LPO Programme notes 11 December

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Principal Conductor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI Principal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN Leader PIETER SCHOEMAN Composer in Residence MARK-ANTHONY TURNAGE Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER

3/12/09

PROGRAMME £3

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Friday 11 December 2009 | 7.30 pm

JUKKA-PEKKA SARASTE conductor RADU LUPU piano

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto 5 in E flat (Emperor)

(38’)

INTERVAL

†

Page 1

AM†

JTI FRIDAY SERIES

BRAHMS Symphony 1 in C minor

11:36

(49’)

supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

CONTENTS 2 List of Players 3 Orchestra History 4 Leader 5 Jukka-Pekka Saraste 6 Radu Lupu 7 Programme Notes 11 Recordings / Southbank Centre 12 LPO Contemporaries 13 Supporters 14 Philharmonic News 15 Administration 16 Future Concerts

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

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINS Pieter Schoeman* Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Katalin Varnagy Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Tina Gruenberg Martin Hรถhmann Chair supported by Richard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Florence Schoeman Sarah Streatfeild Rebecca Shorrock Galina Tanney Joanne Chen Toby Tramaseur Caroline Simms SECOND VIOLINS Clare Duckworth Principal Chair supported by Richard and Victoria Sharp

Jeongmin Kim Joseph Maher Kate Birchall Chair supported by David and Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Nynke Hijlkema Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Andrew Thurgood Sioni Williams Alison Strange Imogen Williamson Heather Badke

VIOLAS Alexander Zemtsov* Principal Robert Duncan Anthony Byrne Chair supported by John and Angela Kessler

Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Emmanuella Reiter Daniel Cornford Naomi Holt Sarah Malcolm Martin Fenn Alistair Scahill Miranda Davis CELLOS Moray Welsh Guest Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Santiago Sabino Carvalho + Gregory Walmsley Tom Roff Pavlos Carvalho Emily Isaac Emma Black Philip Taylor DOUBLE BASSES Kevin Rundell* Principal Meherban Gillett Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Kenneth Knussen David Johnson Helen Rowlands Jeremy Gordon

FLUTES Jaime Martin Principal Stewart McIlwham*

* Holds a professorial appointment in London +

OBOES Ian Hardwick Principal Owen Dennis

Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

CLARINETS Robert Hill* Principal Nicholas Carpenter BASSOONS John Price Principal Gareth Newman* CONTRA BASSOON Simon Estell Principal HORNS John Ryan Principal Martin Hobbs Timothy Ball Gareth Mollison Richard Bayliss TRUMPETS Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff and Meg Mann

TROMBONES David Whitehouse Principal Blair Sinclair BASS TROMBONE David Stewart TIMPANI Simon Carrington* Principal

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Julian and Gill Simmonds Mrs Steven Ward Simon Yates and Kevin Roon

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

© Richard Cannon

Seventy-seven years after Sir Thomas Beecham founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage. Following Beecham’s influential founding tenure the Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passed from one illustrious musician to another, amongst them Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive tradition continued in September 2007 when Vladimir Jurowski became the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor, and in a further exciting move, the Orchestra appointed Yannick Nézet-Séguin, its new Principal Guest Conductor from September 2008.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It plays there around 40 times each season with many of the world’s most sought after conductors and soloists.

Concert highlights in 2009/10 include Between Two Worlds – an exploration of the music and times of Alfred Schnittke; a Sibelius symphony cycle with Osmo Vänskä in January/February 2010; a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah conducted by Kurt Masur and dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall; and new works by Rautavaara, Górecki, Philip Glass, Ravi Shankar and the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence, Mark-

Anthony Turnage. Imaginative programming and a commitment to new music are at the heart of the Orchestra’s activity, with regular commissions and world première performances.

In addition to its London season, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. It is unique in combining these concert activities with esteemed opera performances each summer at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where it has been the Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs to enthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 it made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring continues to form a significant part of the Orchestra’s schedule, with regular appearances in North America, Europe and the Far East,

‘… the standard of execution by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Choir of the Moscow Conservatory, magnificently corralled by Jurowski, was exemplary.’

