22 May 2010 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 22 May 2010 | 7.30 pm

PROGRAMME £3 CONTENTS 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 12 13 14 15 16

CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH conductor CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF violin

DEBUSSY Ibéria from Images

(20’)

LALO Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra INTERVAL STRAUSS Don Juan RAVEL Boléro

†

(18’)

(14’)

supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

(31’)

List of Players Orchestra History Leader Christoph Eschenbach Christian Tetzlaff Programme Notes Recordings Southbank Centre Supporters Philharmonic News Administration Future Concerts

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

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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

Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Florence Schoeman Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Alain Petitclerc Toby Tramaseur Alina Petrenko Geoffrey Silver SECOND VIOLINS Jeongmin Kim Principal Joseph Maher Kate Birchall Chair supported by David and Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Ashley Stevens Sioni Williams Heather Badke Stephen Stewart Mila Mustakova Elizabeth Baldey Lisa Obert Naomi Anner Charlotte Scott VIOLAS Alexander Zemtsov* Principal Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt

Isabel Pereira Daniel Cornford Martin Fenn Karin Norlen Sarah Malcolm Jennifer Edwards CELLOS Moray Welsh Guest Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Santiago Sabino Carvalho + Jonathan Ayling Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp

Gregory Walmsley Lyubov Ulybesheva Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Tom Roff DOUBLE BASSES Kevin Rundell* Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Richard Lewis Roger Linley Kenneth Knussen David Johnson Helen Rowlands FLUTES Jaime Martin* Principal Susan Thomas* Eilidh Gillespie PICCOLOS Jane Spiers Guest Principal Eilidh Gillespie OBOES Ian Hardwick Principal Angela Tennick

COR ANGLAIS Sue Bohling Principal Chair supported by Julian and Gill Simmonds

OBOE D’AMORE Steven Hudson CLARINETS Robert Hill* Principal Nicholas Carpenter Paul Richards

PICCOLO TRUMPET Nicholas Betts Principal TROMBONES Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse BASS TROMBONE Lyndon Meredith Principal TUBA Lee Tsarmaklis Principal

E FLAT CLARINET Nicholas Carpenter Principal

TIMPANI Simon Carrington* Principal

BASS CLARINET Paul Richards Principal

PERCUSSION Rachel Gledhill Principal Andrew Barclay* Co-Principal

BASSOONS Gareth Newman* Principal Stuart Russell Joanna Stark CONTRA BASSOON Simon Estell Principal HORNS John Ryan Principal Alec Frank-Gemmill Guest Principal Gareth Mollison Nicolas Wolmark Peter Blake

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Sam Walton Ignacio Molins HARPS Rachel Masters* Principal Helen Sharp CELESTA Catherine Edwards

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: John and Angela Kessler Richard and Victoria Sharp Simon Yates and Kevin Roon

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

© Richard Cannon

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

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

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

‘This pulsating concert was the best possible advertisement for the rest of Osmo Vänskä’s Sibelius cycle ... If any musical event this season has a better Finnish than this, I’m a Norseman.’

RICHARD MORRISON, THE TIMES, 29 JANUARY 2010

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

PIETER SCHOEMAN LEADER

the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2009/10 included 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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CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH CONDUCTOR

Eric Brissaud

Music Director Designate of the National Symphony Orchestra, he conducts three performances of the Verdi Requiem in Washington D.C.

In demand as a distinguished guest conductor with the finest orchestras and opera houses throughout the world, Christoph Eschenbach is currently Music Director Designate of the National Symphony Orchestra and of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. He assumes these posts in the 2010/11 season, and is already playing a key role in planning future seasons, international festivals and special projects for these two prestigious institutions.

