Concert programme2015/16 London Seasonlpo.org.uk

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 Vladimir Jurowski7 Leonidas Kavakos8 Programme notes12 LPO NOISE13 Riots, Rebels and Revolutionaries LPO concerts14 Sound Futures donors15 Supporters16 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 HallSaturday 3 October 2015 | 7.30pm

Scriabin arr Oliver Knussen Scriabin Settings (8’)

Sibelius Violin Concerto (31’)

Interval

Scriabin Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 43 (The Divine Poem) (37’)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Leonidas Kavakos violin

This evening's concert is generously supported by Victoria Robey OBE

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome

Welcome to Southbank Centre

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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.

London Philharmonic Orchestra2015/16 season

Welcome to the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tonight's concert is part of our Riots, Rebels and Revolutionaries series of concerts featuring a range of works which promise to explore philosophical and political themes, represented today by Alexander Scriabin's Third Symphony; Scriabin set out to depict a Nietzschean belief in the liberation of the human spirit through three extraordinary musical chapters. Written around the same time as Scriabin's Symphony was Sibelius's original version of his Violin Concerto. This evening's virtuoso violinist, Leonidas Kavakos, was the first to record the original, but tonight he performs the better known revised version of 1905. lpo.org.uk/events/music-to-provoke.html

LPO release The latest release on the LPO label is a live BBC recording of the late great Klaus Tennstedt, the Orchestra's Principal Conductor from 1983 to 1987, in a performance of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and powerful

Symphony No. 5. 'Nobody listens to Beethoven quite like Klaus Tennstedt,' wrote Hilary Finch in The Times in 1992, 'and, because he listens so acutely, his orchestra must, and we in the audience do as well. The dark glass of familiarity is swept aside and we meet the composer face to face.’

The recording is available later in the month as a CD and download, priced £6.99, number LPO-0087.lpo.org.uk/recordings

A musical jigsaw puzzleThe London Philharmonic Orchestra's new season began in September, heralding the start of a busy schedule of concerts in London, across the UK and around the world. Timothy Walker, the LPO's Chief Executive and Artistic Director, explains how this complex jigsaw puzzle of elements is solved in our latest podcast. lpo.org.uk/podcasts/podcast-sep15.html

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage tonight

First ViolinsPieter Schoeman* Leader

Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Eugene Tichindeleanu Vesselin Gellev

Sub-LeaderIlyoung Chae

Chair supported by an anonymous donor

Ji-Hyun LeeChair supported by Eric Tomsett

Catherine CraigThomas EisnerMartin Höhmann

Chair supported by The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust

Geoffrey LynnChair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Sarah StreatfeildYang ZhangGrace LeeRebecca ShorrockGalina TanneyCaroline FrenkelCaroline Sharp

Second ViolinsVictoria Sayles

Guest PrincipalKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanLorenzo Gentili-TedeschiFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaJoseph MaherMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensDean WilliamsonHarry KerrNilufar AlimaksumovaSheila Law

John DickinsonFloortje GerritsenSioni Williams

ViolasCyrille Mercier PrincipalRobert DuncanGregory AronovichKatharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniLaura VallejoNaomi HoltClaudio CavalettiSarah MalcolmRichard CooksonMartin Fenn

CellosKristina Blaumane

PrincipalChair supported by Bianca and Stuart Roden

Pei Jee Ng Co-PrincipalFrancis BucknallSantiago Carvalho†David LaleGregory WalmsleyElisabeth Wiklander

Chair supported by The Viney Family

Sue Sutherley Susanna RiddellHelen RathboneLaura DonoghueGeorge Hoult

Double BassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonSebastian PennarThomas WalleyKenneth KnussenLowri MorganCharlotte KerbegianCatherine RickettsBen Wolstenholme

FlutesMattia Petrilli

Guest PrincipalSue Thomas*

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Stewart McIlwham*Clare Childs