ANDREW CLARK, FINANCIAL TIMES, 19 NOVEMBER 2009

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PIETER SCHOEMAN LEADER

often headlining at major festivals. Tours in 2009/10 include visits to Germany, Australia, France, China, the Canaries and the USA. Having long been embraced by the recording, broadcasting and film industries, the London Philharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domestic and international television and radio. It also works extensively with the Hollywood and UK film industries, recording soundtracks for blockbuster motion pictures including the Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and scores for Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, Philadelphia and East is East.

The Orchestra also enjoys strong relationships with the major record labels and in 2005 began reaching out to new global audiences through the release of live, studio and archive recordings on its own CD label. Recent additions to the catalogue have included acclaimed releases of Shostakovich’s monumental Tenth Symphony under Bernard Haitink; a disc of contemporary works by composers Thomas Adès, James MacMillan and Jennifer Higdon conducted by Marin Alsop; Rachmaninoff’s Symphony 3 along with Bax’s Tintagel conducted by Osmo Vänskä; a CD of early Britten works conducted by Vladimir Jurowski; and Mahler’s Symphony 6 under the baton of Klaus Tennstedt. The Orchestra’s own-label releases are available to download by work or individual track from its website: www.lpo.org.uk/shop.

The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners through its rich programme of community and school-based activity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, which includes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, its Foyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme for outstanding young instrumentalists, and regular family and schools concerts.

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

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

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In 2002, Pieter Schoeman joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader. In 2008 he was appointed Leader.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten. He studied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winning numerous competitions, including the 1984 World Youth Concerto Competition in America. In 1987 he was offered the Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study with Edouard 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 Schoeman has performed as a soloist and recitalist throughout the world 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 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, he has performed Arvo Pärt's Double Concerto and Benjamin Britten's Double Concerto, which was recorded for the Orchestra’s own record label. Most recently he also played concertos with the Wiener Concertverein and Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice.

In 1995 Pieter Schoeman became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. During his tenure there he performed frequently as Guest Leader with the symphony orchestras of Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

A frequent guest of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, Pieter Schoeman returned in October 2006 to lead that orchestra on a three week tour of Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Pieter Schoeman has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, the BBC and for American film and television. He led the Orchestra in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He teaches at Trinity College of Music.

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JUKKA-PEKKA SARASTE CONDUCTOR

At the beginning of the 2010/11 season, Jukka-Pekka Saraste will take up his position as Chief Conductor of the WDR Radio Orchestra in Cologne.

From 1987 to 2001, he was Music Director of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and created an orchestra much admired by audiences and critics throughout the world. From 1994 to 2001, he held the post of Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and from 2002 to 2005 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Since August 2006 he has held the post of Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. For the Finnish Chamber Orchestra he founded the Tammisaari Festival which takes place every summer and he is also the Music Adviser of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra.

Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the WDR Orchestra Cologne and the Swedish Radio Orchestra. He took part in the first Abu Dhabi Classics season with the Sibelius Academy Orchestra and has just conducted a substantial tour of all the European music capitals with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. During the 2009/10 season Jukka-Pekka Saraste will appear with the WDR Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Orchestra, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and will go on tour with the Philharmonia and the Lahti Symphony Orchestras.

His discography includes, most notably, the complete symphonies of Sibelius and Nielsen with the Finnish Radio Orchestra as well as works by Bartók, Dutilleux, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Saraste launched the orchestra’s first DVD recording ever – Sibelius’ 5th symphony. Another DVD, with Sibelius and Shostakovich, will be launched this season.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste has established himself as one of the exceptional conductors of his generation, demonstrating considerable musical depth and integrity. He has brought the music of Scandinavian composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg and Esa-Pekka Salonen to greater prominence in the active concert repertoire, and also has a strong affinity with the sound and style of late romantic music.

