14 Dec 12 LPO Programme notes

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI* Principal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN Leader pieter schoeman Composer in Residence JULIAN ANDERSON Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

JTI FRIDAY SERIES SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Friday 14 December 2012 | 7.30pm

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor ANNA LARSSON contralto

BRAHMS Tragic Overture, Op. 81 (13’) WAGNER (arr. Henze) Wesendonck Lieder (15’) Interval BRUCKNER Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1877 Linz edition) (48’)

* supported by the Tsukanov Family and one anonymous donor CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

PROGRAMME £3 CONTENTS 2 Welcome 3 About the Orchestra 4 Tonight’s performers 5 Vladimir Jurowski 6 Anna Larsson 7 Programme notes 9 Song texts 12 Programme notes contd.

13 Christmas gifts from the LPO 14 Birthday Appeal 2012/13 15 Supporters 16 LPO administration The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

Welcome

pieter schoeman leader

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

WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

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A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment: PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium.

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MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins.

© Patrick Harrison

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.

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 Philharmonic Orchestra.

Pieter is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most adventurous and forward-looking orchestras. As well as giving classical concerts, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, has its own record label, and reaches thousands of Londoners every year through activities for schools and local communities.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded many blockbuster scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, East is East, Hugo, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now nearly 70 releases available on CD and to download.

Recent additions include Dvořák’s Stabat Mater under Neeme Järvi; Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 with Vladimir Jurowski; Sibelius’s Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6 under the late Paavo Berglund; and the world premiere of Ravi Shankar’s First Symphony conducted by David Murphy.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and since then its Principal Conductors have included Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. The current Principal Conductor is Vladimir Jurowski, ‘Jurowski and the LPO provided the appointed in 2007, and impossible that is perfection ... As things Yannick Nézet-Séguin is stand now, the LPO must rate as an Principal Guest Conductor.

example to all orchestras.’

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.

The Orchestra is Resident Musicalcriticism.com, July 2011 Orchestra at Southbank (BBC Proms 2011: Liszt, Bartók and Kodály) Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has performed since it opened The London Philharmonic Orchestra maintains an in 1951, giving around 40 concerts there each season.

2012/13 highlights include three concerts with Vladimir energetic programme of activities for young people and local communities. Highlights include the Jurowski based around the theme of War and Peace Deutsche Bank BrightSparks Series; the Leverhulme in collaboration with the Russian National Orchestra; Young Composers project; and the Foyle Future Firsts Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, also conducted by orchestral training programme for outstanding young Jurowski; 20th-century American works with Marin players. Over recent years, developments in technology Alsop; Haydn and Strauss with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and social networks have enabled the Orchestra to and the UK premiere of Carl Vine’s Second Piano reach even more people worldwide: all its recordings Concerto with pianist Piers Lane under Vassily Sinaisky. are available to download from iTunes and, as well Throughout 2013 the Orchestra will collaborate with as a YouTube channel, news blog, iPhone app and Southbank Centre on The Rest Is Noise festival, based regular podcasts, the Orchestra has a lively presence on on Alex Ross’s book of the same name and charting the Facebook and Twitter.

20th century’s key musical works and historical events.

The Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Every summer, the Orchestra leaves London for four months and takes up its annual residency accompanying the famous Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing concerts to sell-out audiences worldwide.

Tours in the 2012/13 season include visits to Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, the USA and Austria.

Find out more and get involved! lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

tonight’s performers

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Chair supported by John & Angela Kessler

Ilyoung Chae Chair supported by Moya Greene

Katalin Varnagy Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Tina Gruenberg Martin Höhmann Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Grace Lee Rebecca Shorrock Second Violins Fredrik Paulsson Guest Principal Jeongmin Kim Joseph Maher Fiona Higham Ashley Stevens Marie-Anne Mairesse Nancy Elan Dean Williamson Sioni Williams Peter Graham Mila Mustakova Elizabeth Baldey Sheila Law Sarah Buchan

Violas Cyrille Mercier Guest Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Susanne Martens Isabel Pereira Daniel Cornford Martin Fenn Sarah Malcolm Miranda Davis Anthony Byrne Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Jonathan Ayling Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Gregory Walmsley Santiago Carvalho† Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Tom Roff Helen Rathbone Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Tim Gibbs Co-Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Richard Lewis Kenneth Knussen Helen Rowlands Tom Walley