PiccolosStewart McIlwham*

PrincipalChair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Clare Childs

OboesIan Hardwick* PrincipalAlice MundayRachel Ingleton

Cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

ClarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalThomas Watmough Emily Meredith

Bass ClarinetPaul Richards Principal

BassoonsIgnacio Soler Perez

Guest PrincipalGareth NewmanLaura Vincent

ContrabassoonSimon Estell Principal

HornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* PrincipalChair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth Mollison

Duncan FullerStephen NichollsTimothy Ball

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal

Tony CrossRobin Totterdell

TrombonesMark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

Bass TromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

TimpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

PercussionHenry Baldwin Principal

Chair supported by Jon Claydon

HarpsRachel Masters* Principal Lucy Haslar

CelesteCliodna Shanahan

* 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 supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Sonja Drexler; Andrew Davenport

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-looking ensembles. 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. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence.

The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives over 30 concerts each season. Throughout 2014/15 the Orchestra gave a series of concerts entitled Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, a festival exploring the composer’s major orchestral

masterpieces. 2015/16 is a strong year for singers, with performances by Toby Spence and Anne Sofie von Otter amongst others; Sibelius enjoys 150th anniversary celebrations; distinguished visiting conductors include Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Vasily Petrenko, with Robin Ticciati returning after his debut in 2015; and in 2016 the LPO joins many of London’s other leading cultural institutions in Shakespeare400, celebrating the Bard’s legacy 400 years since his death. The Orchestra continues its commitment to new music with premieres of commissions including Magnus Lindberg’s Second Violin Concerto, and works by Alexander Raskatov and Marc-André Dalbavie.

Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra 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

‘It was one of those unforgettable evenings where everything and everyone performed beautifully [with] an extraordinary performance by the London Philharmonic ... The ovation should have been standing.’Andrew Collins, The News, March 2015

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

Western orchestra. Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2015/16 season include visits to Mexico City as part of the UK Mexico Year of Culture, Spain, Germany, Canary Islands, Belgium, a return to the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and the Orchestra’s premiere at La Scala, Milan.

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 Vaughan Williams’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 6, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 conducted by Stanisław Skrowaczewski and Messiaen’s Des Canyons Aux Étoiles.

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.

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Vladimir Jurowskiconductor

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Jurowski seems to have reached the magic state when he can summon a packed house to hear anything he conducts with the LPO, however unfamiliar

Geoff Brown, The Arts Desk, February 2015

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow and studied at the Music Academies of Dresden and Berlin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival conducting Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, and the same year saw his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Nabucco.

Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming Principal Conductor in 2007. He also holds the titles of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra. He has previously held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997–2001), Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–03), Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–09), and Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001–13).

He is a regular guest with many leading orchestras in both Europe and North America, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; The Philadelphia Orchestra; The Cleveland Orchestra; the Boston, San Francisco and Chicago symphony orchestras; and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

His opera engagements have included Rigoletto, Jenůfa, The Queen of Spades, Hansel and Gretel and Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, New York;

In 2007 Vladimir was a guest on BBC Radio 4's flagship programme Desert Island Discs. Discover his eight records of choice here: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007w97r

Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera; War and Peace at the Opéra national de Paris; Eugene Onegin at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre; Moses und Aron at Komische and Iolanta and Die Teufel von Loudun at Semperoper Dresden, and numerous operas at Glyndebourne including Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Cunning Little Vixen, Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons, and Ariadne auf Naxos. The Glyndebourne production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, led by Vladimir Jurowski with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Chorus won the 2015 BBC Music Magazine Opera Award. Future highlights include his Bayerische Staatsoper debut with Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel.

During the performance we are all 'in the same boat' so since conductors are meant to be silent during the concert, a friendly encouraging look in the right moment is very helpful, almost as helpful as good conducting technique (the latter being rather obligatory). Vladimir Jurowski on engaging players during a performance

As well as return visits to leading US orchestras and his debut at the Salzburg Easter Festival at the helm of the Staatskapelle Dresden, 2015/16 season highlights also include bringing together the London Philharmonic Orchestra and State Academic Symphony of Russia to perform Schoenberg's Gurrelieder at the Moscow Rostropovich Festival.

