London Philharmonic Orchestra 30 April 2016 concert programme

Concert programme2015/16 London Seasonlpo.org.uk

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI supported by the Tsukanov Family FoundationPrincipal Guest Conductor ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADALeader pIETER SChOEMAN supported by Neil WestreichComposer in Residence MAgNUS LINDbERgPatron hRh ThE DUKE OF KENT Kg

Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOThY WALKER AM

Contents

2 Welcome Orchestra news 3 On stage tonight4 About the Orchestra5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman6 Robert Hill7 Vladimir Jurowski8 Alexey Zuev9 Programme notes12 Recommended recordings Next concerts13 LPO 2016/17 season14 Sound Futures donors15 Supporters16 LPO administration

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

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival hallSaturday 30 April 2016 | 7.30pm

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40 (24’)

Interval (20’)

R Strauss An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64 (51’)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Alexey Zuev piano

Free post-concert performance The Clore ballroom at Royal Festival hall

In a rousing finale to our Shakespeare celebrations, the Royal College of Music Big Band, directed by Mark Armstrong, performs Duke Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder, based on the work of William Shakespeare.

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, Feng Sushi and Topolski, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall.

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.

Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery are closed for essential refurbishment until 2018. During this period, our resident orchestras are performing in venues including St John's Smith Square. Find out more at southbankcentre.co.uk/sjss

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.

Orchestra news

Welcome to Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall for the final concert of our 2015/16 London season. We hope you’ve enjoyed this season and will join us again in September! Browse all our 2016/17 concerts at lpo.org.uk/newseason.

In the meantime, we’ll be busy over the summer performing at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and two concerts at the BBC Proms, as well as our annual Debut Sounds concert showcasing new works by five young composers (see page 12). Find out more at lpo.org.uk.

Welcome A warm welcome to our newest member, Sebastian Pennar, who has recently joined the Orchestra as Sub-Principal Double Bass. Sebastian is from Cardiff and studied at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He joins us from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, where he was Assistant Principal. When not behind a bass, Sebastian enjoys going on steam trains, playing darts and walking in the countryside. Meet all of our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Foyle Future Firsts 2016/17: applications now openThe London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Foyle Future Firsts programme bridges the transition between college and the professional platform for up to 16 outstanding young musicians each year. It is designed to nurture and develop talented orchestral players, forming the base for future orchestral appointments to the London Philharmonic Orchestra and other world-class orchestras and ensembles. Applications for the 2016/17 programme are now open: for more details visit lpo.org.uk/futurefirsts or contact Lucy Sims on 020 7840 4203 or [email protected]

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage tonight

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose player is not present at this concert: David & Victoria Graham Fuller

First ViolinsPieter Schoeman* Leader

Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Vesselin Gellev Sub-LeaderIlyoung Chae

Chair supported by an anonymous donor

Ji-Hyun LeeChair supported by Eric Tomsett

Katalin VarnagyChair supported by Sonja Drexler

Catherine CraigThomas EisnerMartin Höhmann

Chair supported by The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust

Geoffrey LynnChair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangTina GruenbergGrace LeeRebecca ShorrockAmanda SmithHelena SmartNilufar Alimaksumova

Second ViolinsAndrew Storey PrincipalTania Mazzetti Nancy ElanLorenzo Gentili-TedeschiFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaJoseph MaherMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensRobin WilsonHelena NichollsSioni WilliamsElizabeth BaldeyAlison StrangeGeorgina LeoKate Cole

ViolasDavid Quiggle Guest PrincipalCyrille Mercier Co-PrincipalRobert DuncanGregory AronovichKatharine LeekSusanne Martens

Benedetto PollaniEmmanuella ReiterLaura VallejoNaomi HoltAlistair ScahillDaniel CornfordMartin FennRichard Cookson

CellosKristina Blaumane Principal

Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden

Francis BucknallLaura DonoghueSantiago Carvalho†David LaleElisabeth Wiklander

Chair supported by The Viney Family

Sue Sutherley Susanna RiddellTom RoffHelen RathboneGeorge HoultSibylle Hentschel

Double bassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalColin ParisGeorge Peniston Laurence LovelleLowri MorganLaura MurphyKenneth KnussenHelen RowlandsCharlotte KerbegianCatherine Ricketts

