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I N S I D E O U T lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff Concert programme

London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 March 2015 concert programme

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Page 1: London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 March 2015 concert programme

I N S I D E O U T

lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoffConcert programme

Page 2: London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 March 2015 concert programme
Page 3: London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 March 2015 concert programme

Winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI*Leader PIEtER SchOEMAn†Composer in Residence MAgnUS LInDbERgPatron hRh thE DUKE OF KEnt Kg

Chief Executive and Artistic Director tIMOthY WALKER AM

contents

2 Welcome3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 Ilyich Rivas7 Dmitry Mayboroda8 Programme notes12 Rachmaninoff: Inside Out Next concerts14 Supporters15 Sound Futures donors16 LPO administration

The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

* supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation † supported by Neil Westreich

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Southbank centre’s Royal Festival hallWednesday 25 March 2015 | 7.30pm

Mozart Symphony No. 36 in C major, K425 (Linz) (26’)

Rachmaninoff

Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 1 (final version) (26’)

Interval

Dvořák Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 (36’)

Ilyich Rivas conductor

Dmitry Mayboroda piano

In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation

Free pre-concert event 6.00pm–6.45pm Royal Festival hall

LPO musicians have been working with GCSE students from south-east London to explore the music of Rachmaninoff. They will perform their own new works for ensemble.

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2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome

Welcome to Southbank centre

We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries please ask any member of staff for assistance.

Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO! Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Concrete, Feng Sushi and Topolski, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone 020 7960 4250, or email [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

PhOtOgRAPhY is not allowed in the auditorium.

LAtEcOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance.

REcORDIng is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended.

MObILES, PAgERS AnD WAtchES should be switched off before the performance begins.

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10008-CLASS LPO Concert Programme 73x69mm.pdf 1 14/11/2014 10:50

London Philharmonic Orchestra2014/15 season

Welcome to tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. Taking centre stage are two young musical talents, conductor Ilyich Rivas and pianist Dmitry Mayboroda, both still in their early 20s. This evening’s concert is part of our season-long festival Rachmaninoff: Inside Out that draws to a close on Wednesday 29 April in suitable style with an all-Rachmaninoff concert. It includes his Third Symphony, which reveals the exiled composer’s deep yearning for his homeland. For further details and to book visit lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff.

next LPO label releaseThe LPO recordings catalogue continues to grow apace. Our next release is Bruckner’s mighty Symphony No. 3, performed by the Orchestra under the renowned Bruckner specialist, Stanisław Skrowaczewski. Recorded live at Royal Festival Hall in March last year, according to one reviewer, Skrowaczewski gave it ‘a distinctive and personal interpretation that was clearly the result of a lifetime’s experience with the music’. The CD (LPO-0084) will be available from next Monday 30 March priced £9.99, and can be bought or downloaded at: lpo.org.uk/recordings

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage tonight

First ViolinsPieter Schoeman* Leader

Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader

Ilyoung ChaeChair supported by an anonymous donor

Ji-Hyun LeeChair supported by Eric Tomsett

Catherine CraigThomas EisnerMartin HöhmannGeoffrey Lynn

Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangRebecca ShorrockAlina PetrenkoGalina TanneyRobert YeomansNilufar Alimaksumova

Second ViolinsNicole Wilson

Guest PrincipalKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanLorenzo Gentili-TedeschiFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaMarie-Anne MairesseJoseph MaherAshley StevensFloortje GerritsenHelena Nicholls

Sioni WilliamsDean WilliamsonHarry Kerr

ViolasCyrille Mercier PrincipalRobert DuncanKatharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniEmmanuella ReiterLaura VallejoNaomi HoltIsabel PereiraDaniel CornfordSarah MalcolmMartin Fenn

cellosHetty Snell

Guest PrincipalLaura DonoghueSantiago Carvalho†David LaleElisabeth WiklanderSue Sutherley Susanna RiddellTom RoffHelen RathboneSibylle Hentschel

