LMP 2011/12 Season Brochure

Fairfi eld Halls, Croydon

Season 2011/12

LMP_Brochure_2011-12_final.indd 1 26/8/11 09:08:56

2 www.lmp.org

2012 is a year for celebration across the UK, and it is certainly no different for the LMP! To join with the Olympic Games coming to London, we have some fantastic music for you to enjoy from all corners of the globe. Particularly exciting are the pieces by Cecilia McDowall – Theatre of Tango – and LMP Associate Composer Roxanna Panufnik, who has written World Four Seasons, which features the world première of the fi nal instalment; the depiction of autumn in Albania.

In the challenging climate that is currently facing arts organisations across the country, I would like to thank all of those who continue to support the LMP in its work. In particular, Croydon Council, which has supported us for over 20 years, Fairfi eld Halls, which provides us with offi ce space, the LMP Friends and numerous other benefactors, without whose generosity the inspiring work we do with the community and in education would not be possible.

We hope you enjoy this series of concerts.

Simon FunnellManaging Director

Welcome

2 www.lmp.org

Pre-Concert ConversationsBefore every concert, at 6.30pm, the LMP’s Managing Director, Simon Funnell hosts a lively pre-concert conversation with conductors, soloists and LMP musicians, free to concert ticket-holders. Whether you are new to classical music or just want to know more, these conversations are the ideal way to get closer to the music and the musicians; and because a conversation should be a two-way thing, we’ll give you a chance to ask a question too!

Pho

to ©

Ben

jam

in E

alov

ega

Pho

to ©

Ben

jam

in E

alov

ega

to the LMP’s 2011/12 season at Fairfi eld Halls, Croydon.


3www.lmp.org

It is with great pleasure that I can introduce the LMP’s 2011/2012 season at Fairfi eld Halls to you. I am delighted to be conducting four concerts of brilliant music this season, including a world première by the LMP’s Associate

Composer, Roxanna Panufnik.

For the remaining concerts in the season, the LMP will be joined by the outstanding conductors Howard Shelley and Nicholas Collon, as well as the LMP’s Associate Conductor, Hilary Davan Wetton.

We are, again, delighted to welcome some of the fi nest soloists in europe to Croydon. Maximillian Hornung, the young cellist who dazzled audiences last year, returns to perform with us. Also featuring this season is Cordelia Williams, the piano winner of the BBC young Musician of the year, as well as violinist Benjamin Schmid.

One of the most exciting things about this season is that, alongside performing the familiar pieces that the LMP is so well known for performing, we have the opportunity to present some fantastic new music to you. In January, we are giving the english première of Cecilia McDowall’s Theatre of Tango, a piece co-commissioned by the Welsh Chamber Orchestra and the LMP thanks to the PRS Foundation’s Beyond Borders fund. In March we will be performing the world première of the fi nal instalment of Roxanna Panufnik’s World Four Seasons – more details can be found about this concert on pages four and fi ve.

I am very much looking forward to my second season with the LMP, and to seeing you all again for another successful year.

Gérard Korsten

3www.lmp.org

Pho

to ©

Ben

jam

in E

alov

ega

Pho

to ©

Ben

jam

in E

alov

ega

Introduction


Pho

to ©

Kei

th S

aund

ers

“WhatI loveabout

newmusic

today is its breathtaking

variety of sounds, moods

and soul”4 www.lmp.org

MARCH


5www.lmp.org

“My father, Sir Andrzej Panufnik, was a composer, so music was all around me while I grew up. As I

took up various instruments throughout my childhood, it soon became clear that I didn’t want to learn to play anyone else’s music but just to create my own, starting from the age of three, on the violin! At the age of 12, my parents’ friend, composer Oliver Knussen, suggested I start to write my pieces down, at which point I reluctantly forced myself to take Grade 5 music theory, which I eventually (very eventually) passed. My first public performance, at the age of 16, was at Winchester Cathedral – a chamber requiem I’d written for my cousin who had died in a car crash. The thrill of that première was what persuaded me to study composition at the Royal Academy of Music.

