– ISSUE FOUR –
– AUTUMN WINTER2013 2013 – SPRING // SUMMER ––
‘Wild and colourful beauty … a vast natural amphitheatre' Messiaen on his Des canyons aux étoiles (2 November 2013)
the rest is noise
a week in the life
Backstage
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– 10 –
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We explore the second half of the festival this autumn
Behind the scenes with our Education & Community team
Meet David Pyatt, the Orchestra's Principal Horn
Principal Partner
New releases on the LPO Label Mahler: Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Jurowski conductor £9.99 LPO-0070 | May 2013
Principal Supporters
‘Everything about the dewy dawn of this Mahler One is perfect.' BBC Music Magazine, July 2013
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor £9.99 LPO-0071 | August 2013 'A very special issue. Don't hesitate to buy or download it.' David Mellor, Classic FM, July 2013
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 Bernard Haitink conductor Sheila Armstrong soprano London Philharmonic Choir £10.99 | 2 Cds LPO-0072 | September 2013
Education Partner
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano Toby Spence tenor £9.99 Coming soon
LPO-0073 | Available October 2013
Julian Anderson Three works by the Orchestra's Composer in Residence Fantasias | The Crazed Moon The Discovery of Heaven Coming soon
Corporate Members AREVA UK British American Business Carter Ruck Thomas Eggar LLP
Lisa Bolgar Smith and Felix Appelbe of Ambrose Appelbe Appleyard & Trew LLP Berkeley Law Charles Russell Leventis Overseas
£9.99 LPO-0074 | Available November 2013
Preferred Partners
Browse the catalogue and sign up for updates at lpo.org.uk/recordings
Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Villa Maria
CDs available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Box Office (020 7840 4242), all good CD outlets, and the Royal Festival Hall shop.
In-kind Sponsors
Download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify and others.
Google Inc Sela / Tilley’s Sweets
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WELCOME
W
elcome to the Autumn 2013 edition of the London Philharmonic Orchestra's newsletter, Tune In. Last season the Orchestra celebrated 80 years on the concert stage, and as we enter our ninth decade, there is more than ever to look forward to. Until the end of 2013 we continue our year-long collaboration with Southbank Centre, The Rest Is Noise. Having spent the first half of the year exploring the turbulent early years of the 20th century – from Strauss to Vaughan Williams – between now and December we delve into a post-war world. During the Second World War, art, music and technology had been used to manipulate and destroy. In the following years composers saw no option but to start from scratch and set about creating radical new music in the aftermath of war. We'll be performing works by composers as diverse as Britten, Messiaen, Shostakovich, Arvo Pärt and John Adams: turn over to read about some of the highlights in store. Elsewhere in this issue we fill you in on what the Orchestra has been up to over the summer. We spend a week out and about with our tireless Education & Community team, who run inspiring projects for everyone from primary school children to aspiring professional musicians (pages 10–11). On page 12 we meet three of the Orchestra's popular long-serving members who are all celebrating 40 years with the LPO, and in our regular 'Backstage' interview we get to know David Pyatt, who joined the Orchestra earlier this year as joint Principal Horn. By mid-September, our brand new website at lpo.org.uk should be up and running. This is something we've been working on for a long time, and we've taken on board many of your
Having spent the first half of the year exploring the turbulent early years of the 20th century, between now and December we delve into a post-war world.
keep up to date
Contents
Editor Rachel Williams Publisher London Philharmonic Orchestra Printer Graphic Impressions Cover photo Rock Bowl Canyon, USA © Thinkstockphoto Timothy Walker © Chris Blott
– Timothy walker – Chief Executive and Artistic Director
comments and suggestions. As well as refreshing the look of the website and making it much easier to navigate, we’ve introduced some new features to help you make the most of your visit – read more on page 9. Let us know how you find it! We'd also love to hear your thoughts on the format and content of Tune In, as well as anything (or anyone) you'd particularly like to read about in future editions. Email admin@lpo.org.uk, or come and chat to us at the LPO information desk in the Royal Festival Hall foyer on concert nights. Don't forget we also love to hear from our audiences and supporters through Facebook and Twitter (see links below). If you haven't already got a copy of our 2013/14 season brochure, do pick one up from the foyer leaflet racks next time you're at Royal Festival Hall, or give us a call on 020 7840 4200 to request one. In the meantime, turn to page 13 for full listings for the autumn both in the UK and abroad, or browse the full season at lpo.org.uk. Thank you for your support of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
the rest is noise 04 summer 2013 roundup 06 new & noteworthy 08 education: a week in the life 10 lpo players: 40 years and counting 12 autumn Concert listings 13 Backstage: david pyatt 16
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While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, we cannot accept liability for any statement or error contained herein. © 2013 London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The paper used for printing this magazine has been sourced from responsibly managed forests, certified in accordance with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). It is manufactured to the ISO 14001 international standard, minimising negative impacts on the environment and is manufactured from pulp that has been bleached without the use of chlorine compounds using oxygen (elemental chlorine free), which are considered harmful to the environment.
Full concert listings and booking information on page 13 – 03 –
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the rest is noise
A post-war world During the second half of 2013, 'The Rest Is Noise' continues its odyssey through the 20th century. As the world recovered from the trauma of war, composers sought increasingly divergent and adventurous paths. We explore some of this autumn's highlights ... works including the song-cycle Nocturne for tenor and chamber ensemble. Performed by British soloist Mark Padmore, the cycle comprises eight poems on themes of sleep and darkness by English poets including Shelley, Tennyson and Keats. The concert also features Britten's Suite on English Folk Tunes, and the Cello Symphony performed by soloist Truls Mørk. A third tribute to Britten follows on 12 October when Vladimir Jurowski conducts the monumental War Requiem, which was inspired by the damage to the city of Coventry after a wartime bombing raid. The London Philharmonic Choir will be joined by Trinity Boys Choir and soloists Tatiana Monogarova, Ian Bostridge and Matthias Goerne. While the War Requiem was Britten's elegy for a city and a Europe shattered by war, French composer Francis Poulenc drew on a more personal experience of loss in his 1950 Stabat mater. Although Poulenc had lived through the Nazi occupation of France and many of his works from the period reflect a preoccupation with war, his setting of the 13th-century poem of mourning was a response to the death of his artist friend Christian Bérard. On 23 October the LPO’s Principal Guest Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin makes a welcome return to Royal Festival Hall alongside soprano Kate Royal, pianist Alexandre Tharaud and the London Philharmonic Choir to perform the Stabat mater together with Poulenc’s Piano Concerto and Prokofiev's Seventh Symphony. French music with Nézet-Séguin continues to feature strongly during the autumn – on 26 October we hear the cello concerto Tout un monde lointain ('A whole distant world') by Henri Dutilleux, who passed away in May this year at the age of 97. This performance by French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras promises to be a fitting tribute to the composer. It is followed by Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 ('Babi Yar'), a powerful work for orchestra, bass
Yannick Nézet-Seguin, who returns to the LPO in October
soloist and men's choir based on five poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko chronicling the World War II massacre of Jews by the Nazis at Babi Yar, as well as other Soviet brutalities. Throughout his long career, Shostakovich never shied away from controversy, and many of his works contain subtle or overt political commentary. This symphony, composed in 1962, is one of his most outspoken and bold political statements, and caused dispute right up until the premiere and beyond, with party leader Khrushchev threatening to stop the performance, the conductor and one singer withdrawing, and the entire choir threatening to walk out. Yet it was eventually met with a standing ovation. As the ‘thaw’ of the 1960s progressed – especially after the departure of Khrushchev in 1964 – the Soviet regime began to relax its grip on the arts, and composers started to experiment with sounds and forms that diverged from the strictures of Socialist Realism. Alex Ross notes in The Rest Is Noise