Double bassesTim Gibbs PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonThomas WalleyHelen RowlandsBen WolstenholmeMary MartinAntonia Bakewell

FlutesSue Thomas* Principal

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Stewart McIlwham*

PiccoloStewart McIlwham*

Principal

OboesIan Hardwick* PrincipalJenny Brittlebank

cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

clarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalThomas Watmough

bassoonsGareth Newman PrincipalEmma Harding

hornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* Principal Martin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth Mollison

trumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

trombonesMark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

bass tromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

tubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

timpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

PercussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

† Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

chair Supporters

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporter whose player is not present at this concert: Sonja Drexler; Bianca and Stuart Roden

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4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with its present-day position as one of the most dynamic and forward-looking ensembles in the UK. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, releases CDs on its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and community groups.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is currently the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, appointed in 2007. From September 2015 Andrés Orozco-Estrada will take up the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence.

The Orchestra is based at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has performed since the Hall’s opening in 1951 and been Resident Orchestra since 1992. It gives around 30 concerts there each season with many of the world’s top conductors and

soloists. Throughout 2013 the Orchestra collaborated with Southbank Centre on the year-long The Rest Is Noise festival, charting the influential works of the 20th century. 2014/15 highlights include a season-long festival, Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, exploring the composer’s major orchestral masterpieces; premieres of works by Harrison Birtwistle, Julian Anderson, Colin Matthews, James Horner and the Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence, Magnus Lindberg; and appearances by many of today’s most sought-after artists including Maria João Pires, Christoph Eschenbach, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Osmo Vänskä, Lars Vogt, Barbara Hannigan, Vasily Petrenko, Marin Alsop, Katia and Marielle Labèque and Robin Ticciati.

Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer it takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra.

Full marks to the London Philharmonic for continuing to offer the most adventurous concerts in London.The Financial Times, 14 April 2014

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2014/15 season include appearances across Europe (including Iceland) and tours to the USA (West and East Coasts), Canada and China.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 80 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include organ works by Poulenc and Saint-Saëns with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Strauss’s Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben with Bernard Haitink; Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 6 & 14 and Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy with Vladimir Jurowski; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Hans Graf. In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians through an energetic programme of activities for young people. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the Young Composers Programme; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Its work at the forefront of digital engagement and social media has enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download from iTunes and, as well as a YouTube channel and regular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Find out more and get involved!

lpo.org.uk

facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

twitter.com/LPOrchestra

youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7

Pieter Schoemanleader

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Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the LPO in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra.

He studied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winning numerous competitions including the 1984 World Youth Concerto Competition in the US. In 1987 he was offered the Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study with Eduard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman, who recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. In 1994 he became her teaching assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Pieter has performed worldwide as a soloist and recitalist in such famous halls as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s Rachmaninov Hall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chamber musician he regularly performs at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall.

As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pieter has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concerto with Boris Garlitsky, Brahms’s Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, and Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the Orchestra’s own record label to great critical acclaim. He has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film and television, and led the Orchestra in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter’s chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich.

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6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

facebook.com/ilyichrivasofficial

Ilyich Rivasconductor

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Born in Venezuela in 1993, Ilyich Rivas comes from a distinguished musical family. His father Alejandro Rivas was, for a number of seasons, the Music Director of the Metropolitan State Symphony Orchestra in Denver. From the time Ilyich Rivas was a very young boy, it was clear he had a natural talent for conducting and began studying with his father who continues to be his principal guide and mentor to this day.

In 2009, Ilyich was selected as one of seven young conductors from around the world to participate in the prestigious Cabrillo Festival Conductors Workshop in California, where he made a significant impression on both Marin Alsop and Gustav Meier. After an audition in front of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), he was awarded the position of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Peabody Institute Conducting Fellow. This two-year position enabled Rivas to study conducting at the Peabody Conservatory under Meier’s guidance and to work closely with Marin Alsop and the BSO.

