25 Feb 2011 - LPO Programme notes

MAHLER ANNIVERSARY

JTI FRIDAY SERIES

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALLFriday 25 February 2011 | 7.30pm

CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH conductor

CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN baritone

MAHLERLieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (16’)

INTERVAL

MAHLERSymphony No. 9 in D (87’)

PROGRAMME £3

CONTENTS

2 List of Players3 Orchestra History4 Leader5 Christoph Eschenbach6 Christopher Maltman7 Programme Notes12 Southbank Centre13 Supporters14 Recordings15 Administration16 Future Concerts

The timings shown are not preciseand are given only as a guide.

Principal Conductor VLADIMIR JUROWSKIPrincipal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINLeader PIETER SCHOEMANComposer in Residence JULIAN ANDERSONPatron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG

Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM†

† supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

57690 LPO 25 Feb 2011_57690 LPO 25 Feb 2011 18/02/2011 12:05 Page 1

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINSPieter Schoeman* LeaderJi-Hyun LeeKatalin VarnagyCatherine CraigThomas EisnerMartin HöhmannChair supported byRichard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey LynnRobert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangRebecca ShorrockPeter NallGalina TanneySylvain VasseurAlina PetrenkoCaroline Sharp

SECOND VIOLINSClare Duckworth PrincipalChair supported by Richard and Victoria Sharp

Jeongmin KimJoseph MaherNancy ElanFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaAshley StevensImogen WilliamsonSioni WilliamsPeter GrahamStephen StewartMila MustakovaElizabeth BaldeyStephen Dinwoodie

VIOLASTom Dunn Guest PrincipalKatharine LeekSusanne MartensLaura Vallejo

Daniel CornfordNaomi HoltIsabel PereiraSarah MalcolmMiranda DavisAnthony ByrneMatthias WiesnerKarin Norlen

CELLOSJosephine Knight GuestPrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueJonathan AylingChair supported by Caroline,Jamie and Zander Sharp

Santiago Sabino Carvalho+

Gregory WalmsleySue SutherleySusanna RiddellTom RoffTae-Mi Song

DOUBLE BASSESKevin Rundell* PrincipalTim Gibbs Co-PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonRichard LewisRoger LinleyKenneth KnussenJoe Melvin

FLUTESSue Thomas* PrincipalIan MullinSarah BenningtonJoanna Marsh

PICCOLOStewart McIlwham* Principal

OBOESIan Hardwick PrincipalOwen DennisKatie BenningtonSue Bohling

COR ANGLAISSue Bohling PrincipalChair supported byJulian and Gill Simmonds

CLARINETSNicholas Carpenter PrincipalEmily MeredithJames BurkePaul Richards

E FLAT CLARINETKatie Lockhart Guest Principal

BASS CLARINETPaul Richards Principal

BASSOONSGareth Newman* PrincipalEmma HardingGraham HobbsSimon Estell

CONTRA BASSOONSimon Estell Principal

HORNSJohn Ryan PrincipalMartin HobbsAdrian UrenGareth MollisonStephen Nicholls

TRUMPETSPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*Chair supported byGeoff and Meg Mann

Daniel NewellDavid Hilton

TROMBONESMark Templeton* PrincipalDavid Whitehouse

BASS TROMBONELyndon Meredith Principal

TUBALee Tsarmaklis Principal

TIMPANISimon Carrington* PrincipalChristopher Thomas

PERCUSSIONAndrew Barclay* PrincipalChair supported byAndrew Davenport

Keith Millar Glyn MatthewsEddie Hackett

HARPSRachel Masters* PrincipalHelen Sharp

* Holds a professorialappointment in London

+ Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Chair SupportersThe London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are notpresent at this concert:

David and Victoria Graham FullerJohn and Angela KesslerThe Tsukanov Family


London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3


Patrick Harrison

Seventy-eight years after Sir Thomas Beecham foundedthe London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognisedtoday as one of the finest orchestras on the internationalstage. Following Beecham’s influential founding tenurethe Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passedfrom one illustrious musician to another, amongst themSir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, KlausTennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive traditioncontinued in September 2007 when Vladimir Jurowskibecame the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and, in afurther exciting move, the Orchestra appointed YannickNézet-Séguin its new Principal Guest Conductor fromSeptember 2008.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performingat Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it openedin 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It playsthere around 40 times each season with many of theworld’s most sought after conductors and soloists.Concert highlights in 2010/11 include an exploration ofMahler’s symphonies and complete song cycles duringthe composer’s anniversary season; the premières ofworks by Matteo D’Amico, Magnus Lindberg and BrettDean; a rare opportunity to hear Rossini’s opera Aurelianoin Palmira in collaboration with long term partner OperaRara; and works by the Orchestra’s new Composer inResidence, Julian Anderson.