“However, my interest in melody and harmony clashed with the rather austere 1980s style of contemporary composition that was expected of me, so on my graduation I embarked on a career of TV production. This was an education itself – I learnt a huge amount about life in the professional music world and made great music and media contacts. During this time, performer friends from my Royal Academy days kept asking me to write them pieces and after an extremely emotional and life-changing conversation with my father, just before he died, I decided to take the plunge and become a full-time composer. I studied film composition at the National Film & TV School but struggled with the technical side. In the meantime, my career as a concert composer was beginning to take off, and the rest, as they say, is history…

“My big break was a commission to write a mass for the late Cardinal Basil Hume’s 75th birthday, in 1998. The piece was recorded and has since had over 40 performances all

over the world. It’s a fantastic treat for me to be Associate Composer with the London Mozart Players for the next three years – and I am relishing the orchestral sound-world.

“When Tasmin Little asked me to write a piece for her accompanied by orchestra, she noticed that I had been writing a new Four Choral Seasons – this inspired her to ask for what seemed a natural progression, given her love and frequent performances of both Vivaldi and Piazzolla’s ‘Seasons’. I have a continuing and passionate interest in music from other faiths and cultures, so suggested that we make each season represent a corner of the world with which it might be associated. Spring in Japan was a very obvious one; Tibetan Winter had political connotations as well as climatic ones; Indian Summer is slightly misleading, as this actually means a warm Autumn in the UK, but I loved the ring of it. Autumn in Albania is more of an alliteration than anything else but the piece will capture the wind-down from vivacious Summer to a mellowing Balkan Autumn.

“When I started out in the music world, it seemed that in order to succeed as a composer, there was only one kind of classical contemporary music one could produce – uncompromising, fiercely intellectual and challenging on the ear. Some composers (like my father) managed to find an exceptional and brilliant balance between head and heart – the cerebral and the emotional. I think composers are much more in tune with the contemporary world outside of music now, especially with new technological innovations; the internet continues to bring us all together into one community of sound and spirit.”

Pho

to ©

Kei

th S

aund

ers

Saturday 3 March 7.30pm

Mozart Symphony No.17 in G Major K129

Panufnik World Four SeasonsR. Strauss Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme


6 www.lmp.org

The opening concert of this season sees Gérard Korsten conducting the first of four concerts during the 2011/12 season.

After opening with the Overture from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, the LMP will move onto Haydn’s Symphony No.96 Miracle. How the symphony got its subtitle is quite an interesting story; during the symphony’s première, a chandelier in the concert hall where it was being performed fell down. Luckily, most of the audience were at the front of the hall giving applause, and so ‘miraculously’ no-one was hurt. The slightly disappointing twist in the tale is that recent research has suggested it was actually Symphony No.102 being performed when the event took place, and not Symphony No.96. Let’s hope the LMP don’t loosen any concert hall fittings with their performance!

Schubert’s Symphony No.9 (Great) was written in 1825 and, despite being the last symphony he had published, it wasn’t

actually the last one he wrote. It is often considered to be Schubert’s finest work for orchestra, with the subtitle referring to the piece’s majesty and size compared to his previous works.

In November, the LMP will be joined by the outstanding soloist Maximillian Hornung, the youngest ever Principal Cello of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.2, he is certain to impress audience members as he did last year when he performed the Schubert Cello Concerto. Welcome back, Maximillian!

Benjamin Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge was written in just over five weeks, as a tribute to his teacher, Frank Bridge. Based on a pastoral theme from the second of Bridge’s Three Idylls for String Quartet, the work is a parody of various musical styles, each movement reflecting a specific quality of Bridge’s personality, and was the work that brought Britten international attention.

Pho

to ©

Fel

ix B

roed

e

Saturday 8 October 7.30pm

Mozart The Magic Flute OvertureHaydn Symphony No.96 MiracleSchubert Symphony No.9 Great

Thursday 10 November 7.30pm

Mozart Symphony No.13 K112Haydn Cello Concerto in D MajorMozart Cassation No.1 K63Britten Variations on a theme of

Frank Bridge

OCTOBeR/NOVeMBeR


Old friend of the LMP Howard Shelley returns to Fairfield Halls this season, bringing a wonderful concert with him! Howard takes to the stage

this year to perform Grieg’s Piano Concerto and to conduct the orchestra in Brahms and Beethoven.

edvard Grieg wrote his Piano Concerto – the only concerto he ever completed – almost 150 years ago, yet it still remains as popular as ever. We asked Howard why he thought this was.

“I think that the continuing popularity of the Grieg Piano Concerto is down to the fact that, to use a modern term, it ‘ticks all the boxes’ when it comes to what we hope for in a romantic concerto.