Since the summer of 2009, Ilyich has spent a significant amount of time at Glyndebourne Opera, where he observed rehearsals and performances mentored primarily by Vladimir Jurowski (the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor) and then attended the first Verbier Festival Conducting Academy. This led to his debut at Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 2012 conducting Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and a performance in autumn 2013 of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.

In the 2010/11 season, he was invited again by Glyndebourne Opera to continue the mentoring programme and he returned to Verbier to make a

significant debut conducting the Festival Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, as well as a semi-staged performance of La bohème. Following this success, he won the Prix Julius Baer, a prize which is awarded by the Verbier Festival to a musician of exceptional talent. In 2011, he made his Royal Festival Hall debut with Lang Lang and the Youth Orchestra of Bahia and conducted the Youth Orchestra of the Americas on tour throughout Central America.

During the 2012/13 season, Ilyich worked as Assistant Conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he made his debut at Royal Festival Hall in March 2014. In the spring of 2014, he also made his debut with Opera North conducting performances of La bohème.

Recent engagements and debuts have included the Stockholm Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia, Swedish Radio Symphony, Euskadi Orchestra (Spain), Stuttgart Radio Symphony, NDR Hannover, Gothenburg Symphony and Frankfurt Radio Symphony orchestras. This season, Ilyich makes his debut with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Prague Radio Symphony, Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in Melbourne, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra. He also makes return visits to conduct the orchestras of the Royal College of Music in London, NDR Hannover and Swedish Radio Symphony.

Watching 20-year-old Ilyich Rivas conduct his first official performance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra [made] a memorable impression. It was extraordinary to see someone so young lead a world-class orchestra with such confidence, control and enjoyment. Renée Reitsma, Bachtrack, 11 March 2014

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

Sladkovsky) and the Orchestre National de Belgique (conducted by Andrey Boreyko).

In February 2014 he embarked on a long tour of Japan with the Hyogo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yutaka Sado performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Last summer he appeared with the Orchestra Sinfonica de Estado de Sao Paolo under the baton of Marin Alsop.

Dmitry Mayboroda impresses at the final of the 2013 clara haskil competition in Switzerlandbit.ly/1ca8YAg

Dmitry Mayborodapiano

Dmitry Mayboroda was born in 1993 in Moscow and studied at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

He has been winner of several international competitions including the Tchaikovsky competition for young musicians (2009) and the Liszt competition (Moscow, 2010, Grand-Prix). More recently he was one of the finalists of the Clara Haskil Competition in Vevey (Switzerland), receiving the special ‘Modern Times’ award for the best interpretation of a work by Bruno Mantovani.

Since 2010 he has been supported by the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation as one of the most promising ambassadors of the composer’s music. This has led to his debuts in prestigious festivals such as the Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse and at the Ravinia Festival (US) in September 2011. The same year, he performed Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under Dima Slobodeniouk.

Dmitry Mayboroda made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in October 2012 with the Paganini Rhapsody under Darrell Ang and performed the same work for his Italian debut in Turin, with the Filarmonica Teatro Regio under Yutaka Sado. In July 2013 he made his debut with the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto at the Ljubliana Festival followed by his participation in two Rachmaninoff events with Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Rome (conducted by Alexander

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Programme notes

The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Rachmaninoff: Inside Out series began in October with an all-Rachmaninoff concert including the rarely heard original version of the First Piano Concerto, written in 1890–91 when the composer was a student aged 17 and 18. It continues tonight with the more familiar revised version of the same work, made in 1917, which brings its keyboard writing and orchestral scoring into line with the style of the later concertos, while retaining the freshness and energy of the youthful original.

The Concerto is preceded by Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, named after the Austrian city of Linz, where it was written in 1783 – ‘at break-neck speed’, Mozart said, though it shows no signs of haste, from its imposing slow introduction through to its poised and brilliant finale. And the concert ends with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, which dates from the year before Rachmaninoff began his Concerto, and, in contrast to that student work, shows the hand of an assured master in its manipulation of traditional forms and its richness of invention and detail.