In addition to its London season and a series of concertsat Wigmore Hall, the Orchestra has flourishing

residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performsregularly around the UK. It is unique in combining theseconcert activities with esteemed opera performanceseach summer at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where ithas been the Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs toenthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 itbecame the first British orchestra to appear in SovietRussia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by aWestern orchestra. Touring continues to form asignificant part of the Orchestra’s schedule and issupported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner ofthe London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2010/11include visits to Finland, Germany, South Korea, Spain,France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Having long been embraced by the recording,broadcasting and film industries, the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domesticand international television and radio. It also works withthe Hollywood and UK film industries, recordingsoundtracks for blockbuster motion pictures includingthe Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogyand scores for Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission,Philadelphia and East is East.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra made its firstrecordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after itsfirst public performance. It has recorded and broadcast


In 2002, Pieter Schoemanjoined the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestraas Co-Leader. He was appointed Leader in 2008.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut with theCape Town Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten. Hestudied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winningnumerous competitions, including the 1984 World YouthConcerto Competition in America. In 1987 he was offeredthe Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study withEduard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talentwas spotted by Pinchas Zukerman who recommendedthat he move to New York to study with SylviaRosenberg. In 1994 he became her teaching assistant atIndiana University, Bloomington.

Pieter Schoeman has performed as a soloist and recitalistthroughout the world in such famous halls as theConcertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s RachmaninovHall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek inBerlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and SouthbankCentre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chambermusician he regularly performs at London’s prestigiousWigmore Hall. As a soloist with the London PhilharmonicOrchestra, he has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concertowith Boris Garlitsky and Benjamin Britten’s DoubleConcerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recordedand released on the Orchestra’s own record label to greatcritical acclaim. Last October he performed the BrahmsDouble Concerto with Kristina Blaumane.

In 1995 Pieter Schoeman became Co-Leader of theOrchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he hasperformed frequently as Guest Leader with thesymphony orchestras of Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon andBaltimore as well as the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Thisseason he has been invited to lead the RotterdamPhilharmonic Orchestra on several occasions.

Pieter Schoeman has recorded numerous violin soloswith the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos,Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American filmand television. He led the Orchestra in its soundtrackrecordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

He teaches at Trinity College of Music in London.


PIETERSCHOEMANLEADER

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regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its ownrecord label. The recordings on its own label are takenmainly from live concerts given with distinguishedconductors over the years including the Orchestra’sPrincipal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, throughHaitink, Solti and Tennstedt, to Masur and Jurowski.

Recent additions to the catalogue have includedacclaimed releases of Christmas choral music conductedby Vladimir Jurowski, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, Verdi’s Requiemconducted by Jesús López-Cobos, Holst’s The Planetsconducted by Vladimir Jurowski and Elgar’s SymphonyNo. 1 and Sea Pictures with Vernon Handley and JanetBaker. The Orchestra’s own-label CDs are also widelyavailable to download. Visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop for thelatest releases.

The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners throughits rich programme of community and school-basedactivity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, whichincludes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, itsFoyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme foroutstanding young instrumentalists, and regular familyand schools concerts.

To help maintain its high standards and diverse workload,the Orchestra is committed to the welfare of itsmusicians and in December 2007 received theAssociation of British Orchestras/Musicians BenevolentFund Healthy Orchestra Bronze Charter Mark.

There are many ways to experience and stay in touchwith the Orchestra’s activities: visit www.lpo.org.uk,subscribe to our podcast series, download our iPhoneapplication and join us on Facebook and Twitter.

‘ … a simply tremendous performance ofMahler’s 3rd Symphony … Jurowski and hisplayers plunged us into a winter ofdiscontent so profoundly expectant thateven the inveterate coughers were silenced.’EDWARD SECKERSON, THE INDEPENDENT, 23 SEPTEMBER 2010



CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACHCONDUCTOR

In demand as a distinguished guest conductor with thefinest orchestras and opera houses throughout theworld, Christoph Eschenbach began his tenure inSeptember 2010 as Music Director of the NationalSymphony Orchestra as well as Music Director of theJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts inWashington DC. Since his appointment to thesepositions in 2008, he has been playing a key role inplanning future seasons, international festivals andspecial projects for these two prestigious institutions.

In 2009/10 Christoph Eschenbach returned to theVienna Philharmonic on three occasions in Vienna andSalzburg; the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he servedas Music Director from 2003 to 2008; the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall and on atour of China; the Staatskapelle Dresden; and the NDRSymphony Orchestra, where he was Music Director from1998 to 2004.

Highlights of 2010/11 include an engagement at theParis Opera conducting Hindemith’s Mathis der Mahler;a tour of Europe with the Staatskapelle Dresden; twoweeks with the Orchestre de Paris, the ensemble he ledas Music Director between 2000 and 2010;performances of Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony withthe National Symphony Orchestra as part of theKennedy Center’s India Festival; and concerts with theMunich Philharmonic, NDR Symphony, LeipzigGewandhaus, London Philharmonic and CurtisSymphony Orchestras. Principal Conductor of theSchleswig-Holstein Music Festival InternationalOrchestral Academy since 2004, he also appearsregularly in Germany and on tour with the SHMFOrchestra.