Full concert listings and booking information on page 13 – 04 –
Yannick Nézet-Séguin © Marco Borggreve
A ‘
subject very close to my heart – the struggle of the individual against the masses. The more vicious the society, the more vicious the individual.' So Benjamin Britten described his opera Peter Grimes, which received its premiere in June 1945, just a month after the end of the Second World War in Europe. Set in a fictional Suffolk coastal town and describing one man's persecution by a braying mob of locals, the opera is both a vivid evocation of a particular place, and at the same time its themes are universal: the struggle of an individual against the masses, and the outsider in society. Britten is the subject of an entire chapter in Alex Ross's book The Rest Is Noise. Deservedly so, for such a major figure in 20th-century music who not only enjoyed success in Britain but was the first composer from our own shores to achieve widespread global recognition. Composing over 100 works across every genre, from opera to choral, orchestral to children's music, Britten was not only musically prolific but a progressive cultural figure too, speaking out on issues including pacifism, homosexuality and the role of artists in their communities. Britten would have been 100 years old this year, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Vladimir Jurowski join the global celebrations taking place throughout 2013 with three concerts of Britten's music to launch the Orchestra's 2013/14 season. On 28 September the season begins with a concert performance of Peter Grimes at Royal Festival Hall. The stellar cast includes tenor Stuart Skelton in the title role – a character he has made his own in widely acclaimed productions with English National Opera and Opera Australia. The Britten survey continues on 2 October with a concert of lesser-known
Evelyn Glennie © Mike Blake/Reuters
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that of the major figures of the period, Alfred Schnittke has rapidly become the most notorious, representing ‘not only a moment in the history of Russia, but also a moment in the history of music’. Although Schnittke's early works show the strong influence of Shostakovich, he gradually created his own new approach, sometimes called ‘polystylism’, which juxtaposed and combined music of the past and present – or in which, as Ross put it, ‘scraps of historical material are put under pressure from the present’. The mammoth First Symphony (1969–74), which is performed by the Orchestra on 30 October, is one of the most extreme and chaotic examples. Quotations from Tchaikovsky, Johann Strauss, Chopin, Haydn and others collide, and Schnittke even includes choreography for the musicians themselves, with players dramatically entering and leaving the hall throughout. Conducted by Michail Jurowski, father of Principal Conductor Vladimir, the concert also features Ligeti’s Lontano and Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto. Another extraordinary work features on 2 November, when Christoph Eschenbach conducts Messiaen’s spectacular 1974 Des canyons aux étoiles (‘From the canyons to the stars’), written as a commission to celebrate the bicentenary of America’s Declaration of Independence. In search of inspiration, Messiaen visited Utah and was overwhelmed by the majesty of the landscapes. The composer experienced synaesthesia throughout his life, whereby he perceived musical notes and chords as different colours, and this work is a dazzling portrayal of the spectacular hues of the rock formations: ‘Red-violet, a red-orange, rose, dark red carmine, scarlet red, all possible varieties of red, an extraordinary beauty’. The piece features piano and horn soloists (Tzimon Barto and our own Principal Horn John Ryan), and the orchestra is bolstered by a huge percussion section including a géophone (Messiaen’s own invention, designed to evoke the sound of shifting sands), wind machine and thunder sheet. The 12 movements span nearly 100 minutes, each inspired by specific places, birdsongs and stars. A special experience of a very different kind awaits on 6 November, with a programme of music by living composers Arvo Pärt and Sofia Gubaidulina. Although his native Estonia was an independent Baltic state at the time of Pärt's birth in 1935, the Soviet Union occupied
it in 1940, and the country remained under Soviet domination—except for the German wartime occupation—for the next 51 years. Pärt's early works used a range of neoclassical styles influenced by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, as well as serial experiments. These drew fury from the Soviet establishment and, when many of his early works were banned by party censors, Pärt entered the first of several periods of contemplative silence, during which he immersed himself in choral music from the 14th to 16th centuries. His later works, including the three heard in this concert: the Magnificat, Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten and Berlin Mass, each reflect the influence of plainsong and Gregorian chant, and assume a purity and stillness that have become Pärt's trademarks. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has long been embraced by the Hollywood and UK film industries, recording the soundtracks to countless blockbuster films. On 8 November, distinguished American conductor John Mauceri presents a concert of soundtracks from the golden age of post-war Hollywood, where the shift to ‘talkies’ and the arrival of hundreds of émigré musicians from the great orchestras of central Europe formed a perfect storm of creativity. Highlights include Nino Rota’s music from The Godfather, Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho, and Jerry Goldsmith’s Star Trek. This cinematic odyssey continues on 29 November with an evening of more recent highlights from the last three decades: John Williams’s Star Wars, Hans Zimmer’s Gladiator, Ennio Morricone’s The Mission and Vangelis’s Chariots of Fire among them. As the end of 2013 – and the end of our 20th-century journey – draws ever closer, on 7 December we celebrate some of the most prominent and exciting composers at work in the UK today. Julian Anderson is the Orchestra's Composer in Residence, a position he has held since 2010. The concert opens with his The Stations of the Sun, commissioned by the BBC Proms in 1998. This is followed by James MacMillan's 1992 percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, which remains the most frequently performed concerto composed in the 1990s. It is performed on 7 December by Evelyn Glennie, for whom it was composed. The evening also features works by MarkAnthony Turnage and Thomas Adès. The end of 2013 also marks the end of The Rest Is Noise, and the Orchestra celebrates on 14 December with El Niño – a ‘Nativity
Evelyn Glennie, who performs on 7 December
oratorio’ by contemporary American composer John Adams that was composed in the year 2000 and premiered on the brink of the new millennium. It re-enacts the Christmas story, celebrating the miracle of birth through texts from the King James Bible, the Wakefield Mystery Plays and poems by 20th-century Mexican poet Rosario Castellanos, as well as by the composer himself. An irresistable blend of Adams’s trademark minimalism, driving rhythms and riotous Latin American colour, it promises to be a spectacular end to the festival, during which Vladimir Jurowski and the Orchestra will be joined by soprano, mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists, a trio of countertenors, chorus and children’s chorus. The colourful exuberance of El Niño feels a long way from Richard Strauss’s 1901 opera Salome, which opens the first chapter of Alex Ross’s book and launched The Rest Is Noise festival back in January. Yet in a way we have come full circle. Both composers stretched the limits of what classical music could, and should, embrace. And, like almost all the composers we’ve encountered throughout the festival: from Prokofiev to Pärt; Vaughan Williams to John Williams, both Strauss and Adams composed music that spoke of its time, and which will no doubt continue to resonate for decades – and centuries – to come. Listen to Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Vladimir Jurowski introducing the 2013/14 season's concerts: lpo.org.uk/whats-on/season
Full concert listings and booking information on page 13 – 05 –
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lpo news
summer 2013 roundup summer festivals Following major tours to the USA, Germany and Austria in the spring, the Orchestra focussed its activities closer to home during the summer months. As well as its threemonth Glyndebourne stint, it appeared at the Newbury Spring Festival under conductor Nicholas Collon, and at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, where David Parry conducted Verdi's Requiem at St Andrew's Hall in Norwich. It also embarked on an exciting 'Live and Local' tour in the north of England: see article opposite. This year the Orchestra made two appearances in the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. On 27 August our Glyndebourne Prom celebrated Britten’s centenary with a semi-staged performance of Billy Budd under Sir Andrew Davis, with the cast of the 2013 Glyndebourne Festival Opera production. And on 30 August, Vladimir Jurowski conducted the Orchestra in The Witch of Atlas by British composer Sir Granville Bantock, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with soloist Anika Vavic, Sibelius’s Pohjola’s Daughter and Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra.
