16Jan09 LPO Programme notes

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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

AM†

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Saturday 16 January 2010 | 7.30 pm VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor CAROLIN WIDMANN violin SHOSTAKOVICH Five Fragments (8’) SZYMANOWSKI Concerto 1 for violin and orchestra

(23’)

INTERVAL SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony 4 in C minor

PROGRAMME £3 CONTENTS 2 List of Players 3 Orchestra History 4 Leader 5 Vladimir Jurowski 6 Carolin Widmann 7 Programme Notes 11 Recordings 12 Miraculous Logic / Southbank Centre 13 Supporters 14 Philharmonic News 15 Administration 16 Future Concerts The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

(60’)

Tonight’s performance of Szymanowski’s Concerto 1 for violin and orchestra is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of POLSKA! YEAR.

supported by Macquarie Group

†

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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

Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Alain Petitclerc Peter Nall Galina Tanney Toby Tramaseur 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 Dean Williamson Sioni Williams Peter Graham Stephen Stewart Alison Strange Mila Mustakova VIOLAS Alexander Zemtsov* Principal Agnieszka Orlowska Robert Duncan Anthony Byrne Chair supported by John and Angela Kessler

Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Emmanuella Reiter Laura Vallejo Michelle Bruil Daniel Cornford Alistair Scahill

CELLOS Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Simon Yates and Kevin Roon

Susanne Beer Co-Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Santiago Sabino Carvalho + Jonathan Ayling Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp

Gregory Walmsley Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Tom Roff DOUBLE BASSES Kevin Rundell* Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Richard Lewis Rachel Meerloo Helen Rowlands Catherine Ricketts Louis Garson FLUTES Jaime Martin* Principal Eilidh Gillespie Joanna Shaw Clare Findlater PICCOLOS Stewart McIlwham* Principal Francis Nolan OBOES Ian Hardwick Principal Owen Dennis Eugene Feild COR ANGLAIS Sue Bohling Principal Chair supported by Julian and Gill Simmonds

CLARINETS Robert Hill* Principal Emily Sutcliffe Katie Lockhart E FLAT CLARINETS Nicholas Carpenter Principal Thomas Watmough BASS CLARINET Paul Richards Principal

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

BASSOONS John Price Principal Gareth Newman* Christopher Cooper CONTRA BASSOON Simon Estell Principal HORNS Richard Bissill* Principal John Ryan Principal Martin Hobbs Adrian Uren Gareth Mollison Jeffrey Bryant Anthony Chidell Brendan Thomas Max Garrard

HARPS Rachel Masters* Principal Helen Sharp KEYBOARDS Catherine Edwards

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR Ralf Sochaczewsky

TRUMPETS Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff and Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal Daniel Newell Chair supported by Mrs Steven Ward

David Hilton TROMBONES Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse John Randall BASS TROMBONE Lyndon Meredith Principal TUBAS Lee Tsarmaklis Principal Jonathan Rees TIMPANI Simon Carrington* Principal William Lockhart PERCUSSION Rachel Gledhill Principal Andrew Barclay* Co-Principal Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Alex Neal Benedict Hoffnung Sacha Johnson Ignacio Molins

* Holds a professorial appointment in London +

Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

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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 and is supported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner of

‘… 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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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

PIETER SCHOEMAN LEADER

the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 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 early Britten works conducted by Vladimir Jurowski; Mahler’s Symphony 6 under the baton of Klaus Tennstedt; Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1 and 6 conducted

by Vladimir Jurowski; Sir Thomas Beecham recordings of Mozart, Delius and Rimsky-Korsakov from the 1930s; a CD of John Ireland’s works taken from his 70th Birthday Concert in 1949; and Dvo˘rák’s Requiem conducted by Neeme Järvi. 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.

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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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VLADIMIR JUROWSKI

Roman Gontcharov

CONDUCTOR

Born in Moscow, the son of conductor Mikhail Jurowski, Vladimir Jurowski 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 where he continued his studies at High Schools of Music in Dresden and in Berlin, studying conducting with Rolf Reuter and vocal coaching with Semion Skigin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival, where he conducted RimskyKorsakov’s May Night. The same year saw his brilliant debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Nabucco. In 1996 Jurowski joined the ensemble of Komische Oper Berlin, becoming First Kapellmeister in 1997 and continuing to work at the Komische Oper on a permanent basis until 2001.