As a pianist, he continues his fruitful collaboration withbaritone Matthias Goerne. The duo is recordingSchubert’s three song cycles: Die schöne Müllerin, DieWinterreise and Schwanengesang, the first instalment ofwhich was released in May 2009 to critical acclaim. Inthe summer of 2010, they performed the complete cyclein three recitals at the Salzburg Music Festival, whereChristoph Eschenbach also conducted two concertswith the Vienna Philharmonic.

A prolific recording artist over five decades, ChristophEschenbach has an impressive discography as both aconductor and a pianist. His recordings include worksranging from J.S. Bach to music of our time and reflecthis commitment not just to canonical works but themusic of the late 20th and early 21st-century as well.His discography includes recordings with the Orchestrede Paris, London Symphony Orchestra, LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,Hamburg NDR Symphony Orchestra and HoustonSymphony Orchestra, among many others. Over thepast five years, Ondine has released sixteen of hiscritically acclaimed recordings with the Orchestre deParis and Philadelphia Orchestra, a number of whichhave received prestigious honours such as BBC MusicMagazine’s ‘Disc of the Month’, Gramophone’s ‘Editor’sChoice’ and the German Record Critics’ Award. Hisrecent recording of the music of Kaija Saariaho with theOrchestre de Paris and soprano Karita Mattila won the2009 MIDEM Classical Award in Contemporary Music.

Mentored by George Szell and Herbert von Karajan,Christoph Eschenbach held the posts of Chief Conductorand Artistic Director of the Tonhalle Orchestra from1982 to 1986; Music Director of the Houston Symphonyfrom 1988 to 1999; Music Director of the RaviniaFestival from 1994 to 2003; and Artistic Director of theSchleswig-Holstein Music Festival from 1999 to 2002.

His many honours include the Légion d’Honneur;Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; theOfficer’s Cross with Star and Ribbon of the GermanOrder of Merit; and the Commander’s Cross of theGerman Order of Merit for outstanding achievementsas pianist and conductor. He also received the LeonardBernstein Award from the Pacific Music Festival, wherehe was co-artistic director from 1992 to 1998.



CHRISTOPHER MALTMANBARITONE

Winner of the Lieder Prize at the 1997 Cardiff Singer ofthe World Competition, Christopher Maltman readbiochemistry at Warwick University and studied singingat the Royal Academy of Music.

On the opera stage, his recent appearances haveincluded the title role of Don Giovanni at the SalzburgFestival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, and in Cologne;and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Guglielmo in Così fantutte, Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen, Marcello in LaBohème and Ramiro in L’Heure espagnole at the RoyalOpera House Covent Garden. His roles at theGlyndebourne Festival have included Papageno, Figaro inLe nozze di Figaro and Sid in Albert Herring. At theBayerische Staatsoper, Munich, he has sung Tarquiniusin The Rape of Lucretia, Guglielmo, Marcello and Albertin Werther. Other opera roles in Europe have includedThe Count in Le nozze di Figaro and Aeneas in Dido andAeneas in Vienna; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia at theDeutsche Staatsoper, Berlin; and Tarquinius at theAldeburgh Festival and English National Opera. Anacclaimed Billy Budd, he has sung the role at WelshNational Opera, Teatro Regio in Turin, Seattle, Frankfurtand Munich.

In the US he has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera,New York as Papageno, Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxosand Silvio in I Pagliacci; in San Francisco as Papageno; inSeattle as Guglielmo; and in San Diego as Figaro in Ilbarbiere di Siviglia and Laurent in Thérèse Raquin.

His future engagements include The Count in Le nozze diFigaro at the Paris Opera, Royal Opera House, CoventGarden, and Zurich Opera; Shishkov in Aus einem

Totenhaus at the Vienna State Opera; and Posa in DonCarlo for the Netherlands Opera.

His concert engagements have included appearanceswith the Cleveland Orchestra and Welser-Möst, LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra with Jurowski, PhilharmoniaOrchestra with von Dohnányi, BBC Symphony Orchestrawith John Adams, Orchestra of the Age ofEnlightenment with Norrington, London SymphonyOrchestra with Rattle, Otaka and Sir Colin Davis,Concentus Musicus Wien with Harnoncourt, DresdenStaatskapelle with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, BostonSymphony Orchestra with James Conlon and Sir ColinDavis, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra with Esa-Pekka Salonen and New York Philharmonic Orchestrawith Kurt Masur.

