17 Feb 2010 - 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 Wednesday 17 February 2010 | 7.30 pm

PROGRAMME £3 CONTENTS 2 List of Players 3 Orchestra History 4 Leader 5 Vladimir Jurowski 6 Alexander Toradze 7 Programme Notes 11 Recordings 13 Supporters 14 Philharmonic News / Southbank Centre 15 Administration 16 Future Concerts

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor ALEXANDER TORADZE piano

TCHAIKOVSKY Fantasy-Overture: ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (21’) PROKOFIEV Concerto 1 in D flat for piano and orchestra

(16’)

INTERVAL PROKOFIEV Excerpts from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (60’)

Tonight is the first concert in the LPO Contemporaries Subscription Series.

To find out more about this exciting new membership group for young, dynamic Londoners please visit www.lpo.org.uk/lpocontemporaries

†

supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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 Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Rebecca Shorrock Alain Petitclerc Galina Tanney Toby Tramaseur Joanne Chen Naoko Miyamoto Alina Petrenko Geoffrey Silver Charlotte Scott

Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Emmanuella Reiter Laura Vallejo Daniel Cornford Isabel Pereira Miranda Davis Sarah Malcolm Martin Fenn 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

SECOND VIOLINS Clare Duckworth Principal Chair supported by Richard and Victoria Sharp

Jeongmin Kim Joseph Maher Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Nynke Hijlkema Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Andrew Thurgood Imogen Williamson Sioni Williams Peter Graham Stephen Stewart Mila Mustakova Elizabeth Baldey Lisa Obert VIOLAS Alexander Zemtsov* Principal Agnieszka Orlowska Robert Duncan Anthony Byrne Chair supported by John and Angela Kessler

Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp

Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Helen Rathbone Tae-Mi Song David Bucknall William Routledge DOUBLE BASSES Kevin Rundell* Principal George Peniston Anita Mazzantini Rachel Meerloo David Johnson Helen Rowlands Louis Garson Lowri Morgan Tom Walley Damian Rubido Gonzalez FLUTES Jaime Martin* Principal Eilidh Gillespie PICCOLO Stewart McIlwham* Principal

OBOES Christopher Cowie Guest Principal Angela Tennick COR ANGLAIS Max Spiers CLARINETS Nicholas Carpenter Principal Emily Sutcliffe E FLAT CLARINET Emily Sutcliffe BASS CLARINET Paul Richards Principal SAXOPHONE Martin Robertson BASSOONS John Price Principal Gareth Newman* CONTRA BASSOON Simon Estell Principal HORNS John Ryan Principal Martin Hobbs Adrian Uren Gareth Mollison Alistair Rycroft Anthony Chidell Nicolas Wolmark

CORNET Nicholas Betts Principal TROMBONES Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse BASS TROMBONE Lyndon Meredith Principal TUBA David Kendall Guest Principal TIMPANI Simon Carrington* Principal PERCUSSION Andrew Barclay* Principal Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Sam Walton HARPS Helen Sharp Guest Principal Lucy Haslar PIANO/CELESTE/ORGAN Roderick Elms

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR Ralf Sochaczewsky

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

Daniel Newell Chair supported by Mrs Steven Ward

* Holds a professorial appointment in London +

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: Richard Karl Goeltz David and Victoria Graham Fuller Julian and Gill Simmonds

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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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, 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 Jenůfa, 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 Opéra 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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ALEXANDER TORADZE PIANO

Additionally, Alexander Toradze regularly takes part in summer music festivals including those of Salzburg, the White Nights in St Petersburg, the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Rotterdam, Mikkeli in Finland, the Hollywood Bowl, Saratoga and Ravinia.

Alexander Toradze is universally recognised as a masterful virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition. He has enriched the great Russian pianistic heritage with his own unorthodox interpretative conceptions, deeply poetic lyricism and intensely emotional excitement.

His recording of all five Prokofiev concertos with Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra for the Philips label is acclaimed by critics as definitive. The recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto 3 was described by International Piano Quarterly as ‘historically the best on record’ (from among over seventy recordings). Other highly successful recordings have included Scriabin’s Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, with the Kirov Orchestra and Valery Gergiev as well as recital albums of the works of Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Ravel and Prokofiev for the Angel/EMI label.