Speedread

Symphony no. 36 in c major, K 425 (Linz)

1 Adagio – Allegro spiritoso2 Poco Adagio3 Menuetto and Trio4 Presto

Wolfgang AmadeusMozart

1756–91

At the end of October 1783, Mozart and his wife Constanze were returning to Vienna from a three months’ stay with his father and sister in Salzburg. They travelled via Linz, where they were taken under the wing of Count Thun, the father of a Viennese nobleman of their acquaintance. The Count arranged for Mozart to give a concert. On 31 October, Mozart wrote to his father that this was to take place on 4 November: ‘and, as I have not a single symphony with me, I am writing a new one at break-neck speed, which must be finished by that time.’ The resulting work, at least as we know it (the autograph score is lost), shows no signs of the haste in which it was written; on the other hand, it is full of the urgency that frequently overtook Mozart when he was writing against the clock, giving the music a remarkable extra intensity and depth of feeling.

One of Mozart’s main preoccupations during 1783 was his continuing work on the set of six string quartets that he was to dedicate to Haydn; and it may not be a coincidence that in this Symphony the first Allegro, the slow movement and the finale all begin quietly with themes for the strings alone, which could all conceivably have found a place in the quartets. However, it would have been risky – especially with an audience that Mozart did not know – to start the whole work in this way; and so, for the first time in any of Mozart’s symphonies, the first movement begins with a slow introduction for the full orchestra. The wind section – consisting of oboes, bassoons, horns and trumpets, with timpani – also plays an important part in the second-subject group of the main Allegro, which spends more of its time in E minor than in the expected G major.

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An unusual feature of the F major slow movement, in siciliana time (a slow, lilting dance rhythm in 6/8), is that the trumpets and timpani, instead of being rested as in most slow movements of the period, are retained, and indeed give a distinctive colouring to the texture. The Minuet recalls Haydn in the way it is built out of short fragments of material; the Trio is equally Haydnesque in its delightful use of solo oboe and

bassoon. The finale also includes a telling contribution by these instruments, in a development section based almost entirely on one wide-ranging arpeggio figure; here and throughout the movement, Mozart makes much of the contrast between quiet strings and the full orchestra, which is handled with an almost Rossinian verve and exuberance.

SergeRachmaninoff

1873–1943

Piano concerto no. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 1 (final version)

Dmitry Mayboroda piano

1 Vivace – Moderato 2 Andante3 Allegro vivace

Rachmaninoff originally composed the first of his four piano concertos in 1890 and ‘91 at the age of 17 and 18, while he was studying at the Moscow Conservatoire; he was the soloist in the first movement at a student concert just before his 19th birthday. The score was published, in a two-piano version, as his official Opus 1. He soon became dissatisfied with the work, however, and never played it complete. By 1908, with the Second Concerto and the Second Symphony under his belt, as well as a good deal of conducting experience, he was writing to a friend that ‘there are so many requests for this concerto, and it is so frightful in its present form … that I should like to work at it and, if possible, get it into shape’. But it was not until the autumn of 1917, by which time he had also written the Third Concerto and begun sketching the Fourth, that he actually carried out his planned revisions. He found himself trapped in his Moscow flat by the onset of the Revolution, waiting for a chance to leave the country; as he later recalled, ‘I sat at the writing-table or the

piano all day without troubling about the rattle of machine-guns and rifle-shots.’ Having finally made his escape via Scandinavia to the USA, he gave the first performance of the revised version in New York in January 1919.

Although the full score of the original version was published in 1971, and is occasionally performed, the Concerto is nearly always heard in this final version. The revisions included a substantial re-casting of the finale, but were otherwise chiefly concerned with changes to the figuration of the solo part and the orchestral scoring. These bring the work into the familiar sound-world of Rachmaninoff’s later concertos. But the thematic material, which mostly remained unchanged, retains the freshness of youthful inspiration. And there are also signs of the influence of the works that the student composer adopted as models, the concertos of Tchaikovsky and the Concerto by Grieg.