Since 1997 Vladimir Jurowski has been a guest at some of the world's leading musical institutions including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro La Fenice Venice, Opéra Bastille Paris, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie Brussels, Maggio Musicale Festival Florence, Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro, Edinburgh Festival, Semperoper Dresden and Teatro Comunale di Bologna (where he served as Principal Guest Conductor between 2000 and 2003). In 1999 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York with Rigoletto.

In January 2001 Vladimir Jurowski took up the position of Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera 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 title of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and from 2005 to 2009 served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra with whom he will continue to work in the years ahead.

Vladimir Jurowski has made highly successful debuts with a number of the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Dresden Staatskapelle, and in the USA with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestras. Highlights of the 2009/10 season and beyond include his debuts with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Chicago Symphony and Cleveland Orchestras, and return visits to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Dresden Staatskapelle and Philadelphia Orchestra.

His operatic work has included performances of Jenufa, The Queen of Spades and Hänsel und Gretel at the Metropolitan Opera, Parsifal and Wozzeck at the Welsh National Opera, War and Peace at the Opera National de Paris, Eugene Onegin at La Scala Milan, and Die Zauberflöte, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde and Peter Eötvös’ Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Opera. Future engagements include new productions of Don Giovanni and Die Meistersinger and a revival of The Rake’s Progress at Glyndebourne, and Iolanta at the Dresden Semperoper.

Jurowski’s discography includes the first ever recording of Giya Kancheli’s Exile for ECM (1994), Meyerbeer’s L’Etoile du nord for Naxos-Marco Polo (1996), Werther for BMG (1999), and live recordings of works by Rachmaninoff, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Britten and Shostakovich on the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s own label, as well as Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery on Glyndebourne Opera’s own label. He also records for PentaTone with the Russian National Orchestra, releases to date having included Stravinsky's Divertimento from Le Baiser de la fée, Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 3 and Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos 1 and 6, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, and Tchaikovsky’s Incidental Music from Hamlet. Glyndebourne have released DVD recordings of his performances of La Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, Die Fledermaus and Rachmaninoff’s The Miserly Knight, and other recent DVD releases include Hänsel und Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera New York, and his first concert as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor featuring works by Wagner, Berg and Mahler (released by Medici Arts).

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CAROLIN WIDMANN

Kasskara

VIOLIN

A native of Munich, Carolin Widmann studied with Igor Ozim in Cologne, Michèle Auclair in Boston and David Takeno in London. She has won prizes at several important competitions, including the City of Munich’s Kulturförderpreis, the International Georg Kulenkampff Violin Competition in Cologne (1999) and the International Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Belgrade (2001). In 1998 Yehudi Menuhin presented her with the Prix du President at the Concours International Yehudi Menuhin in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. She has also been awarded the Belmont Prize by the ForbergSchneider Foundation in recognition of her dedication to new music.

Carolin Widmann regularly appears as a guest artist at such widely known festivals as Lucerne, Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Aspen, Banff, Davos and Bath, as well as performing at the Festival D'Automne in Paris, Musica Festival Strasbourg, the Berliner Festwochen, the Holland Festival, Las Vegas Music Festival, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival and the Heidelberger Frühling, where in 2007 she was Artistic Director of the Atelier concert series.

She has performed as a soloist with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Gewandhaus-Orchester Leipzig, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Dutch Radio Philharmonic, China Philharmonic in Beijing, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome, collaborating with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Yehudi Menuhin, Peter Eötvös, Jonathan Nott and Heinz Holliger.

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

In her recitals and concert appearances, Carolin Widmann strives to span a bridge between repertoire from the Viennese classic and romantic periods and more recent new music. She is much in demand for performances of music by contemporary composers such as works written for her by Wolfgang Rihm, Matthias Pintscher, Jörg Widmann and Erkki-Sven Tüür, and also works with György Kurtág, Pierre Boulez, George Benjamin and Salvatore Sciarrino. At the same time she feels a sense of obligation and affinity with the traditional violin repertoire.