In the 2008/09 season Christoph Eschenbach took the Orchestre de Paris, where he is Music Director until August 2010, to the Berlin Festival, the BBC Proms and on a tour of Scandinavia, and led the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he was Music Director from 2003 to 2008, on a three-week European tour. Other highlights included return engagements with the Vienna Philharmonic (both in Vienna and on tour throughout Europe), New York Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony as well as concerts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. This season he returned to the Vienna Philharmonic at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg (where he played and conducted) and to the Philadelphia Orchestra to lead two programmes, one of which included Mahler’s Symphony 7 in Carnegie Hall, completing his Mahler cycle with the orchestra. He also returned to the Staatskapelle Dresden, conducting its annual nationally televised Advent Concert, subscription concerts in Dresden and a tour throughout Germany and in Abu Dhabi. Principal Conductor of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival International Orchestral Academy since 2004, he also leads the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra on tours in Hungary and the Czech Republic, as part of the centennial of Mahler’s death, and in North America with Lang Lang as soloist. As

As a pianist, he continues his fruitful collaboration with baritone Matthias Goerne. The duo is recording Schubert’s three song cycles – Die Schöne Müllerin, Die Winterreise and Schwanengesang—for the Harmonia Mundi label, the first instalment of which was released in May 2009. In the summer of 2009, they performed three complete cycles in three recitals each at Wigmore Hall, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago and the Schubertiade Festival in Austria. Christoph Eschenbach also gave performances of Schubert’s monumental Piano Sonata in B flat at each venue.

A prolific recording artist over five decades, Christoph Eschenbach has an impressive discography as both conductor and pianist. His recordings include works ranging from J.S. Bach to music of our time and reflect his commitment not just to canonical works but also to music of the late 20th and early 21st century. Over the past five years, Ondine has released sixteen of his critically acclaimed recordings with the Orchestre de Paris and the Philadelphia Orchestra, a number of which have received prestigious honours including BBC Magazine’s ‘Disc of the Month’, Gramophone’s ‘Editor’s Choice’, and the German Record Critics’ Award, among others. His recent Ondine recording of the music of Kaija Saariaho with the Orchestre de Paris and soprano Karita Mattila won the 2009 MIDEM Classical Award for Contemporary Music.

Mentored by George Szell and Herbert von Karajan, Christoph Eschenbach held the posts of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Tonhalle Orchestra from 1982 to 1986; Music Director of the Houston Symphony from 1988 to 1999; Music Director of the Ravinia Festival from 1994 to 2003; and Artistic Director of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival from 1999 to 2002. His many honours include the Légion d’Honneur; Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; the Officer’s Cross with Star and Ribbon of the German Order of Merit; and the Commander’s Cross of the German Order of Merit. He also received the Leonard Bernstein Award from the Pacific Music Festival, where he was co-artistic director from 1992 to 1998.

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CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF

Alexandra Vosding

VIOLIN

Equally at home in the classical and romantic repertoire as in contemporary music, Christian Tetzlaff sets standards with his interpretations of the violin concertos of Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky as well as Berg, Ligeti and Shostakovich. He is particularly well-renowned for his incomparable performances of the Bach solo sonatas and partitas.

This season is characterised by the renewal of ongoing partnerships with many of the world’s finest orchestras and conductors. Highlights include performances in the USA with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Christoph Eschenbach and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen, as well as a tour with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas. In Europe he returns to the London Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding when he performs Jörg Widmann’s Violin Concerto, having given the world première of the work in 2007. He tours with the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Ingo Metzmacher and continues to be a regular guest soloist with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich.

He regularly performs at major festivals including those in Edinburgh and Lucerne, and at the BBC Proms, in addition to summer festivals throughout the USA. He also gives recitals with chamber partners Leif Ove Andsnes, Alexander Lonquich and Lars Vogt, as well as his own Tetzlaff String Quartet.

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Christian Tetzlaff has recorded for the Virgin/EMI, Hänssler, Decca, Pentatone and Arte Nova labels. His extensive discography includes the violin concertos of Dvořák, Mozart, Lalo, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. He has also recorded Sibelius’s complete works for violin and orchestra, Bartók’s sonatas for violin and piano with Leif Ove Andsnes, and the three Brahms violin sonatas with Lars Vogt. His latest disc features Bach’s complete solo sonatas and partitas for Hänssler.

Christian’s recordings have received numerous prizes and awards, including the Diapason d’Or, the Edison prize, the MIDEM Classical Award and the ECHO Klassik prize, together with several nominations for Grammy Awards. In 2005 Musical America named him ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’.

Born in Hamburg in 1966, Christian Tetzlaff studied at the Lübeck Conservatory with Uwe-Martin Haiberg and in Cincinnati with Walter Levin. He now lives near Frankfurt.