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10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Programme notes continued

There are especially clear echoes of Grieg in the introduction to the first movement, in which a wind fanfare on a single note precedes a piano flourish full of descending triplets. Descending triplets return to punctuate the expressive first theme, and, after a lighter bridge passage and a second subject of yearning upward phrases, they also form the basis of an animated closing theme for orchestra alone. The piano re-enters only a little way into the development section, but thereafter is rarely silent, alternating between brilliant figuration and thoughtful discussion of the thematic material. The recapitulation is crowned by an extended cadenza, beginning with reminiscences of the opening fanfare and flourish and ending with a massive restatement of the first subject, before plunging into a Vivace coda.

The Andante, in D major, begins with a double introduction, for orchestra and then piano, based on a little figure extracted from the first theme of the first

movement. This figure reappears from time to time in the course of what feels like an extended improvisation on the languishing main melody, decorated in its later stages with crystalline figuration in the upper register of the piano.

The finale reverts to the relatively rare, and pianistically awkward, home key of F sharp minor. It has a principal section which is energetic and capricious, beginning in a mixture of the triplet-based metres of 9/8 and 12/8 but later settling in 4/4; then a stern transition leads to a 3/4 Andante ma non troppo in the remote key of E-flat major, with a warmly romantic string melody echoed, decorated and extended by the piano. In the original version of the Concerto, after the varied reprise of the principal section, this melody was brought back in a grandiose apotheosis; but as part of his thoroughgoing revision of the movement Rachmaninoff replaced this restatement with a brilliant coda, ending in the major mode.

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

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Dvořák wrote his last but one symphony between late August and early November 1889, mostly in the peaceful surroundings of his country cottage at Vysoká in southern Bohemia. It was first performed and conducted by the composer in Prague the following February, and eventually published – after a protracted dispute between Dvořák and his German publisher Simrock over payment for his larger works – by Novello of London.

The new Symphony marked a change in Dvořák’s attitude to the form, after the generally traditional construction, and strongly Brahmsian colouring, of Nos. 6 and 7. This time, he said, he wanted to write a work ‘different from the other symphonies, with individual thoughts worked out in a new way’. The individuality of the thoughts is clear: the flow of lyrical invention, much of it distinctively Czech and pastoral in flavour, could be the work of no-one else. The ‘new way’ in which the ideas are worked out could be mistaken for the old way mishandled, with an excess of rhapsodic improvisation overflowing the symphonic mould; but in fact it amounts to a genuinely original solution to the problem of writing a symphony which is both abundant in melodies and formally coherent.

Dvořák’s first formal innovation is to begin this major-key symphony with a broad, self-contained minor-key melody. This melody seems to be acting as an introduction when it leads on to something else, a chirpy major-key flute theme beginning with a rising triad. But its stability compared with the instability of what follows, and its later crucial reappearances – linking the opening exposition section to the development, at a slower tempo, and riding the storm on the trumpets at the climax of the development – give it a central role in the movement.

The slow movement – beginning unconventionally in E flat major before settling into C minor and major – was interpreted by Alec Robertson in his biography of Dvořák as ‘a miniature tone-poem of Czech village life described by a highly sensitive man’, with not only bird-calls and ‘the village band, cimbalom and all’, but also ‘a touch of pain’. There are indeed some troubled episodes in the second half of the movement, which combines recapitulation with development; but the ending is one of cloudless calm.

The third movement is a lilting G minor waltz, or perhaps a Lachian ‘starodávny’, with some ingeniously irregular phrase-lengths; the major-key trio has a melody borrowed from Dvořák’s early one-act opera The Stubborn Lovers. The whole movement could pass for one of the composer’s Slavonic Dances, especially when in the coda the trio tune is transformed into a brisk 2/4 Molto vivace, alternately playful and riotous.

A trumpet fanfare heralds the finale, another formally innovative movement. It is basically a set of variations, on a theme which is constructed out of the rising triad of the first-movement flute melody and a figure from the fanfare. But the variations are interrupted by a central march-like episode in C minor, followed by a short development section. The energetic second variation recurs as a refrain at the end of the first sequence of variations, and again to terminate the increasingly becalmed second sequence and launch the exuberant coda.