Flutes Sue Thomas Principal Chair supported by the Sharp Family

Ian Mullin Stewart McIlwham* Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal Alto Flute Stewart McIlwham* Oboes Ian Hardwick Principal Angela Tennick Sue Bohling Cor Anglais Sue Bohling Principal Chair supported by Julian & Gill Simmonds

Clarinets Nicholas Carpenter* Principal Emily Meredith Paul Richards

Horns John Ryan David Pyatt Guest Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Bass Clarinet Paul Richards Principal

Harp Rachel Masters* Principal

Bassoons Gareth Newman* Principal Dominic Tyler

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

Contrabassoon Simon Estell Principal

† Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Andrew Davenport David & Victoria Graham Fuller

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI

© Chris Christodoulou

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor

One of today’s most sought-after and dynamic conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow, and completed the first part of his musical studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany, continuing his studies at the High Schools of Music in 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 has been Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera since 2001, and in 2003 was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor in September 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 also held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper, Berlin (1997–2001); Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–03); and Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–09).

Vladimir Jurowski is a regular guest with many leading orchestras in both Europe and North America, including the Berlin and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras; the Dresden Staatskapelle; the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester; the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich; and the Royal Concertgebouw, Philadelphia, Chicago Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony and Mahler Chamber orchestras. Highlights of the 2012/13 season and beyond include his debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, NHK Symphony and San Francisco Symphony orchestras, and return visits to the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich; the Accademia di Santa Cecilia; and the Philadelphia, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw and Chicago Symphony orchestras.

Jurowski made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, in 1999 with Rigoletto, and has since returned for Jenůfa, The Queen of Spades and Hansel and Gretel.

He has conducted Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera; War and Peace at the Opera National de Paris; Eugene Onegin at Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre; and Iolanta and Die Teufel von Loudon at the Dresden Semperoper, as well as The Magic Flute, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Don Giovanni, The Rake’s Progress, The Cunning Little Vixen and Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Future engagements include new productions of Ariadne auf Naxos at Glyndebourne; Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera; Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper, Berlin; and The Fiery Angel at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.

Jurowski’s discography includes the first ever recording of the cantata Exil by Giya Kancheli for ECM; Meyerbeer’s L’etoile du Nord for Marco Polo; Massenet’s Werther for BMG; and a series of records for PentaTone with the Russian National Orchestra. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has released a wide selection of his live recordings on its LPO Live label, including Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2; Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances; Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1, 4, 5, 6 and Manfred; and works by Turnage, Holst, Britten, Shostakovich, Honegger and Haydn. His tenure as Music Director at Glyndebourne has been documented in a CD release of Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery, and DVD releases of his performances of La Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, and Rachmaninoff’s The Miserly Knight. Other DVD releases include Hansel and Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera New York; his first concert as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor featuring works by Wagner, Berg and Mahler; and DVDs with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7) and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Strauss and Ravel), all released by Medici Arts.

Vladimir Jurowski’s position as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra is generously supported by the Tsukanov Family and one anonymous donor.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

ANNA LARSSON

© Anna Thorbjörnsson

contralto

Swedish contralto Anna Larsson was educated at the University College of Opera in Stockholm.

She made her international debut in Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado in 1997, and her opera debut as Erda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the Berlin State Opera, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

Anna Larsson has sung the roles of Erda, Waltraute, Orphée, Fricka, Delilah, and Zia Principessa at theatres including Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Vienna State Opera; Bavarian State Opera; London’s Royal Opera House; Teatro Maggio Musicale, Florence; Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia; Royal Danish Opera; Finnish National Opera; Swedish Royal Opera; and at the Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence festivals. In January 2011

she made her debut as Kundry in Parsifal at La Monnaie, Brussels, to great acclaim.

In concert, Anna Larsson is one of the premier interpreters of Gustav Mahler’s works. She regularly sings with all the great orchestras including the London, Berlin, New York, Vienna and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras; the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; the Lucerne Festival Orchestra; and the London and Chicago symphony orchestras.

She has sung almost the entire concert repertoire for contralto and orchestra, with the most illustrious conductors including Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano, Gustavo Dudamel, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Alan Gilbert and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

In December 2010 Anna Larsson was appointed Court Singer by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and in 2011 she opened her own concert venue, the Vattnäs Concert Barn, in the Swedish village of Vattnäs.

