I N S I D E
Oct 2014 – Apr 2015 lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff
O U T
WHO WAS RACHMANINOFF? I N S I D E
fascinated by
death romantic phenomenal the ultimate
brilliant
family man
exile
virtuoso big hands pianist grumpy passionate memory
lover of
words
insecure
deeply patriotic
O U T
very tall
speedboats
genius
old-fashioned
3 October 2014 – 29 April 2015 Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre The London Philharmonic Orchestra presents a season-long exploration of Rachmaninoff’s life and music including performances of his symphonies, concertos, operas, songs and choral works.
fast cars
‘ I write the music which I hear playing inside me’ Serge Rachmaninoff
Concerts in Rachmaninoff: Inside Out are generously supported by: Rachmaninoff: Inside Out is part of the UK Russia Year of Culture 2014
WHO WAS RACHMANINOFF? fascinated by
death romantic phenomenal the ultimate
brilliant
DID YOU KNOW?
Booking information London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 (£2.75 transaction fee) Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (£1.75 transaction fee)
family man
exile
virtuoso big hands pianist grumpy passionate memory
HOW TO BOOK
03
lover of
words
insecure
deeply patriotic
very tall
speedboats
genius
Southbank Centre Ticket Office 0844 847 9920 (£2.75 transaction fee) Daily 9.00am–8.00pm southbankcentre.co.uk (£1.75 transaction fee)
fast cars
02
old-fashioned
01
The soundtrack to David Lean’s film of lost love, Brief Encounter, features Rachmaninoff’s romantic Piano Concerto No. 2 throughout
Rachmaninoff’s powerful Piano Concerto No. 3 is the focus in the Oscar-winning film Shine, based on the life of Australian concert pianist David Helfgott
In person at Royal Festival Hall Ticket Office (no fee) Daily 10.00am–8.00pm
05
Celine Dion’s cover version of Eric Carmen’s 1975 power ballad All By Myself borrows heavily from the sublime slow movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2
04
In 2010, a 180-milewide impact crater was discovered on the planet Mercury and named Rachmaninoff by NASA
Matt Bellamy, frontman of the English rock band Muse, acknowledges the influence of Rachmaninoff in his music, most noticeably in Space Dementia, Blackout and Butterflies and Hurricanes ‘Rachmaninoff has some kind of weird dark edge to his music which I don’t think I’ve heard with any other kind of music before.’ Matt Bellamy
Tickets: £9–£39 (Premium seats £65) Book more, pay less Book 3–4 concerts and receive a 10% discount Book 5–7 concerts and receive a 15% discount Book 8–10 concerts and receive a 20% discount Book 11 concerts and receive a 25% discount
06
2014 BRIT Award nominee John Grant used Rachmaninoff’s famous Prelude in C sharp minor as his inspiration for the title track of his album Pale Green Ghosts ‘It occurred to me while I was making Pale Green Ghosts that it would fit right on top of that ... I love that piece of music so much; it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.’ John Grant
Getting there Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre Belvedere Road London SE1 8XX By underground to Waterloo, Embankment or Charing Cross By rail to Waterloo, Waterloo East or Charing Cross Find out more Discover more about Rachmaninoff: Inside Out online: lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff sound clips / interviews / videos / programme notes / reviews Join the conversations #rach Listen to our Rachmaninoff Spotify playlists
full event listings
WHO WAS RACHMANINOFF? fascinated by
death romantic phenomenal the ultimate
brilliant
DID YOU KNOW?