His most recent engagements have included concerts with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, the Chicago Symphony, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, the

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RADU LUPU

John Garfield

PIANO

Radu Lupu is firmly established as one of the most important musicians of his generation.

Born in Romania, he started piano lessons with Lia Busuioceanu at the age of six. At the age of 12 he made his public debut with a complete programme of his own music. He continued his studies for several years with Florica Muzicescu and Cella Delavrancea before winning a scholarship in 1961 to the Moscow Conservatoire where he studied with Galina Eghyazarova, Heinrich Neuhaus and later with Stanislav Neuhaus. He won first prize in three competitions: the 1966 Van Cliburn, the 1967 Enescu International and the 1969 Leeds International.

Mr Lupu has performed with all the great orchestras of the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic (with whom he made his Salzburg Festival debut in 1978 with Karajan), the Vienna Philharmonic (with whom he opened the 1986 Salzburg Festival with Muti), the Royal Concertgebouw, all the major London orchestras, and all the great American orchestras. In the USA his first significant appearances were in 1972 with the Cleveland Orchestra and Barenboim in New York, and with the Chicago Symphony and Giulini. He has played at most of the notable music festivals and has been a regular guest at the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals.

His recordings for Decca include the Beethoven Piano Concertos, Brahms’ Concerto 1, the Grieg and Schumann Concertos, the complete Mozart Violin and Piano Sonatas with Szymon Goldberg, Debussy and

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Franck Violin and Piano Sonatas with Kyung Wha Chung, and solo works by Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Schubert. In 1995 he won two awards in the category ‘Best Instrumental Record of the Year’: a Grammy for Schubert’s Sonatas in A major D664 and B flat major D960, and an Edison Award for Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana and Humoresque. He has also made two records with Murray Perahia (CBS), two albums of Schubert Lieder with Barbara Hendricks (EMI), and a disc of pieces for four hands by Schubert with Daniel Barenboim (Teldec).

The 2009/10 season sees a Residency with the Tonhalle Zurich, comprising a tour in Germany, performances in Zurich with David Zinman and (later in the season) with Franz Welser-Möst, a chamber concert with members of the Tonhalle Orchestra, and a solo recital. Other engagements include concerto appearances with the London Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian State and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras as well as with the Orchestre de Paris. Recitals will take place in Madrid, Geneva, Vienna, Rome, Florence and Milan.

Concerts in the USA will include performances with the Chicago Symphony, and two dates at Carnegie Hall, New York, as well as a recital and a concerto performance with the Cincinnati Symphony.

In 2006 Mr Lupu was presented with two awards: the Premio Internazionale Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, and, for a second time, the Abbiati prize (conferred by the Italian Critics’ Association). He had previously won this in 1989.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD Two heavyweight works of the orchestral repertoire fill this evening’s programme, each with its own special spot in history. Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto was his last, marking both the end of his own career as a concert pianist (with increasing deafness making public performance with other musicians impossible, this was the first piano concerto that he did not première

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN

himself), and the achievement of a new level of heroic grandeur for the concerto form; while Brahms’s First Symphony is the fruit of two decades’ work in which the composer finally fulfilled his long-predicted destiny of establishing himself as Beethoven’s heir, at once embracing the great man’s powerful symphonic legacy and instilling it with new life and direction. These are compositions at the very forefront of the western classical tradition.

PIANO CONCERTO 5 IN E FLAT, OP. 73 (EMPEROR) RADU LUPU piano Allegro | Adagio un poco mosso – | Rondo: Allegro

1770-1827

One has to wonder whether the organisers of the concert at which Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto received its Viennese première in February 1812 – the actual première having taken place in Leipzig the previous November – provided the ideal audience. A contemporary report of the combined concert and art exhibition mounted by the Society of Noble Ladies for Charity tells us that ‘the pictures offer a glorious treat; a new pianoforte concerto by Beethoven failed’. And it is true that, while it was later to become as familiar a piano concerto as any, in its early years the Emperor struggled for popularity. Perhaps its leonine strength and symphonic sweep were simply too much for everyone, not just the Noble Ladies. Cast in the same key as the ‘heroic’ Third Symphony, it breathes much the same majestically confident air, though in a manner one could describe as more macho. Composed in the first few months of 1809, with war brewing between Austria and France, this is Beethoven in what must have seemed overbearingly optimistic mood.