“The opening is arresting, dramatic, virtuosic and heroic and grabs the audience by the lapels within the first few seconds – needless to say, it is also fiendish for the soloist to play, requiring spectacular abandon at the same time as accuracy after you have only

just seated yourself at the instrument; but the audience are holding their breath with you, and if you get through it with some semblance of dignity, you have already gone a long way to having them on your side!

“This coruscating opening gesture gives way to a tune of endearing but expressive simplicity.

Thereafter Grieg comes up with one delightful idea after another, never dwelling on any long enough for the listener to lose interest – and the heart of the movement is a beautiful theme stated first on the cellos (always a winning trick for an expressive melody). To top it all off, the cadenza builds to a powerful climax of virtuosity and resounding piano sonority and excitement.

“The slow movement is in a wonderfully sensuous key and resonates with a deep Scandinavian melancholy, and the final movement has the drive of an envigorating dance, contrasted in its central section by a flute melody of beautiful, tender lyricism. Climaxes abound in all movements – what more could one ask for?!”

Pho

to ©

Fel

ix B

roed

e

Pho

to ©

Eric

Ric

hmon

d

“ Climaxes abound in all movements – what more could one ask for?!”

Thursday 26 April 7.30pm

Beethoven Coriolan OvertureGrieg Piano ConcertoBrahms Symphony No.1

APRIL

7www.lmp.org


“We’re walking in the air…”

Few things have become such a Christmas staple as Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman. The story of a young boy’s snowman coming to live on a winter night has become a classic since it was fi rst

broadcast in 1982. This year, the LMP bring the fairytale to the stage as they perform Howard Blake’s iconic score live during a screening of the fi lm.

The inimitable conductor Christopher Bell iswell known for bringing fun into the concerthall, and this performance will be no

exception. He will also be leading theorchestra through some Christmas favourites, including excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Leroy Anderson’s Christmas Festival, and lots of traditional carols for the audience to join in with.

Thursday 22 December 3.00pm

Blake The Snowman Tchaikovsky excerpts from

The NutcrackerAnderson Christmas Festival

Plus a selection of other Christmas favourites

8 www.lmp.org

DeCeMBeR


After becoming the Piano Winner of the BBC young Musician of the year competition, Cordelia Williams has continued to build a career as one of the “outstanding

pianists of her generation”. This evening she performs Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No.1, and we asked her what she thought the audience would enjoy about this piece.

“The Mendelssohn is wonderful to play and to listen to because as well as the ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ lightness and the sparkling wit of the piano writing, there are moments of utter calm and tenderness when Mendelssohn’s melodic genius comes to the fore – listen out in particular for the beautiful string chamber writing in the second movement.”

As well as performing larger-scale works, Cordelia is a passionate chamber musician – does she prefer performing in a chamber music environment? “I have always felt that concerto playing is no different to chamber playing – it should be a collaboration between orchestra, conductor and soloist, with each listening and responding to the others. It’s just like playing chamber music but with many more people – that’s why it’s so exciting!”

Mozart’s Prague Symphony, Dvorák’s rousing Czech Suite, and the rarely performed gem that is Honegger’s Pastorale d’été – a beautiful impression of a peaceful early morning in the Swiss Alps – complete this concert.

“ As well as the lightness and sparkling wit of the piano writing, there are moments of utter calm and tenderness”


Mozart Symphony No.38 K504 Prague

Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1Honegger Pastorale d’étéDvorák Czech Suite

9www.lmp.org

MARCH


Nicholas Collon makes his LMP conducting debut this season. A viola player, pianist and organist by training, Nicholas has established an enviable reputation as a

conductor in an exceptionally wide range of music, renowned for integrating challenging repertoire from the 20th and 21st centuries with masterworks of the Classical and Romantic eras; something he will do in this concert.

One of the pieces Nicholas is conducting with the LMP is Cecilia McDowall’s Theatre of Tango, which received its world première in May 2011. As a pioneer of contemporary music, we asked Nicholas what the challenges were of introducing new music to audiences.

“I like to remember that every piece of music we hear on the concert platform was at one point in its life a brand new work – imagine

how wonderful it would have been to be at the première of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony! A challenge we face is to remind audiences that hearing a piece that has never been introduced to an audience before can be an incredible and unmissable opportunity to hear great music come to life for the first time.

“One thing I like to do in concerts is to show how a newly commissioned piece might have a surprising amount in common with the rest of the programme; all three pieces in this concert are united by the spirit of dance, from Beethoven’s country dances to Stravinsky’s ballet and McDowall’s tango-inspired commission.