Highlights of the 2009/10 season will include debuts with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich (under the baton of Jonathan Nott) and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (under Vladimir Jurowski). Furthermore, she will tour Germany and Austria with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and Sir Roger Norrington. At the Kunstfest in Weimar 2010, she will be artist-inresidence, jointly with her brother Jörg Widmann.

Last season, in collaboration with Salome Kammer and the renowned French stage director Antoine Gindt, Carolin Widmann prepared a staged version of the Kafka Fragments by György Kurtág. It will be repeated in this and future seasons in Berlin, Athens and Paris. With the Camerata Berne she appeared for the first time in the double capacity of soloist and conductor, and plans to continue to do this.

Carolin Widmann’s debut CD Reflections 1 was named Critics’ Choice for 2006 by the German Record Critics’ Award. Her first CD on the ECM label of the Schumann Sonatas, accompanied by Denes Varjon, was released in September 2008. More releases are planned.

Since October 2006, Carolin Widmann has been a professor of violin on the faculty of the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Musikhochschule in Leipzig.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD The centrepiece of this evening’s concert is the singlemovement First Violin Concerto by the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski. Conjuring glowing sound textures from the combination of solo violin and a large orchestra, it is by turns lively, graceful and intensely passionate, sometimes rhapsodic yet always firmly structured.

We begin and end the evening farther east, starting with Shostakovich’s rarely heard Five Fragments. He composed these tiny, haunting sketches, each for a different combination of instruments, in a single day in 1935 when he was gathering ideas together for the huge Fourth Symphony, which fills the second part of our concert.

While he was working on the symphony, Shostakovich had his opera A Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk publicly condemned. Some of his near suicidal thoughts found their way into the symphony’s bleak last pages. The work reached rehearsal at the end of the year, but the composer then withdrew it, and it had to wait 25 years for public performance.

Vivid, many-sided and at times unruly, the symphony is a young man’s passionate, fundamentally tragic testament. The first of its three movements has three main subjects. The relatively short second movement has two alternating themes, and the third movement, built on a funeral march, is a combination of slow movement and finale. © Eric Mason

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH

FIVE FRAGMENTS, OP. 42 Moderato | Andante | Largo | Moderato | Allegretto

1906-1975

In the summer of 1935 Shostakovich was gathering his thoughts about the enormous Fourth Symphony on which he was about to start work. In the space of a single day, the 9th of June, he composed by way of experiment five tiny orchestral sketches, each employing a different combination of instruments. Only the last one has anything like a direct connection with the symphony, but the fragments share the symphony’s generally bleak and tragic character. The composer long kept these fragile pieces under wraps; they were not performed until 1965 and are still among his least known compositions.

The quiet first fragment, Moderato in 12/8 time, is scored for an unusual mix of piccolo, oboe, cor anglais, E flat and bass clarinets, bassoon and contrabassoon with supporting harp chords. Two muted horns

contribute a single note. Woodwind, brass, harp and double basses are employed in the second fragment, characterised by strongly delineated rhythmic phrases.

In the following Largo muted strings pianissimo foreshadow a theme that was to come into its own in the first movement of the Fifth Symphony. Two horn notes frame the fourth piece, a trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon. Muted strings steal in at the close. The last fragment anticipates the parodic waltz episode in the finale of the Fourth Symphony. It is a violin solo, accompanied at first only by gentle drum taps. A double bass enters with supporting harmonics, and a flute, clarinet and bass clarinet contribute briefly but tellingly near the end. © Eric Mason

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Karol SZYMANOWSKI

CONCERTO 1 FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, OP. 35 CAROLIN WIDMANN violin

1882-1937

In 1916, when this concerto was composed, devotees of modern music tended to champion either Stravinsky or Schoenberg and his protégés. But there were other composers of significant creative talent who found their own paths and were largely disregarded by the world at large. Such a musician was the Polish composer, Karol Szymanowski, whose works are still not as widely known as they deserve to be.