glyndebourne 2013 The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been Resident Symphony Orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera since 1964, spending each summer accompanying the opera performances in the glorious Sussex countryside. 2013 marked not only the Orchestra's 50th consecutive season at Glyndebourne, but also the conclusion of Vladimir Jurowski’s 13-year tenure as Music Director of the Festival, before he is succeeded by Robin Ticciati next summer. Between May and August the Orchestra gave performances of a new production of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos with Jurowski; a revival of the 2012 production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Jérémie Rhorer; Donizetti's Don Pasquale with Enrique Mazzola (a revival of the 2011 Tour production); and a revival of the 2010 production of Britten's Billy Budd with Sir Andrew Davis. Vladimir Jurowski directed a rousing farewell concert on 23 August – a special tribute by the Orchestra celebrating his history and achievements at Glyndebourne. The evening included Mozart's Symphony No. 32 and Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream with mezzosoprano Sarah Connolly, soprano Lucy Crowe, narrator Annabel Arden and the Glyndebourne Chorus, followed by a post-performance celebration dinner. Public booking for the 2014 Glyndebourne season will open in March 2014. Early access to tickets is available for corporate and individual supporters of the LPO. FIND OUT MORE glyndebourne.com lpo.org.uk/about/glyndebourne
‘Conductor Jérémie Rhorer is as fine a Mozartian as one could wish, and the LPO's playing is electric in its energy and detail.’
tim ashley, the guardian [le nozze di figaro]
‘Jurowski drew athletic playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The overture bubbled exuberantly, strings soaring upward in glee’
sky arts award for julian anderson We were delighted that our premiere performance of The Discovery of Heaven by LPO Composer in Residence Julian Anderson beat off stiff competition to win a 2013 South Bank Sky Arts Award. The Discovery of Heaven was commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with support from The Boltini Trust and the Britten-Pears Foundation, and the New York Philharmonic, and was premiered in March 2012 under Ryan Wigglesworth. The award-winning performance will be released on CD on the LPO Label in November, along with two other works by Julian Anderson: Fantasias and The Crazed Moon. sign up for updates lpo.org.uk/recordings
fiona maddocks, the observer [ariadne auf naxos]
Julian Anderson and his forthcoming LPO Label CD
lpo.org.uk – 06 –
Glyndebourne © Alastair Muir – Julian Anderson © Maurice Foxall
Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, May 2013
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2013 gala The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2013 Gala took place on 27 June at London’s stunning Guildhall. The black-tie event was held in the presence of HRH The Duke of Kent KG, who joined guests for an unforgettable evening of music and celebration. Guests were treated to a Champagne Taittinger reception, a formal dinner accompanied by Villa Maria wines, and a performance of Britten’s A Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski and narrated by Classic FM presenter John Suchet. We are hugely grateful to all our donors and guests for their generous contributions. We raised over £140,000 to support the work of the Orchestra including the second half of The Rest Is Noise, collaborations with worldclass artists, and performances of Britten’s music during his centenary year. The 2013 London Philharmonic Orchestra Gala at the Guildhall
Gala © Benjamin Ealovega – West Green House © Charles D P Miller
live and local around the uk In May and June this year, the London Philharmonic Orchestra packed up the truck and ventured off on its latest tour. But instead of making for the airport, this time the truck headed up the M1 for a series of four concerts in the north of England. Titled ‘Live and Local’, the concerts were made possible by LPO Principal Partner JTI, supporter of our Friday night concerts at Royal Festival Hall, enabling us to take the ethos of the ‘JTI Friday Series’ out of London and to reach many people who might not otherwise experience the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The concerts took place in Bradford, Blackburn, Liverpool and Manchester, and all tickets were just £15. The first two concerts, at Bradford's St George's Hall and Blackburn's King George's Hall, featured guitarist Miloš Karadaglić, 2012 Classic BRIT Breakthrough Artist of the Year, who performed two of the most popular and enduring pieces for guitar: Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasía para un gentilhombre. The concerts also featured Beethoven’s revolutionary Fifth Symphony and the Hebrides Overture by Mendelssohn. They were conducted by the Orchestra's former Principal Flute Jaime Martín, who is now making an impressive name for himself in the world of international conducting. Next on the Live and Local tour were visits to Manchester's Bridgewater Hall and Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall at the end of June. This pair of concerts featured celestial music accompanied by high-definition films showcasing NASA footage of the Earth and the solar system. The Orchestra's live soundtrack included Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra, Holst’s The Planets, and Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams. Mark Templeton, the Orchestra's Principal Trombone, played in all four concerts. He said: 'I had a great time on the Live and Local tour. It was fantastic to play in venues that we never normally visit, and to be made so welcome by the local audiences. As for the music, Beethoven's Fifth with Jaime was one of my musical highlights of the year. He conducts just like he plays the flute: with passion, flair and a cheeky smile!' JTI supports the London Philharmonic Orchestra by increasing access to orchestral music. The JTI Friday Series forms the foundation of its support, but our work with organisations such as Crisis and Leonard Cheshire Disability is also funded by JTI and its support allows us to embark on exciting projects, both in London and, as in the case of Live and Local, further afield too. lpo.org.uk – 07 –
opera at west green house The Orchestra's performance of Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera back in March was one of last season's most memorable highlights. As well as the Royal Festival Hall performance, the Orchestra and conductor Vladimir Jurowski also took the production to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. At the end of July, Ilyich Rivas – one of the Orchestra's Assistant Conductors, who will make his debut with the LPO in March 2014 – led two further performances by members of the 2012/13 Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme at West Green House in Hampshire. This beautiful manor house boasts some of England’s finest walled gardens, and earlier this year opened a stylish new purposebuilt opera theatre on its stunning lawn. find out more lpo.org.uk/education/futurefirsts
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lpo news
new & noteworthy autumn tours
latest lpo label releases Summer 2013 saw the much-anticipated release of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 with Vladimir Jurowski (LPO-0070). Recorded live in concert at Royal Festival Hall in December 2010, the performance includes the Symphony's rarely heard original second movement, 'Blumine'. Reviewing the disc in BBC Music Magazine, David Nice wrote: ‘Everything about the dewy dawn of this Mahler One is perfect: the well-articulated and perfectly placed distant trumpet fanfares, spirited false cuckoo-calls … The point and spirit of the finale are dazzling, the tempo changes masterly throughout.’ Other recent releases include Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 under distinguished 90-year-old conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski in a live concert recording from October 2012, which was chosen by Classic FM as their 'Connoisseur's Choice' (LPO-0071). This was followed by Vaughan Williams's Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 under Bernard Haitink, recorded in 1994 and 1984 respectively (LPO-0072). Looking ahead, in October 2013 we release Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with soloists Sarah Connolly and Toby Spence, recorded live at Royal Festival Hall in February 2011 (LPO-0073), and in November a disc by the Orchestra's Composer in Residence Julian Anderson, including the award-winning recording of his The Discovery of Heaven (LPO-0074): read more on page 6. browse all recordings and buy online lpo.org.uk/recordings
animate orchestra turn orchestral critics
more information animateorchestra.org.uk artsaward.org.uk
'I loved how all the bows in the string section were moving in the same direction, and the amount of passion and effort the singers were putting in to achieve those extremely high and low notes. The conductor was almost dancing, and the trumpet player was blowing his trumpet so hard he was as red as a tomato!'