Mr Toradze regularly appears with the world’s leading orchestras including, in North America, those of New York, the Metropolitan Opera, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Minnesota, Houston, Montreal, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Los Angeles. In Europe, he plays with the Kirov Orchestra and the main orchestras in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the UK and Italy. Among his best friends are some of the leading conductors of today such as Esa- Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Mikko Frank, Paavo and Kristian Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski and Gianandrea Noseda.

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Recent engagements have taken him to the BBC Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Orchestras under Gianandrea Noseda, the London Symphony and Mariinsky Orchestras under Valery Gergiev, the Cincinnati Symphony under Paavo Järvi, the London Philharmonic under Jukka-Pekka Saraste, the Orchestre National de France, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, and the Czech and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestras.

Among future projects are the recording of both Shostakovich Piano Concertos with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi and a tour of the USA with the London Philharmonic under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski which will include a concert at the Avery Fisher Hall in New York.

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Alexander Toradze graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and soon became a professor there. In 1983, he moved permanently to the United States. In 1991, he was appointed the Martin endowed Professor of Piano at the Indiana University South Bend, where he has created a teaching environment that is unparalleled in its unique concept. Members of the multi-national Toradze Piano Studio have developed into a worldwide touring ensemble that has gathered international critical acclaim. The Studio has also taken part in projects performing the piano and chamber works of Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Dvořák, Stravinsky and Shostakovich in the UK, Italy, Germany, Portugal, France and the United States.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD Tchaikovsky had to rewrite his Romeo and Juliet after an unsuccessful first performance, but the revised version of this fantasy overture eventually won the great popularity that it still enjoys today. The solemn introduction represents Friar Laurence. Fierce music pictures the sword fights between the Montague and Capulet families. A theme of passionate longing represents the lovers, and at the end the orchestra laments their fate.

The 21-year-old Prokofiev shocked some of the academic old guard in 1912 with his First Piano Concerto, but there were others who admired its brilliance and wit, and two years later the young composer won the Conservatory’s

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY

top piano prize with it. Today we are quite accustomed to its driving rhythms and unorthodox harmonies. The single movement divides into three sections played without a break.

Many would claim Prokofiev’s finest masterwork to be his Romeo and Juliet, one of the great 20th-century ballet scores. It had a difficult but triumphant birth in 1940, and various productions have since been mounted successfully on this music. The second part of tonight’s programme is drawn not from the slimmed down concert suites that Prokofiev adapted from the ballet but from the marvellously colourful ballet score itself. © Eric Mason

FANTASY-OVERTURE: ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’

1840-1893

In 1868 Tchaikovsky visited St Petersburg and made contact with the ‘Mighty Handful’ of young Russian composers, whose number included Borodin, Cui, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Their leader, Balakirev, maintained a close interest in his fellow musicians’ work, and he suggested Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to Tchaikovsky as a subject, even proffering an outline plan for the proposed work.

Tchaikovksy was later generally against founding an orchestral work on a literary subject, but on this occasion he allowed himself to be persuaded. The first version of the Fantasy-Overture, dedicated to Balakirev, was completed in 1869 and performed in March 1870 in Moscow. It was a failure, and Tchaikovsky set about a drastic revision, accepting Balakirev’s criticism that a different opening section was needed. The development section, where this material reappeared, also had to be rewritten. Ten years later Tchaikovsky made further minor revisions to produce the definitive version.

Success eluded the work for some time; it was hissed in

Vienna and Paris. But Nicholas Rubinstein, its first conductor, insisted on its being published, and Romeo and Juliet eventually won the affection that it retains to the present day.

The overture does not follow the play’s dramatic sequence but takes its main elements as inspiration for the contrasting themes of a sonata-form structure with introduction and coda. The solemn theme of the long introduction represents Friar Laurence, and the sombre atmosphere here anticipates the tragedy. In the fierce Allegro giusto that follows, Tchaikovsky depicts the fatal warring between the Montague and Capulet families, the sword fights in the streets being clearly represented by rushing strings and clashing fortissimo chords. When the brawling comes to a temporary halt, the music of the lovers appears. Their principal theme, given to cor anglais and muted violas, is followed by an undulating motive for muted violins and then returns on woodwind with a new, pulsing counter-figure on the horns. Strings

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PROGRAMME NOTES

and woodwind backed by harp chords conclude the exposition.