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Leonidas Kavakosviolin

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An outstanding concert. Leonidas Kavakos takes the breath away.

Michael Church, The Independent, April 2015

Radio Symphony and Rotterdam Philharmonic orchestras and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

An exclusive artist with Decca Classics, his first release, the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with Enrico Pace (January 2013), resulted in the ECHO Klassik award ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’. It was followed by the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Riccardo Chailly (October 2013), and Brahms Violin Sonatas with Yuja Wang, (March 2014). In 2014 he was awarded Gramophone Artist of the Year.

Leonidas Kavakos has always retained strong links with his native Greece. He curated a chamber music cycle for 15 years at the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, featuring Mstislav Rostropovich, Heinrich Schiff, Menahem Pressler, Emanuel Ax, Nikolai Lugansky, Yuja Wang and Gautier Capuçon, among others. Kavakos curates an annual violin and chamber-music masterclass in Athens, attracting violinists and ensembles from all over the world and reflecting his deep commitment to the handing on of musical knowledge and traditions.

The art of violin- and bow-making is considered by Kavakos a great mystery and, even today, an undisclosed secret. He plays the ‘Abergavenny’ Stradivarius violin of 1724 and owns modern violins made by F Leonhard, S P Greiner, E Haahti and D Bagué.

leonidaskavakos.com

facebook.com/leonidas.kavakos.violin

Violinist and conductor Leonidas Kavakos was born and brought up in a musical family in Athens, where he still lives. He was encouraged to play the violin by his parents and, by the age of 21, he had already won three major competitions: the Sibelius Competition in 1985, and the Paganini and Naumburg competitions in 1988. This success led to his recording the original Sibelius Violin Concerto (1903/4), the first recording of this work in history, winning the Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award in 1991.

Kavakos has developed close relationships with the world’s major orchestras and conductors including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Eschenbach/Chailly), Berlin Philharmonic (Rattle), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Jansons/Gatti), London Symphony Orchestra (Gergiev/Rattle) and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (Chailly). He also works closely with the Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestre de Paris, the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. This season, he tours with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to Spain, with the Bayerischer Rundfunk to the USA and plays at the Verbier, White Nights, Edinburgh International, Tanglewood and Annecy Classic festivals, as well as a cycle of Beethoven Sonatas at the Dresdner Musikfestspiele.

Leonidas Kavakos has built a strong profile as a conductor, working with the London and Boston symphony orchestras, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Wiener Symphoniker (VSO) and Budapest Festival orchestras. This season, Kavakos returns as conductor to the VSO, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and, for the first time, the Bamberger Symphoniker, Danish National Symphony, Netherlands

8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

This programme brings together music written in the first decade of the 20th century by two of this year’s anniversary composers, one towards the end of his short life, the other early in his longer career. Alexander Scriabin, who died 100 years ago this April, launched himself as a pianist-composer in the tradition of Chopin, a rival to his compatriot and friend Rachmaninoff; but his music took a different turn with his exploration of new realms of harmony in the wake of Wagner, and his impulse towards mystical thought. The harmonic innovation can be heard in the group of short piano pieces that Oliver Knussen arranged for chamber orchestra in 1978 under the title of Scriabin Settings. The mysticism is

evident in the programme that Scriabin attached to his ambitious and richly scored Third Symphony, The Divine Poem, about the human spirit struggling to cast off its old religious affinities, finding refuge in sensuality and nature, and finally achieving joyous liberation. Jean Sibelius, who was born 150 years ago this December, hoped to make a career as a violinist before turning to composition, in which field he became a figurehead both of Finnish nationalism and of the symphonic tradition. His knowledge of the possibilities of his instrument and his masterly handling of the orchestra can both be heard in his Violin Concerto, which combines virtuosity with drama, song and dance.