Merry Christmas from the London Philharmonic Orchestra!

Tonight is the Orchestra’s final concert of 2012 at Royal Festival Hall. However, we don’t get to relax just yet ...

Tomorrow (Saturday 15 December), the Orchestra travels to Madrid for the weekend, where with conductor Vladimir Jurowski and soloists Anna Larsson and Nicholas Angelich we will give two concerts at the Auditorio Nacional de Música. Then on Tuesday we’re off to Germany with conductor Christoph Eschenbach and soloists Baiba Skride, Daniel Müller-Schott and Lars Vogt. Over five evenings we’ll perform in Friedrichshafen, Freiburg, Stuttgart, Hannover and Essen, before returning to London on 23 December for a well-earned Christmas break!

The Orchestra returns to Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 19 January with an all-Strauss programme conducted by Vladimir Jurowski to launch The Rest Is Noise, Southbank Centre’s year-long festival of 20thcentury music inspired by Alex Ross’s book. We hope you will join us for this exciting year of concerts; in the meantime we wish all our audiences and supporters a happy and restful festive season, and thank you for your support of the Orchestra. lpo.org.uk therestisnoise.southbankcentre.co.uk

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

PROGRAMME NOTES

Speedread Anton Bruckner revered Wagner; Johannes Brahms regarded him as the musical arch-enemy. Yet in Bruckner’s First Symphony and Brahms’s Tragic Overture we can hear both composers striving for something very similar: a fusion of the romantic language of dreams and dark passions with the purposeful logic of classical symphonic forms.

In their very different ways, both works achieve this with remarkable success. The Brahms is a gripping portrayal of tragic ‘fate’ in action; the Bruckner leads from a nervous nocturnal march, through intense heart-searching in the slow movement, to

Johannes Brahms

a buoyantly affirmative conclusion. Between these we hear Wagner’s exquisite song-cycle Wesendonck Lieder, in part a kind of preparatory ‘study’ for his operatic masterpiece Tristan und Isolde, and in part a private confession of love for the young poetess Mathilde Wesendonck, who partly inspired Wagner’s ‘monument to that most beautiful of dreams’. In this concert we hear the songs in an arrangement for small orchestra by the late Hans Werner Henze, which manages to convey something of the sensuous richness of the opera, while restoring the confidential, intimate quality of Wagner’s original songs.

Tragic Overture, Op. 81

1833–97

Typically, Brahms provided no clues as to any specific ‘tragedy’ – literary or personal – that might have inspired his Tragic Overture. At the time he wrote this work, ‘programme music’ – music illustrating a story or depicting a specific mood or moods – was all the rage in the German-speaking countries; but Brahms was careful to distance himself from this sort of thing.

For him, music was ultimately music: it should speak for itself, not rely on external props to make its point.

Not long before he wrote the Overture in 1880, Brahms had contemplated writing incidental music for a production of Goethe’s verse drama Faust at the Vienna Burgtheater. It is possible that ideas for that project found their way into the Tragic Overture, but if so, Brahms was in no hurry to point them out.

the Overture can be enjoyed as a logical but darkly impassioned symphonic demonstration of that ‘fate’ in action. The unmistakably tragic first theme leads, via a mysterious transition – veiled rustling string figures and hushed bass brass – to a warmly consoling second theme, led by violins. At the point where we might expect a stormy ‘development’ section to begin, the tempo halves, and a ghostly processional emerges, based on motifs from earlier in the Overture. Another mysterious transition – all romantic shadows and halflights – leads to a return of the consoling second theme.

But eventually the initial mood of tragic striving returns and intensifies, building at last to a grimly emphatic ending in the minor key. We may not know the identity of Brahms’s hero, but we can guess how his story ends.

Fortunately for us, the Tragic Overture really does speak for itself. It begins with two stark fortissimo chords, which Brahms’s biographer Malcolm MacDonald aptly calls ‘a veritable hammer-blow of fate’. From then on

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

PROGRAMME NOTES

Richard Wagner 1813–83

In 1857, at the time he wrote his five Wesendonck Lieder, Richard Wagner was a fugitive from justice. In 1849, fired by nationalist ideals, he had taken an active part in the failed Dresden revolution. Retribution followed quickly, but Wagner was able to escape just in time.