The concerto is certainly not reticent about declaring itself. The first movement opens with extravagant flourishes from the piano punctuated by stoic orchestral chords, leading us with unerring sense of direction towards the sturdy first theme. This march-like tune presents two important thematic reference-points in the shape of a melodic turn and a tiny figure of just two notes (a long and a short) which Beethoven refers to constantly in the course of the movement. The latter ushers in the chromatic scale with which the piano reenters, and the same sequence of events later serves to introduce the central development section. Here the turn dominates, dreamily passed around the woodwind, but the two-note figure emerges ever more strongly, eventually firing off a stormy tirade of piano octaves.

The air quickly clears, however, and reappearances of the turn lead back to a recapitulation of the opening material. Towards the end of the movement Beethoven makes his most radical formal move. In the early nineteenth century it was still customary at this point in

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Miraculous Logic: The Music of Jean Sibelius Wed 27 January - Fri 5 February 2010 Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Four concerts featuring all seven Sibelius symphonies plus music for soloists and orchestra OSMO VÄNSKÄ conductor HENNING KRAGGERUD violin HELENA JUNTUNEN soprano KRISTINA BLAUMANE cello

For full details of these concerts, see page 16.

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‘Vänskä drew playing of utmost subtlety from the LPO’ JOHN ALLISON, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, MAY 2008

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PROGRAMME NOTES

a concerto for the soloist to improvise a solo passage (or cadenza), but in this work Beethoven for the first time includes one which is not only fully written-out, but involves the orchestra as well.

It was an innovation that many subsequent composers, glad of the extra control it allowed them, would adopt.

The second and third movements together take less time to play than the first. The Adagio, distant in B major, opens with a serene, hymn-like tune from the strings, which the piano answers with a theme of its own before itself taking up the opening one in ornamented form. This in turn leads to an orchestral reprise of the same theme, now with greater participation from the winds and with piano decoration.

At the end, the music dissolves, then eerily drops down a semitone as the piano toys idly with some quiet, thickly scored chords. In a flash, these are then transformed and revealed to be the main theme of the bouncy Rondo finale, which has followed without a break. Physical joins between movements were a trend in Beethoven’s music at this time, but so too were thematic ones. At one point in this finale, with the main

‘To us musicians the work of Beethoven parallels the pillars of smoke and fire which led the Israelites through the desert’.

FRANZ LISZT

theme firmly established, the strings gently put forward the ‘experimental’ version from the end of the slow movement, as if mocking the piano’s earlier tentativeness. The movement approaches its close, however, with piano and timpani in stealthy cahoots before, with a final flurry, the end is upon us.

The concerto’s nickname was not chosen by Beethoven, and, given the composer’s angry reaction to Napoleon’s self-appointment as Emperor in 1804, it may seem more than usually inappropriate. Yet there is an appositeness to it if we take the music’s grandly heroic stance as a picture of what, perhaps, an emperor ought to be. Beethoven once remarked that if he had understood the arts of war as well as he had those of music, he could have defeated Napoleon. Who, listening to this concerto, could doubt that?

INTERVAL 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Johannes BRAHMS

SYMPHONY 1 IN C MINOR, OP. 68 Un poco sostenuto – Allegro | Andante sostenuto | Un poco allegretto e grazioso | Adagio – Più andante – Allegro non troppo, ma con brio