As a young man Szymanowski fell under the influence of Richard Strauss, but he exorcised that spell during a long search for an individual style, and in his later years he found rich source material in the heritage of Polish folk music. The First Violin Concerto pre-dates that period of Szymanowski’s late artistic maturity, but it is music of considerable originality and beauty, rich in glowing sound textures and displaying the composer’s penchant for sensuous, rhapsodic meditation, though it is built on a strong structural framework. Cast in one continuous movement, the concerto is scored for a large orchestra including bass clarinet, contrabassoon, a full complement of brass, two harps, piano and percussion.

The lively orchestral opening, with woodwind and piano set against a background of muted violins and violas, suggests perhaps that some kind of festivity is in progress. The activity subsides for the entry of the soloist, who plays high on the E string as frequently

throughout the concerto. Another orchestral outburst follows, but the tempo slows for an expressive theme on the first violins, gracefully decorated by the soloist.

When the tempo quickens again, the solo violin launches a scherzando section, which works to a climax with thrumming figures in the orchestra. A mysterious soft passage leads to a pattern of ‘sweet and expressive’ descending sequences that dominates the music for a time and will eventually crown the concerto.

After a richly textured climax the solo violin re-enters on a high B and at once commands hushed attention. A short second scherzando section begins at this point, and the music now alternates between graceful and lively, scherzo-like passages until it rises to a passionate climax based on the first violins’ expressive theme near the beginning of the concerto. Another fresh theme is yet to appear: a haunting pianissimo flute tune that gives rise to a big climax. A strong timpani rhythm and a return of the scherzando material lead to the soloist’s cadenza. When the orchestra re-enters, the concerto ascends to its ultimate peak, a majestic peroration on the descending sequences mentioned above. Passion spent, the orchestra quietens for the soloist, who harks back once more to those sequences and the flute tune and brings the concerto to an ecstatic, fulfilled close. © Eric Mason

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

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH

SYMPHONY 4 IN C MINOR, OP. 43 Allegretto poco moderato | Moderato con moto | Largo – Allegro

1906-1975 Shostakovich began his Fourth Symphony in September 1935 and completed it the following May, but it had to wait more than 25 years for public performance. His opera, A Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (later revised and renamed Katerina Ismailova), had been a success in Leningrad (St Petersburg) in 1934, but a production at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in January 1936 provoked an attack in Pravda denouncing the opera’s ‘raucous cacophony’ and ‘anti-popular formalistic perversions’. As the composer reportedly recalled in the posthumous Testimony (Hamish Hamilton): ‘I was stuck with the label “enemy of the people”... my work, my abilities, turned out to be worthless to everyone. The future didn’t look any less bleak.’ He came near to suicide but survived the crisis feeling stronger than before. ‘Some of these thoughts’, he said, ‘you can find, if you wish, in my Fourth Symphony. In the last pages it’s all set out rather precisely.’

The completed symphony was rehearsed the following December, but Shostakovich decided to withdraw it. Its unorthodox construction and fundamentally tragic character no doubt seemed certain of official disapproval. The composer also had musical doubts. ‘I found it too long’, he said in a BBC interview the year before his death. ‘There were too many imperfect, ostentatious elements in it, the shape was wrong, the construction shallow.’ Laying this work aside, he immediately composed his successful Fifth Symphony.

However, he returned to the Fourth several times in later years, making revisions, and it was played for the first time in public on 30 December 1961 in Moscow.

In its definitive form the Fourth Symphony remains a huge work, markedly Mahlerian in its length, its outsize orchestra, the conflicting emotions it suggests and even sometimes (especially in the finale’s funeral march) the character of its themes. Yet most of the abundant

material is unmistakably the Russian composer’s own.

Shostakovich was not yet thirty when he composed the original score, and this is a young man’s vivid, manysided, at times unruly testament. There are strident climaxes but also subtle blends and piquant contrasts of individual instruments, waltz tunes, playful episodes and deeply melancholy meditation. Two very long movements enclose a comparatively short one, and the third is a combination of slow movement and finale.