Some years later the King of Saxony remarked that if Wagner had been brought to trial, he would almost certainly have been sentenced to death.

Wagner fled to Switzerland, where he found sanctuary at the villa of the rich silk merchant Otto Wesendonck, just outside Zurich. Here he was treated with great generosity by Otto, and with something close to adoration by his pretty young wife Mathilde. In return, Wagner fell in love with her – or at least convinced himself that he had. At the time he was absorbed in the medieval tragic legend of Tristan and Isolde, which was soon to become the basis of what many would say was his greatest opera; and it’s possible that his intoxication with the story, and with Isolde herself, projected itself onto the real human figure of Mathilde.

Even so, Wagner was still capable of self-awareness, as he revealed in a letter to his friend (and future father-inlaw) Franz Liszt: Since I have never, in my whole life, tasted the true happiness of love I intend raising a monument to that most beautiful of dreams, in which this love shall, for once, be utterly fulfilled. I have in mind a plan for Tristan and Isolde …’

But before he set to work on that monumental masterpiece, Wagner set five of Mathilde’s own poems for voice and piano, two of which – No. 3, ‘Im Treibhaus’, and No. 5, ‘Träume’ – were labelled ‘study for Tristan and Isolde’, and they contain poignant pre-echoes of the opera. The songs were later orchestrated, but only

8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Wesendonck Lieder (arr. Hans Werner Henze) Anna Larsson contralto 1 2 3 4 5

Der Engel (The angel) Stehe still! (Stand still!)

Im Treibhaus (In the greenhouse) Schmerzen (Agonies) Träume (Dreams)

No. 5 by Wagner himself. The rest were arranged by the conductor Felix Mottl – more than competently, it must be said; but many, including the late Hans Werner Henze, believed that something of the intimacy of the original voice and piano versions was lost in Mottl’s orchestrations. Accordingly Henze made his own arrangements in 1976 for a much smaller orchestra, with a brass section of just two horns, and a small woodwind section enriched by the luxurious, melancholic tones of alto flute, cor anglais and bass clarinet. The result is a score with something of the sensuous richness of Tristan und Isolde, but which retains the confidential quality of true Lieder. As the singer puts it the final song, ‘Träume’: ‘dreaming, they pour out their fragrance, gently fade away upon your breast.’

Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder

1 Der Engel

The angel

In der Kindheit frühen Tagen Hört ich oft von Engeln sagen, Die des Himmels hehre Wonne Tauschen mit der Erdensonne,

In the early days of childhood I often heard tell of angels Who exchanged heaven’s pure bliss For the sun of earth,

Daß, wo bang ein Herz in Sorgen Schmachtet vor der Welt verborgen, Daß, wo still es will verbluten, Und vergehn in Tränenfluten,

So that, when a sorrowful heart Hides its yearning from the world, And would silently bleed away And dissolve in streams of tears,

Daß, wo brünstig sein Gebet Einzig um Erlösung fleht, Da der Engel niederschwebt, Und es sanft gen Himmel hebt.

And when its fervent prayer Begs only for deliverance – That angel will fly down And gently raise the heart to heaven.

Ja, es stieg auch mir ein Engel nieder, Und auf leuchtendem Gefieder Führt er, ferne jedem Schmerz, Meinen Geist nun himmelwärts!

And to me too an angel has descended, And now on shining wings Bears my spirit, free from all pain, Towards heaven!

2 Stehe still!

Stand still!

Sausendes, brausendes Rad der Zeit, Messer du der Ewigkeit; Leuchtende Sphären im weiten All, Die ihr umringt den Weltenball; Urewige Schöpfung, halte doch ein, Genug des Werdens, laß mich sein!

Rushing, roaring wheel of time, You that measure eternity; Gleaming spheres in the vast universe, You that surround our earthly sphere; Eternal creation – cease: Enough of becoming, let me be!

Halte an dich, zeugende Kraft, Urgedanke, der ewig schafft!

Hemmet den Atem, stillet den Drang, Schweigend nur eine Sekunde lang!

Schwellende Pulse, fesselt den Schlag; Ende, des Wollens ew’ger Tag!

Hold yourselves back, generative powers, Primal Thought that always creates!

Stop your breath, still your urge, Be silent for a single moment!

Swelling pulses, restrain your beating; Eternal day of the Will – end!

Daß in selig süßem Vergessen Ich mög alle Wonne ermessen!