He plays a violin by German violinmaker Peter Greiner.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD The distinctive melodies, harmonies, rhythms and colours of Spanish music have inspired many French works over the years, not least the three in tonight’s programme. Claude Debussy’s Ibéria of 1905–08, a triptych within the triptych of his orchestral Images, vividly portrays the country’s lively street life, scented nights and sunlit festivals. Edouard Lalo’s five-movement Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra of 1874 makes use of Spanish melodies and dance rhythms said

Claude DEBUSSY

to have been suggested by its first soloist, the Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate. And the famous 1928 Boléro

by Ravel uses a single invented Spanish dance tune over and over again in an inexorable crescendo of instrumental colour. As for Richard Strauss’s symphonic poem Don Juan, first performed in 1889, it is at least based on an old Spanish story, the familiar tale of a libertine who meets a bad end. But Strauss gave it no discernible Spanish colouring, and it takes its place in this programme alongside the Debussy and Ravel simply as an equally thrilling orchestral showpiece.

IBÉRIA FROM IMAGES Par les rues et par les chemins | Les parfums de la nuit – | Le matin d’un jour de fête

1862-1918

Debussy’s three orchestral Images (‘Pictures’), composed between 1905 and 1912 as successors to his two books of piano pieces with the same title, amount to one of the clearest examples of how artistic ‘impressionism’ can be translated into music. In all of them, orchestral colour is applied in a multiplicity of detailed brushstrokes to build up atmospheric, light-filled landscapes and crowd scenes. Each of the three is a picture of a different European country, making use of fragments of folk song or references to national idioms. In the arbitrary order in which the pieces were finally published, the first is Gigues, a portrait of England, and the last is Rondes de Printemps, inspired by Debussy’s native France. In between comes Ibéria, which was actually the first of the three to be written: it was begun in 1905, initially as a work for two pianos, completed in 1908, and first performed on its own in 1910. It is one of the finest examples of Debussy’s longstanding affinity with Spanish music – chiefly nurtured by studying books of Spanish traditional music, and by hearing and seeing performances by Andalusian singers, instrumentalists and dancers in Paris.

begins in the fast triple time of the seguidilla or the sevillana, marked out by castanets, with a little clarinet tune which soon acquires many offshoots. After a while another idea emerges, growing out of a single repeated note into a sinuous sustained melody for solo viola doubled mostly by oboe. There is a duple-time middle section punctuated by trumpet fanfares and ending with suggestions of a habanera on trombones; and the opening theme returns, throwing up more variants before a quiet ending. ‘The scents of the night’ is an atmospheric interlude, based largely on transformed versions of themes from the first movement, and suffused by intoxicating habanera and tango rhythms.

Its ending is ingeniously interleaved with the opening of the finale, ‘The morning of a holiday’, in which a march is heard approaching from the distance. The strings of the orchestra evoke a giant guitar, clarinets squeal in their high register, a solo fiddle strikes up but soon finds its tune stolen by the mocking woodwind, the giant guitar returns along with a kind of liquefied variant for celesta and harps, and the piece ends in a whirling dance.

Unlike its companion pieces, Ibéria is in three distinct movements. The first, ‘In the streets and in the lanes’,

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Edouard LALO 1823-1892

Edouard Lalo began his career as a violinist, was an early advocate of chamber music in French musical life as both performer and composer, and enjoyed great success with his ballet Namouna (much admired by Debussy) and his opera Le roi d’Ys. But he is best remembered today for his ‘Spanish Symphony’ for violin and orchestra, written in 1874 and premièred in Paris in February 1875. This was an early example of the use of Spanish idioms and material in French music – preceding Bizet’s opera Carmen by a few weeks. Its Hispanic colouring had little to do with Lalo’s own Spanish ancestry, which lay centuries in the past, and much more with the fact that it was written for the great Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate – who reportedly provided the composer with some of its melodies. As for the designation ‘symphony’, this may have been meant to indicate a certain seriousness of purpose and treatment, compared with the out-and-out virtuoso approach of many concertos at the time. And it also signals that the piece is in more than the usual three movements of the concerto: not even the symphonic norm of four, but (as in Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, Berlioz’s Fantastique and Schumann’s Rhenish) five.