The first movement adheres to custom in embodying exposition, development and recapitulation, but it is far from following conventional sonata-form rules.

Diversions put the listener off the scent, and new thematic ideas are repeatedly brought in. Nevertheless there are three main subjects: a march-like theme for trumpets and violins at the beginning with a stamped rhythmic accompaniment, a lyrical string melody that follows this, and an expressive bassoon solo, not heard until after the first two subjects have been combined and brought to two dissonant climaxes.

Following the bassoon solo the rhapsodic first part of the development largely ignores the initial themes, but eventually the woodwind have a playfully mocking episode based on the first and third subjects. This leads to a furious presto fugal section for the strings (derived from part of the first subject) and, after a frenzied climax, to a string parody of the opening themes. A variant of the bassoon theme on the lower strings under a sustained flutter-tongued flute note yields to a piling up of dissonant chords. Now the three main subjects are recapitulated in new guises, first the bassoon theme given to trumpets, then the string melody providing cor anglais and violin solos and finally the first theme as a lugubrious bassoon tune, leading to a bleak conclusion.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

In the much more straightforward second movement two themes alternate. The first begins with a catchy four-note rhythmic phrase. The second is a lyrical melody for first violins with viola accompaniment. The second time round the initial theme is fugally developed and the violin melody acquires a more forceful character on brass and woodwind. Castanets, woodblock and triangle accompany the final appearance of the opening theme.

The funeral march that opens the finale has two strains, the first introduced by bassoon and the second by oboe and flute in turn. When this Largo has completed its course, a transitional passage leads into the second of the movement’s four sections, an Allegro in 3/4 time launched by unison violins and violas. A fierce two-note figure from their theme is much repeated in a contrapuntal working out. In the third section Shostakovich indulges his love of parody. A brief encounter between bass clarinet and piccolo precedes a

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

cello melody and a second strain for high violins, which together develop into a waltz. A scherzo-type theme for first bassoon, punctuated by snatches of a galop on the strings, introduces a note of burlesque soon reinforced by a rude trombone solo. The bassoon waltzes with several partners and a piccolo with the trombone.

Gradually the humour evaporates, and at length two timpanists set up an ostinato pattern, the foundation for a would-be heroic apotheosis. But now the significance of the funeral march is made plain. The rising fourths of its second strain reappear on woodwind to contradict the optimism of the brass, and the march’s first theme returns in the bass below a striving trumpet theme. The energy evaporates, a major third several times darkens into the minor and the funeral march’s fourths are heard on a muted trumpet as the music dies away. © Eric Mason

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SHOSTAKOVICH RECORDINGS ON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL

LPO-0001 Kurt Masur conducts Shostakovich’s Symphonies 1 and 5 ‘... displays this orchestra’s excellence ... with some superb soloists, serious class in every department.’

CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE

LPO–0034 Bernard Haitink conducts Shostakovich’s Symphony 10 ‘Haitink’s long-term vision of the music’s organic development comes across compellingly in this live recording.’

GEOFFREY NORRIS, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 23 AUGUST 2008

LPO-0028 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Shostakovich’s Symphony 14 as part of Volume 3 of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 75th Anniversary Box Sets ‘ ... a wonderfully “felt” performance in the way conductor and orchestra articulate and sustain this intimate, death-ridden song cycle.’

ANDREW CLARK, FINANCIAL TIMES, 27 OCTOBER 2007

This volume features four CDs by the Orchestra’s most recent Principal Conductors: Klaus Tennstedt (Beethoven Symphony 9), Franz Welser-Möst (Strauss, Mozart, Schubert and Bruckner), Kurt Masur (Shostakovich Symphonies 1 and 5) and Vladimir Jurowski (Shostakovich Symphony 14 as above).

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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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

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

OSMO VÄNSKÄ conductor HENNING KRAGGERUD violin HELENA JUNTUNEN soprano KRISTINA BLAUMANE cello

For full details of these concerts, see page 16.