Ella
more information lpo.org.uk/about/on-tour
'I really like the way Tippett put everything together to create a story. Both the orchestra and choir really moved as one and you could see that they were actually enjoying themselves.' Tatum 'The venue was not how I expected it to look on the inside. I noticed the ceiling and the chairs to the side of the hall were all curved in a particular way. I asked my tutor why, and she told me that they were designed this way to project all the sound from the stage towards the audience. I thought this was a clever idea.'
Callum
Vienna's Musikverein, where the LPO performs in October
lpo.org.uk – 08 –
Musikverein © H Riemer
On 1 May 2013 the Orchestra performed Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 4 and Tippett's A Child of Our Time at Royal Festival Hall to some of its toughest critics yet – a group of young people from Animate Orchestra who are working towards their Bronze and Silver Arts Awards. They grilled some of the LPO members in a pre-concert backstage interview before taking their seats to watch the performance. Afterwards, the group wrote reviews of the experience – some of their highlights are opposite. Animate Orchestra is a partnership between the LPO, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, and Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark music services and hubs. It offers musicians aged 9–14 the opportunity to work with specialist tutors and world-class musicians, creating their own music and performing across South London.
Before the start of the Royal Festival Hall season at the end of September, the Orchestra will fit in a trip to Romania with conductor Vladimir Jurowski, pianist Anika Vavic and violinist Leonidas Kavakos. They will give two concerts at the capital's 4000-capacity Palace Hall as part of the Bucharest Festival, including a performance of the Third Symphony by the country's most famous composer, George Enescu. This is followed in early October by a visit to Austria, also with Jurowski. The tour begins with a concert at the Brucknerhaus in Linz featuring the Symphony No. 1 by Bruckner, after whom the venue was named. Bruckner was born in Linz, and this work was composed and premiered there. The tour continues with three concerts at Vienna's stunning Musikverein including two performances of Britten's War Requiem ahead of the Royal Festival Hall performance on 12 October. Later in the autumn, the Orchestra travels to Germany and Slovenia, teaming up with Colombian conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada for the first time. He will conduct six concerts featuring pianist Rudolf Buchbinder in Frankfurt, Rosenheim, Ljubljana, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Berlin. There's a chance to catch Andrés Orozco-Estrada in action closer to home on 30 November at Brighton Dome and 29 January at London's Royal Festival Hall. The Orchestra will round off 2013 with a whistlestop European tour with Vladimir Jurowski the week before Christmas, featuring five concerts in five days in Essen, Brussels , Luxembourg, Stuttgart and Paris. For full details of all our international concerts, turn to page 17.
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farewell angela!
player news
staff changes
At the end of the 2012/13 season we bid a fond but sad farewell to our second oboist Angela Tennick, who has left to enjoy semiretirement after 30 years with the LPO. The job of a second oboe is not an easy one and is sometimes a thankless task, wading through the low register of the instrument amidst the whispering woodwind section. It often goes unnoticed when done well, and is perhaps made more difficult by the two players sitting either side always seeming to get the accolades. But it's often said that you are only as good as your number two, and that is never truer than here: Angela's shoes will be very hard to fill. She has an incredible natural talent, and has been a vital part of our woodwind section. Over the last 30 years, Angela has experienced punishing tours, crazy schedules, a lot of planes and coaches, and possibly 100 performances of Figaro – to have kept her sanity and her health (almost) intact is no mean feat! She has had the privilege of working with most of the world's finest conductors, and features on recordings too numerous to mention. She has played every position within the oboe section with aplomb, and has appeared on the concert stage, in the pit, in the recording studio, and even on the opera stage dressed as a man(!), but now feels it's time at last to hang up the 'long black' – and, perhaps wisely, the fake moustache. Angela's homemade scones are legendary and we hope we can persuade her back from time to time when her young students allow. She is now continuing to nurture the next generation of oboists in Sussex. Her love of music is clearly evident to all those around her, and her young students don't know how lucky they are to have such a teacher to start them off into this magical musical world. Angela has been part of my and Ian [Hardwick]'s professional life for over 20 years and we will miss her. However, this won't be goodbye, just 'au revoir'. Sue Bohling, In the Don Giovanni stage band at Glyndebourne Principal Cor Anglais
As well as Angela, we also said farewell to Co-Principal Cello Susanne Beer, who left the Orchestra in June after 18 years, and fellow cellist Jonathan Ayling, who left after nine years. We were delighted to welcome Cyrille Mercier as Co-Principal Viola from the start of the 2013/14 season. Cyrille joins us from the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra. Other new faces are Ji-Hyun Lee (first violin), Elizabeth Wiklander (cello) and David Lale (cello). David Pyatt was appointed Principal Horn in January 2013: read his Backstage interview on page 16.
Summer 2013 saw the end of an era as we said goodbye to three long-serving members of the Orchestra's concert management team. Transport Manager Ken Graham retired at the end of the 2012/13 season after clocking up a huge 34 years driving the LPO truck. He hands over the keys to our new Transport Manager, Brian Hart.
new website launch Ken Graham (left) and Brian Hart with the LPO truck
In mid-September we’re launching a brand new LPO website, designed to work alongside our new box office software system. As well as refreshing the look of the website and making it much more user-friendly and easier to navigate, we’ve introduced some new features to help you make the most of your visit: • Choose your own seats when booking online • Let your friends know what you’ve booked via Facebook and Twitter • Download free programme notes in advance • Listen to clips of the music before you book • Get to know the artists and the music through videos and podcasts • Browse and shop with your smartphone or tablet on our mobile site We hope you enjoy exploring the new site. If you have any feedback or suggestions, we'd love to hear from you: email admin@lpo.org.uk visit the new site (from mid-September) lpo.org.uk
We said farewell to Ruth Sansom, Artistic Administrator, who retired at the end of August after 16 years with the Orchestra. We wish Ruth all the best for an enjoyable and well-deserved retirement. We also waved goodbye to Stage Manager Michael Pattison, who moved 'Down Under' to become the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's Production and Transport Manager. Christopher Alderton, previously Michael's deputy, has taken up the position of LPO Stage Manager. Elsewhere in the office team, we said goodbye to Caz Vale, Laura Luckhurst and Barbara Palczynski. We welcomed Development Assistant Rebecca Fogg, Glyndebourne & UK Engagements Manager Tamzin Aitken, Education & Community Project Manager Lucy Duffy, and Marketing Intern Lily Oram. find a staff contact lpo.org.uk/about/staff
jobs at the lpo lpo.org.uk/about/jobs
nicholas busch Shortly before we went to print, we were saddened to learn of the death of Nicholas Busch on 24 July 2013. Nick was the Orchestra's Principal Horn from 1973–2006 and served on the LPO Board for many years, including several as Chairman and Deputy Chairman. A full tribute will follow in the first concert programme of the season on 28 September 2013.