HOW TO BOOK Booking information London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 (£2.75 transaction fee) Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (£1.75 transaction fee) Southbank Centre Ticket Office 0844 847 9920 (£2.75 transaction fee) Daily 9.00am–8.00pm southbankcentre.co.uk (£1.75 transaction fee)
family man
exile
virtuoso big hands pianist grumpy passionate memory
In person at Royal Festival Hall Ticket Office (no fee) Daily 10.00am–8.00pm
lover of
words
deeply patriotic
very tall
speedboats
genius
Tickets: £9–£39 (Premium seats £65)
Celine Dion’s cover version of Eric Carmen’s 1975 power ballad All By Myself borrows heavily from the sublime slow movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2
insecure
fast cars
Matt Bellamy, frontman of the English rock band Muse, acknowledges the influence of Rachmaninoff in his music, most noticeably in Space Dementia, Blackout and Butterflies and Hurricanes
old-fashioned
The soundtrack to David Lean’s film of lost love, Brief Encounter, features Rachmaninoff’s romantic Piano Concerto No. 2 throughout
Rachmaninoff’s powerful Piano Concerto No. 3 is the focus in the Oscar-winning film Shine, based on the life of Australian concert pianist David Helfgott
In 2010, a 180-milewide impact crater was discovered on the planet Mercury and named Rachmaninoff by NASA
‘Rachmaninoff has some kind of weird dark edge to his music which I don’t think I’ve heard with any other kind of music before.’ Matt Bellamy
Book more, pay less Book 3–4 concerts and receive a 10% discount Book 5–7 concerts and receive a 15% discount Book 8–10 concerts and receive a 20% discount Book 11 concerts and receive a 25% discount Getting there
2014 BRIT Award nominee John Grant used Rachmaninoff’s famous Prelude in C sharp minor as his inspiration for the title track of his album Pale Green Ghosts ‘It occurred to me while I was making Pale Green Ghosts that it would fit right on top of that ... I love that piece of music so much; it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.’ John Grant
Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre Belvedere Road London SE1 8XX By underground to Waterloo, Embankment or Charing Cross By rail to Waterloo, Waterloo East or Charing Cross Find out more Discover more about Rachmaninoff: Inside Out online: lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff sound clips / interviews / videos / programme notes / reviews Join the conversations #rach Listen to our Rachmaninoff Spotify playlists
full event listings
FRI 3 OCT 2014 7.30pm
Rachmaninoff The Isle of the Dead
Royal Festival Hall
dark anticipation / undulating water / death’s calling / the underworld / chill / haunting mystery / urgency
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1 vivacity / impetuous / joy / youthfulness / brass fanfares / virtuosic / bold romanticism
Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Alexander Ghindin piano
colourful melodies / driving energy / rhythmic vitality / lush sounds / Russian chant / evocative fantasy
JTI FRIDAY SERIES
WED 29 OCT 2014 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 Free pre-concert event 6.15pm–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Acclaimed film director Tony Palmer discusses the enduring popularity of Rachmaninoff’s music.
FRI 7 NOV 2014 7.30pm
sweeping melodies / Shine / magical beauty / piano flourishes / sumptuous harmonies / dazzling virtuosity
Royal Festival Hall
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
JTI FRIDAY SERIES
vivid sonority / Elizabethan fantasy / modal harmonies / deep intimacy / rich string textures / magic / glory / surround-sound luminescence
FRI 28 NOV 2014 7.30pm
Wagner Overture, Tannhäuser
Royal Festival Hall
mythology / dramatic tapestries / pilgrims’ march / stirring drama / sensuality / haunting chromaticism
JTI FRIDAY SERIES
WED 3 DEC 2014 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall
*Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music programme, and by the Polish Cultural Institute in London.
WED 21 JAN 2015 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall
SAT 7 FEB 2015 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall
WED 11 FEB 2015 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall
FRI 13 FEB 2015 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall
Free pre-concert event 6.15pm–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Learn about the often overlooked influence of Scriabin with Professor Stephen Downes.
Free pre-concert event 6.15pm-6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Director Annabel Arden discusses her semi-staging of The Miserly Knight.
Free pre-concert event 4.00pm-6.00pm Royal Festival Hall Don’t miss this rare chance to hear Rachmaninoff’s piano rolls performed by Rex Lawson and Denis Hall of the Pianola Institute.
Free pre-concert event 6.00pm-6.45pm Royal Festival Hall LPO musicians have been working with GCSE students from southeast London to explore the music of Rachmaninoff. They will perform their own new works for ensemble – Rachmaninoff out of Rotherhithe!
Free pre-concert event 6.15pm-6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Vasily Petrenko explores the impact of Rachmaninoff on a Russian conductor.