FlutesSue Thomas* Principal

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Hannah GraysonIan MullinStewart McIlwham*

piccolosStewart McIlwham* Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Ian Mullin

OboesIan Hardwick* PrincipalAlice MundaySue Böhling*

Cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

heckelphone John Orford

ClarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalEmily MeredithPaul Richards

E-flat ClarinetThomas Watmough Principal

bass ClarinetPaul Richards Principal

bassoonsGareth Newman PrincipalLaura VincentClaire Webster

ContrabassoonSimon Estell Principal

hornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* PrincipalChair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth MollisonDuncan FullerAlex WideStephen Nicholls Meilyr Hughes

Wagner TubasJohn Ryan*Stephen NichollsAlex Wide Meilyr Hughes

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-PrincipalDavid Hilton

TrombonesMark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

bass TrombonesLyndon Meredith PrincipalSam Freeman

TubasLee Tsarmaklis* PrincipalSasha Koushk-Jalali

TimpaniSimon Carrington* Principal Tom Lee

percussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Henry Baldwin Co-PrincipalChair supported by Jon Claydon

Keith MillarJeremy CornesTom Lee

harps Rachel Masters* Principal Emma Ramsdale

CelesteCatherine Edwards

OrganBernard Robertson

Offstage hornsPip EastopStephen StirlingMarcus BatesJonathan Quaintrell-EvansDaniel CurzonJoseph RyanStephen CraigenAdam HowcroftElise CampbellRebecca Hill Andrew LittlemoreJames Pillai

Offstage TrumpetsTom RainerTony Cross

Offstage TrombonesDuncan WilsonSimon Baker

* Holds a professorial appointment in London† Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco


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 season 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 Alexander Raskatov’s Green Mass.

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 Western orchestra. Touring remains a large part of

Richard Fairman, Financial Times, September 2015

Jurowski and the LPO can stand alongside the top international orchestras with pride.


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, the 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 90 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 3 and 10 Songs under Vladimir Jurowski, and a second volume of works by the Orchestra's former Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson.

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 across social media.

lpo.org.uk

facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

twitter.com/LpOrchestra

youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7

instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

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.

Jurowski and the LPO can stand alongside the top international orchestras with pride.


This evening the London Philharmonic Orchestra would like to pay tribute to one of its most outstanding, long-serving and best-loved musicians.

Robert Hill has been Principal Clarinet of the LPO for the last 44 years, a remarkable achievement for a principal wind player by any standards. Bob will be stepping down from his position at the end of this season.

Robert HillWe bid a fond farewell to our Principal Clarinet, who retires from the Orchestra this summer after 44 years.

Julian Anderson: In lieblicher bläue: poem for violin and orchestra Alleluia The Stations of the Sun

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Carolin Widmann violin London Philharmonic Choir London philharmonic Orchestra

LpO-0089 | £9.99

New CD release on the LpO Label: Jurowski conducts Julian Anderson

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

Download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and others

‘Anderson is a composer of ringing, bell-like harmonies and subtly shifting orchestral colour. There’s a naive glow about his music, a pearly new-dawn iridescence, as if the world has returned to a state of primal innocence’. The Telegraph

Before joining the LPO, Bob studied at the Royal Academy of Music with John Davies and after completing his studies joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Principal Clarinet. In 1972 Bob joined the LPO as Principal Clarinet and has graced the woodwind section ever since.

As a colleague it has been a privilege to share a part of that time with him on the concert platform and to experience his extraordinary and rare musicianship. Despite the pressures and the ups and downs of life on the London music scene, Bob’s constant good humour and approach have been a source of inspiration and a model of how to survive the demands of the job.

There are not really the words to properly do justice to the contribution that Bob has made to the London Philharmonic Orchestra over his long and distinguished career. Tonight we acknowledge with sincere thanks a truly exceptional achievement.

Stewart McIlwham, LPO President and Principal Piccolo

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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. In October 2015 he was appointed the next Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-sinfonieorchester Berlin, a position he will take up in September 2017, and also accepted the honorary position of Artistic Director of the Enescu International Festival in Bucharest, also from 2017. 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.

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

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; 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.