Friar Laurence’s music and the feud theme are treated in the development. The recapitulation brings back first the love music, rising now to its highest intensity, then

Sergei PROKOFIEV

the fighting, which reaches a furious climax. Throbbing funeral drums and basses begin the coda. The Friar’s theme is heard once more, the orchestra laments the lovers’ fate and with heavy chords the overture ends. © Eric Mason

CONCERTO 1 IN D FLAT FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA, OP. 10 ALEXANDER TORADZE piano Allegro brioso – Andante assai – Allegro scherzando

1891-1953

Prokofiev composed his first two piano concertos while he was still a student at St Petersburg Conservatory. He intended them to draw attention to himself as composer and pianist, and both works caused a stir. The first was conceived as a concertino, but by the time it was finished in February 1912 it had grown into a onemovement concerto. Nikolai Tcherepnin, who had Prokofiev in his conducting class, supervised the orchestration and received the dedication.

On the recommendation of the composer Miaskovsky the concerto was included in the following summer’s season of modern music in Sakolniki Park, Moscow. The 21-year-old Prokofiev, making his first public appearance with an orchestra, was the soloist in this performance on 7 August 1912, and in a repeat performance nine days later in Pavlovsk near St Petersburg. The critics were divided, one hailing the concerto’s ‘brilliance, wit, piquancy and humour’ and another deploring its ‘harsh, coarse, primitive cacophony’.

Two years later Prokofiev completed his studies and set his sights on the Conservatory’s top piano prize. His challenging Second Concerto had meanwhile had a mainly hostile reception from press and public, but nothing daunted he opted to play his First Concerto in the competition instead of a classical work, and was

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allowed to do so on condition that he provided all 20 judges with a score a week beforehand. Glazunov, who was Director of the Conservatory and chairman of the jury, twice walked out during the performance and could hardly bring himself to announce the result when the jury voted by a majority to award Prokofiev the prize – a grand piano.

One can understand why the young composer’s work offended the academic old guard in those days before the First World War. Its unconventional form, driving rhythms and unorthodox harmonic shifts were hard for conservative minds to accept. Today’s listeners, being accustomed to much sterner challenges, do not find it difficult music at all and are much more likely to agree with that first critic who enjoyed its brilliance and piquancy.

The concerto is in three sections played without a break.

It opens with piano and orchestra giving out an insistent, easily remembered theme that is typical of Prokofiev in the way it slips momentarily into and out of several keys. When the orchestra has repeated the theme, the soloist goes off at a tangent with an episode based on brilliant scales, then introduces the second main subject, a lively theme characterised by repeated notes. A development follows, and the section ends with a brief reappearance of the opening theme.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

A lyrical theme announced by the violins is the basis of the Andante assai middle section. In the concluding Allegro scherzando the ideas of the concerto’s first section undergo still more varied and brilliant treatment

than before, the initial theme returning once more to round off the work. © Eric Mason

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

Sergei PROKOFIEV

EXCERPTS FROM ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’ OP. 64

1891-1953

In 1934, shortly after Prokofiev resettled permanently in his native Russia, the Kirov Theatre in St Petersburg invited him to compose music for a ballet version of Romeo and Juliet. When doubts about the suitability of Shakespeare’s tragedy caused the theatre to drop the project, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow took it over.

With the collaboration of Adrian Piotrovsky and Sergei Radlov a scenario was devised. Initially it had a happy ending, but wiser counsels prevailed and the final version is commendably true to the play’s essentials.

Prokofiev composed the music, one of the century’s great ballet scores, in the summer of 1935, and it was given a concert performance in Moscow that October.

The Bolshoi then decided that the music was unsuitable for dancing and cancelled the composer’s contract. So he arranged two concert suites (a third was to follow in 1946), and the popularity that these won obliged the authorities to think again.

The Czech city of Brno staged the ballet in 1938, and the following year the Kirov Ballet decided to mount it

with choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky. The dancers initially had difficulty coming to terms with such unusual music, but the première on 11 January 1940 was a huge success. Konstantin Sergeyev and Galina Ulanova danced the title parts, and Juliet became Ulanova’s most celebrated role. Lavrovsky moved to the Bolshoi, for which he remounted the ballet in 1946, and that spectacular production was chosen for the Bolshoi Ballet’s British debut at Covent Garden in 1956. Among other productions there have been versions choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton for the Royal Danish Ballet, John Cranko for Stuttgart and Sir Kenneth MacMillan – with long lasting success – for Britain’s Royal Ballet.