A renowned recitalist, he has appeared at the ViennaKonzerthaus; Amsterdam Concertgebouw; SalzburgMozarteum; Alte Oper in Frankfurt; Philharmonie inCologne; La Scala, Milan; Carnegie Hall and LincolnCenter in New York; and at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh,Cheltenham and Schwarzenberg Schubertiade Festivals.He is a regular guest at the Wigmore Hall where in2009/10 he performed and recorded the three greatSchubert cycles with Graham Johnson for the WigmoreLive label.

He has recorded the Vaughan Williams Serenade toMusic for Decca; Warlock, Holst and Somervell songs forCollins Classics; and he took part in DeutscheGrammophon’s complete Beethoven Folk Song project.His recording of Schumann’s Dichterliebe for Hyperionwas released to tremendous critical acclaim and he hasrecently recorded Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 24, withGraham Johnson, a Debussy album with MalcolmMartineau and a disc of English songs with RogerVignoles. On film, he has appeared in John Adams’award-winning The Death of Klinghoffer, and took thetitle role in Juan, a new film production of Don Giovanniwhich premièred at the FilmFest Hamburg in October2010.

Levo

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The Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of aWayfaring Lad is probably the closest Englishapproximation) date in their first version from 1884 andare Mahler’s earliest song-cycle. Like the First Symphony,begun the same year, they were prompted by an ill-starred love affair between the composer and a soprano,Johanna Richter. The rejected Mahler wrote the poemshimself, imagining himself as the young wayfarer, ajilted lover who, like the central figure of Schubert’sWinterreise cycle, seeks escape and consolation in travel.From his childhood Mahler had been engrossed in DesKnaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn), thetreasury of German folk poetry published at thebeginning of the 19th century, and in the last twodecades of the century he set nearly two dozen of thepoems to music. For this cycle with his own poems headopted a similar verse style, and in fact borrowed theopening lines of the first song from a Wunderhornpoem. From the start Mahler described the cycle asbeing ‘for a low voice with orchestral accompaniment’,

but in 1884 he sketched the songs only for voice andpiano. The orchestration appears to date from thefollowing decade; the final revisions were made in 1896for the première in Berlin of the cycle as we know ittoday.

By that time Mahler had two symphonies behind him,which explains the precision of the scoring. A fullorchestra is used but more for clarity and variety oftone-colour and texture than for weight of sound. Themusic of the first two songs is in a folk-like vein. Mahlerused the country-walk melody of the second again inthe opening movement of the First Symphony. Theidiom changes in the third song, the image of the knifein the jilted lover’s breast bringing forth agonised musicof the kind encountered in the symphonies. In the finalsong, which Mahler quoted in the First Symphony’sfuneral march, the despairing wanderer walks off intothe night and beneath a lime tree finds peace at last insleep.

PROGRAMME NOTES

LIEDER EINES FAHRENDEN GESELLEN

CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN baritone

Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht | Ging heut’ morgensüber’s Feld | Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer | Die zweiblauen Augen von meinem Schatz

SPEEDREAD

The two works that occupy this evening’s Mahler bill arehis earliest song-cycle and his last completed symphony.The songs were prompted by a failed love affair, andMahler wrote the words himself, describing the feelingsof a young jilted wayfarer. Here already in the composer’searly twenties are the themes that were to permeate hislife’s work: his love of life and nature set againstdisappointment, grief and despair.

Mahler came from a family all too acquainted withdeath, and when he composed his Ninth Symphony he

was himself under sentence of an early death from heartdisease. In the first of four movements, a strugglebetween three main themes, every expression of hope isnegated by premonitions of death. The secondmovement parodies clumsy country music, and the third,a caustic parody of contrapuntal procedures, is a sardonicreply to unsympathetic critics. The finale alternatesbetween a passionate hymn to all that is best in life anda deep, heartbroken resignation. Peace comes at last, inBruno Walter’s words, ‘like the melting of a cloud in theethereal blue’.

Eric Mason

GustavMAHLER

1860-1911



PROGRAMME NOTES

1.

Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht,fröhliche Hochzeit macht,hab ich meinen traurigen Tag!Geh ich in mein Kämmerlein, dunkles Kämmerlein!Weine, weine um meinen Schatz,um meinen lieben Schatz!

Blümlein blau, Blümlein blau!Verdorre nicht, verdorre nicht!Vöglein süss, Vöglein süss,du singst auf grüner Heide!Ach, wie ist die Welt so schön!Ziküth! Ziküth!

Singet nicht! Blühet nicht!Lenz ist ja vorbei!Alles Singen ist nun aus!Des Abends wenn ich schlafen geh,denk ich an meine Leide, an meine Leide!

2.

Ging heut’ morgens über’s Feld,Tau noch auf den Gräsern hing; sprach zu mir der lust’ge Fink:‘Ei, du! Gelt?Guten Morgen! Ei gelt?Du! Wird’s nicht eine schöne Welt?Zink! Zink! schön und flink!Wie mir doch die Welt gefällt!’