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


Alexey Zuevpiano

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Born in St Petersburg, Alexey Zuev gave his first public performance at the city’s State Cappella aged eight, having taken up piano studies at the School of Music and later the Special Music Conservatory School in St Petersburg. He holds numerous prestigious international awards including overall winner of the St Petersburg International Prokofiev Competition in 1999, the Educational Award at the 2002 London International Piano Competition, prize-winner at the 2008 International Sviatoslav Richter Competition and second prize-winner at the prestigious Géza Anda Piano Competition in 2009.

Tonight’s concert is Alexey’s debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. His collaboration with conductor Vladimir Jurowski will continue in September with a performance with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia in Moscow.

Recent concert highlights have included his debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra, a performance of Scriabin’s Mysterium with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Concertgebouw; a reinvitation to appear with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vassily Sinaisky; and an acclaimed performance of Britten’s Piano Concerto with Musikkolegium Winterthur conducted by Alan Buribayev. Recent recital highlights included a performance with Alexei Lubimov at the Moscow International House of Music and other recitals at the Engelhardt Hall in St Petersburg, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw and the Ravinia Festival in the USA. Other notable past performances included concerts with Georg Solti’s World Orchestra for Peace in St Petersburg and Moscow with Valery Gergiev. Festival appearances included the Kreuth Festival, St Gallen Festival, Kissinger

Klavier-Olympiade, Sommer and Winterzauber Festivals in Bad Kissingen, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and ‘Alpenklassik’ in Bad Reichenhall.

Alexey Zuev’s CD debut of works by Weber, Schubert and Brahms was issued in 2008 in the ‘Russian Virtuosos’ series by Art-Classics (Moscow). A live recital disc of works by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Schumann, Chopin and Marina Schmotova was released in 2012. A collaboration with fellow pianist Alexei Lubimov saw the release of Debussy’s Trois Nocturnes and Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (arranged for four hands) on a critically acclaimed five-star ECM release in 2012. Another recording collaboration with Lubimov is due later this spring. Alexey’s performances of Schumann, Liszt and Debussy at the Ruhr International Piano Festival are also available on disc.

Alexey Zuev challenged memories of the greats, bringing transcendental technique and finely attuned ears, with mature thought and the fullest palette of pianistic colour.

Peter Grahame Woolf, Seen and Heard


Programme notes

In 1917, the year of the Communist Revolution, Rachmaninoff left Russia, taking his family with him. Ostensibly he was simply accepting an invitation to give a series of concerts in Stockholm, but he never returned to his homeland. Two years later he settled permanently in the USA, and devoted himself to a career as virtuoso concert pianist. His output of original compositions plummeted: in fact nothing new appeared until the Fourth Piano Concerto in 1926, which according to the manuscript had been composed in January–August that year. (In fact some of the ideas seem to have occurred to Rachmaninoff at least ten years earlier.) When the first performance turned out to be a colossal flop there was a lot of knowing head-shaking. Rachmaninoff had neglected composition for too long, it was argued, so long that he’d gone off the boil creatively. He’d lost touch with his national roots – and also with his time,

others argued: who else was writing lush romantic piano concertos in the age of Gershwin, of Stravinsky, and of jazz? Even the traditionalists were disappointed: where were all the big tunes, the gorgeous oceanic climaxes? Why did the Concerto so often seem to thwart expectations? Was Rachmaninoff actually trying, mistakenly, to catch up?

It wasn’t until the pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli took up the Concerto in the late 1950s that performers and critics began to think again. Michelangeli had realised something the others hadn’t. The Fourth Piano Concerto isn’t simply a half-hearted or confused attempt to follow in the much earlier successes of the Second and Third Concertos; it’s something quite new, in some ways looking forward to the subtler masterpieces of Rachmaninoff’s late phase: the Third

Later in their careers, both Richard Strauss and Serge Rachmaninoff were written off as hopelessly old-fashioned. Rachmaninoff’s Fourth Piano Concerto was derided as ‘film music’, and Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony was dismissed as musical travelogue, a sad, stale survival of late-romanticism. But both have survived when most of their ‘up-to-date’ critics are forgotten. Why? Because in both the originality is more than skin-deep. For all its lush romantic manner, Rachmaninoff’s last piano concerto is enigmatic, questioning, in places edgy – even angry. As a reflection of its troubled times it now seems far closer to the truth than many products of the so-called ‘Roaring Twenties’.