“The chief challenge we face in programming a new piece is the fear of the unknown, but for me that moment of jumping off into the void, either as a conductor or as an audience member, can be so rewarding; risky, yet potentially thrilling!”

“ An unmissable opportunity to hear great music come to life for the first time”

Pho

to ©

Ben

jam

in E

alov

ega

Saturday 28 January 7.30pm

Stravinsky Danses ConcertantesMcDowall Theatre of TangoBeethoven Symphony No.6 Pastoral

10 www.lmp.org

JANUARy


Saturday 19 May 7.30pm

eberl Symphony in CHartmann Concerto FunebreSchubert Rondo in A for

Violin and StringsBeethoven Symphony No.7

Pho

to ©

Jul

ia W

esle

y

Also making his debut with the LMP this season is violinist Benjamin Schmid. One of the most versatile violinists of today, Benjamin’s performance span is

extremely broad, ranging from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic lynchpins of the violin repertoire, to concerti of modern masters such as Korngold, Lutosławski and Schönberg. In addition to his classical career, Benjamin is also a keen jazz musician. We asked him what the different demands were when performing jazz and classical music.

“In classical music you have to be ready to deliver what you have prepared. In jazz you have to be ready to forget what you have prepared. Both situations are great. For the audience it is the same result: to be taken on a musical journey.”

The works Benjamin will be performing with the LMP – Hartmann’s Concerto Funebre and

Schubert’s Rondo in A for Violin and Strings – are rarely performed in the UK, and he tells us what he thinks the audience will enjoy about them:

“With Hartmann’s Concerto Funebre, written right before World War II, it is the very profound inner grief and struggle that make the music so fascinating and dramatic; in the end everything results in strong, bright hope. Schubert’s Rondo in A for solo violin and strings starts off with a slow introduction of very ‘Viennese’ music, gemütlich; warm, highly sensitive and always with the shimmer of dance music and grandeur. In the following Rondo, both main themes sound like a witty polonaise; very swaying, with a typically Viennese sense of rhythm. Around these ideas the solo violin displays perpetual virtuosic passages with a lot of sophisticated articulations. I think it is this highly sensitive virtuosity that catches the listener´s ear.”

11www.lmp.org

MAy

“ The audience is to be taken on a musical journey”


The LMP is one of the world’s finest chamber orchestras. By being flexible, adaptable, open-minded and imaginative, the LMP delivers outstanding onstage and offstage projects

to fulfil its mission: sharing the discovery, excitement and pleasure of live orchestral music with the greatest possible range of audiences.

Public funding and ticket sales cover only a small part of our costs each year. To make our ambitious artistic plans a reality, we need your help. There are lots of ways for you to get involved with the LMP and ensure the oldest chamber orchestra in the UK has a bright future. you can play your part today by becoming a Supporter, Chair Sponsor or Benefactor.

SupportersOur Supporters are the building blocks of our success. Make a donation today and help the orchestra you love thrive into the future. you’ll receive newsletters to keep you up

to date with all the LMP’s activities and be credited for your support in our programmes and on our website.

every donation, large or small, is important. Bronze Supporters make donations of less than £50, Silver Supporters make donations of £50 and above and Gold Supporters make donations of £100 and above.

Chair SponsorsFrom as little as £20 a month, you can sponsor a chair and enjoy a special connection with the orchestra. you’ll get to know your player and can take a look at what goes on behind the scenes with access to rehearsals. your support will be acknowledged in our programmes and on our website.

By supporting a chair – be it our Principal Trumpet or a member of the second violin section – you will be directly helping the orchestra, enabling us to perform fantastic concerts and carry out inspirational work in schools and in the community.

Have you ever considered supporting the LMP by becoming a Friend?Friends of the LMPJoining the LMP Friends is a great way to support the LMP and become a part of a very friendly group of people who share your love of music. We depend on the loyalty of our supporters to help us continue to present concerts and our award-winning programme of community and education work. In return, we offer wide-ranging benefits, including discounted tickets for concerts in Fairfield and opportunities to meet the musicians.

For more information on the Friends of the LMP, please contact the LMP office on 020 8686 1996 or go to www.lmp.org

www.lmp.org12

Pho

to ©

Ben

jam

in E

alov

ega

Play your part


Give the orchestra a leg up and support a chair in the orchestra. Sponsor a player for £250 a year or £20 a month, sub-principals (£500/£40), principals (£750/£60), leader (£1000/£80).

