur who took lessons from a sceptical Glinka, his opera The Stone Guest was completed posthumously by RimskyKorsakov. Dargomyzhsky shared many of the artistic aims of the so-called ‘Mighty Five’ Russian nationalist composers, but a clique can have only have one leader and the overbearing Mily Balakirev, father-figure to the ‘Five’, preferred to invent bad puns on his name. ‘His three orchestral fantasies were considered a mere curiosity’, recalled Rimsky-Korsakov. Dargomyzhsky’s orchestral ‘fantasy-scherzo’ BabaYaga (1862) takes its name from the same witch

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840–93

Tchaikovsky never forgot the debt he owed to Glinka. ‘Just as a whole mighty oak is contained inside an acorn, so all Russian symphonic music is contained in Kamarinskaya’, he declared in 1888. And he should know: in 1872, he’d founded an entire symphony on folk-songs. Admittedly these weren’t, strictly speaking, Russian; they came from Ukraine, then nicknamed ‘Little Russia’. Tchaikovsky’s sister Sasha had an estate at Kamenka in Ukraine, and he knew the region and its people well – he’d often note down peasant melodies for use in compositions. They must have seemed natural

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later celebrated by Liadov and Mussorgsky; but Dargomyzhsky is less interested in her iron teeth or hut on hen’s legs than her ability to fly. The work’s subtitle is ‘From the Volga to Riga’, and it’s a musical flight from the heart of the Russian Empire to its western frontier. And following Glinka’s example it repeats, and colourfully varies, a series of folk-songs. ‘Downstream on Mother Volga’ forms a broad introduction before, with a lurch and a crash, the music takes to the air with a melody from the Smolensk district. And then a fanfare introduces a whirling scherzo to the melody ‘AnnaMaria, so gehst du doch hin’, from German-speaking Riga. Imperialism has never been more entertaining, or sounded so bright.

Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 (Little Russian) (1872) 1 2 3 4

Andante sostenuto—Allegro vivo Andante marziale, quasi moderato Scherzo: Allegro molto vivace Finale: Moderato assai—Allegro vivo

material, when, at Kamenka in the summer of 1872, he began work on what was to become his Second Symphony. He was in a relaxed mood, and it shines through in the Symphony. Even when the score was accidentally lost, with the rest of Tchaikovsky’s luggage, at a country coaching-inn, he kept his sense of humour – he couldn’t get over the fact that the rural post-master who recovered it also happened to be named Tchaikovsky. Word spread quickly in Moscow and when Tchaikovsky

played it through on the piano at Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas party in St. Petersburg, he reported that ‘the whole company almost tore me to pieces with rapture!’ The official premiere followed in Moscow on 7 February 1873, and the ‘Little Russian’ Symphony, as it was promptly nicknamed by the music critic Nikolai Kashkin, has never been out of the repertoire since.

Recommended recordings

It’s not hard to hear why. The Second Symphony is out purely to entertain, with deliciously folksy tunes, orchestral colour, and – as we’ll hear shortly – one almighty roof-raiser of a finale. The first movement opens with a crash, and then the horn sings the Symphony’s first Ukrainian folk-song: ‘Down by the Mother Volga’. The orchestra tiptoes in beneath it, the procession draws closer and closer – and with a bustling figure from the strings, the first movement gets properly underway. Sometimes stormy, sometimes tenderly romantic, it gradually winds down – and ‘Down by the Mother Volga’ echoes again as the movement recedes into the distance.

Dargomyzhsky: Baba-Yaga (Fantasy-Scherzo) USSR State Radio Symphony Orchestra | Alexander Gauk (Entertainment Group International Inc.)

The second movement is musical recycling – it’s a wedding march (a distinctly tongue-in-cheek one) from Tchaikovsky’s unsuccessful opera Undine of three years previously. Tchaikovsky ties it into the Symphony by inserting another folk-song in the middle – ‘Spin, O My Spinner’. The whirling Scherzo flies past like some fantastic folk-dance, but it’s actually all Tchaikovsky’s own work – even the squawking, rustic dance for woodwinds that forms its central Trio. By now, the Ukrainian tunes are clearly getting under his skin. And now – with a grandiose flourish – the fun really starts. With solemn majesty, the whole orchestra slowly plays the Ukrainian folk-dance ‘The Crane’. (Tchaikovsky had learned it from Petr Kosidub, the elderly household steward at Kamenka). There’s a drumroll, a crash of cymbals; suddenly the violins grab hold of the tune … and we’re off. Tchaikovsky shows everything he’s learned from Glinka as he repeats this simple tune over 35 times, never the same twice, and growing progressively more exciting as he goes. He even throws in a songful second theme. Enjoy the ride – and when you hear the gong, brace yourself for some serious noise as that Little Russian acorn blossoms into a truly spectacular oak. Programme notes © Richard Bratby