On one level Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony is a brilliantly engineered sequence of pictorial effects, using a vast, colour-enhanced orchestra to evoke spectacular mountain views, waterfalls, vertiginous heights and a spectacular Alpine storm. On another, deeper level however it reflects the concerns of an artist, on the threshold of the First World War, who seems to sense that his world is about to change beyond all recognition. Can nature fill the void left by traditional religion and offer comfort in fearful times? An Alpine Symphony holds out hope that such things can at least be temporarily forgotten.

Speedread

SergeRachmaninoff

1873–1943

piano Concerto No. 4 in g minor, Op. 40

Alexey Zuev piano

1 Allegro vivace2 Largo3 Allegro vivace


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

Symphony for instance, or the Symphonic Dances. True, the Fourth Concerto is less easy to grasp on first hearing, but stick with it and the rewards are proportionate.

The very opening is surprising. A surging orchestral crescendo suddenly twists in a new harmonic direction and the piano storms in, apparently in the middle of a long, searching melody. Twice this melody seems to lose heart, and eventually the tempo subsides, and soulful cor anglais and horn introduce a more questioning theme for piano solo. The troubled feeling persists even

when the opening theme returns at the end of the movement, its initial buoyancy quickly fading. Normally a Rachmaninoff slow movement is a celebration of long-breathed melody, but the Largo chooses instead to brood on a short falling figure introduced by the piano, and at its heart is some of the most unsettling, angry music Rachmaninoff ever penned. There are moments of a more traditional virtuosic brilliance in the finale, especially at the ending, but the enigmas and shadows persist. Far from dulling Rachmaninoff’s creativity, exile seems to have given him a new perspective: darker perhaps, but if anything still more original.

Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 310 Songs (arr. Jurowski)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Vsevolod grivnov tenor

£9.99 | LpO-0088

Jurowski conducts Rachmaninoff: new on the LpO Label

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

Download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and others

‘Jurowski’s spacious, loving yet never overindulgent account of the composer’s last symphony is beautifully played by the LPO.’The Sunday Times, February 2016

Programme notes continued


An Alpine Symphony is Richard Strauss’s last ‘tone-poem’, the final peak in a musical mountain chain that stretches back to the defining masterpieces of his twenties: Don Juan (1888) and Death and Transfiguration (1889). During Strauss’s boyhood in his home city of Munich, the Alps were within relatively easy reach, and when he moved to the South Bavarian mountain resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1908 they became the daily backdrop to his domestic life and work, encouraging and invigorating him, and at the same time offering escape from professional and domestic stresses. As early as 1902 Strauss was talking about ideas for an ‘Alpine’ orchestral work, partly inspired by a memory of a boyhood climbing adventure that had gone badly wrong: Strauss and his friends had managed to get lost and then caught in a terrifying storm. (Alpine storms tend to be at the far end of spectacular scale.) Before long Strauss had a basic programme down on paper: ‘Night; sunrise / ascent; forest (hunt) / waterfall (Alpine spirit) / flowery meadows (shepherds) / glacier / thunderstorm / descent and rest.

By the time Strauss began sketching ideas for An Alpine Symphony in 1911, that outline had matured. The subject was now 24 hours in the life of a mountain, from dawn to twilight, and the experiences and impressions of a group of people climbing it: wonder at the marvels they witness, joy on scaling the summit, the terror of the stormy descent and the sense of resolution and relief as the base is reached and night returns. This, combined with Strauss’s brilliantly pictorial writing, for a huge colour-enhanced orchestra, has given rise to a widespread belief that there’s really little more to An Alpine Symphony than a sumptuous musical travelogue. In fact there were serious personal and philosophical issues for Strauss as well. 1911 was the year Strauss’s friend, and to an extent rival, Gustav Mahler died, just short of his 51st birthday. Like Strauss, Mahler loved

the Alps, and did much of his composing amongst them. Also like Strauss, Mahler was an admirer of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who found spiritual uplift and intellectual clarity climbing the Swiss Alps, and who depicted his great literary creation, the atheist prophet Zarathustra, as a hermit amid high mountains.