Turn to page 12 to meet three more players celebrating a milestone with the Orchestra ... – 09 –
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education & community
a week in the life Our Education & Community team runs an astonishing range of projects with schools, young people and families, enriching thousands of lives through music. We spent a busy week in June 2013 behind the scenes with Patrick, Alex and Caz ...
The LPO's Education & Community team are Patrick Bailey, Education & Community Director; Alex Clarke, Education Manager; and Caz Vale, Community & Young Talent Manager (until August 2013).
Sunday 9 June The culmination of our Leverhulme Young Composers programme is the annual 'Debut Sounds' concert, held at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall each June. Four young up-and-coming composers have spent the past year under the mentorship of the LPO’s Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson, working on new pieces for chamber orchestra. Today, the finished pieces from this year’s composers – Hannah Kendall, Daniel Kidane, Stephen Willey and Peter Yarde Martin – are being rehearsed in Maida Vale ahead of tomorrow’s concert, when they will be premiered by a chamber orchestra of LPO players and Foyle Future Firsts.
2012/13 Leverhulme Young Composers: Stephen Willey, Peter Yarde Martin, Hannah Kendall and Daniel Kidane
It's 9am, and a small team of LPO players are at Sandhurst Junior School in Lewisham, about to perform to over 300 children in assembly. Workshop leader Rachael Perrin and LPO members Paul Richards (bass clarinet) and Laura Vallejo (viola) have been working with a Year 5 class, helping them prepare for the Key Stage 2 BrightSparks schools concert at Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday. As the concert features music based on Roald Dahl’s Dirty Beasts poems, the class have been busy creating their own animal-themed compositions. Today is their last workshop and the LPO players are performing to the upper school in assembly, and talking to the children about the Orchestra, their instruments, and the forthcoming concert. Meanwhile, the Foyle Future Firsts are rehearsing for their chamber concert at Wigmore Hall, which will take place on Thursday. The Foyle Future Firsts are a group of 16 young instrumentalists taking part in a year-long scheme designed to help bridge the gap between conservatoire and a professional career, and who are offered opportunities to perform with the Orchestra and participate in other LPO projects. Later we hop over to Lambeth, where the final Sound Journeys session at Elm Court School is taking place. Sound Journeys is a year-long project that sees LPO musicians visiting two special schools each year, working with children with varying degrees of physical disabilities, learning difficulties, autism and other special educational needs. At Elm Court we have been working with a Year 8 group
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Meanwhile at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, the four Leverhulme Young Composers are gearing up for the final rehearsal of their pieces ahead of the evening's Debut Sounds concert. The concert is a resounding success, and a formal reception after the event allows the programme funders to meet the players involved, and for everyone to celebrate their achievements. We are pleased to catch up with members of The Band and Animate Orchestra – two of the LPO's out-of-school creative learning ensembles – who attended the concert, and hear their thoughts on what was some very challenging contemporary music for young listeners.
Tuesday 11 June Today the London Philharmonic Orchestra is rehearsing all day at Henry Wood Hall in Borough, in preparation for Wednesday's Key Stage 2 Deutsche Bank BrightSparks schools concerts. Composer and conductor Ben Wallfisch has been commissioned by the Orchestra to write four new pieces based on Roald Dahl’s Dirty Beasts collection of poems. Andrew Wincott (better known as Adam in The Archers) is also here to rehearse his expert
Young Composers © Benjamin Ealovega
Monday 10 June
with social and behavioural difficulties. The students have been recording their own compositions, taking inspiration from reggae, hip-hop, pop, jazz and classical music. This last session is followed by a twilight Continuing Professional Development session for teachers at the school, where workshop leader Rex Horan shares his resources and good practice, along with reflections and feedback on his experience in the school.
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narration of the poems. There is projected artwork too – Quentin Blake's illustrations from the book, along with brand new drawings by children from Kilmorie, Montbelle, Heathbrook and Alfred Salter primary schools, representing each of the Orchestra's four home boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, Lambeth and Southwark.
Friday 14 June
BrightSparks schools' concert at Royal Festival Hall
School artwork inspired by Roald Dahl's 'Dirty Beasts'
Later, at Southbank Centre, a training session is underway for our 'xl club' project, a collaboration with The Prince’s Trust, supported by Boeing, that will take place in two schools at the end of the summer term. Led by workshop leader Fraser Trainer and based on Stravinsky's The Soldier’s Tale, the project targets students with no prior experience of music who are at risk of severe underachievement or exclusion from school. We work with the students to create their own music based on a specific piece. This incorporates listening, communication and performance skills, boosting the students' confidence and creating a sense of ownership and achievement.
BrightSparks © Benjamin Ealovega
Wednesday 12 June Today's the big day: our two Key Stage 2 Deutsche Bank BrightSparks concerts at Royal Festival Hall. Over 4500 children aged 7–11 fill the hall, 60% of whom are experiencing a live orchestra for the very first time. The tremendous roar from the audience as the Orchestra appears on stage is deafening, illustrating the excitement in the hall. The class from Sandhurst Junior School spot the familiar faces of Paul and Laura on stage, and wave enthusiastically from the balcony.
Later, the first 'xl club' workshop takes place at Fulham Cross Girls’ School, where the team introduces The Soldier’s Tale to the students. They spend time exploring and playing the orchestral percussion instruments that Sarah Mason (LPO percussionist) has brought along, and begin putting together ideas for their own piece. Late afternoon sees some Animate Orchestra students arrive at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance for their Arts Award session. Animate Orchestra is a partnership project between LPO, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, and four London boroughs, in which young people of any ability can create their own music in an ‘orchestra for the 21st century’. Twelve 'Peer Mentors' from the project are undertaking their Trinity College Arts Award qualification, which involves exploring the arts as a listener, performer and leader. During this session they learn about online research methods in order to investigate their personal Arts Heroes and what they admire in a musician.