Auch die Glockenblum am Feldhat mir lustig, guter Dingmit den Glöckchen, klinge, kling,ihren Morgengruss geschellt:‘Wird’s nicht eine schöne Welt?Kling, kling! schönes Ding!Wie mir doch die Welt gefällt!Heia!’

Und da fing im Sonnenscheingleich die Welt zu funkeln an;alles Ton und Farb gewannim Sonnenschein.Blum und Vogel, gross und klein.

When my sweetheart gets married,joyfully gets married,is a sad day for me!I go into my little room, dark little room!Weep, weep for my treasure,for my dear treasure!

Little blue flower, little blue flower!Do not wither, do not wither!Sweet little bird, sweet little bird,you are singing on the green heath!Ah, how beautiful the world is!Cheep! Cheep!

Do not sing! Do not flower!Spring is certainly past!Now all the singing is over!In the evening when I go to sleep, I think of my sorrow, of my sorrow!

I walked this morning across the field,dew still hung upon the grass;the merry chaffinch spoke to me:‘Hi, you! Isn’t it so?Good morning! Isn’t it?You! Isn’t it a beautiful world?Pink! Pink! Fine and lively!How very pleasing I find the world!’

Also the bluebell in the field,a good and cheerful thingwith its little bells, tinkle, ting,rang me its morning greeting:‘Isn’t it a beautiful world?Ting, ting! Lovely thing!How very pleasing I find the world!Hey ho!’

And there at once in the sunshinethe world began to sparkle; everything took on sound and colourin the sunshine.Flower and bird, large and small.



PROGRAMME NOTES

‘Guten Tag, ist’s nicht eine schöne Welt?Ei, du, gelt?’

Nun fängt auch mein Glück wohl an? Nein, nein, das ich meinmir nimmer blühen kann!

3.

Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer,ein Messer in meiner Brust.O Weh! Das schneid’t so tiefin jede Freud’ und jede Lust.Ach, was ist das für ein böser Gast!Nimmer hält er Ruh, nimmer hält er Rast,nicht bei Tag, noch bei Nacht wenn ich schlief.O Weh!

Wenn ich in den Himmel seh,seh ich zwei blauen Augen stehn.O Weh!Wenn ich im gelben Felde geh,seh ich von fern das blonde Haar im Winde wehn.O Weh!Wenn ich aus dem Traum auffahrund höre klingen ihr silbern’ Lachen,O Weh!Ich wollt ich läg auf der schwarzen Bahr, könnt nimmer die Augen aufmachen!

4.

Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatzdie haben mich in die weiten Welt geschickt.Da musst ich Abschied nehmen vom allerliebsten Platz!O Augen blau, warum habt ihr mich angeblickt?Nun hab ich ewig Leid und Grämen.

Ich bin ausgegangen in stiller Nachtwohl über die dunkle Heide. Hat mir niemand Ade gesagt.Ade! Mein Gesell war Lieb und Leide.Auf der Strasse stand ein Lindenbaum,da hab ich zum ersten Mal im Schlaf geruhtunter dem Lindenbaum.

‘Good day, isn’t it a beautiful world?Hi, you, isn’t it so?’

Is my good fortune too beginning now?No, no, I reckon thatcan never bloom for me!

I have a gleaming knife,a knife in my breast.O woe! It cuts so deepinto every joy and every delight.Ah, what a bad guest it is!It never holds its peace, it never rests,neither by day nor by night when I sleep.O woe!

When I look at the sky,I see two blue eyes.O woe!When I go into the yellow fields,I see in the distance that blonde hair waving in the wind.O woe!When I rise from the dreamand hear her silver laughter ring,O woe!I wish I lay on a black bier,could never again open my eyes.

My sweetheart’s two blue eyeshave sent me into the wide world.I had to take my leave of a much-loved place!O eyes of blue, why did you look at me?Now eternal sorrow and grief are mine.

I walked out into the silent nightfar across the dark heath.Nobody bid me good bye.Good bye! My companion was love and sorrow.Along the way a lime tree stood,there for the first time I found rest in sleepunder the lime tree.



PROGRAMME NOTES

Der hat sein Blüten über mich geschneit,da wusst ich nicht wie das Leben tut,war alles, alles, wieder gut,alles, Lieb und Leid,und Welt und Traum!

Note and English translations © Eric Mason

It snowed its blossom over me,there I was lost to life’s trouble,everything, all was good again,everything, love and sorrow,and world and dream!

INTERVAL 20 minutes

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

Soon after completing that gigantic affirmation, theEighth Symphony, in 1907 Mahler learned that he wassuffering from the heart disease that was to kill himfour years later at the age of 50. The spectre of deathhaunts several of his early and middle periodsymphonies, but when he composed his last three – DasLied von der Erde, the Ninth and the unfinished Tenth –he was facing death itself. All three are in their differentways poignant farewells. Das Lied von der Erde (TheSong of the Earth) is in effect a symphony with voices,and Mahler at first proposed calling it his NinthSymphony. But he had a morbid superstition about thenumber, knowing that Beethoven’s Ninth was his last

and that Bruckner had not lived to complete his. So hegave the vocal work a different title and proceeded in1909 to the Symphony in D with the thought that, eventhough it would bear the fatal number, it was really histenth symphony. He did not live to hear it. Finished in1910, it received its first performance in June 1912 inVienna under Bruno Walter.