1833-1897 ‘You don’t know what it’s like always to hear that giant marching along behind me’, Brahms once wrote to a friend. The giant in question was Beethoven, the composer who at the start of the nineteenth century had taken the genre of the symphony beyond absolute music and turned it into a powerful expression of the human condition. Beethoven’s symphonies – in particular the Fifth, Seventh and Ninth – made such a deep impression on the composers of succeeding decades that for a while, ironically, it almost seemed to have brought symphonic writing to a halt; so unwilling were composers to allow themselves to be measured against the greatness of Beethoven that they either wrote no symphonies at all, or, if they did, deliberately wrote works that modestly avoided confronting Beethoven on his own mighty terms. Yet if Brahms was as oppressed as the next man, he clearly also felt that one day he would have to throw his hat into the symphonic arena. He was not alone. In 1853 he had met and befriended Schumann, who promptly hailed him in the press as a major talent and made clear his belief that in Brahms he had found someone destined to be the greatest symphonist of the age. Brahms did attempt a symphony around this time, but, ever one of the most self-critical of composers, soon discarded the project. By 1862 he was showing friends the first movement of a new symphony, but he was in no hurry to finish it; despite constant encouragement and increasing public anticipation, he did not complete it until 1876. The première of this First Symphony finally took place in Karlsruhe that November.

The ways in which Brahms’s First Symphony shows its debt to Beethoven are not hard to identify. On the most obvious level, many passages in the first and last movements simply sound like Beethoven; one theme in particular – the famous striding main theme which springs forth after the long slow introduction to the

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finale – drew immediate comment for its resemblance to the ‘Ode to Joy’ theme from Beethoven’s Ninth, to which insight Brahms is said to have replied ‘any fool can hear that!’. More meaningful is the way in which Brahms mimics the typical Beethovenian symphonic journey from darkness to light in the form of an audible triumph against adversity over the course of the four movements. Beethoven’s Fifth is the outstanding model for this, and it is surely no coincidence that Brahms chooses to begin it in the same key of C minor – Beethoven’s most characteristic and dramatic – and to end it, as Beethoven does, in a more optimistic C major.

If the outer movements show Brahms at perhaps his most Beethovenian, the two central ones are more typically his. The slow second movement is radiant, rich and song-like, and includes an enchanting oboe melody later heard to even greater effect on solo violin. The mood of this movement may owe something to its equivalent in Schumann’s Fourth Symphony, but in the third movement Brahms is at his most original; where Beethoven would invariably have chosen a vigorously rhythmic, almost aggressive movement of the scherzo type, Brahms writes a movement that is neither fast nor slow, and breathes gentle contentment and joy.

Brahms’s response to descriptions of his First Symphony as ‘Beethoven’s Tenth’ may have been dismissive, but the time and trouble he took over the work suggest that he was fully aware of the historical significance of a debut symphony by a composer who had been declared Beethoven’s artistic heir even before he had produced the evidence. The wait was worth it; in this one work he restored to life a genre which many of his contemporaries had assumed dead.

Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp

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RECORDINGS

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WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

ON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL 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.

LPO-0011 Eduard van Beinum conducts Arnold, Mahler, Beethoven, Brahms and Elgar ‘The immediacy of the performances is electrifying.

You’ll search hard to find a fresher approach to Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, or the precision Beinum gets from Beethoven’s Leonore No 1 and Brahms’s Haydn Variations.’

Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include: MDC music and movies, Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffé Vergnano 1882, Skylon and Feng Sushi, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact our Head of Customer Relations at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, by phone on 020 7960 4250 or by email at customer@southbankcentre.co.uk

KENNETH WALTON, THE SCOTSMAN, 16 JANUARY 2006

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.

LPO-0026 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Beethoven’s Symphony 9 with Lucia Popp, Ann Murray, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, René Pape and the London Philharmonic Choir

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.

‘The other jewel is Tennstedt’s Beethoven: Ninth Symphony ... showcasing the LPO’s intuitive relationship with its late lamented German chief.’

ANDREW CLARK, FINANCIAL TIMES, 27 OCTOBER 2007

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. They may also be purchased from all good retail outlets or through the London Philharmonic Orchestra: telephone 020 7840 4242 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) or visit the website www.lpo.org.uk

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LPO CONTEMPORARIES CHRISTMAS PARTY

Through their annual membership LPO Contemporaries support the work of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a registered charity dedicated to bringing music and education to people from all walks of life. The contributions from all our members are vital in supporting the Orchestra and its work on and off the concert platform.