Speedread

The output of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin consists almost entirely of ten sonatas and many smaller pieces for the piano, his own instrument, and a handful of large-scale orchestral works. So Scriabin Settings by the British composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, a suite of arrangements of piano miniatures for chamber orchestra, fills a gap in the catalogue. The arrangements were made in the spring of 1978 for a concert by the Apollo Chamber Orchestra, an elite group of London amateur players; they are scored for five woodwind, two horns, celesta and a small group of strings. In a note in the score, Knussen says that his chief concern in making them was ‘how to compensate for the lack of a pedal in this most softly blurrable of piano music’. The results show all the finesse and

subtlety of orchestral detail for which his own music is renowned.

The five short pieces that Knussen chose (each occupying only one page or two in the piano editions) come from the period 1907 to 1910, around the time of Scriabin’s last two completed orchestral works, The Poem of Ecstasy and Prometheus. They show the composer experimenting with advanced chromatic harmony, breaking away from the logic of traditional major- or minor-key chord-progressions and the regular rhythms associated with them. ‘Desire’ takes the yearning chromatic harmonies of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde a step further, and ends with a piled-up dissonant chord. ‘Nuances’ has the (culinary-sounding) tempo

Scriabin Settings

Désir, Op. 57 No. 1 (1908)Nuances, Op. 56 No. 3 (1908)Caresse dansée, Op. 57 No. 2 (1908)Feuillet d’album, Op. 58 (1910)Énigme, Op. 52 No. 2 (1907)

Alexander Scriabin1872–1915

arr Oliver KnussenBorn 1952

Programme notes

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marking ‘Fondu, velouté’, or ‘melted and velvety’; it is wound on a left-hand line that Knussen assigns to the cellos. ‘Danced caress’ is in quick, light waltz time, with a satisfyingly conclusive slow ending. ‘Album leaf’ is marked ‘Con delicatezza’ ('with delicacy'); it includes many broken-chord ornaments before downbeats, which in the arrangement are shared among different players under the control of the conductor’s beat. ‘Enigma’ anticipates the music of the Firebird in Stravinsky’s ballet; it consists of sections marked ‘Étrange, capricieusement’ (‘strange, capriciously’) and ‘Voluptueux, charmé’ (‘voluptuous, charmed’), before a very fast coda, which disappears into thin air.

The uniquely sensuous and hypnotic harmonic world, fabulous orchestral colours, and textures teeming with Fabergé-like detail have exerted a powerful attraction for me since my teens. […] Scriabin’s mystical side was of enormous creative importance to him: his writings belong firmly in the world of Madame Blavatsky, et al; and the self-glorifying messianic ambitiousness certainly got out of control towards the end of his life. But it is the quality and originality of the music itself that is most important.

Oliver Knussen in an interview about Scriabin in

The Independent, 1 August 2015

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

Leonidas Kavakos violin

1 Allegro moderato2 Adagio di molto3 Allegro, ma non tanto

JeanSibelius

1865–1957

The violin was Sibelius’s own instrument: he began playing it in his childhood, studied it seriously from the age of 14, and continued his studies at the Helsinki Conservatoire. It was only in his 20s that he abandoned thoughts of a career as a soloist, partly because he realised that he had not begun intensive study soon enough, partly because of his growing confidence as a composer. His love of the instrument and his intimate knowledge of its technical possibilities are evident in his Violin Concerto, his only large-scale composition in concerto form. It is a relatively early work, written in 1903, the year after the completion and first performance of the Second Symphony, and thoroughly revised (with many cuts and considerable reduction of its technical difficulties) two years later. Despite being known for a recoring of the original, it is the better-known revised version Leonidas Kavakos is performing tonight.

The first, and longest, of the three movements is one of Sibelius’s characteristic combinations of apparently rhapsodic form and organic evolution of material.