Programme notes © Anthony Burton

Symphony no. 8 in g major, Op. 88 (b 163)

1 Allegro con brio2 Adagio3 Allegretto grazioso 4 Allegro ma non troppo

AntonínDvořák

1841–1904

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12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

London Philharmonic Orchestra ticket Office020 7840 4242 Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk | Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone.

Southbank centre ticket Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pm southbankcentre.co.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone. No transaction fee for bookings made in person

Wednesday 29 April 2015 | 7.30pm

Rachmaninoff (arr. butsko) Piano Works, Four Movements (arr. Jurowski) 10 Songs Symphony No. 3

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Vsevolod grivnov tenor

the final concert in this year-long series

lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff

Rachmaninoff Inside Out is presented in co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.

The next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Friday 27 March 2015 | 7.30pmtchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet (Fantasy Overture)

James horner Collage: A Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra (world premiere)

Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade

Jaime Martín conductor

David Pyatt, John Ryan, James thatcher, Richard Watkins horns

JTI FRIDAY SERIES

Wednesday 15 April 2015 | 7.30pmbeethoven Piano Concerto No. 4

bruckner Symphony No. 4 (Romantic) (Nowak edition)

Robin ticciati conductor

Javier Perianes* piano

*Please note change of advertised artist

Friday 17 April 2015 | 7.30pmDebussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune*

Lalo Symphonie espagnole

brahms Symphony No. 1

Omer Meir Wellber conductor

Augustin hadelich violin

*supported by Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française

JTI FRIDAY SERIES

the sound Jurowski coaxed from the LPO was exquisite.performance of The Miserly KnightMatthew Right, The Arts Desk, January 2015

Rachmaninoff’s Spring Cantata did credit to the LPO’s Rachamininoff: Inside Out series.Hilary Finch, The Times, February 2015, 4-stars

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

Mini film guides to this season’s works

For the 2014/15 season we’ve produced a series of short films introducing the pieces we’re performing. Watch Patrick Bailey introduce Rachmaninoff’s music for piano and orchestra: lpo.org.uk/explore/videos.html

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

Mozart: Symphony no. 36 (Linz)London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras [Classics for Pleasure]

Rachmaninoff: Piano concerto no. 1 (final version) Nikolai Lugansky / City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo [Warner Classics]

Dvořák: Symphony no. 8 London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras [LPO-0055]

the Isle of the Dead Symphonic Dances

Vladimir Jurowski conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra

LPO-0004 | £9.99

Available on the LPO LabelVladimir Jurowski conducts Rachmaninoff

Sir charles Mackerras conducts Dvořák:

Symphony no. 8 Symphonic Variations

Sir charles Mackerras conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra

LPO-0055 | £9.99

Available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets

Available to download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and others.

Page 16: London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 March 2015 concert programme

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following thomas beecham group Patrons, Principal benefactors and benefactors:

thomas beecham group

The Tsukanov Family Foundation

Neil Westreich

William and Alex de Winton Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Julian & Gill Simmonds*

Anonymous Garf & Gill Collins*Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja DrexlerDavid & Victoria Graham Fuller Mrs Philip Kan*Mr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg MannCaroline, Jamie & Zander SharpEric Tomsett

John & Manon Antoniazzi John & Angela Kessler Guy & Utti Whittaker

* BrightSparks patrons. Instead of supporting a chair in the Orchestra, these donors have chosen to support our series of schools’ concerts.