If you, or someone you know, would like to join LPO Contemporaries or find out more about this new group, please contact Anna Gover at anna.gover@lpo.org.uk or on 020 7840 4225 or visit our website: www.lpo.og.uk/lpocontemporaries The founding members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s new membership group, LPO Contemporaries, were joined by Orchestra musicians and special guests on Thursday 3 December for an exciting start to the Christmas celebrations. The party was kindly hosted by LPO Contemporaries member and Trustee of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Høgel, at her Chester Square home. Guests enjoyed a delicious array of food and drink and even had the chance to join in with some impromptu carol singing around the piano!

A number of new members signed up on the night and they have an exciting calendar of events to look forward to in the New Year, including a VIP Concert Evening and other exclusive events.

Membership starts from £150 a year and LPO Contemporaries’ perks include: •

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•

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Priority access to a specially selected LPO Contemporaries’ Subscription Series Complimentary tickets to exclusive LPO Contemporaries’ VIP Evening and Champagne Saturdays Bespoke events hosted by the Orchestra and its cultural partners across London Discounts and special offers with select London Philharmonic Orchestra partners

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Have you considered buying a membership of the Orchestra as a Christmas gift?

If you know someone who loves classical music, why not treat them to a year’s membership of the Friends, Benefactors or LPO Contemporaries? Membership starts from £50 a year and provides a perfect way to get closer to the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Supporters can attend Members’ Rehearsals, get to know the musicians at special private events and receive a range of benefits throughout the Orchestra’s Royal Festival Hall season.

Please see the Orchestra’s website www.lpo.org.uk or call Anna Gover on 020 7840 4225 for further information.

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We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors: Thomas Beecham Group Mr & Mrs Richard & Victoria Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds Mrs Steven Ward Simon Yates & Kevin Roon Garf & Gill Collins David & Victoria Graham Fuller Richard Karl Goeltz John & Angela Kessler Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Eric Tomsett Guy & Utti Whittaker Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Jane Attias Lady Jane Berrill Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler Mr Charles Dumas David Ellen Commander Vincent Evans

Mr Daniel Goldstein Mrs Barbara Green Mr Ray Harsant Oliver Heaton Peter MacDonald Eggers Mr & Mrs David Malpas Andrew T Mills Mr Maxwell Morrison Mr & Mrs Thierry Sciard Mr John Soderquist & Mr Costas Michaelides Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Howard & Sheelagh Watson Mr Laurie Watt Mr Anthony Yolland Benefactors Mrs A Beare Dr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRS Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr David Edgecombe Mr Richard Fernyhough Ken Follett Michael & Christine Henry

Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr R K Jeha Mr & Mrs Maurice Lambert Mr Gerald Levin Sheila Ashley Lewis Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Mr Frank Lim Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Brian Marsh Ms Sarah Needham Mr & Mrs Egil Oldeide Edmund Pirouet Mr Michael Posen Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Lady Marina Vaizey Mr D Whitelock Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

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

Corporate Members Appleyard & Trew llp British American Business Charles Russell Destination Québec – UK Diagonal Consulting Lazard Leventis Overseas Man Group plc Québec Government Office in London Corporate Donors Lombard Street Research Redpoint Energy Limited In-kind Sponsors Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sela Sweets Ltd The United Grand Lodge of England Villa Maria

Education Partners Lambeth City Learning Centre London Borough of Lambeth Southwark EiC Trusts and Foundations Adam Mickiewicz Institute Allianz Cultural Foundation The Andor Charitable Trust The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation Borletti-Buitoni Trust The Candide Charitable Trust The John S Cohen Foundation The Coutts Charitable Trust The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Emmanuel Kaye Foundation The Equitable Charitable Trust The Eranda Foundation The Ernest Cook Trust The Fenton Arts Trust The Foyle Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation The Henry Smith Charity

The Idlewild Trust John Lyon’s Charity John Thaw Foundation The Jonathan & Jeniffer Harris Trust The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust Lord Ashdown Charitable Settlement Marsh Christian Trust Maurice Marks Charitable Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust The Michael Marks Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund Paul Morgan Charitable Trust The R K Charitable Trust Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation Stansfield Trust UK Friends of the FelixMendelssohn-BartholdyFoundation The Underwood Trust and others who wish to remain anonymous.