Wenn Auge in Auge wonnig trinken, Seele ganz in Seele versinken; Wesen in Wesen sich wiederfindet, Und alles Hoffens Ende sich kündet, Die Lippe verstummt in staunendem Schweigen, Keinen Wunsch mehr will das Innre zeugen: Erkennt der Mensch des Ew’gen Spur, Und löst dein Rätsel, heil’ge Natur!

That in blessed, sweet oblivion I might measure all my bliss!

When eye gazes blissfully into eye, When soul drowns utterly in soul, When being finds itself in being, And the goal of every hope is near, When lips are mute in silent wonder, When the soul wishes for nothing more – Then man perceives Eternity’s footprint, And solves your riddle, holy Nature!

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder continued

3 Im Treibhaus Hochgewölbte Blätterkronen, Baldachine von Smaragd, Kinder ihr aus fernen Zonen, Saget mir, warum ihr klagt?

In the greenhouse High-arching leafy crowns, Canopies of emerald, You children who dwell in distant climes, Tell me, why do you lament?

Schweigend neiget ihr die Zweige, Malet Zeichen in die Luft, Und der Leiden stummer Zeuge Steiget aufwärts, süßer Duft.

Silently you bend your branches, Inscribe your symbols on the air, And a sweet fragrance rises, As silent witness to your sorrows.

Weit in sehnendem Verlangen Breitet ihr die Arme aus, Und unmschlinget wahnbefangen Öder Leere nicht’gen Graus.

With longing and desire You open wide your arms, And embrace in your delusion Desolation’s awful void.

Wohl, ich weiß es, arme Pflanze; Ein Geschicke teilen wir, Ob umstrahlt von Licht und Glanze, Unsre Heimat ist nicht hier!

I am well aware, poor plant, That we share a single fate, Though bathed in gleaming light, Our homeland is not here!

Und wie froh die Sonne scheidet Von des Tages leerem Schein, Hüllet der, der wahrhaft leidet, Sich in Schweigens Dunkel ein.

And just as the sun is glad to leave The empty gleam of day, The true sufferer veils himself In the darkness of silence.

Stille wird’s, ein säuselnd Weben Füllet bang den dunklen Raum: Schwere Tropfen seh ich schweben An der Blätter grünem Saum.

It grows quiet, a whirring whisper Fills the dark room uneasily: I see heavy droplets hanging From the green edge of the leaves.

4 Schmerzen Sonne, weinest jeden Abend Dir die schönen Augen rot, Wenn im Meeresspiegel badend Dich erreicht der frühe Tod;

Agonies Every evening, sun, you redden Your lovely eyes with weeping, When, bathing in the sea, You die an early death;

Doch erstehst in alter Pracht, Glorie der düstren Welt, Du am Morgen neu erwacht, Wie ein stolzer Siegesheld!

Yet you rise in your old splendour, The glory of the dark world, When you wake in the morning As a proud and conquering hero!

Ach, wie sollte ich da klagen, Wie, mein Herz, so schwer dich sehn, Muß die Sonne selbst verzagen, Muß die Sonne untergehn?

Ah, why should I complain, Why should my heart be so depressed, If the sun itself must despair, If the sun itself must set?

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Und gebieret Tod nur Leben, Geben Schmerzen Wonne nur: O wie dank ich, daß gegeben Solche Schmerzen mir Natur!

If only death gives birth to life, If only agony brings bliss: O how I give thanks to Nature For giving me such agony!

5 Träume Sag, welch wunderbare Träume Halten meinen Sinn umfangen, Daß sie nicht wie leere Schäume Sind in ödes Nichts vergangen?

Dreams Say, what wondrous dreams are these Embracing all my senses, That they have not, like bubbles, Vanished to a barren void?

Träume, die in jeder Stunde, Jedem Tage schöner blühn, Und mit ihrer Himmelskunde Selig durchs Gemüte ziehn!

Dreams, that with every hour Bloom more lovely every day, And with their heavenly tidings Float blissfully through the mind!

Träume, die wie hehre Strahlen In die Seele sich versenken, Dort ein ewig Bild zu malen: Allvergessen, Eingedenken!

Dreams, that with glorious rays Penetrate the soul, There to paint an eternal picture: Forgetting all, remembering one!