The ballet’s longevity has surely been due above all to the mastery with which Prokofiev realised in musical terms the facets of Shakespeare’s play: Romeo’s passion, the burgeoning of Juliet from child into young woman, the violence and splendour of Renaissance Italy. Using a Leitmotiv procedure, he assigned to the principal

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PROGRAMME NOTES

characters themes that he varied and developed over the course of the dance drama. The spectacularly colourful and tuneful score employs a large orchestra, including such distinctive instruments as tenor saxophone, cornet, viola d’amore, piano and (not required tonight) mandolins.

This evening we hear Vladimir Jurowski’s selection of numbers from the theatre score, beginning with the ominous music that accompanies the Prince of Verona’s decree banning affrays. Next the Introduction presents themes associated with Romeo and Juliet. In the opening morning scene three servants of Juliet’s Capulet family caper in the street. They become embroiled in a quarrel with servants of Romeo’s family, the Montagues, who are enemies of the Capulets.

Montague’s nephew Benvolio, Lady Capulet’s nephew Tybalt and others are drawn into the furious sword fight that ensues.

In the next scene Juliet is with her nurse ( jocular bassoon theme) preparing for the Capulets’ ball. She teases the nurse (a delicately playful Vivace), and then more calmly (flute and cello solos) shows her tender, romantic nature as a young girl.

A piquant, strongly accented dance finds Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio putting on masks to gatecrash the ball. At the ball the knightly guests perform a stately, heavily weighted dance to the most familiar number in Prokofiev’s score.

Act One ends with the Balcony Scene. Juliet has fallen in love with the masked admirer she met at the ball and has learned his identity. Unable to sleep, she steps on to her bedroom balcony and sees Romeo in the garden.

Flute and harp chords with muted strings and a passage for solo strings evoke the moonlit night. A dozen ‘inquiet’ bars indicate the danger of being discovered, but Romeo lifts Juliet down – a necessary balletic departure from the play – and they confess their love.

Horn figures lead into a romantic cor anglais and cello melody, which violins and violas take up. Romeo

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declares his feelings with a virile Allegro amoroso in syncopated 3/4 time, and a passionate Love Dance follows. Finally the woodwind and harp chords return with the tenderest pianissimo strings: ‘Good night, good night, parting is such sweet sorrow…’

Act Two opens with Prokofiev’s version of the tarantella, his only use of an Italian dance form. Besides accompanying the lively dance the music evokes the festive bustle in the streets. Passing over the secret marriage of Romeo and Juliet, we come to the fateful climax of the act. The arrogant Tybalt meets Mercutio in the street. They fight, and when Mercutio is unsighted Tybalt runs him through. Romeo resolves (strings and low brass) to avenge his friend’s death. He draws his sword and after a tremendous fight kills Tybalt. Against a pattern of fierce chords a wild, keening melody spreads through the orchestra as Tybalt’s body is borne away.

The prince has banished Romeo, and in the third scene of Act Three Juliet is in her bedroom. Her parents are insisting that she marry Paris, the prince’s kinsman. The cool, shivery theme of her contact with Paris (flutes with glissando violas) shows her revulsion, but she pretends to agree to the marriage. Left alone she recalls her time with Romeo, then swallows a sleeping potion, given her by Friar Laurence, which will temporarily make her appear dead.

Before the tragedy’s climax we turn back to the public making merry at festival time. But now Juliet has mistakenly been taken for dead, and is laid to rest in the Capulet family vault. Romeo, who has not received the Friar’s message that Juliet is only drugged, comes to the vault. With anguish poignantly expressed in the music, he dances with Juliet’s seemingly lifeless body (‘Arms take your last embrace’), drinks poison and dies. Juliet awakes to find Romeo dead and kills herself with his dagger. © Eric Mason

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RECORDINGS ON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL

LPO-0039 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1 and 6 ‘Both are exceptional performances, superbly recorded with a breathtaking range of dynamics … In both works, the playing of the LPO is world class.’

ANDREW CLEMENTS, THE GUARDIAN, 4 SEPTEMBER 2009

LPO-0009 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony ‘it is a wonderfully vivid recording of an exceptionally vibrant, immaculately played performance ... a superb disc.’