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PHILHARMONIC NEWS

The Band Now entering its second year, the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s The Band has gone from strength to strength. The project is the Orchestra’s youth fusion group and it gives aspiring young musicians from south London the chance to work with members of the Orchestra in creative composition workshops.

Led by workshop leader Phil Mullen, the sessions give the young musicians a space in which they can explore composing in their own musical styles. They experience firsthand the Orchestra members’ skills and expertise, and learn from them what it means to be a member of a musical ensemble.

It also gives them a level of access to the Orchestra they might not otherwise experience. Band members were recently given the chance to observe a full orchestral rehearsal of Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. ‘I felt inspired’, Lidia (19) said about the opportunity, ‘they were all looking at the conductor and they understood everything he was doing’.

With three fantastic performances (on both the Clore Ballroom and main stage at the Royal Festival Hall) under their belt from last year, the group has spent this term spreading the word about the project. Phil and musicians from the Orchestra have run workshops in schools throughout Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham, featuring short talks and performances from the players followed by composition sessions.

When The Band resumes after Christmas they will be working towards a pre-concert performance on the Clore Ballroom Floor at 6 pm on Friday 12 March.

If you know anyone aged between 15-19 years from Southwark, Lambeth or Lewisham, whom you think would be perfect for the group, pass the message on to them. They can join by visiting the website www.lpo.org.uk/jointheband The Band is supported by The Emmanuel Kaye Foundation.

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Members of The Band performing at the Clore Ballroom in the Royal Festival Hall foyer

New Year in China The London Philharmonic Orchestra will spend the New Year in China giving concerts with conductor Christoph Eschenbach, supported by International Touring Partner, Aviva. There will be a total of six performances, two in Shenzhen, two in Shanghai and two in Beijing, from 31 December to 6 January.

The repertoire includes Dvo˘rák’s Symphonies 8 and 9, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Francesca da Rimini, Stravinsky’s Suite, The Firebird and Ravel’s Suite, Mother Goose.

January in The Canaries The Orchestra takes to the air later in January for two concerts in Tenerife and two in Gran Canaria. Vladimir Jurowski will be the conductor with repertoire comprising Shostakovich’s Five Fragments and Symphony 4, Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto (with Carolin Widmann), Beethoven’s Piano Concerto 3 (with Mitsuko Uchida) and Prokofiev’s Symphony 4. We will also be giving the première of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Texan Tenebrae which you will be able to hear in London on 17 April.

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ADMINISTRATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Martin Höhmann Chairman Stewart McIlwham Vice-Chairman Sue Bohling Simon Carrington Lord Currie* Jonathan Dawson* Anne McAneney George Peniston Sir Bernard Rix* Kevin Rundell Sir Philip Thomas Sir John Tooley* The Rt Hon. Lord Wakeham DL* Timothy Walker AM †

Timothy Walker AM † Chief Executive and Artistic Director Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Manager Julius Hendriksen Assistant to the Chief Executive and Artistic Director FINANCE David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

*Non-Executive Directors

David Greenslade Finance and IT Manager

THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC TRUST

Joshua Foong Finance Officer

Pehr Gyllenhammar Chairman Desmond Cecil CMG Sir George Christie CH Richard Karl Goeltz Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. Høgel Martin Höhmann Angela Kessler Clive Marks OBE FCA Victoria Sharp Julian Simmonds Timothy Walker AM † Laurence Watt Simon Yates

CONCERT MANAGEMENT

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, INC. We are very grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for its support of the Orchestra’s activities in the USA. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Charles Russell Solicitors Dr Louise Miller Honorary Doctor