Träume, wie wenn Frühlingssonne Aus dem Schnee die Blüten küßt, Daß zu nie geahnter Wonne Sie der neue Tag begrüßt,

Dreams, as when the Spring sun Kisses blossoms from the snow, So the new day might welcome them In unimagined bliss,

Daß sie wachsen, daß sie blühen, Träumend spenden ihren Duft, Sanft an deiner Brust verglühen, Und dann sinken in die Gruft.

So that they grow and flower, Bestow their scent as in a dream, Fade softly away on your breast And sink into their grave.

Mathilde Wesendonck

Translations © Richard Stokes from The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

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

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

PROGRAMME NOTES

Anton Bruckner 1824–96

Like his contemporary Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner didn’t release his official ‘Symphony No 1’ until he was well into his forties – the first version is dated 1865–6. Understandably this has led many to conclude that he was a late starter. In fact the devoutly Roman Catholic Bruckner had been producing church music from early on: his first composition – a setting of the ancient prayer Pange lingua (‘Tell out, my tongue’) dates from his eleventh year.

But Bruckner was extremely cautious about tackling serious concert music. In his thirties he signed up for a five-year course in harmony and counterpoint with the famous Viennese pedagogue Simon Sechter. Next, at 37, Bruckner began studies in form and orchestration with the conductor Otto Kitzler, ten years his junior.

Crucially Kitzler was a Wagnerian, and he introduced his significantly older ‘pupil’ to the music of Europe’s leading modernist. Then in 1864–5, as Bruckner entered his forties, he had two life-changing experiences: first, a critic, reviewing the premiere of Bruckner’s Mass in D minor, suggested that the symphony was Bruckner’s true calling; second, Bruckner heard a performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in Munich.

Buoyed up by both experiences, Bruckner set to work on his Symphony No. 1, in which he set out to fuse the intoxicating new world of musical dreams opened up

by Wagner with the form and language of the classical symphony, as inherited from Haydn, Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

In all of this he was remarkably successful. The First Symphony has none of the formal waywardness and occasional tentativeness of the next two symphonies.

Bruckner’s third life-changing experience, hearing Beethoven’s colossal ‘Choral’ Symphony (No. 9), was yet to come, and at this stage in his career he was still more or less content to adapt the more modest

12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1877 Linz version) 1 Allegro 2 Adagio 3 Scherzo: Schnell (Fast) – Trio: Langsamer (Slower) – Scherzo 4 Finale: Bewegt, feurig (Lively, fiery)

symphonic models he knew to his new Wagnerian purposes. But the result is still a convincing, compelling and often highly original score. The first movement begins with a fast march theme, full of restless energy.

This is contrasted with a more lyrical second theme in the major key (violins, at first unaccompanied). So far, so classical; but before long the music’s steady flow is disrupted by a majestic third theme on trombones with cascading figures on strings – a clear echo of Wagner’s famous Tannhäuser overture. It takes a while for the music to recover its original march tempo, but recover it does, leading to an exciting conclusion.

The influence of that formative recent encounter with Tristan und Isolde can be felt in the following Adagio: in the darkly searching, ambiguous harmonies of the first theme, and in the upward striving phrases of the aria-like second theme (violins with rippling viola accompaniment). Nervous intensity mounts in the middle section in three-time, leading to a beautifully engineered return of the first theme and an impassioned climax based on the second. An energetic Scherzo follows, full of the Upper-Austrian dance rhythms Bruckner knew well in his youth. The quieter, slightly uneasy trio section is followed by a return of the scherzo.

After this the Finale will be a real surprise to those who know Bruckner from the more spacious later symphonies. Right from the start the tempo is, as Bruckner stipulates, ‘fiery’. There are moments where the driving momentum relaxes, yet in general the pace is sustained well, until eventually a thrilling coda rises like a mighty tide. There is more than a foretaste here of the great symphonist to come.

Programme notes © Stephen Johnson

Virtual Christmas Gifts from the London Philharmonic Orchestra Want to give a ‘different’ present to your music-loving friends or family this Christmas? How about a stocking filler or a gift for someone who has everything? Celebrate with the London Philharmonic Orchestra by giving one or more of our Virtual Gifts.

Whether you are helping us to produce world-class concerts or providing a London child with their first experience of live music, your gift will have an impact long after the celebration itself.