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: 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 email at customer@southbankcentre.co.uk or phone 020 7960 4250.

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

12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins

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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 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.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

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PHILHARMONIC NEWS

tour. The tour will see the ensemble performing and participating in education projects across India with KCP4 in April and is proudly supported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

For more information about the Renga ensemble you can listen to December’s podcast online. Just visit www.lpo.co.uk/podcasts.

Renga rehearsing for its performance at the Vortex Club Renga with Tim Garland, Stan Sulzmann and Nikki Iles Last December saw several Orchestra members trading in the glamour of the Royal Festival Hall stage for the candle-lit atmosphere of the Vortex Jazz Club in north London. Working with pianist Nikki Iles and saxophonists Tim Garland and Stan Sulzmann, the Orchestra’s Renga ensemble performed a set of original compositions and arrangements written by the soloists and musical director Scott Stroman.

The Renga ensemble is a project unique to the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It creates its own repertoire of music, combining new arrangements and improvisation, helping extend the skills of participating Orchestra members into the creative working environment of those from other cultures. As Scott explains, the intention with any Renga project is ‘to try and push the boundaries of the music forward, not in an obscure way, but in a way that combines traditions that already exist’. Previous collaborations have featured jazz musicians Kenny Wheeler, Rufus Reid, Cennet Jönsson and Jean Toussaint, folk singer June Tabor, Indian world jazz fusion singer Sandhya Sanjana and Indian percussion group KCP4.

This year is an exciting time for the Renga ensemble with another project scheduled for May and the exciting prospect of the ensemble’s first international

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Richard Bissill Tonight is the last Royal Festival Hall concert of our Principal Horn, Richard Bissill (pictured below), before he takes up his new appointment as Principal Horn of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Richard studied horn and piano at the Royal Academy of Music and, after a spell with the London Symphony Orchestra, became Principal Horn of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1984. As well as his regular work in the Orchestra, Richard has performed Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings at the Royal Festival Hall and, as a renowned composer and arranger, has been commissioned by the Orchestra to write music for special occasions. It was his Fanfare that opened our 75th Anniversary Concert in 2007 and his work Excite, written in conjunction with Eugene Skeef, which brought the anniversary season to a close. In 2003 the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philip Fowke gave the first performance of his Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall.

Richard has been a stalwart member of the Orchestra for 25 years and will be greatly missed. We wish him all the best in his new position.

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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 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

CONCERT MANAGEMENT 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 Nick Jackman Charitable Giving Manager Phoebe Rouse Corporate Relations Manager Sarah Tattersall Corporate Relations and Events Manager Anna Gover Charitable Giving Officer

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.

Melissa Van Emden Corporate Relations and Events Officer

Photograph of Szymanowski courtesy of Lebrecht Music and Arts and of Shostakovich courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

MARKETING

Photograph on the front cover

by Roman Gontcharov.

Kath Trout Marketing Director

Programmes printed by Cantate.

Janine Howlett Marketing Manager Brighton, Eastbourne, Community & Education 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

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

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FUTURE CONCERTS AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS Wednesday 27 January 2010 | 7.30pm

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS JTI Friday Series | Friday 5 February 2010 | 7.30pm

Sibelius Wood Nymph, Op. 15 Sibelius Six Humoresques for violin and orchestra Sibelius Symphony 1

Sibelius Tapiola Sibelius Cantique and Devotion for cello and orchestra Sibelius Symphony 6 Sibelius Symphony 7

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 conductor Kristina Blaumane cello

Kristina Blaumane and Yannick NézetSéguin

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

Wednesday 10 February 2010 | 7.30pm Ravel Suite 2, Daphnis et Chloé Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune Debussy La Mer Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Melvyn Tan piano Ronald Brautigam piano FREE Pre-Concert Event 6.15pm | Royal Festival Hall Yannick Nézet-Séguin introduces the evening’s programme.

Osmo Vänskä and Helena Juntunen

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS Wednesday 3 February 2010 | 7.30pm Sibelius Luonnotar Sibelius Symphony 4 Sibelius Symphony 5 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.

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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