Roanna Chandler Concerts Director Ruth Sansom Artistic Administrator Graham Wood Concerts, Recordings and Glyndebourne Manager Alison Jones Concerts Co-ordinator Hattie Garrard Tours and Engagements Manager Camilla Begg Concerts and Tours Assistant Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager Sarah Thomas Librarian Michael Pattison Stage Manager Hannah Tucker Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager Ken Graham Trucking Instrument Transportation (Tel: 01737 373305)

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMME

ARCHIVES Edmund Pirouet Consultant

Matthew Todd Education and Community Director

Philip Stuart Discographer

Anne Newman Education Officer

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive

Isobel Timms Community Officer

INTERN

Alec Haylor Education and Community Assistant

Christina Hickman Marketing

Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TP Tel: 020 7840 4200 Fax: 020 7840 4201 Box Office: 020 7840 4242

DEVELOPMENT Emma O’Connell Development Director Phoebe Rouse Corporate Relations Manager Sarah Tattersall Corporate Relations and Events Manager Anna Gover Charitable Giving Officer Melissa Van Emden Corporate Relations and Events Officer MARKETING Kath Trout Marketing Director Janine Howlett Marketing Manager Brighton, Eastbourne, Community & Education

www.lpo.org.uk Visit the website for full details of London Philharmonic Orchestra activities.

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

Photographs of Beethoven and Brahms courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

Photograph on the front cover

by Benjamin Ealovega.

Programmes printed by Cantate.

Frances Cook Publications Manager Samantha Kendall Box Office Administrator (Tel: 020 7840 4242) Heather Barstow Marketing Co-ordinator Valerie Barber Press Consultant (Tel: 020 7586 8560)

†Supported by Macquarie Group

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FUTURE CONCERTS AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS Wednesday 3 February 2010 | 7.30pm

Saturday 16 January 2010 | 7.30 pm Shostakovich Five Fragments Szymanowski Violin Concerto 1 Shostakovich Symphony 4

Sibelius Luonnotar Sibelius Symphony 4 Sibelius Symphony 5

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Carolin Widmann violin Barlines | FREE Post-Concert Event Clore Ballroom Floor, Royal Festival Hall Foyer An informal discussion with Vladimir Jurowski following the evening’s performance.

Osmo Vänskä conductor Helena Juntunen soprano FREE Pre-Concert Event 6.00pm | Royal Festival Hall A performance by Lambeth and Southwark school children marking the culmination of their composition project, inspired by this evening’s repertoire.

Vladimir Jurowski and Carolin Widmann

Helena Juntunen and Kristina Blaumane

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS Wednesday 27 January 2010 | 7.30pm Sibelius Wood Nymph, Op.15 Sibelius Six Humoresques for violin and orchestra Sibelius Symphony 1 Osmo Vänskä conductor Henning Kraggerud violin FREE Pre-Concert Event 6.15pm | Royal Festival Hall Hilary Finch talks to Osmo Vänskä about Miraculous Logic: The Music of Jean Sibelius.

Osmo Vänskä and Henning Kraggerud

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS Saturday 30 January 2010 | 7.30pm Sibelius Symphony 3 Sibelius Selected songs including Höstkväll, from Five Songs, Op. 38 Sibelius Symphony 2 Osmo Vänskä conductor Helena Juntunen soprano

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS JTI Friday Series | Friday 5 February 2010 | 7.30pm Sibelius Tapiola Sibelius Cantique and Devotion for cello and orchestra Sibelius Symphony 6 Sibelius Symphony 7 Osmo Vänskä conductor Kristina Blaumane cello

TO BOOK Tickets £9-£38 / Premium seats £55 London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 | www.lpo.org.uk Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; no booking fee Southbank Centre Ticket Office | 0844 847 9920 www.southbankcentre.co.uk/lpo Daily, 9am-8pm. £2.50 telephone / £1.45 online booking fees; no fee for Southbank Centre members