Each gift comes with a bespoke Christmas card which we can send to you or directly to the recipient with your own personal greeting, along with a 10% discount voucher for a spring 2013 London Philharmonic Orchestra concert of the recipient’s choice. For more details visit www.lpo.org.uk/virtualgifts or call 020 7840 4212.

Solo moments: £10 Your opportunity to support a sensational musical moment from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and guest soloists during one of next spring’s concerts. Choose from the following: • • • • • • • • •

Flute solo in Ravel’s Mother Goose (Saturday 16 February 2013) Cor anglais solo in Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony (Wednesday 20 February 2013) Clarinet opening of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (Friday 22 February 2013) Bassoon solo in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (Saturday 16 February 2013) Opening trumpet fanfare in Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra (Saturday 19 January 2013) Violin solo in Sibelius’s Violin Concerto (Friday 1 February 2013) Piano solo in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (Friday 15 February 2013) Choir in Orff’s Carmina Burana (Saturday 6 April 2013) Vocal soloists in Weill’s The Threepenny Opera (Saturday 2 March 2013)

Adopt A Class: £30 Your gift will pay for an LPO player to spend an hour with disabled children in a London school, helping them overcome their disabilities through music.

Roll Call: £40 Help us liven up an assembly in one of South London’s schools by sending in a group of LPO musicians.

Centre Stage: £50 Your gift will help us offer the opportunity for a South London school child to perform on the Royal Festival Hall stage. Includes an invitation to watch the culmination of our Schoenberg New Horizons GCSE schools’ composition project on Wednesday 23 January 2013.

You can also buy a gift of a year’s membership of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Friends or LPO Contemporaries: visit www.lpo.org.uk/gifts for more details.

In order to guarantee delivery by Christmas please order by Wednesday 19 December 2012. Virtual gifts are intended as a way to show your support for the Orchestra’s charitable objectives this Christmas. The London Philharmonic Orchestra reserves the right to vary concert programmes if necessary. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is a registered charity No. 238045.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

London Philharmonic Orchestra Birthday Appeal 2012/13 This season the London Philharmonic Orchestra has reached 80 years on the concert platform. We would like you to consider helping us celebrate by making a donation to our birthday wish list.

These presents are all items that the Orchestra desperately needs this season. Alternatively you could make a donation to be spent on whatever we need the most.

£800

£250

£1,500

Two double bass stools

Three tom-toms

Carmina Burana music hire

Our double bass stools are on their last legs. Support our musicians by giving them something new to sit on!

We often have to hire percussion.

Owning our own tom-toms would make a great birthday present!

Donate towards the score and part hire for the conductor, Orchestra and London Philharmonic Choir for the performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana on 6 April 2013.

£3,000

£5,000

£5,000

FUNharmonics illustrations

Recording a concert for live stream

New terminal server

Donate to the bespoke illustrations and animation designed for each themed FUNharmonics family concert, to help educate and increase engagement with our young audiences.

Help us to increase the Orchestra’s reach around the world through donating to the recording of a 2013 concert for live stream and potential CD release.

The socks option – sounds boring but we really need it! The terminal server keeps our staff and backstage team in touch by providing remote access to emails and files when the Orchestra is on tour.

Get involved and visit www.lpo.org.uk/birthday for more information.

Alternatively get in touch via katherine.hattersley@lpo.org.uk or call 020 7840 4212.

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors:

Guy & Utti Whittaker Manon Williams

David Ellen Commander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel Goldstein Mr & Mrs Jeffrey Herrmann Peter MacDonald Eggers Mr & Mrs David Malpas Andrew T Mills Mr Maxwell Morrison Mr Michael Posen Mr & Mrs Thierry Sciard Mr John Soderquist & Mr Costas Michaelides Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina Vaizey Howard & Sheelagh Watson Mr Laurie Watt Mr Anthony Yolland

Ken Follett Pauline & Peter Halliday Michael & Christine Henry Mr Ivan Hurry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr R K Jeha Mr Gerald Levin Sheila Ashley Lewis Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Mr Frank Lim Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Brian Marsh John Montgomery Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Edmund Pirouet Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Des & Maggie Whitelock Bill Yoe

Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Jane Attias Lady Jane Berrill Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Mr Charles Dumas

Benefactors Mrs A Beare Dr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRS Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr David Dennis Mr David Edgecombe Mr Richard Fernyhough

Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd

Thomas Beecham Group The Tsukanov Family Anonymous The Sharp Family Julian & Gill Simmonds Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller Moya Greene John & Angela Kessler Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Eric Tomsett

Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Pehr G Gyllenhammar Edmund Pirouet Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged: Corporate Members Silver: AREVA UK British American Business Destination Québec – UK Hermes Fund Managers Pritchard Englefield Bronze: Lisa Bolgar Smith and Felix Appelbe of Ambrose Appelbe Appleyard & Trew LLP Berkeley Law Charles Russell Lazard Leventis Overseas Education Partner Boeing Corporate Donor Lombard Street Research Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Villa Maria

In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Sela / Tilley’s Sweets Trusts and Foundations Addleshaw Goddard Charitable Trust Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation BBC Performing Arts Fund The Boltini Trust Sir William Boreman’s Foundation Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Trust The Coutts Charitable Trust Diaphonique, Franco-British fund for contemporary music Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust The Eranda Foundation Fidelio Charitable Trust The Foyle Foundation J Paul Getty Junior Charitable Trust The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Capital Radio’s Help a London Child The Hobson Charity The Kirby Laing Foundation

The Idlewild Trust The Leverhulme Trust Marsh Christian Trust Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust Paul Morgan Charitable Trust The Diana and Allan Morgenthau Charitable Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund Newcomen Collett Foundation The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Rothschild Foundation The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation John Thaw Foundation The Tillett Trust The Underwood Trust Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement Kurt Weill Foundation for Music Garfield Weston Foundation and others who wish to remain anonymous London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

administration

Board of Directors

General Administration

Orchestra Personnel

Archives

Victoria Sharp Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Desmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. Høgel Martin Höhmann* Angela Kessler George Peniston* Sir Bernard Rix Kevin Rundell* Julian Simmonds Mark Templeton* Sir Philip Thomas Natasha Tsukanova Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Dr Manon Williams

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager

Philip Stuart Discographer

Sarah Thomas Librarian

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive

Michael Pattison Stage Manager

Professional Services

Finance David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

Julia Boon Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

* Player-Director

Ruth Sansom Artistic Administrator / Acting Head of Concerts Department

Advisory Council Richard Brass Sir Alan Collins Jonathan Dawson Christopher Fraser Clive Marks OBE FCA Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Victoria Sharp Timothy Walker AM American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc. Margot Astrachan Chairman David E. R. Dangoor Vice Chair/Treasurer Kyung-Wha Chung Peter M. Felix CBE Alexandra Jupin Dr. Felisa B. Kaplan William A. Kerr Jill Fine Mainelli Kristina McPhee Dr. Joseph Mulvehill Harvey M. Spear, Esq. Danny Lopez Honorary Chairman Noel Kilkenny Honorary Director Victoria Sharp Honorary Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Robert Kuchner, CPA

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Manager

Charles Russell Solicitors Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors

Ken Graham Trucking David Greenslade Instrument Transportation FSC_57678 14 January 2011 15/09/2011 12:30 Page Dr 1 Louise Miller Finance and ITLPO Manager Honorary Doctor Development Concert Management Roanna Gibson Concerts Director (maternity leave)

Graham Wood Concerts and Recordings Manager Barbara Palczynski Glyndebourne and Projects Administrator Jenny Chadwick Tours and Engagements Manager Alison Jones Concerts Co-ordinator Jo Orr PA to the Chief Executive / Concerts Assistant

Nick Jackman Development Director Helen Searl Corporate Relations Manager Katherine Hattersley Charitable Giving Manager Melissa Van Emden Events Manager Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations and Events Officer Sarah Fletcher Development and Finance Officer Marketing Kath Trout Marketing Director Mia Roberts Marketing Manager

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant

Rachel Williams Publications Manager

Education & Community

Samantha Kendall Box Office Manager (Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Patrick Bailey Education and Community Director Alexandra Clarke Education Manager Caz Vale Community and Young Talent Manager Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer

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Libby Northcote-Green Marketing Co-ordinator Claire Lampon Intern Albion Media Public Relations (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

London Philharmonic Orchestra 89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TP Tel: 020 7840 4200 Fax: 020 7840 4201 Box Office: 020 7840 4242 lpo.org.uk The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045.

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

Front cover photograph © Patrick Harrison.

Printed by Cantate.