Glinka: Spanish Overtures Nos. 1 & 2 BBC Philharmonic | Vassily Sinaisky (Chandos) Prokofiev: Cello Concerto, Op. 58 Alban Gerhardt | Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra | Andrew Litton (Hyperion)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 Mstislav Rostropovich | London Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI) or Mariss Jansons | Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (Chandos)

Next concerts at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall WEDNESDAY 14 December 2016 7.30pm Glinka Waltz Fantasy Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Jan Lisiecki piano

Friday 13 january 2017 7.30pm Brahms Violin Concerto Brahms Symphony No. 1 Manfred Honeck conductor Ray Chen violin

Book now lpo.org.uk 020 7840 4242 London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

HELP US CREATE MOMENTS OF WONDER 2016 FUNharmonics Appeal

At the London Philharmonic Orchestra we are more than our concert performances; we are greater than the musicians you see. We strive to create wonder in all that we do; sharing our vision with everyone, everywhere, regardless of age, background or income. FUNharmonics days offer an amazing way for children and their families to experience orchestral music and the LPO. Help us make these experiences accessible to as many people as possible. Give to the appeal and fund the elements that make up a FUNharmonics day – your support will help us cover the costs of offering these experiences: — £5 will pay for a pack of clarinet reeds for ‘have a go’ clarinet sessions — £10 will pay for one large creative pack for a pre-concert art workshop and will include fabrics, papers and other materials for making and decorating props — £20 will hire one woodwind instrument for a ‘have a go’ session — £25 will subsidise five tickets for a FUNharmonics Family concert, allowing us to keep ticket prices affordable — £50 will enable us to hire a harp for ‘have a go’ sessions — £70 will hire four brass instruments for ‘have a go’ sessions — £100 will pay for the production of 400 activity sheets

‘... WONDERFUL AND INSPIRING ... IT WORKS ON EVERY LEVEL. THREE CHEERS FOR THE LPO!’ ‘MY FAMILY AND I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT. THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE IS ONE THAT NO CHILD SHOULD MISS OUT ON (OR GROWNUP EITHER).’ Audience members

— £250 will pay for the hire of half of the music the Orchestra needs for a concert — £500 will pay for the hire of all the music the Orchestra needs for a concert

If overfunded on the above any surplus will go towards other costs associated with FUNharmonics, including paying the incredibly talented LPO musicians.

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lpo.org.uk/appeal Donate by phone: 020 7840 4225

Sound Futures donors

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

The Rothschild Foundation Tom & Phillis Sharpe The Viney Family

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

Carolina & Martin Schwab Dr Brian Smith Lady Valerie Solti Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Miss Anne Stoddart TFS Loans Limited Lady 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 Queree The Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer Charitable Trust Timothy Walker AM Christopher Williams Peter Wilson Smith Mr Anthony Yolland and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous

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Thank you

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

Artistic Director’s Circle An anonymous donor Victoria Robey OBE Orchestra Circle Natalia Semenova & Dimitri Gourji The Tsukanov Family Principal Associates An anonymous donor Mr Peter Cullum CBE Dr Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Neil Westreich Associates Simon Robey Stuart & Bianca Roden Barry Grimaldi William & Alex de Winton Gold Patrons An anonymous donor Mrs Evzen Balko David & Yi Buckley Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport Georgy Djaparidze Sonja Drexler Mrs Gillian Fane Drs Oliver & Asha Foster Simon & Meg Freakley David & Victoria Graham Fuller Wim & Jackie Hautekiet-Clare The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Alexandra Jupin & John Bean James R D Korner Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds Eric Tomsett Laurence Watt Michael & Ruth West

Silver Patrons Mrs Molly Borthwick Peter & Fiona Espenhahn David Goldstone CBE LLB FRICS Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe John & Angela Kessler Vadim & Natalia Levin Mrs Virginia Slaymaker Mr Brian Smith The Viney Family Guy & Utti Whittaker Bronze Patrons Valentina & Dmitry Aksenov Dr Christopher Aldren Michael Allen Mr Jeremy Bull Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Bruno De Kegel David Ellen Mrs Marie-Laure Favre-Gilly de Varennes de Bueil Igor & Lyuba Galkin Mrs Irina Gofman Mr Daniel Goldstein Mr Gavin Graham Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Mr Martin Hattrell Mr Colm Kelleher Nino Kuparadze Drs Frank & Gek Lim Mrs Angela Lynch Peter MacDonald Eggers William & Catherine MacDougall Mr & Mrs David Malpas Mr Adrian Mee Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva Mrs Rosemarie Pardington Ms Olga Pavlova Mr Michael Posen Mrs Karmen Pretel-Martines Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Tom & Phillis Sharpe Mr & Mrs G Stein Sergei & Elena Sudakova Captain Mark Edward Tennant Ms Sharon Thomas Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood

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Grenville & Krysia Williams Christopher Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Principal Supporters Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Mr Geoffrey Bateman Mrs A Beare Mr Charles Bott Mr Graham Brady Mr Gary Brass Mr Richard Brass Mr Frederick Brittenden David & Patricia Buck Dr Anthony Buckland Sir Terry Burns GCB Richard Buxton Mr Pascal Cagni Mrs Alan Carrington Dr Archibald E Carter The Countess June Chichester Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr Alfons Cortés Mr David Edwards Ulrike & Benno Engelmann Mr Timothy Fancourt QC Mr Richard Fernyhough Mr Roger Greenwood Mr Chris Grigg Malcolm Herring Amanda Hill & Daniel Heaf J Douglas Home Ivan Hurry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr Peter Jenkins Per Jonsson Mr Frank Krikhaar Rose & Dudley Leigh Mr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr John Long Mr Nicholas Lyons Mr Peter Mace Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski Elena Mezentseva Andrew T Mills Dr Karen Morton

Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin Pavel & Elena Novoselov Dr Wiebke Pekrull Mr Roger Phillimore Mr James Pickford Andrew & Sarah Poppleton Oleg Pukhov Miss Tatiana Pyatigorskaya Mr Robert Ross Martin & Cheryl Southgate Peter Tausig Mr Jonathan Townley Andrew & Roanna Tusa Lady Marina Vaizey Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie Whitelock Bill Yoe Supporters Mr Clifford Brown Miss Siobhan Cervin Miss Lynn Chapman Mr Joshua Coger Mr Geoffrey A Collens Timothy Colyer Miss Tessa Cowie Lady Jane Cuckney OBE Ms Holly Dunlap Mr Nigel Dyer Ms Susanne Feldthusen Mrs Janet Flynn Mr Nick Garland Mr Derek B. Gray Dr Geoffrey Guy The Jackman Family Mrs Svetlana Kashinskaya Niels Kroninger Mrs Nino Kuparadze Mr Christopher Langridge Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington Miss S M Longson Mr David Macfarlane Mr John Meloy Miss Lucyna Mozyrko Mr Leonid Ogarev Mr Stephen Olton Mr David Peters Mr Ivan Powell Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh Mr Christopher Queree

Mr James A Reece Mr Olivier Rosenfeld Mr Kenneth Shaw Mr Barry Smith Ms Natalie Spraggon James & Virginia Turnball Michael & Katie Urmston Timothy Walker AM Mr Berent Wallendahl Edward & Catherine Williams Mr C D Yates Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Robert Hill Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE 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: Jenny Ireland Co-Chairman William A. Kerr Co-Chairman Xenia Hanusiak Alexandra Jupin Jill Fine Mainelli Kristina McPhee David Oxenstierna Natalie Pray Robert Watson Antonia Romeo Hon. Chairman Noel Kilkenny Hon. Director Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP Stephanie Yoshida

Corporate Donors Fenchurch Advisory Partners LLP Goldman Sachs Linklaters London Stock Exchange Group Morgan Lewis Phillips Auction House Pictet Bank Corporate Members Gold Sunshine Silver Accenture After Digital Berenberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce Bronze BTO Management Consulting AG Charles Russell Speechlys Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Willis Towers Watson Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsor Google Inc

Trusts and Foundations Axis Foundation The Bernarr Rainbow Trust The Boltini Trust Borletti-Buitoni Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation The Candide Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts The Ernest Cook Trust Diaphonique, Franco-British Fund for contemporary music The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust The Foyle Foundation The Goldsmiths’ Company Lucille Graham Trust Help Musicians UK Derek Hill Foundation John Horniman’s Children’s Trust The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leverhulme Trust The London Community Foundation London Stock Exchange Group Foundation Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian Trust The Mercers’ Company Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Stanley Picker Trust The Radcliffe Trust Rivers Foundation The R K Charitable Trust RVW Trust The Sampimon Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation UK Friends of the FelixMendelssohn-BartholdyFoundation

Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust and all others who wish to remain anonymous.

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Administration

Board of Directors Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Roger Barron Richard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Dr Catherine C. Høgel Rachel Masters* Al MacCuish Julian Metherell George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Natasha Tsukanova Mark Vines* Timothy Walker AM Neil Westreich David Whitehouse* * Player-Director Advisory Council Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Rob Adediran Christopher Aldren Dr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson Bruno de Kegel William de Winton Cameron Doley Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Amanda Hill Martin Höhmann Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness Shackleton Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds Barry Smith Martin Southgate Sir Philip Thomas Sir John Tooley Chris Viney Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Elizabeth Winter

Chief Executive

Education and Community

Public Relations

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Isabella Kernot Education Director

Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

Talia Lash Education and Community Project Manager