SYMPHONIE ESPAGNOLE FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, OP. 21 CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF violin Allegro non troppo | Scherzando: Allegro molto | Intermezzo: Allegretto non troppo | Andante | Rondo: Allegro both anticipate the first main theme of the movement, and the soloist also introduces an idea featuring the characteristic swaying rhythm of the habanera, a triplet followed by a duplet, which is to play an important role later in the piece. The main body of the movement contrasts the strong first theme with another habanera tune as well as with the ‘official’ second subject, a smoothly flowing major-key melody. The virtuoso element of the solo part comes to the fore in the central development section and the coda. The next two movements are a G major scherzo, in fast, light-footed triple time with a more hesitant middle section, and an A minor Intermezzo, in habanera rhythm, alternately gruff and cajoling, with a middle section clearly devised to show off Sarasate’s famously sweet and precise playing in the upper register. In the D minor slow movement, a solemn orchestral prelude ushers in an expressive violin melody, which, after another thrilling excursion into the upper reaches of the instrument’s compass, returns over a regular timpani rhythm. The final D major Rondo begins with an insistent ostinato figure which continues under the soloist’s first statement of the hypnotic main theme; it includes an extended episode in habanera rhythm once more, and ends with a last display of violinistic fireworks.

The first of these, in D minor, begins with a short intempo introduction in which the orchestra and soloist

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

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Richard STRAUSS

DON JUAN, OP. 20

1864-1949

Don Juan, begun in 1887 or 1888 and first performed in Weimar in 1889, was the first in the series of brilliantly orchestrated symphonic poems which made Strauss famous throughout Europe. Its subject is the story of the Spanish libertine Don Juan, not as told by Da Ponte in the libretto of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, but as reworked in the verse play by the 19th-century German author Nikolaus Lenau. In this version, Juan’s motive for his sequence of sexual conquests is idealism: he is genuinely in love with all of his ‘victims’, seeking with each of them one moment of perfect bliss. When he dies, it is not as the result of supernatural revenge, but because he allows himself to be killed in a duel, having realised that victory would be as boring as the whole of life.

The outline of Strauss’s piece is that of traditional symphonic first-movement form, modified to accommodate the narrative. The opening section has a group of first-subject themes representing Juan himself as idealist and seducer, and a second subject (growing out of the seduction theme) which corresponds to a

love scene. The central development incorporates an extended and self-contained episode which is a second love scene, of seduction followed by tender intimacy. At its close, Don Juan’s nobly idealistic horn call makes its first appearance – a dramatic masterstroke, which proves to be the turning-point of the whole work.

After this, another self-contained episode, of tarantellalike dance rhythms, can perhaps be identified with a masked ball in Lenau’s play. It gives way to nostalgic reminiscences of earlier themes, followed by a gradual build-up to the return of the first subject. In the recapitulation, the original second subject is replaced by the horn call, which is combined with Juan’s other themes in an atmosphere of mounting bravado, as the duel approaches. Then the most sudden and complete of the work’s several abrupt collapses leads to a quiet coda suggesting Juan’s resignation and death. In the words of the last of Strauss’s prefatory series of quotations from the play: ‘The fuel is all consumed, and the hearth is cold and dark.’

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Maurice RAVEL

BOLÉRO

1875-1937

Ravel’s famous Boléro came about by accident. Around the beginning of 1928, he was asked by the dancer and choreographer Ida Rubinstein to orchestrate some pieces from Albéniz’s piano suite Iberia, for a ballet to be called Fandango. In the summer, after a successful tour of north America, he was about to settle down to the task when he discovered that the rights to an orchestral version of Iberia were not available. With time now short, he decided to write an original score, still in the Spanish idiom that (perhaps thanks to his Basque mother) came so naturally to him – but one that would require little invention other than in orchestration. He wrote a long melody in the dance rhythm of the bolero, placed it over a mechanically repeated side-drum rhythm and an unchanging alternation between two bass notes, so that any harmony would be merely colouristic, and shaped the work as a continuous crescendo created primarily through instrumentation.