Principal benefactorsMark & Elizabeth AdamsDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookDavid EllenMr Daniel Goldstein Drs Frank & Gek LimPeter MacDonald Eggers Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Mr & Mrs David MalpasMr Michael PosenMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina Vaizey Laurence Watt Grenville & Krysia Williams Mr Anthony Yolland

benefactorsMrs A Beare David & Patricia BuckMrs Alan CarringtonMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair Corbett Georgy Djaparidze Mr David Edgecombe Mr Timothy Fancourt QCMr Richard FernyhoughTony & Susan Hayes Michael & Christine HenryMalcolm Herring J. Douglas HomeIvan Hurry

Mr Glenn HurstfieldPer JonssonMr Gerald LevinWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFPaul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter MaceMs Ulrike Mansel Robert MarkwickMr Brian Marsh Andrew T MillsJohn Montgomery Dr Karen Morton Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Tom & Phillis SharpeMartin and Cheryl Southgate Professor John StuddMr Peter TausigSimon Turner Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoe and others who wish to remain

anonymous

hon. benefactorElliott Bernerd

hon. Life MembersKenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G GyllenhammarMrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

the generosity of our Sponsors, corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged:corporate Members

Silver: Accenture AREVA UK BerenbergBritish American BusinessCarter-Ruck

bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLP BTO Management Consulting AG Charles Russell SpeechlysLeventis Overseas

Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli LtdSipsmith Steinway Villa Maria

In-kind SponsorsGoogle IncSela / Tilley’s Sweets

trusts and Foundations Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation Ambache Charitable Trust Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Boltini Trust

Borletti-Buitoni TrustBritten-Pears Foundation The Candide Trust The Peter Carr Charitable Trust, in memory

of Peter CarrThe Ernest Cook TrustThe Coutts Charitable TrustThe D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable Trust Fidelio Charitable TrustThe Foyle FoundationLucille Graham TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris

Charitable TrustHelp Musicians UK The Hinrichsen Foundation The Hobson Charity The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leche Trust London Stock Exchange Group FoundationMarsh Christian TrustThe Mayor of London’s Fund for Young

MusiciansAdam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet TrustThe Ann and Frederick O’Brien

Charitable Trust

Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs ofthe Embassy of Spain in London

Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musiqueromantique française

The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust Polish Cultural Institute in London PRS for Music FoundationThe Radcliffe TrustRivers Foundation The R K Charitable TrustRVW TrustSerge Rachmaninoff Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute Schroder Charity Trust Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable TrustThe John Thaw FoundationThe Tillett Trust UK Friends of the Felix-Mendelssohn-

Bartholdy-Foundation The Viney FamilyGarfield Weston FoundationThe Barbara Whatmore Charitable TrustYouth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous

Page 17: London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 March 2015 concert programme

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

Sound FutureS donorS

By May 2015 we aim to have raised £1 million which will be matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This will create a £2 million endowment fund supporting our Education and Community Programme, our creative programming and major artistic projects at Southbank Centre.

We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures.

Masur circleArts Council EnglandDunard Fund Victoria Robey OBE Emmanuel & Barrie RomanThe Underwood Trust

Welser-Möst circleWilliam & Alex de WintonJohn Ireland Charitable Trust The Tsukanov Family FoundationNeil Westreich

tennstedt circleRichard Buxton Simon Robey Bianca & Stuart Roden Simon & Vero Turner The late Mr K Twyman

Solti PatronsAgeas John & Manon Antoniazzi Georgy DjaparidzeMrs Mina Goodman and

Miss Suzanne GoodmanMr James R D KornerRobert Markwick & Kasia RobinskiThe Rothschild Foundation

haitink PatronsDr Christopher AldrenMark & Elizabeth AdamsMrs Pauline BaumgartnerLady Jane BerrillMr Edwin BissetMr Frederick BrittendenDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyMr Clive ButlerGill & Garf CollinsMr John H CookBruno de KegelMr Gavin Graham

Moya GreeneMrs Dorothy HambletonTony and Susie HayesCatherine Høgel & Ben MardleMrs Philip Kan Rose and Dudley LeighLady Roslyn Marion LyonsMiss Jeanette MartinDuncan Matthews QCDiana and Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustDr Karen MortonMr Roger Phillimore Ruth RattenburyThe Reed Foundation Sir Bernard RixDavid Ross and Line Forestier (Canada)Carolina & Martin SchwabTom and Phillis SharpeDr Brian SmithMr & Mrs G SteinDr Peter Stephenson Miss Anne StoddartTFS Loans LimitedLady Marina VaizeyMs Jenny WatsonGuy & Utti Whittaker