THE GUARDIAN, 2 JUNE 2006

LPO-0004 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Rachmaninov’s The Isle of the Dead and Symphonic Dances ‘... dramatic and focused ... Jurowski’s slow-burning Rachmaninov is irresistible.’

INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

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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Until July 2010 Project Artistic Director Marin Alsop

Celebrating Leonard Bernstein, one of the great icons of 20th century music making.

Highlights include LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 21 APR Conducted by Marin Alsop, featuring Bernstein’s Symphony No.2 and Shostakovich’s Symphony No.5 in D Minor.

ALSOP ON BERNSTEIN & MAHLER 9 MAY Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and others perform Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, conducted by Marin Alsop.

BERNSTEIN MASS 10 – 11 JUL Featuring the Mass Orchestra, a rock band, choirs, soloists, a marching band and dancers.

AND MANY MORE BOOK NOW www.southbankcentre.co.uk/bernstein 0844 847 9910

12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo: Leonard Bernstein © G MacDomnic / Lebrecht Arts & Music

The Bernstein Project

FUNharmonics Family Concert

Dreams Sunday 14 March 2010 | 11.30am Royal Festival Hall Davenport In the Night Garden (theme) Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (excerpt) Saint-Saëns Danse macabre Marianelli The Starfish’s Story Various Classical Lullabies Silvestri The Polar Express (theme) Stuart Stratford conductor Chris Jarvis presenter

Foyer Events from 10am You can try your hand at playing an orchestral instrument in one of our Have-a-Go sessions, get your face painted or join our human orchestra – all in the foyers before and after the performance.

Generously supported by The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust.

TICKETS Child £4-£7; Adult £8-£14 For booking details see page 16.

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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 Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp 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 WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

Grammy Award The London Philharmonic Orchestra is delighted to announce that its recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto has won the 2010 Grammy Award for best classical contemporary composition. The piece was co-commissioned by the Philadelphia, Dallas Symphony and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras and was given its European première by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall on 15 December 2007.

This première recording was taken from the December concert conducted by Marin Alsop with percussionist Colin Currie. It forms part of the CD LPO-0035, which also includes James MacMillan’s The Confession of Isobel Gowdie and Thomas Adès’s Chamber Symphony. It was described by The Financial Times as ‘the best possible advert for new classical music’.

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 phone on 020 7960 4250 or by email at customer@southbankcentre.co.uk We look forward to seeing you again soon.

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment: PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre.

Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins

The CD may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. It can 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

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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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

*Non-Executive Directors

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Manager Julius Hendriksen Assistant to the Chief Executive and Artistic Director FINANCE David Burke General Manager and Finance Director 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 Horwath Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors 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

Jo Langston 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 Melissa Van Emden Corporate Relations and Events Officer MARKETING Kath Trout Marketing Director

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 Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

Photograph on the front cover

by Roman Gontcharov.

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

Saturday 20 February 2010 | 7.30pm

JTI Friday Series | Friday 12 March 2010 | 7.30pm

Janá˘cek Taras Bulba Janá˘cek The Eternal Gospel Suk Symphony 2 (Asrael)

Ravel Mother Goose Suite Schumann Piano Concerto Brahms Symphony 2

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Sofia Fomina soprano Michael König tenor London Philharmonic Choir

Gunther Herbig conductor Hélène Grimaud piano

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

Gunther Herbig and Hélène Grimaud

Wednesday 17 March 2010 | 7.30pm

Sofia Fomina and Michael König

Wednesday 24 February 2010 | 7.30pm Shostakovich The Gamblers Shostakovich Suite from ‘The Nose’ Shostakovich Symphony 1 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Mikhail Urusov Ikharev, a gambler Vladimir Ognev Gavryushka, his servant Sergei Leiferkus Uteshitelny, a gambler Sergei Aleksashkin Shvokhnev, a gambler Viacheslav Voynarovskiy Krugel, a gambler Mikhail Petrenko Alexey, his servant FREE Pre-Concert Event 6.15pm | Royal Festival Hall Musicologist Stephen Johnson takes a closer look at Shostakovich’s The Gamblers and The Nose.

Wagner Lohengrin, Prelude to Act 1 Brahms Violin Concerto Bartók Concerto for Orchestra Ludovic Morlot conductor Anne-Sophie Mutter violin 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.

Ludovic Morlot and Anne-Sophie Mutter

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

Vladimir Jurowski and Mikhail Urusov

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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