The resulting ballet, re-titled Boléro, was premièred at the Paris Opéra in November 1928, and was an immediate success. And to Ravel’s surprise, this ‘piece for orchestra without music’, as he once called it, also became popular in concert halls all over the world.

Simple though it is, Ravel’s plan is carried out with great imagination. The bolero melody is presented in an A–A–B–B pattern, with a change of scoring for each segment. Initially, it is mostly assigned to a series of solo instruments, including such exotics as the recently revived oboe d’amore (mezzo-soprano oboe) and two sizes of saxophone. The first time it is given to more than one instrument, it is scored for flute and muted trumpet in octaves; but a little later piccolo, flute, horn and celesta present it in exactly parallel major chords, as if on an organ mixture stop; and as the build-up continues, it is more freely doubled in streams of parallel chords. Meanwhile, the accompaniment also becomes fuller, with the bolero rhythm appearing in different sections of the orchestra. Then, as the crescendo approaches its height, the melody is heard straight through, A–B, with the B section extended by the work’s single, seismic change of key.

Programme notes by Anthony Burton © 2010

Download London Philharmonic Orchestra recordings from www.lpo.org.uk/shop It’s easy to take the London Philharmonic Orchestra with you wherever you go! Visit our downloads site to choose the works (or even single movements) you’d like to buy, and download high quality MP3s to your computer for transfer to an MP3 player or CD. With regular additions of new recordings with conductors from Beecham to Jurowski you’ll always have a selection of great music to choose from.

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

LPO-0043 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Brahms’s Symphonies 1 and 2 ‘This pair of budget-priced CDs on the LPO’s own label demonstrate how, in the right hands, the first two symphonies can thrill and delight … exquisite wind playing …genuinely exciting …’

GRAHAM RICKSON, THE ARTS DESK, 22 FEBRUARY 2010

LPO-0044 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Mahler’s Symphony 2 (Resurrection) with soloists Yvonne Kenny, Jard Van Nes and the London Philharmonic Choir ‘This live version of the Resurrection is frequently startling – extremely expansive but exciting, dramatic and highly charismatic …The playing and singing are excellent, and the recording, made by the Music Performance Research Centre, is near-faultless.’

GRAHAM RICKSON, THE ARTS DESK, 22 MARCH 2010

LPO-0045 Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Brahms’s A German Requiem with Elizabeth Watts, Stéphane Degout and the London Philharmonic Choir NEW RELEASE

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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SOUTHBANK CENTRE Our season ends with a new beginning – the first performance of Ravi Shankar’s Symphony.

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

Thursday 1 July 2010 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall John Adams Shaker Loops Philip Glass Violin Concerto 1 Ravi Shankar Symphony (world première) David Murphy conductor Robert McDuffie violin Anoushka Shankar sitar

FREE Pre-Concert Event 6.15pm | Royal Festival Hall An introduction to the music of Ravi Shankar.

Tickets £9-£38 / Premium seats £55 For booking details see page 16.

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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

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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

Guy & Utti Whittaker

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 Michael Posen 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

Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Jane Attias Lady Jane Berrill Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Mrs Sonja Drexler Mr Charles Dumas David Ellen Commander Vincent Evans

Benefactors Mrs A Beare Dr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRS Marika Cobbold & Michael Patchett-Joyce Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Mr David Edgecombe Mr Richard Fernyhough

Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport David & Victoria Graham Fuller Richard Karl Goeltz John & Angela Kessler Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp Eric Tomsett

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 John Montgomery Mr & Mrs Egil Oldeide Edmund Pirouet 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 Brown Brothers Harriman 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 Dorset Foundation 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 Mercers' Company The Michael Marks Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund Paul Morgan Charitable Trust The R K Charitable Trust The Rubin Foundation Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation Sound Connections 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

Summer Season The London Philharmonic Orchestra has just started its 2010 season as the Resident Symphony Orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Performances continue up to 29 August not leaving much time for activities elsewhere.

However, we will be giving two concerts at the BBC Proms. On 15 August Vladimir Jurowski’s programme includes works by Mussorgsky, Scriabin and Prokofiev as well as Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto 1 with Julia Fischer as soloist. On 31 August Robin Ticciati conducts the Glyndebourne Prom – a semi-staged performance of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel.