The main ideas are stated in three big ‘paragraphs’: the soloist’s opening melody, dolce ed espressivo (‘sweet and expressive’), accompanied by muted tremolando upper strings; the first orchestral tutti, together with its more rhapsodic continuation by the soloist; and the second orchestral tutti, a strongly accented dance-like episode at a faster tempo. Instead of a central development section, there is a long violin cadenza, beginning over a held bass note but later unaccompanied. This is followed by a combined reprise and development, beginning with the opening melody on the bassoon, and leading eventually to a coda in which the soloist three times proclaims the first phrase of that melody in octaves.

The expressive slow movement is song-like in character. The wistful woodwind phrases of the introduction are transformed into the vehement string figures that launch the middle section. The soloist has a great deal of ornamental figuration later in this section, and around the return of the main melody. But the end of the movement is as simple and direct as the beginning.

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Programme notes continued

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

Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 43 (The Divine Poem)

1 Lento – Luttes: Allegro – 2 Voluptés: Lento – 3 Jeu Divin: Allegro

AlexanderScriabin

1872–1915

Scriabin’s major works for orchestra consist, apart from the early Piano Concerto, of three numbered symphonies and two symphonic poems. The last of the symphonies – written between the spring of 1902 and the autumn of 1904 and first performed in Paris in 1905 – is also the first of the symphonic poems, since it bears the title of Le divin Poème, or The Divine Poem. Its forms are those of a traditional symphony, though in three linked movements and on a very large scale; but its inspiration lies in a programme of Scriabin’s own devising. This programme is reflected in the numerous

descriptions of changing moods that punctuate the score, giving it a characteristic volatility. The surface of the work is also enlivened by its richly detailed scoring for very large orchestra.

The programme, dictated by Scriabin for distribution at the first performance, is a manifestation of the composer’s enthusiasm for the philosophy of Nietzsche, before his encounter in 1905 with the fashionable Theosophy of Madame Blavatsky. It describes the Symphony as representing ‘the evolution of the human

The main theme of the finale is a stamping folk dance, with a rhythmic accompaniment on a repeated bass note: the melody (like that of the finale of the Beethoven Violin Concerto) seems equally appropriate to the solo instrument when it is first heard low down on the G string and when it is repeated high up on the E string. The principal contrasting idea is in teasingly mixed rhythms. The first statement of this theme by the orchestra offers the soloist a rare moment of rest; otherwise, the solo part requires not only virtuosity but also sweetness of tone for gypsy-like high harmonics and melodies in double-stops (two-note chords), as well as the stamina to get through the movement with something in reserve for the powerful coda.

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

Sibelius: Violin ConcertoIda Haendel | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | Simon Rattle [Testament]

Sibelius: Violin Concerto (original version)Leonidas Kavakos | Lahti Symphony Orchestra | Osmo Vänskä [Bis]

Scriabin: Symphony No. 3 'Divine Poem'Royal Scottish National Orchestra | Neeme Jarvi[Chandos]

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spirit which, freed from the legends and mysteries of the past that it has surmounted and overthrown, passes through pantheism and achieves a joyful and exhilarating affirmation of its liberty and its unity with the universe’. The spirit’s firm affirmation of its identity, a proclamation of ‘I am’, is symbolised by the ‘divine and grandiose’ double opening motif of the slow introduction, which is followed by gradually subsiding arpeggios (broken chords) for strings and harps.

This introduction leads into an extended triple-time Allegro movement, occupying more than half the Symphony’s playing time, called ‘Luttes’ or ‘Struggles’. The conflict is ‘between man as the slave of a personal God and man as God in himself’, and ends in the triumph of the latter – though ‘he finds that his will is too weak to proclaim his divinity, and so he sinks into pantheism’. While ‘man as God’ is represented by the ‘I am’ motif of the introduction, the ‘slave-man’ is portrayed by the first theme of the Allegro, a subdued string idea marked ‘mysterious and tragic’. The main contrasting second theme is a swooping woodwind melody, with a twining violin counter-melody and a pizzicato (plucked strings) bass line, marked ‘mysterious, romantic, legendary’. The opening section of the movement is crowned by the return of the ‘I am’ motif with its attendant arpeggios. The wide-ranging central development section brings all three themes into play. The reprise of the themes begins with the two main ideas of the Allegro in combination, the first above and the second below, and continues by retracing the path of the opening section. The coda includes a ‘sombre, breathless, hurried’ episode in quick march time, and ends with the ‘I am’ motif and then its arpeggios dying away to silence.