Thursday 13 June The day has arrived for the Foyle Future Firsts’ chamber concert at Wigmore Hall, which also features LPO members Yang Zhang (violin), Cyrille Mercier (viola), Kristina Blaumane (cello) and Nicholas Carpenter (clarinet). They rehearse on stage in the afternoon, followed by the concert at 7.30pm. The concert is incredibly popular and, despite the pressure of an intimate chamber setting, their performances are excellent. lpo.org.uk – 11 –
By Friday things have started to calm down a little! The afternoon sees the second workshop of the Animate Music Technology Project at Prendergast Vale College in Lewisham. This project is led by Gawain Hewitt, Animate Orchestra’s Music Technologist, with LPO musicians Eddy Hackett (percussion) and Pavlos Carvalho (cello), as well as tutors from Lewisham Music Service. The group explore the merits of live sound versus computer recordings – an education for the LPO players as well as the young people involved! So, for the Education & Community Team, this week brought us four concerts, five workshops, one performance in a school, eight world premieres, and events in three major London concert venues. We worked with mainstream primary and secondary school children, hard-to-reach teenagers, Arts Award participants and teachers themselves, as well as numerous young players and composers. I wonder what next week will bring ...! find out more lpo.org.uk/education
All the Orchestra’s Education & Community projects are made possible through the generous support of trusts and foundations. In 2012/13 our funders included: BBC Performing Arts Fund, Sir William Boreman's Foundation, The Boshier-Hinton Foundation, The Candide Trust, The Coutts Charitable Trust, The Ernest Cook Trust, The Equitable Charitable Trust, Fidelio Charitable Trust, The Foyle Foundation, The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust, The Leverhulme Trust, Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust, Musicians Benevolent Fund, Newcomen Collett Foundation, The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust, The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation, John Thaw Foundation, The Tillett Trust, Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Garfield Weston Foundation
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lpo people
40 years and counting ... Three of the Orchestra's longest-serving members celebrate a notable milestone this year. LPO President Stewart McIlwham tells us more. a member of the Scottish National Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He served as a player representative on the Orchestra's Board of Directors during the 1980s, and was Chairman of the Orchestra from 1983–85. One of the best things about his time with the LPO, he says, has been watching and encouraging the younger players emerging through the ranks of the Orchestra, and the fascination of seeing the percussion section constantly evolve over the last three decades. I asked Keith about his most memorable performances with the Orchestra: 'In 1994 we gave the first British performance of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at Glyndebourne with Simon Rattle. That sort of music, when it’s done well, can be electrifying and at From left: Bob Hill, Santiago Carvalho and Keith Millar take a break between rehearsals at Henry Wood Hall Glyndebourne, with Rattle and a cast that included Willard White as Porgy, it was In this issue of Tune In we pay a special seen our instruments for over a week while breathtaking. It created an atmosphere that tribute to three of the Orchestra's they were shipped over from the UK, and we was unrepeatable.’ Other highlights for Keith longest-serving players: Principal Clarinet found it was too hot to risk unpacking them. include performances of Mahler with Klaus Robert (Bob) Hill, cellist Santiago (Santi) We had to postpone our outdoor concert until Tennstedt in the 1980s. 'I joined in the middle Carvalho, and percussionist Keith Millar, the sun had gone down! It was a tour I will of what was an amazing period for the all of whom have been members of the never forget.' Orchestra. The standard was incredibly high Orchestra for over 40 years. More accustomed to hot climes is cellist and the roster of conductors was worldBob Hill was born in Enfield and studied the Santiago Carvalho, who was born in class: Haitink, Solti, Barenboim, clarinet with John Davies at the Royal São João del-Rei in Brazil. He Rostropovich ... That was one of Academy of Music in London. Before joining studied at the Royal Academy of the things that attracted me. We salute Bob, Santi the LPO as Principal Clarinet in 1972, he was Music and took private lessons And now we find ourselves in and Keith for the Co-Principal in the Royal Philharmonic in Paris. On returning to the another golden age, with extraordinary Orchestra. For him, one of the highlights of his UK in 1969, he joined the Vladimir taking the Orchestra contribution they have LPO career has been travelling all over the Orchestra of the Royal Opera to new heights. It's an made to the history of world on tour with the Orchestra. 'In my first House before becoming a incredibly exciting time, and the LPO. season with the LPO, in 1973, we were the first member of the London still marvellous to be a part of.' Stewart McIlwham Western orchestra to visit China, which was Philharmonic Orchestra in July On behalf of all their friends an incredible experience. And two years later 1972. Santi holds the prestigious and colleagues in the Orchestra, we toured to Russia, which was still part of the and rarely awarded Brazilian we would like to take this Soviet Union and a very different experience honour of Chevalier of the Order of Rio opportunity to salute Bob, Santi and Keith in those days – there were uniformed guards Branco for his services to music – an accolade for the extraordinary contribution they have everywhere, and no Irish bars or McDonalds he shares with legendary Brazilian footballers made to the history of the LPO – a history they back then!' Another highlight for Bob was the Pelé and Cafu, amongst others! have been part of for over half the Orchestra's tour to Australia in 1985, sponsored by wine Edinburgh-born Keith Millar joined the 80-year existence. producer Leewin Estate. 'Perth was in the grip London Philharmonic Orchestra as Principal Stewart McIlwham of a heatwave. When we arrived, we hadn't Percussionist in 1973, having previously been President, London Philharmonic Orchestra lpo.org.uk – 12 –
Photo © Benjamin Ealovega
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london philharmonic orchestra
concert listings southbank centre Unless otherwise stated, standard prices £9–£39 Premium seats £65 London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 Mon–Fri 10am–5pm lpo.org.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone Southbank Centre Ticket Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9am–8pm southbankcentre.co.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone No transaction fee for bookings made in person
Wednesday 2 October 2013 | 7.30pm Britten Centenary Britten Prelude and Dances from The Prince of the Pagodas Britten Suite on English Folk Tunes (A time there was) Britten Nocturne Britten Cello Symphony Vladimir Jurowski conductor Mark Padmore tenor Truls Mørk cello
Britten Peter Grimes Vladimir Jurowski conductor Stuart Skelton Peter Grimes Pamela Armstrong Ellen Orford Alan Opie Captain Balstrode Pamela Helen Stephen Auntie Malin Christensson/Claire Ormshaw Her ‘Nieces’ Michael Colvin Bob Boles Brindley Sherratt Swallow Jean Rigby Mrs Sedley Mark Stone Ned Keene Brian Galliford Reverend Horace Adams Jonathan Veira Hobson London Voices Daniel Slater director Supported by Patrons of the Orchestra's Peter Grimes Syndicate * Please note start time
Free pre-concert performances 2.00–3.00pm and 4.00–5.00pm The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall The LPO and Southbank Centre present Britten's moving setting of the Chester Miracle play Noye's Fludde, conducted by Benjamin Ellin. Free pre-concert performance | 5.30–6.15pm Royal Festival Hall Musicians from the Royal College of Music perform Britten's String Quartet No. 3 and Phantasy.