Wagner Das Rheingold (excerpts) Ring Cycle / The Rhine / stolen gold / corruption / rhythmic anvils / harps / creation
Rachmaninoff Three Russian Songs folksong / rich bass notes / Russian soulfulness / poignancy / evocative / deep nostalgia / choral / homeland / yearning / warmth
Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements majestic energy / meditation / jazz / propulsive rhythms / contrasts
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 4 subtle textures / rhythmic punch / jazz inflections / showpiece / unstoppable energy / sardonic / evocative shifting melodies
Mozart Symphony No. 36 (Linz) lilting rhythms / pastoral mood / vigour / melodies / grace
Royal Festival Hall
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 4 brass grandeur / sweeping climaxes / romanticism / virtuosity / warmth / woodwind calls / urgent drama / whirling excitement / Russian dance
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini jauntiness / variations / gravity / energetic showpiece / relentlessness/ romantic chords / variation 18 / transformation
theme & variations / funeral march / flashes of colour / Chopinesque / clarinet & horn solos / Russian dances
poetic / Wagnerian / bombastic / brassy / string melodies
JTI FRIDAY SERIES
WED 25 MAR 2015 7.30pm
music from the heart / powerful / sublime lyricism / dance music / yearning clarinet / deep intensity / brilliant energy / swirling adventure / Russian drama
Scriabin Piano Concerto Szymanowski* Concert Overture
Royal Festival Hall
Free pre-concert event 6.15pm-6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Keeping it in the family: Vladimir Jurowski looks at his grandfather’s arrangement of the songs heard tonight.
Rachmaninoff (arr. Butsko) Piano Works, Four Movements exhilaration / majestic chords / grandeur / virtuosity / cascades / calm reflection / poeticism
Osmo Vänskä conductor Nikolai Lugansky piano
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 (Winter Daydreams) Russian folk music / melancholy / flightiness / picturesque beauty / dreaminess
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 1
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Igor Levit piano
impending tragedy / anticipation / fluttering heartbeats / moody / vivid dynamism / soundtrack / melodic swells / scattered emotions / light & shadow
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Vsevolod Grivnov Albert Maxim Mikhailov Servant Viacheslav Voynarovskiy Moneylender Albert Shagidullin The Duke Sergei Leiferkus The Baron Annabel Arden director
Pushkin / opera / sinister / greed & evil / brooding melodies / medieval drama / The Baron / The Duke / Moneylender / orchestral drama / grotesque
Rachmaninoff Spring
David Zinman conductor Behzod Abduraimov piano
wild excitement / desperation / emotional expression / fate motif / soaring melodies / pizzicato
Rachmaninoff The Miserly Knight (semi-staged)
green shoots / choral / promise / rustling leaves / forgiveness / fervour / lush / love / mercy / poetry / awakening
Enescu Symphony No. 3
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2
Rachmaninoff The Bells (Choral Symphony)
unabashed romanticism / sublime melodies / Brief Encounter / nostalgic / heartfelt passion / dazzling piano / glittering bravura / velvety harmonies / showstopper / enduring popularity
Russian winter / mist & fog / dark skies / sleigh bells / magic / goosebumps / wedding bells / mourning bells / solemn knells / powerful voices / foreboding / Edgar Allan Poe
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Andrei Bondarenko baritone London Philharmonic Choir
sumptuous / wordless chorus / vast orchestra / brooding / hell, heaven & earth / heroism
Vasily Petrenko conductor Jorge Luis Prats piano Anna Samuil soprano Daniil Shtoda tenor Alexander Vinogradov bass London Philharmonic Choir
Vasily Petrenko conductor Alexander Ghindin piano
Shostakovich Symphony No. 4 craziness / high speed / Ländler / castanets / waltz-like / funeral march / Mahler’s influence
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1 vivacity / impetuous / joy / youthfulness / brass fanfares / virtuosic / bold romanticism
WED 29 APR 2015 7.30pm
Vassily Sinaisky conductor Pavel Kolesnikov piano
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2
Rachmaninoff (arr. Jurowski) 10 Songs lyricism / mourning / calm / dreaminess / agitation / sparkle / rapture
Dvorák ˇ Symphony No. 8
Ilyich Rivas conductor Dmitry Mayboroda piano
optimistic cheer / Bohemian flavour / folk music / bird-call / improvisation / lyrical tranquillity / landscapes / turbulence
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 3 nostalgic yearning / dignity / brilliant vitality / Russian dances / percussion / power & emotion / Day of Wrath / optimistic fervour
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Vsevolod Grivnov tenor
‘ Tell me, does anyone want this kind of music?’
lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff
Designed by Chaos
Tolstoy on Rachmaninoff