The slow second movement, again in triple time, is called ‘Voluptés’, meaning something like ‘Sensual pleasures’. Here, ‘man allows himself to be captivated by the delights of the sensuous world’, and is ‘intoxicated and soothed by the voluptuous pleasures he has plunged into’. ‘His personality loses itself in nature’, and ‘the sense of the sublime … helps him to conquer the passivity of his ego’. The initial flute melody (anticipated at several points in the first movement) gives rise to a paragraph of sustained ecstasy, interrupted by a bold double-stranded brass figure identified as ‘Élan sublime’, or ‘sublime surge’. The ‘limpid’ middle section depicts man in nature in

a Wagnerian episode of rustling strings and bird-calls on flute and oboe, through which a smooth woodwind melody threads its way. The bird-calls proliferate as the solo violin takes up the opening melody of the movement to launch the reprise. At the end, the ‘Élan sublime’ brass figure is extended, until quiet, separated horn chords lead into the final movement.

The finale is called ‘Jeu Divin’, or ‘Divine joy’. Here, the liberated spirit ‘abandons itself to the supreme joy of a free existence’. Upward phrases suggesting soaring flight feature in all the main themes of the movement: the first pair in brisk march rhythms; the second pair a ‘ravishing and rapturous’ cello melody and a ‘sweet and limpid’ melody on high violins. When the movement has run its course, with frequent interjections of the ‘I am’ motif from the introduction, the ‘Élan sublime’ figure from the slow movement intervenes to lead into the coda. This recalls the opening theme of the first Allegro, and reintroduces the ‘I am’ motif once more – after which the arpeggios, instead of dying away as before, surge onwards to the resplendent conclusion.

Programme notes © Anthony Burton

Magnus Lindberg Violin Concertos at Royal Festival Hall

Wednesday 11 November 2015 | 7.30pmFauré Suite, Pelléas et Mélisande Magnus Lindberg Violin Concerto No. 1 Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales Debussy La mer

Robin Ticciati conductor| Christian Tetzlaff violin

Wednesday 9 December 2015 | 7.30pmWagenaar Overture Cyrano de Bergerac Magnus Lindberg Violin Concerto No. 2* (world premiere) Beethoven Symphony No. 7

Jaap van Zweden conductor Frank Peter Zimmermann violin

*commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

BBC Radio 3 Live broadcast

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)| lpo.org.uk

The violin is the king of instrumentsMagnus Lindberg, LPO Composer in Residence

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at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

Students receive best available seats for just £4 plusFREE post-concert drinks courtesy of Heineken at selected concerts throughout the year.Sign up online at www.lpo.org.uk/noise

Student & Under 26 Scheme

‘@LPOrchestra I don’t know much about classical music but I do know when I am listening to something amazing’

‘Listening to the @LPOrchestra is one of the best things to do in life’

‘London concert-goers are lucky to have concerts as creative as this’ Financial Times

‘@LPOrchestra bring it on!’

‘ Let t

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belief t

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Riots, rebels and revolutionaries

Music that changed minds, captured moments and created movements

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Jean Coct

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Wednesday 14 October 2015 7.30pm

Threnody to the Victims of HiroshimaKrzysztof Penderecki Adagio for Strings (UK premiere)Krzysztof Penderecki Horn Concerto ‘Winterreise’ (UK premiere)Krzysztof Penderecki Threnody to the Victims of HiroshimaShostakovich Symphony No. 6

Krzysztof Penderecki conductorRadovan Vlatkovic horn

After waves of enthusiasm greeted his Fifth Symphony, Dmitri Shostakovich had the dubious honour of being fully ‘rehabilitated’ into Soviet life by the authorities. His next Symphony started as a vocal hymn to Lenin, but it became a wordless orchestral canvas rocked by imbalance and confusion. Krzysztof Penderecki conducts Shostakovich’s Sixth here, after the UK premiere of his own Horn Concerto, Adagio for Strings and his profound Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima.