This helps explain what might at first seem a rather startling diary entry from 1911, in which Strauss expands on the character of his new symphony. ‘I want to call my Alpine Symphony The Antichrist, because in it we find: moral purification through one’s own strength, freedom through work, worship of eternal and fantastical nature.’ In his book The Antichrist (actually ‘The Anti-Christian’ would be a better translation), Nietzsche had challenged Christian values of humility, self-renunciation and the demonisation of nature. For Strauss, thinking in Nietzschean terms, the ascent of the mountain, the survival of the storm and the sense of serene acceptance as night falls become metaphors for man’s own heroic spiritual quest – a transcendence achieved in this mortal, finite existence, rather than in some promised afterlife.

It is possible just to enjoy An Alpine Symphony as superbly evocative tone-painting. ‘At last I have learned how to orchestrate’, Strauss announced to a friend on completing the score – this from one of the acknowledged supreme masters of the art of orchestration! The opening is breathtaking: as a hushed minor scale descends across three octaves, strings fill in every single note of the scale, creating a shimmering ‘cluster’ chord, through which a rock-like bass brass theme emerges like a huge mountain peak through early morning mist. The beginning of ‘The Ascent’ is easy to identify as strings stride upwards in a faster tempo. After this highlights include distant hunting horns (Strauss asks for twelve), the shimmering gossamer

An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64RichardStrauss

1864–1949


Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

Many of our recommended recordings, where available, are on sale this evening at the Foyles stand in the Royal Festival Hall foyer. Rachmaninoff: piano Concerto No. 4 Serge Rachmaninoff | Philadelphia Orchestra | Eugene Ormandy [Naxos] or Alexei Lubimov | Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Jukka-Pekka Saraste [Finlandia] R Strauss: An Alpine Symphony London Philharmonic Orchestra | Andrew Davis [Sony]

Sunday 5 June | 12.00pm | Royal Festival hall

FUNhARMONICS FAMILY CONCERT

Lose yourself in the woods in this special musical version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, recommended for ages 6–11.

Children £5–£9 | Adults £10–£18

textures of the Alpine waterfall (prominent harps and celeste), a ‘dangerous moment’ (nervously shimmering strings and angular brass calls), closely followed by ‘On the summit’ – ethereal tremolando violins and an oboe solo that seems at first to catch its breath from sheer wonderment. Then begins the descent, foreboding gradually erupting into the ‘Thunderstorm’, in which the orchestra is joined first by wind machine, then organ.

As safety is reached and the sun begins to fall, the organ writing begins to sound more traditionally religious – an odd conclusion for a supposedly ‘Anti-Christian’ symphony? As Strauss worked on the orchestral score in 1914–15, Europe was descending into the catastrophe of World War One, and the world-order was about to change beyond recognition. One thing would endure however: nature, and those stunning, reassuringly solid mountains. As An Alpine Symphony closes with a backward glance at the original massive bass brass theme, perhaps we can sense Strauss drawing comfort from that thought, a comfort others would have found in the God Nietzsche had famously pronounced ‘dead’. In this respect, perhaps An Alpine Symphony isn’t so very anti-Christian after all.

Programme notes © Stephen Johnson

Still to come this summer ...

Julian Anderson Alhambra Fantasy Oliver Knussen Two Organa Pierre Boulez Dérive 1 Magnus Lindberg Corrente

World premieres from LPO Young Composers: Hunter Coblentz Michael Cryne Lisa Illean Katarzyna Krzewinska Robert Peate

Timothy Lines conductorMagnus Lindberg conductorSara Mohr-Pietsch presenterMembers of the London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO Foyle Future FirstsRCM New Perspectives

The LPO Young Composers Programme is organised in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music Programme and is generously supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts, Help Musicians UK, RVW Trust, The London Community Foundation and The Stanley Picker Trust.