In the Ninth Symphony Mahler expresses his love of lifeand the horror of its impending extinction; the leave-taking in the finale is heart-broken. His yearning tomaintain a hold on life intensifies the passionateromanticism of this music, while his bitterness and

SYMPHONY NO. 9 IN D

Andante comodo | Im Tempo eines gemächlichenLändlers | Rondo Burleske: Allegro assai | Adagio

GustavMAHLER

1860-1911



PROGRAMME NOTES

irony issue in passages of tortured dissonance. Hismasterly handling of form here enables him to integrateapparently opposing styles. Notwithstanding itscomplexity of detail the long symphony emerges asultimately unified.

The order of the movements recalls Tchaikovsky’sPathétique, though there is no evidence that Mahlerconsciously copied his predecessor. After the firstmovement there comes one in dance rhythm and a fastthird movement, the Adagio being placed last. The keysfollow Mahler’s favoured procedure of progressivetonality, but where in the ultimately optimistic Fifth andSeventh Symphonies the finale’s key is a semitonehigher, here there is a semitone drop between initial D major and the finale’s D flat. The large orchestracomprises piccolo and four flutes, four oboes and coranglais, three clarinets plus E flat and bass clarinets,four bassoons and contra-bassoon, horns, trumpets,trombones, tuba, percussion, harps and strings. Yetthese forces are often used with remarkable economy.

Alban Berg was among the first to study the score. Thefirst movement, he wrote, ‘is the expression of anexceptional fondness for this earth, the longing to livein peace on it, to enjoy nature to its depths – beforedeath comes. For it comes irresistibly. The wholemovement is permeated by premonitions of death, … allthe elements of terrestrial dreaming culminate in it, …most potently in the colossal passage where thispremonition becomes certainty, where in the midst ofthe “highest strength” of almost painful joy in life,death itself is announced “with the greatest force”.’

Musically this movement is a struggle between threemain themes, the conflict preceded by an atmosphericintroduction setting out four basic ideas: a falteringbass rhythm, a tolling harp figure, a phrase for mutedhorn and a rustling motive for violas. Against thisbackground the violins introduce the main D majortheme, a melody suggesting the Alpine environment inwhich Mahler composed every summer. This is thefoundation of the whole symphony. In onemetamorphosis later in this movement it becomes asad, slow version of Johann Strauss’s waltz, Enjoy Life. Inanother its dropping semitones refer explicitly to thefarewell motive in Beethoven’s Les Adieux piano sonata.On its first appearance the D major theme is soon

opposed by a D minor one, which thrusts upwards andreaches a stormy climax topped by a tragic fanfare. Atonce the first theme reasserts itself, and again the D minor theme follows, but this time the fanfare at theclimax is transformed into an exultant third principaltheme.

The development begins with a return to the shadowyintroduction. Conflict resumes, and twice more theexultant third theme is reached after turmoil. Thesecond time it blazes, as the composer instructs andBerg noted, at the ‘highest strength’ but is savagelyterminated by the symphony’s opening motivesthundered out. A funeral march takes shape from thepreludial ideas, leading to a final disfigured statementof the main theme and a nostalgic coda, whichdisperses that theme into fragments.

In the two middle movements Mahler turned hissardonic attention to aspects of life that he did not love.The second movement, a scherzo with two trio sections,is marked ‘In the tempo of a leisurely Ländler, somewhatclumsy and very blunt’. Mahler parodies the Austriancountry waltz, building a C major theme from banalfragments. Still more tawdry and hollow is the first triosection, a quick waltz with vulgar trombonecontributions. The second trio, following immediately, isa reflective Ländler. Nostalgia is swept aside by the firsttrio’s return, and the rest of the movement switchesfrom theme to theme, ending with an eeriefragmentation of the first.

Mahler’s sketch for the third movement bears the ironicdedication: ‘To my brothers in Apollo’, meaning thosefellow musicians who had criticised his music,particularly its supposed lack of counterpoint. His reply,an A minor movement entitled Rondo Burleske andmarked ‘very defiant’, is a caustic parody ofcontrapuntal procedures. Mahler creates a welter ofdissonant, disjunct counterpoint with fragments ofthemes, some drawn from his earlier symphonies. Thereare two crazy march tunes and a double fugue, which issuddenly halted by a cymbal clash. A trumpet sounds abeatific transformation of a phrase from the secondmovement to open a visionary D major interlude, butthe Rondo music breaks in and rises to still greaterfrenzy than before.