Part of NOISE scheme for students (see left)

Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music Programme

Wednesday 28 October 2015 7.30pm

The Rite of SpringBeethoven Symphony No. 1Thomas Larcher Violin ConcertoStravinsky The Rite of Spring

Markus Stenz conductorPatricia Kopatchinskaja violin

When Stravinsky set his vision of a young pagan girl dancing herself to death to music, the result was one of the most controversial and consistently electrifying pieces of music in history – a piece in which rhythm suddenly took priority over melody in a terrifying example of musical brutality, which sparked riots at its premiere in Paris, 1913.

lpo.org.uk/rebels

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office: 020 7840 4242 | Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone.

at Royal Festival Hall

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

SOUND FUTURES DONORS

We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. Thanks to their support, we successfully raised £1 million by 30 April 2015 which has now been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This has enabled us to create a £2 million endowment fund supporting special artistic projects, creative programming and education work with key venue partners including our Southbank Centre home. Supporters listed below donated £500 or over. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures.

Masur CircleArts Council EnglandDunard FundVictoria Robey OBEEmmanuel & Barrie RomanThe Underwood Trust

Welser-Möst CircleWilliam & Alex de Winton John Ireland Charitable TrustThe Tsukanov Family FoundationNeil Westreich

Tennstedt CircleValentina & Dmitry Aksenov Richard BuxtonThe Candide TrustMichael & Elena KroupeevKirby Laing FoundationMr & Mrs MakharinskyAlexey & Anastasia ReznikovichSimon RobeyBianca & Stuart RodenSimon & Vero TurnerThe late Mr K Twyman

Solti PatronsAgeas John & Manon AntoniazziGabor Beyer, through BTO

Management Consulting AGJon ClaydonMrs Mina Goodman & Miss

Suzanne GoodmanRoddy & April GowThe Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris

Charitable Trust Mr James R.D. KornerChristoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia

Ladanyi-CzerninRobert Markwick & Kasia RobinskiThe Maurice Marks Charitable TrustMr Paris Natar

The Rothschild FoundationTom & Phillis SharpeThe Viney Family

Haitink PatronsMark & Elizabeth AdamsDr Christopher AldrenMrs Pauline BaumgartnerLady Jane BerrillMr Frederick BrittendenDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyMr Clive ButlerGill & Garf CollinsMr John H CookMr Alistair CorbettBruno de KegelGeorgy DjaparidzeDavid EllenChristopher Fraser OBE & Lisa FraserDavid & Victoria Graham FullerGoldman Sachs InternationalMr Gavin GrahamMoya GreeneMrs Dorothy HambletonTony & Susie HayesMalcolm HerringCatherine Høgel & Ben MardleMrs Philip KanRehmet Kassim-Lakha de MorixeRose & Dudley LeighLady Roslyn Marion LyonsMiss Jeanette MartinDuncan Matthews QCDiana & Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustDr Karen MortonMr Roger PhillimoreRuth RattenburyThe Reed FoundationThe Rind FoundationSir Bernard RixDavid Ross & Line Forestier (Canada)

Carolina & Martin SchwabDr Brian SmithLady Valerie SoltiMr & Mrs G SteinDr Peter StephensonMiss Anne StoddartTFS Loans LimitedLady Marina Vaizey Jenny WatsonGuy & Utti Whittaker

Pritchard DonorsRalph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Mrs Arlene BeareMr Patrick & Mrs Joan BennerMr Conrad BlakeyDr Anthony BucklandPaul CollinsAlastair CrawfordMr Derek B. GrayMr Roger GreenwoodThe HA.SH FoundationDarren & Jennifer Holmes Honeymead Arts TrustMr Geoffrey KirkhamDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MaceMr & Mrs David MalpasDr David McGibneyMichael & Patricia McLaren-TurnerMr & Mrs Andrew NeillMr Christopher QuereeThe Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer

Charitable TrustTimothy Walker AMChristopher WilliamsPeter Wilson SmithMr Anthony Yolland

And all other donors who wish to remain anonymous

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

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 Mrs Philip Kan* Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Laurence Watt

Anonymous Jon Claydon Garf & Gill Collins* Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds* Eric Tomsett The Viney Family

John & Manon Antoniazzi Jane Attias 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 AdamsDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookDavid EllenMr Daniel GoldsteinDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MacDonald EggersDr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry SciardMr & Mrs David MalpasMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi UnderwoodLady Marina VaizeyGrenville & Krysia WilliamsMr Anthony Yolland

BenefactorsMr Geoffrey BatemanMrs A BeareMs Molly BorthwickDavid & Patricia BuckMrs Alan CarringtonMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr Bruno de KegelMr David EdgecombeMr Timothy Fancourt QCMr Richard FernyhoughWim and Jackie Hautekiet-ClareTony & Susan HayesMichael & Christine Henry

Malcolm HerringJ. Douglas HomeIvan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldPer JonssonMr Gerald LevinWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFPaul & Brigitta LockMr Peter MaceMs Ulrike ManselMr Brian MarshAndrew T MillsDr Karen MortonMr & Mrs Andrew NeillMr Michael PosenAlexey & Anastasia ReznikovichMr Konstantin SorokinMartin and Cheryl SouthgateMr Peter TausigSimon and Charlotte WarshawHoward & Sheelagh WatsonDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoeand others who wish to remainanonymous

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 BerenbergCarter-Ruck We are AD

Bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLPBTO Management Consulting AGCharles Russell SpeechlysLazardLeventis Overseas

Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria

In-kind SponsorsGoogle IncSela / Tilley’s Sweets

Trusts and Foundations Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation The Bernarr Rainbow Trust The Boltini TrustBorletti-Buitoni TrustThe Candide Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts The D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable Trust The Foyle FoundationLucille Graham TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris

Charitable TrustHelp Musicians UK The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leche Trust The London Community Foundation London Stock Exchange Group FoundationLord and Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian TrustAdam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust

The Ann and Frederick O’BrienCharitable Trust

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

The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust The Stanley Picker Trust The Radcliffe TrustRivers Foundation The R K Charitable TrustRVW TrustSerge Rachmaninoff Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The John Thaw FoundationThe Tillett Trust UK Friends of the Felix-Mendelssohn-

Bartholdy-Foundation The Viney FamilyGarfield Weston FoundationThe Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust

and all others who wish to remain anonymous

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Administration

Board of DirectorsVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-PresidentDr Manon Antoniazzi Roger BarronRichard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Amanda Hill Dr Catherine C. Høgel Rachel Masters* George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Natasha Tsukanova Mark Vines*Timothy Walker AM Laurence WattNeil Westreich David Whitehouse** 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 Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness ShackletonLord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds 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

Stephanie Yoshida

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

Madeleine Ridout Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Education and Community

Isabella Kernot Education Director (maternity leave)

Clare Lovett Education Director (maternity cover)

Talia LashEducation 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

Rebecca FoggDevelopment Co-ordinator

Helen Etheridge Development Assistant

Kirstin PeltonenDevelopment Associate

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager (maternity leave)

Sarah BreedenPublications Manager (maternity cover)

Samantha CleverleyBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Anna O’ConnorMarketing Co-ordinator

Natasha Berg Marketing Intern

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 Russell SpeechlysSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

London Philharmonic Orchestra89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Box Office: 020 7840 4242Email: admin@lpo.org.uklpo.org.uk

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

Oliver Knussen © Nigel Luckhurst Scriabin and Sibelius photographs courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Front cover photograph: Ilyoung Chae, First Violin © Benjamin Ealovega. Cover design/ art direction: Ross Shaw @ JMG Studio.

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