Pritchard DonorsRalph and Elizabeth AldwinckleMichael and Linda BlackstoneConrad Blakey OBEDr Anthony BucklandBusiness Events SydneyLady June ChichesterJohn Childress & Christiane WuillamiePaul CollinsMr Alistair CorbettMr David DevonsMr David EdgecombeDavid Ellen

Mr Timothy Fancourt QCKarima & David GMr Daniel GoldsteinMr Derek B GrayMr Roger GreenwoodMr J Douglas HomeHoneymead Arts TrustMrs Dawn HooperRehmet Kassim-LakhaMr Geoffrey KirkhamPeter LeaverWg Cdr & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MaceMr David MacfarlaneGeoff & Meg MannDr David McGibneyMichael & Patricia McLaren-TurnerJohn MontgomeryRosemary MorganParis NatarMr & Mrs Andrew NeillMr Roger H C PattisonThe late Edmund PirouetMr Michael PosenSarah & John PriestlandMr Christopher QuereeMr Alan SainerTim SlorickLady Valerie SoltiTimothy Walker AMLaurence WattMr R WattsChristopher WilliamsPeter Wilson SmithVictoria YanakovaMr Anthony Yolland

And all other donors who wish to remain anonymous

Page 18: London Philharmonic Orchestra 25 March 2015 concert programme

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Administration

board of DirectorsVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-PresidentDr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. HøgelMartin Höhmann* George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Julian SimmondsMark Templeton*Natasha TsukanovaTimothy Walker AM Laurence WattNeil Westreich

* Player-Director

Advisory councilVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson William de Winton Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness ShackletonLord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Martin SouthgateSir Philip Thomas Sir John TooleyChris VineyTimothy Walker AMElizabeth Winter

American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc.Jenny Ireland Co-ChairmanWilliam A. Kerr Co-ChairmanKyung-Wha ChungAlexandra JupinDr. Felisa B. KaplanJill Fine MainelliKristina McPhee Dr. Joseph MulvehillHarvey M. Spear, Esq.Danny Lopez Hon. ChairmanNoel Kilkenny Hon. DirectorVictoria Robey OBE Hon. DirectorRichard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA,

EisnerAmper LLP

chief Executive

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Amy SugarmanPA to the Chief Executive / Administrative Assistant

Finance

David BurkeGeneral Manager and Finance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager

Dayse GuilhermeFinance Officer

concert Management

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Graham WoodConcerts and Recordings Manager

Jenny Chadwick Tours Manager

Tamzin Aitken Glyndebourne and UK Engagements Manager

Alison JonesConcerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

Jo CotterTours Co-ordinator Orchestra Personnel

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah Holmes Sarah ThomasLibrarians ( job-share)

Christopher AldertonStage Manager

Damian Davis Transport Manager

Ellie Swithinbank Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Education and community

Isabella Kernot Education Director

Alexandra ClarkeEducation and Community Project Manager

Lucy DuffyEducation and Community Project Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Catherine Faulkner Development Events Manager

Kathryn HagemanIndividual Giving Manager

Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations Manager

Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager

Helen Etheridge Development Assistant

Rebecca FoggDevelopment Assistant

Kirstin PeltonenDevelopment Associate

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Mia RobertsMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager (maternity leave)

Sarah BreedenPublications Manager (maternity cover)

Samantha CleverleyBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Co-ordinator

Digital Projects

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Director

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant Public Relations

Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930) Archives

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive Professional Services

Charles RussellSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

London Philharmonic Orchestra89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Box Office: 020 7840 4242Email: [email protected]

The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045.

Photographs of Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Dvořák courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Cover design: Chaos Design.

Printed by Cantate.