Dutilleux Tout un monde lointain Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Jean-Guihen Queyras cello Mikhail Petrenko bass Gentlemen of the London Philharmonic Choir Wednesday 30 October 2013 | 7.30pm
Supported by the Britten-Pears Foundation
Ligeti Lontano Lutosławski Cello Concerto* Schnittke Symphony No. 1
Saturday 12 October 2013 | 7.30pm Britten Centenary
Michail Jurowski conductor Johannes Moser cello
Britten War Requiem
* Generously supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute
JTI Friday Series is supported by
Saturday 28 September 2013 | 7.00pm* Britten Centenary
Saturday 26 October 2013 | 7.30pm
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Tatiana Monogarova soprano Ian Bostridge tenor Matthias Goerne baritone Neville Creed conductor (chamber orchestra) London Philharmonic Choir Trinity Boys Choir Free pre-concert performances 2.00–3.00pm and 4.00–5.00pm The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall The LPO and Southbank Centre present Britten's moving setting of the Chester Miracle play Noye's Fludde, conducted by Benjamin Ellin. Free pre-concert performance | 6.00–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Musicians from the Royal College of Music perform Britten's Les illuminations and Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge.
Wednesday 23 October 2013 | 7.30pm Poulenc Piano Concerto Prokofiev Symphony No. 7 Poulenc Stabat mater Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Alexandre Tharaud piano Kate Royal soprano London Philharmonic Choir Free pre-concert event | 6.15–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Dr Caroline Potter from Kingston University looks at the life and works of Francis Poulenc.
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as part of the Polska Music Grant programme
Free pre-concert event | 6.00–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Professor Alexander Ivashkin plays cello works by Lutosławski and Schnittke, and uses unpublished correspondence between them to explore their personal relations. Saturday 2 November 2013 | 7.30pm Messiaen Des canyons aux étoiles Christoph Eschenbach conductor Tzimon Barto piano John Ryan horn Free pre-concert event | 6.00–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Exploring the rich sound world of Olivier Messiaen, this talk delves into his musical language, where birdsong, faith and colour collide to produce one of the most original musical voices in the 20th century. A new piano miniature inspired by Des canyons aux étoiles will also be performed. This talk forms part of the Royal Philharmonic Society Bicentenary Celebrations, 1813–2013. Sunday 3 November 2013 | 12.00pm FUNharmonics Family Concert The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Programme to include Britten The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Timothy Redmond conductor Tickets £10–£18 adults, £5–£9 children
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london philharmonic orchestra
concert listings contd. Wednesday 6 November 2013 | 7.30pm Sofia Gubaidulina Offertorium Arvo Pärt Magnificat Arvo Pärt Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten Arvo Pärt Berlin Mass Tõnu Kaljuste conductor Sergej Krylov violin London Philharmonic Choir Supported by the Estonian Embassy in London and the Ambache Charitable Trust
Free pre-concert performance | 6.00–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall LPO Foyle Future Firsts, conducted by Ben Gernon, present a programme to include Galina Ustvolskaya’s final work – Symphony No. 5 (Amen), a haunting setting of The Lord’s Prayer.
Friday 8 November 2013 | 7.30pm The Genius of Film Music 1960–1980 North Cleopatra Symphony* Rota The Godfather – A symphonic portrait* Waxman The Ride of the Cossacks Herrmann Psycho – A narrative for string orchestra* Kaper Mutiny on the Bounty* Goldsmith Star Trek – The New Enterprise* John Mauceri conductor *Arranged by John Mauceri
Friday 29 November 2013 | 7.30pm The Genius of Film Music 1980–2000 Excerpts from John Williams Star Wars Vangelis Chariots of Fire Hamlisch Sophie’s Choice Ennio Morricone The Mission Luis Enríquez Bacalov Il Postino Angelo Badalamenti Twin Peaks E Bernstein The Age of Innocence Danny Elfman The Nightmare Before Christmas John Powell/Harry Gregson-Williams Chicken Run Nicola Piovani La Vita è bella Goldsmith Mulan Don Davis The Matrix Hans Zimmer Gladiator Dirk Brossé conductor Saturday 7 December 2013 | 7.30pm Julian Anderson The Stations of the Sun James MacMillan Veni, Veni, Emmanuel Mark-Anthony Turnage Evening Songs Thomas Adès Asyla Vladimir Jurowski conductor Evelyn Glennie percussion Free pre-concert performance | 6.00–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall The LPO Foyle Future Firsts, under conductor Paul Hoskins, perform British music from the 1990s including Martin Butler’s Jazz Machines, described as ‘jazz that machines might play, on the sly, when we’re not listening’.
Krzysztof Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 1 Górecki Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)
Saturday 14 December 2013 | 7.30pm
Michał Dworzynski conductor Barnabas Kelemen violin Allison Bell soprano
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Kate Royal soprano Kelley O’Connor mezzo-soprano Matthew Rose bass Daniel Bubeck countertenor Brian Cummings countertenor Steven Rickards countertenor London Philharmonic Choir The Coloma St Cecilia Singers Trinity Boys Choir Mark Grey sound designer
Free pre-concert event | 6.15pm–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Michał Dworzynski discusses the evening’s programme.
Thursday 26 September 2013 | 7.00pm Symphony Hall, Birmingham Box Office: 0121 345 0600 www.thsh.co.uk Britten Peter Grimes Vladimir Jurowski conductor Stuart Skelton Peter Grimes Pamela Armstrong Ellen Orford Alan Opie Captain Balstrode Pamela Helen Stephen Auntie Malin Christensson/Claire Ormshaw Her 'Nieces' Michael Colvin Bob Boles Brindley Sherratt Swallow Jean Rigby Mrs Sedley Mark Stone Ned Keene Brian Galliford Reverend Adams Jonathan Veira Hobson London Voices Daniel Slater director Supported by Patrons of the Orchestra's Peter Grimes Syndicate
Sunday 13 October 2013 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Box Office: 01323 412000 www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk Bizet Excerpts from Carmen Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 Giancarlo Guerrero conductor Rustem Hayroudinoff piano
Wednesday 27 November 2013 | 7.30pm
This concert is generously supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music Grant programme.
around the uk
John Adams El Niño (Nativity Oratorio)
Free pre-concert performance | 5.00–5.45pm The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s creative ensemble for 15–19 year-olds, The Band, performs its latest set – new music inspired by John Adams’s El Niño and its source texts.