TICKeTS £8 (STUDeNTS £4)LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHeSTRA BOx OFFICe020 7840 4242 Mon-Fri 10am-5pmlpo.org.uk/debutsounds

7.30PM MONDAY 4 JULY 2016 Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Royal College of Music


MUSIC IS OUR WORLD.2016/17 Concert Season at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

Highlights include:

— Belief and Beyond Belief, a year-long festival with Southbank Centre exploring what makes us human in the 21st century, offering the opportunity for personal exploration of belief through meaning, science, death, ideology and society. In partnership with Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Vladimir Jurowski

— Sibelius expert Osmo Vänskä presents a Symphony Cycle pairing Sibelius’s symphonies with concertos by British composers

— Soloists including Anne-Sofie Mutter, Nicola Benedetti, Julian Bliss, Steven Isserlis, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Hilary Hahn

Great choral works including Haydn’s The Creation, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Choral)

Book now lpo.org.uk 020 7840 4242Season discounts of up to 30% available

LPO Programme Ad.indd 1 31/03/2016 15:03:08


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


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

Corporate Members

Silver: Accenture BerenbergCarter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce We are AD

bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLPBTO Management Consulting AGCharles Russell SpeechlysLazardRusso-British Chamber of Commerce Willis Towers Watson

preferred partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli LtdSipsmith Steinway Villa Maria

In-kind SponsorGoogle Inc

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

Charitable TrustHelp Musicians UK Derek Hill Foundation The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leverhulme Trust The London Community Foundation London Stock Exchange Group FoundationLord and Lady Lurgan Trust

Marsh Christian TrustAdam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet TrustThe Ann and Frederick O’Brien

Charitable TrustOffice for Cultural and Scientific Affairs of

the Embassy of Spain in LondonThe Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust The Stanley Picker Trust The Radcliffe TrustRivers Foundation The R K Charitable TrustRVW Trust Schroder Charity 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 Trustand all others who wish to remain anonymous

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 Dr Barry Grimaldi 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 David Goldstone CBE LLB FRICS 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 CookMr Bruno de KegelDavid EllenMr Daniel GoldsteinDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MacDonald EggersDr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry SciardMr & Mrs David Malpas Virginia SlaymakerMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi UnderwoodGrenville & Krysia WilliamsMr Anthony Yolland

benefactorsMr Geoffrey BatemanMrs A BeareMs Molly BorthwickDavid & Patricia BuckMrs Alan CarringtonMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr Timothy Fancourt QCMr Richard FernyhoughMr Gavin Graham Roger GreenwoodWim and Jackie Hautekiet-ClareTony & Susan HayesMr Daniel Heaf and Ms Amanda HillMichael & Christine HenryMalcolm HerringJ. Douglas Home

Ivan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldPer JonssonMr Gerald LevinWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFPaul & Brigitta LockMr Peter MaceMs Ulrike ManselMr Robert Markwick and Ms Kasia Robinski Mr Brian MarshAndrew T MillsDr Karen MortonMr & Mrs Andrew Neill Mr Roger Phillimore Mr James Pickford Andrew and Sarah PoppletonMr Michael PosenAlexey & Anastasia ReznikovichMr Konstantin SorokinMartin and Cheryl SouthgateMr Peter Tausig Lady Marina VaizeySimon and Charlotte WarshawHoward & Sheelagh WatsonDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoe

and others who wish to remainanonymous

hon. benefactorElliott Bernerd

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


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 Cameron Doley 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 Barry Smith 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-ChairmanXenia HanusiakAlexandra JupinJill Fine MainelliKristina McPhee David Oxenstierna Natalie Pray Robert WatsonDanny 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

Christopher AldertonStage Manager

Damian Davis Transport Manager

Madeleine Ridout Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Education and Community

Isabella Kernot Education Director

Talia LashEducation and Community Project Manager

Lucy SimsEducation and Community Project Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Catherine Faulkner Development Events Manager

Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations Manager

Rosie Morden Individual Giving Manager

Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager

Helen Yang Development Assistant

Kirstin PeltonenDevelopment Associate

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager

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 Barry GrimaldiHonorary Doctor

Mr Chris AldrenHonorary ENT Surgeon

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.

Photograph of Rachmaninoff courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Photograph of Strauss © Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers. Front cover photograph: Ilyoung Chae, First Violin © Benjamin Ealovega. Cover design/ art direction: Ross Shaw @ JMG Studio.Printed by Cantate.

Documents

London Philharmonic Orchestra 30 April 2016 concert programme