Benefactors From world-class concerts to inspiring education projects, none of the LMP’s work would be possible without the financial support we receive from our Benefactors. Our Benefactors are musical patrons, following in the footsteps of those generous, passionate and committed philanthropists

who, throughout the centuries, have enabled great musicians to perform and compose.

Benefactors enjoy a close relationship with the orchestra and management team and play a significant role in the life of the LMP.

Start your own creative partnership and become a Benefactor from £1000.

For more information please contact elinor Browne at the LMP office on 020 8686 1996 or email [email protected].

Have you ever considered supporting the LMP by becoming a Friend?Friends of the LMPJoining the LMP Friends is a great way to support the LMP and become a part of a very friendly group of people who share your love of music. We depend on the loyalty of our supporters to help us continue to present concerts and our award-winning programme of community and education work. In return, we offer wide-ranging benefits, including discounted tickets for concerts in Fairfield and opportunities to meet the musicians.

For more information on the Friends of the LMP, please contact the LMP office on 020 8686 1996 or go to www.lmp.org

13www.lmp.org

Pho

to ©

Ben

jam

in E

alov

ega

Play your part


14 www.lmp.org

Saturday 8 October 7.30pm

Mozart The Magic Flute OvertureHaydn Symphony No.96 MiracleSchubert Symphony No.9 Great

Conductor Gérard Korsten

Thursday 10 November 7.30pm

Mozart Symphony No.13 K112Haydn Cello Concerto in D MajorMozart Cassation No.1 K63Britten Variations on a theme of

Frank Bridge

Conductor Gérard KorstenCello Maximillian Hornung

Thursday 22 December 3.00pm

Blake The Snowman Tchaikovsky excerpts from

The NutcrackerAnderson Christmas Festival

Plus a selection of other Christmas favourites

Conductor Christopher Bell

Saturday 28 January 7.30pm

Stravinsky Danses ConcertantesMcDowall Theatre of TangoBeethoven Symphony No.6 Pastoral

Conductor Nicholas CollonBaritone Jeremy Huw Williams

Concerts


15www.lmp.org


Mozart Symphony No.17 K129Panufnik World Four SeasonsR. Strauss Le Bourgeois

Gentilhomme

Conductor Gérard KorstenViolin Tasmin Little


Mozart Symphony No.38 K504 Prague

Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1Honegger Pastorale d’étéDvorák Czech Suite

Conductor Hilary Davan WettonPiano Cordelia Williams

Thursday 26 April 7.30pm

Beethoven Coriolan OvertureGrieg Piano ConcertoBrahms Symphony No.1

Conductor/Piano Howard Shelley

Saturday 19 May 7.30pm

eberl Symphony in CHartmann Concerto FunebreSchubert Rondo in A for violin

and stringsBeethoven Symphony No.7

Conductor Gérard KorstenViolin Benjamin Schmid

Pho

to ©

Ben

jam

in E

alov

ega


16 www.lmp.org16 www.lmp.org

Telephone bookings: 020 8688 9291Online bookings: www.fairfi eld.co.ukIn person: Fairfi eld Halls,

Park Lane, Croydon, CR9 1DG

Subscription seriesIf you book 3 or more LMP concerts you are entitled to generous discounts:3-4 concerts: 10%5-6 concerts: 15%7-8 concerts: 20%

Please note that there is also a charge of 70p applied to all transactions where postage of tickets is required.

DiscountsFamilies and young people:If you would like to bring one or more children to our concerts, free tickets are available for under-18s if you purchase at least one full price ticket. This offer is subject to availability. For more details visit www.lmp.org.

Groups and schoolsDiscounts are available for parties of 10 or more – please contact the Box Offi ce for more information.

Getting to Fairfi eldFairfi eld is situated in the centre of Croydon, close to the A23 and M25, and has an adjacent multi-storey car park. It is just minutes away from east Croydon station, Tramlink stops and various bus stops.

Platform

£31.50

£28.50

£25.50

£22.00

£18.00

£12.00

Choir

Balcony

Upper Stalls

FrontStalls

Stalls

1 - 67 - 13 14 - 28 29 - 35

36 - 41

Boo

king

Info

rmat

ion

Free tickets for under-18sIf you would like tobring one or more children to our concerts, free tickets are available for under-18s if you purchase at leastone full price ticket. This offer is subject to availability. For more details visit www.lmp.org

Design: Phil Hendy Print: Cantate All details correct at time of going to pressRegistered in england No. 1870034 Registered Charity No. 290833


Documents

LMP 2011/12 Season Brochure