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Saturday 9 November 2013 | 7.30pm Brighton Dome Box Office: 01273 709709 www.brightondome.org Dvořák Cello Concerto Rossini Overture, William Tell Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 (Italian) Daniele Rustioni conductor Leonard Elschenbroich cello Sunday 10 November 2013 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Box Office: 01323 412000 www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk Programme as 9 November, Brighton
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Saturday 30 November 2013 | 7.30pm Brighton Dome Box Office: 01273 709709 www.brightondome.org Kodály Dances of Galánta Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 Dvořák Symphony No. 7 Andrés Orozco-Estrada conductor Michael Roll piano Monday 9 December 2013 | 7.30pm Royal Albert Hall, London Box Office: 0845 401 5045 www.royalalberthall.com Christmas Concert Anthony Inglis conductor Katherine Jenkins mezzo-soprano Philharmonia Chorus The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines
INTERNATIONAL CONCERTS Friday 13 September 2013 | 7.30pm Sala Mare a Palatului, Bucharest, Romania www.salapalatului.ro Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Festival Overture Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 Bruckner Symphony No. 1 (1877 Linz edition) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Anika Vavic piano Saturday 14 September 2013 | 8.00pm Sala Mare a Palatului, Bucharest, Romania www.salapalatului.ro Brahms Violin Concerto Enescu Symphony No. 3 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Leonidas Kavakos violin Academic Choir of the Romanian National Radio Society
Saturday 5 October 2013 | 7.30pm Musikverein, Vienna www.musikverein.at Programme as 4 October, Linz Monday 7 October 2013 | 7.30pm Musikverein, Vienna www.musikverein.at
Tuesday 19 November 2013 | 8.00pm Tonhalle, Düsseldorf, Germany www.tonhalle.de Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn Grieg Piano Concerto Dvořák Symphony No. 7 Andrés Orozco-Estrada conductor Rudolf Buchbinder piano
Britten War Requiem Vladimir Jurowski conductor Tatiana Monogorava soprano Ian Bostridge tenor Matthias Goerne baritone Society of Music Friends in Vienna Vienna Boys Choir
Wednesday 20 November 2013 | 8.00pm Philharmonie, Cologne koelner-philharmonie.de
Tuesday 8 October 2013 | 7.30pm Musikverein, Vienna www.musikverein.at Programme as 7 October
Andrés Orozco-Estrada conductor Rudolf Buchbinder piano
Saturday 16 November 2013 | 8.00pm Alte Oper, Frankfurt www.alteoper.de
Kodály Dances of Galánta Grieg Piano Concerto Dvořák Symphony No. 7
Thursday 21 November 2013 | 8.00pm Philharmonie, Berlin www.berliner-philharmoniker.de Programme as 20 November, Cologne
Kodály Dances of Galánta Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 Dvořák Symphony No. 7
Monday 16 December 2013 | 8.00pm Philharmonie, Essen, Germany www.philharmonie-essen.de
Andrés Orozco-Estrada conductor Rudolf Buchbinder piano
Rimsky-Korsakov Christmas Eve Suite Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2 Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances
Sunday 17 November 2013 | 8.00pm Kultur & Kongress Zentrum, Rosenheim, Germany www.kuko.de Kodály Dances of Galánta Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn Dvořák Symphony No. 7
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin Tuesday 17 December 2013 | 8.00pm Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels www.bozar.be Programme as 16 December, Essen
Andrés Orozco-Estrada conductor Monday 18 November 2013 | 8.00pm Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia www.cd-cc.si Programme as 16 November, Frankfurt
Wednesday 18 December 2013 | 8.00pm Philharmonie, Luxembourg www.philharmonie.lu Programme as 16 December, Essen Thursday 19 December 2013 | 8.00pm Liederhalle, Stuttgart, Germany www.liederhalle-stuttgart.de Programme as 16 December, Essen
Friday 4 October 2013 | 7.30pm Brucknerhaus, Linz, Austria www.brucknerhaus.at Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Festival Overture Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2 Bruckner Symphony No. 1 (1877 Linz edition)
Friday 20 December 2013 | 8.00pm Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris www.theatrechampselysees.fr Programme as 16 December, Essen
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin
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LPO people
backstage
Did you always want to be a professional musician? When did you decide that it was the career for you? I'd say I 'clicked' with the horn around the age of 12. I had a slightly unusual career path: as winner of the 1988 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition (at the age of 14) I got a lot of experience performing solos and concertos all over the world. I had lessons with Frank Lloyd (Professor of Horn at the Guildhall) from the age of 12, but when it came to deciding whether to go to university or music college, I chose university. After leaving Cambridge after only four terms I went straight to work at Scottish Opera for two years, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for another two years, then the London Symphony Orchestra for the next 14. I'd always wanted to be an orchestral player, rather than a soloist, but am very glad to have the chance to play so much of the solo repertoire with some really fantastic orchestras and conductors. Which LPO concerts next season are you most looking forward to? I'm really looking forward to Britten's Peter Grimes on 28 September – this is one of the first operas I played when I joined Scottish
What are the particular challenges of orchestral horn playing? Orchestral playing is a challenge in many ways. Stamina and endurance are different to those of a soloist: I equate solo playing with a sprint and orchestral playing with a marathon – particularly Wagner! There is also the sense of having so many elements with which we have to blend: we're neither wind nor brass, but need to play with both groups. So we have to be able to play as quietly as the clarinets, and as loudly as the trombones.
– david pyatt – David joined the Orchestra as joint Principal Horn in January 2013. We caught up with him to find out about life as an orchestral musician and what he gets up to offstage ... Opera, and contains some of the most powerful and moving music ever written. I'm also very much looking forward to hearing my colleague and fellow Principal, John Ryan, perform as soloist in Messiaen's Des canyons aux étoiles on 2 November. Further ahead, Mahler's Symphony No. 6 with Vladimir Jurowski on 15 January will be another highlight for the horn section, as will the two 'Genius of Film Music' concerts on 8 and 29 November. Who are your favourite composers? My favourite composers to play are Strauss, Mahler and Bruckner. Call me a traditionalist, but I suspect this is the answer you would receive from most horn players! To listen for relaxation I tend more towards the classical string repertoire of Bach, Dvořák and Brahms. Other than that I listen to (fairly mainstream) jazz, and I do enjoy the odd film soundtrack ...
Newsletter published by the London Philharmonic Orchestra 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP Tel: 020 7840 4200 Fax: 020 7840 4201 Box Office: 020 7840 4242 lpo.org.uk
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What do you do for fun when you’re not working? I find cooking a great way to relax – I especially enjoy cooking a big roast dinner on Sunday for my family, including my two children, Iris and Gordon, to devour! Family meals are really important to me: we have such weird lives as musicians that any kind of routine becomes extremely important. I also enjoy gardening, and walking with our dog, Ruby. I can be in a terrible mood, but as soon as I let her off her leash she makes me smile. No-one ever said Irish Setters were intelligent, but they do know how to have fun! If you weren’t a musician, what career might you have liked to do instead? That's tricky! I think I'd have liked to work outdoors, but I'm not sure I have the patience for gardening or vegetable growing on a big scale. Or I might have ended up a history teacher, which was my subject during my brief sojourn at university.There's something about studying history that I find enormously satisfying. Seeing how events fit together and trying to fathom the reasons and motivations behind people's actions is all-engrossing. I feel it's absolutely essential to understanding the world. Since joining the LPO in January, I've found The Rest Is Noise series a fascinating journey – I'm enjoying plugging quite a few gaps in my knowledge! Perhaps if I'd stayed at Cambridge a little longer ... David's chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is generously supported by Simon Robey.
Photo © Nina Large
When did you start playing the horn? What attracted you to the instrument? I started at the age of nine, and the horn was chosen for me owing to the fact that my father had played it in his youth and we still had his old instrument in the loft. I grew up with the sound of classical music – particularly horn music – but neither of my parents were musicians. When we were offered free lessons at school, it made sense to start on the horn. I grew up in Watford, and went to Watford Grammar School. It 's often been remarked on that Watford Grammar has an unusually high quota of horn players on its old boys' books: Michael Purton (Hallé Principal), Adrian Leaper (Philharmonia and now conductor), Michael Thompson (Philharmonia Principal and soloist), me, Tim Thorpe (BBC National Orchestra of Wales Principal) and Kevin Pritchard (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra). Quite a list!