Pick up a brochure in the foyer for full details of the season or visit our website www.lpo.org.uk

A Week in Palestine Violinist, Tom Eisner, recently spent a week in Palestine with his wife, the journalist and writer, Jessica Duchen.

While Jessica gave a lecture to aspiring writers at Bethlehem University, Tom played in local schools (below) where he and his violin proved a popular attraction.

In September, the Orchestra has a couple of concerts with Vladimir Jurowski in Helsinki and Berlin, on 4 and 6 September respectively, and three concerts in Korea with Vassily Sinaisky between 15 and 17 September, supported by Aviva, the Orchestra’s International Touring Partner.

On 22 September, Vladimir Jurowski opens the Orchestra’s 2010/11 Royal Festival Hall season with a concert of Zemlinsky’s Six Maeterlinck Songs and Mahler’s Symphony 3 with soloist Petra Lang, the London Philharmonic Choir and Trinity Boys Choir.

London Philharmonic Orchestra Recording Archive As late spring / early summer is a good time to check through your record collections, we hope you might find some recordings you feel you could part with and would like to donate to the Orchestra’s Recording Archive.

We recently had a wonderful windfall of 30 LPs, all in tip-top condition, from a very dedicated London Philharmonic Orchestra supporter, Mr Arthur J Jones, and were delighted to receive these for the Archive.

If you have any recordings which you think would be of interest, please get in touch with Gillian Pole at the London Philharmonic Orchestra, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP.

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 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

CONCERT MANAGEMENT

Pehr Gyllenhammar Chairman Desmond Cecil CMG 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 Horwath Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors Dr Louise Miller Honorary Doctor

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 LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Alec Haylor Education and Community Assistant

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

Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer DEVELOPMENT

Roanna Chandler Concerts Director Ruth Sansom Artistic Administrator Graham Wood Concerts, Recordings and Glyndebourne Manager

Nick Jackman Development Director Phoebe Rouse Corporate Relations Manager Sarah Tattersall Corporate Relations and Events Manager

Alison Jones Concerts Co-ordinator

Melissa Van Emden Corporate Relations and Events Officer

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant

Anna Gover Charitable Giving Officer

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL

MARKETING

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager

Kath Trout Marketing Director

Sarah Thomas Librarian

Ellie Dragonetti Marketing Co-ordinator

Michael Pattison Stage Manager

Frances Cook Publications Manager

Camilla Begg Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

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

Ken Graham Trucking Instrument Transportation (Tel: 01737 373305)

Valerie Barber Press Consultant (Tel: 020 7586 8560)

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 Debussy, Lalo, Strauss and Ravel courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

Photograph on the front cover

by Benjamin Ealovega.

Programmes printed by Cantate.

INTERN Jo Langston Marketing

†Supported by Macquarie Group

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FUTURE CONCERTS AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

JTI Friday Series | Friday 28 May 2010 | 7.30pm Rachmaninoff (arr. Dumbraveanu) Variations on a Theme of Corelli Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 4 (revised version) Rachmaninoff Symphony 1 Neeme Järvi conductor Alexei Lubimov piano Supported by the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.

FREE Pre-Concert Event 6.15pm | Royal Festival Hall Geoffrey Norris introduces the music of Rachmaninoff.

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

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Neeme Järvi and Alexei Lubimov

Thursday 1 July 2010 | 7.30pm Adams Shaker Loops Glass Violin Concerto 1 Shankar Symphony (world première) David Murphy conductor Robert McDuffie violin Anoushka Shankar sitar FREE Pre-Concert Event 6.15pm | Royal Festival Hall An introduction to the music of Ravi Shankar.

David Murphy and Robert McDuffie

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

This month, the London Philharmonic Orchestra started its 2010 season as Resident Symphony Orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

Glyndebourne’s first ever production of Britten’s Billy Budd conducted by Mark Elder opened the 2010 season. The Orchestra will also play for a revival of the 2007 production of Verdi’s Macbeth conducted by Vasily Petrenko, a revival of the 2008 production of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel conducted by Robin Ticciati, and a revival of the 1975 David Hockney production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra opens its 2010/11 Southbank Centre season on 22 September with a programme including Mahler’s Symphony 3. For full details pick up a brochure in the foyer or telephone 020 7840 4242.