PROGRAMME NOTES

WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

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PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium

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SOUTHBANK CENTRE

The finale alternates between a passionate, movinghymn to all that is best in life and passionless episodesthat bespeak resignation. Musically as well asemotionally the finale gathers together and transmuteswhat has gone before. Not only is the opening of thehymn-like main theme a further reference toBeethoven’s farewell motive, but also the completetheme is a noble transformation of the secondmovement’s tawdry quick waltz. The whole movementis permeated by a four-note turn derived from the samesource and first used to eloquent purpose in the thirdmovement’s visionary interlude. The resigned episodesare sparely scored in contrast with the main theme’srichly textured string setting. The strings, undeterred bydisruptive elements in the harmony, persist with theirpassionate hymn and reach a poignant climaxreinforced by brass. Slowly the music fades away like, toquote Bruno Walter, ‘the melting of a cloud into theethereal blue’. There at the end – so the high, thin lineof the violins tells us – Mahler’s thoughts are set uponthose sunlit heights where the dead children of hisKindertotenlieder dwell.

© Eric Mason

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It’s easy to take the London PhilharmonicOrchestra with you wherever you go! Visitour downloads site to choose the works (oreven single movements) you’d like to buy,and download high quality MP3s to yourcomputer for transfer to an MP3 player orCD. With regular additions of newrecordings with conductors from Beechamto Jurowski you’ll always have a selectionof great music to choose from.



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Hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd

Hon. Life MembersKenneth GoodeMrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, PrincipalBenefactors and Benefactors:

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged.

Corporate MembersAppleyard & Trew llpAREVA UKBritish American BusinessBrown Brothers HarrimanCharles RussellDestination Québec – UKDiagonal ConsultingLazardLeventis OverseasMan Group plcQuébec Government Office in London

Corporate DonorLombard Street Research

In-kind SponsorsGoogle IncHeinekenThe Langham LondonLindt & Sprüngli LtdSela / Tilley’s SweetsVilla Maria

Trusts and FoundationsAllianz Cultural FoundationThe Andor Charitable TrustArts and BusinessRuth Berkowitz Charitable TrustThe Boltini TrustBorletti-Buitoni TrustBritten-Pears FoundationThe Candide Charitable TrustThe John S Cohen FoundationThe Coutts Charitable TrustThe Dorset FoundationThe D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable TrustThe Eranda FoundationThe Ernest Cook TrustThe Fenton Arts TrustThe Foyle FoundationThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris TrustCapital Radio’s Help a London ChildThe Idlewild TrustThe Emmanuel Kaye FoundationThe Leverhulme TrustLord and Lady Lurgan TrustMaurice Marks Charitable TrustThe Michael Marks Charitable Trust

Marsh Christian TrustUK Friends of the Felix-

Mendelssohn-BartholdyFoundation

The Mercers’ CompanyAdam Mickiewicz InstitutePaul Morgan Charitable TrustMaxwell Morrison Charitable TrustMusicians Benevolent FundThe R K Charitable TrustSerge Rachmaninoff FoundationThe Reed FoundationThe Rubin FoundationThe Seary Charitable TrustThe Samuel Sebba Charitable TrustSound ConnectionsThe Stansfield TrustThe Steel Charitable TrustThe Bernard Sunley Charitable

FoundationThe Swan TrustJohn Thaw FoundationThe Underwood TrustGarfield Weston FoundationYouth Musicand others who wish to remainanonymous.



RECORDINGS ON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. CDs may alsobe purchased from all good retail outlets or through the London Philharmonic Orchestra: telephone 0207840 4242 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) or visit the website www.lpo.org.uk

LPO-0012 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and Songs ofa Wayfarer with Thomas Hampson

‘... a stirring account, with his tight control causing Mahler’s climacticoutbursts – both joyous and nostalgic – to hit home potently ... The LPO’s leadbassist tackling Mahler’s minor-key overhaul of ‘Frère Jacques’ is fittinglymelancholic, while the finale is packed with energy and bracing inevitability.’CLASSIC FM

LPO-0044 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2

‘This live version of the Resurrection is frequently startling – extremelyexpansive but exciting, dramatic and highly charismatic …The playing andsinging are excellent, and the recording, made by the Music PerformanceResearch Centre, is near-faultless.’GRAHAM RICKSON, THE ARTS DESK, 22 MARCH 2010

VOTED ONE OF THE TEN BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC CDS OF 2010 BY THE WASHINGTON POST

LPO-0038 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 6

‘This live recording of a 1983 performance of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony mightnot be at the cutting edge of modern digital technology, but musically itsweeps away everything before it.’CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE

LPO-0049 Christoph Eschenbach conducts Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6

‘The playing from the London Philharmonic is superb. There isn’t a singlesection of the orchestra whose performance ever drops below the superlative ...Highly recommended.’GAVIN DIXON, MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL



ADMINISTRATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Martin HöhmannChairmanStewart McIlwhamVice-ChairmanSue BohlingSimon CarringtonLord Currie*Jonathan Dawson*Anne McAneneyGeorge PenistonSir Bernard Rix*Kevin RundellSir Philip Thomas*Sir John Tooley*The Rt Hon. Lord Wakeham DL*Timothy Walker AM †*Non-Executive Directors

THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC TRUST

Pehr Gyllenhammar ChairmanDesmond Cecil CMGRichard Karl GoeltzJonathan Harris CBE FRICSDr Catherine C. HøgelMartin HöhmannAngela KesslerClive Marks OBE FCAVictoria SharpJulian SimmondsTimothy Walker AM †Laurence Watt

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THELONDON PHILHARMONICORCHESTRA, INC.

We are very grateful to theBoard of the American Friendsof the London PhilharmonicOrchestra for its support ofthe Orchestra’s activities inthe USA.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Charles RussellSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Timothy Walker AM †Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Alison AtkinsonDigital Projects Manager

FINANCE

David BurkeGeneral Manager andFinance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager

CONCERT MANAGEMENT

Roanna ChandlerConcerts Director

Ruth SansomArtistic Administrator

Graham WoodConcerts, Recordings andGlyndebourne Manager

Alison JonesConcerts Co-ordinator

Jenny ChadwickTours and EngagementsManager

Jo OrrPA to the Executive / Concerts Assistant

Matthew FreemanRecordings Consultant

EDUCATION ANDCOMMUNITY PROGRAMME

Fiona LambertEducation and CommunityConsultant

Anne FindlayEducation Officer

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah ThomasLibrarian

Michael PattisonStage Manager

Camilla BeggAssistant Orchestra PersonnelManager

Ken Graham TruckingInstrument Transportation(Tel: 01737 373305)

DEVELOPMENT

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Harriet MesherCharitable Giving Manager

Phoebe RouseCorporate Relations Manager

Melissa Van EmdenEvents Manager

Elisenda AyatsDevelopment and FinanceOfficer

MARKETING

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Ellie DragonettiMarketing Manager

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Ed WestonIntern

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ARCHIVES

Edmund PirouetConsultant

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian PoleRecordings Archive


89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Fax: 020 7840 4201Box Office: 020 7840 4242

www.lpo.org.ukVisit the website for fulldetails of LondonPhilharmonic Orchestraactivities.

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Photographs of Mahlercourtesy of the Royal Collegeof Music, London.

Photograph on the front cover by Patrick Harrison.

Programmes printed by Cantate.

†Supported by Macquarie Group



FUTURE CONCERTSAT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

JTI FRIDAY SERIESFriday 18 March 2011 | 7.30pm

Prokofiev Suite, The Love for Three OrangesStravinsky CapriccioHaydn Piano Concerto in DShostakovich Symphony No. 6

Vladimir Jurowski conductorEmanuel Ax piano

6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert EventRoyal Festival HallHow serious was the music of Haydn, Stravinsky,Prokofiev and Shostakovich? Professor AlexanderIvashkin discusses the use of jokes, allusions, parodiesand enciphered riddles through the centuries.

THE THOMAS BEECHAM GROUP CONCERTSaturday 19 March 2011 | 7.30pm

Julian Anderson The Crazed MoonBeethoven Violin ConcertoTchaikovsky Symphony No. 4

Vladimir Jurowski conductorChristian Tetzlaff violin

Wednesday 23 March 2011 | 7.30pm

Brett Dean Komarov’s Fall (London première)John Adams Dr Atomic SymphonyHolst The Planets

Marin Alsop conductorLondon Philharmonic Choir

Saturday 26 March 2011 | 7.30pm

Elgar The Dream of Gerontius

Edward Gardner conductorChristine Rice mezzo sopranoPaul Groves tenorAlastair Miles bassLondon Philharmonic ChoirChoir of Clare College, Cambridge

6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert EventRoyal Festival HallEdward Gardner talks about Elgar’s The Dream ofGerontius.

Saturday 16 April 2011 | 7.30pm

Liszt Nocturnal Procession and Mephisto Waltz No. 1Dvořák Cello ConcertoTchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian)

Vladimir Jurowski conductorAlban Gerhardt cello

TO BOOKTickets £9-£38 | Premium seats £55

London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office020 7840 4242 | www.lpo.org.ukMon-Fri 10am-5pm; no booking fee

Southbank Centre Ticket Office | 0844 847 9920www.southbankcentre.co.uk/lpoDaily, 9am-8pm. £2.75 telephone / £1.75 online bookingfees; no fee for Southbank Centre members

Vladimir Jurowskiand Emanuel Ax

Christian Tetzlaffand Marin Alsop

Edward Gardnerand Christine Rice

Vladimir Jurowskiand Alban Gerhardt


Documents

25 Feb 2011 - LPO Programme notes