LPO Programme notes 24 Nov 10

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

AM†

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Wednesday 24 November 2010 | 7.30pm

OLEG MARSHEV piano

(11’)

PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C

List of Players Orchestra History Southbank Centre Vasily Petrenko Oleg Marshev Programme Notes Recordings Philharmonic News Supporters Administration Future Concerts

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

(28’)

INTERVAL SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 11 in G minor ‘The Year 1905’ (60’)

†

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

VASILY PETRENKO conductor

STRAVINSKY Scherzo fantastique

PROGRAMME £3

supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINS Alexander Velinzon Guest Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Chair supported by John and Angela Kessler

Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Martin Hรถhmann Chair supported by Richard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Florence Schoeman Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Peter Nall Galina Tanney Joanne Chen Kay Chappell Alina Petrenko SECOND VIOLINS Clare Duckworth Principal Chair supported by Richard and Victoria Sharp

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

Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Andrew Thurgood Alison Strange Stephen Stewart Mila Mustakova Elizabeth Baldey Stephen Dinwoodie Naomi Anner VIOLAS Stephen Burnard Guest Principal Robert Duncan Katharine Leek Susanne Martens

Benedetto Pollani Emmanuella Reiter-Bootiman Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Isabel Pereira Sarah Malcolm Claudio Cavalletti 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 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 Tom Walley Joe Melvin Helen Rowlands Louis Garson FLUTES Susan Thomas* Principal Jane Spiers Stewart McIlwham* Marta Santamaria PICCOLOS Stewart McIlwham* Principal Marta Santamaria ALTO FLUTE Jane Spiers

OBOES Ian Hardwick Principal Owen Dennis Sue Bohling COR ANGLAIS Sue Bohling Principal Chair supported by Julian and Gill Simmonds

CLARINETS Robert Hill* Principal Emily Meredith Nicholas Carpenter Paul Richards E FLAT CLARINET Nicholas Carpenter Principal

BASS TROMBONE Lyndon Meredith Principal TUBA Lee Tsarmaklis Principal TIMPANI Simon Carrington* Principal PERCUSSION Rachel Gledhill Principal Andrew Barclay* Co-Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Sam Walton

BASS CLARINET Paul Richards Principal

HARPS Rachel Masters* Principal Lucy Haslar Ruth Faber

BASSOONS John Price Principal Gareth Newman* Nicholas Reader

CELESTE Catherine Edwards

CONTRA BASSOON Nicholas Reader HORNS John Ryan Principal Timothy Thorpe Guest Principal Martin Hobbs Grzegorz Curlya Gareth Mollison TRUMPETS Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff and Meg Mann

Tom Rainer TROMBONES Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse

* 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 player is not present at this concert: The Tsukanov Family

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Patrick Harrison

Seventy-eight 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 2010/11 include an exploration of Mahler’s symphonies and complete song cycles during the composer’s anniversary season; the premières of works by Matteo D’Amico, Magnus Lindberg and Brett Dean; a rare opportunity to hear Rossini’s opera Aureliano in Palmira in collaboration with long term partner Opera Rara; and works by the Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson.

In addition to its London season and a series of concerts at Wigmore Hall, 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 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 London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2010/11 include visits to Finland, Germany, South Korea, Spain, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

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 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 London Philharmonic Orchestra made its first recordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after its first public performance. It has recorded and broadcast

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

SOUTHBANK CENTRE

regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its own record label. The recordings on its own label are taken mainly from live concerts given with distinguished conductors over the years including the Orchestra’s Principal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, through Haitink, Solti and Tennstedt, to Masur and Jurowski.

WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

Recent additions to the catalogue have included acclaimed releases of Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 and Sea Pictures with Vernon Handley and Janet Baker; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 conducted by Klaus Tennstedt; Brahms’s Symphonies Nos 1 and 2 conducted by Vladimir Jurowski; and Dvořák’s Requiem under the baton of Neeme Järvi.

The Orchestra’s own-label CDs are also widely available to download. Visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop for the latest releases.

‘ … a simply tremendous performance of Mahler’s 3rd Symphony … Jurowski and his players plunged us into a winter of discontent so profoundly expectant that even the inveterate coughers were silenced.’

EDWARD SECKERSON, THE INDEPENDENT, 23 SEPTEMBER 2010

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, download our iPhone application and join us on Facebook and Twitter.

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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: Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO! Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Concrete and Feng Sushi, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact Kenelm Roberts, our Head of Customer Relations, at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX or email 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 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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VASILY PETRENKO CONDUCTOR

Philharmonic and Budapest Festival Orchestras. He has appeared at the BBC Proms with both the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra, and toured with the European Union Youth Orchestra. Highlights of the 2010/11 season and beyond include his debuts with the London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Finnish Radio Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, NHK Symphony Tokyo, Sydney Symphony and Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

Vasily Petrenko was born in 1976 and started his music education at the St Petersburg Capella Boys Music School, the oldest music school in Russia. He then studied at the St Petersburg Conservatoire and has also participated in masterclasses with such major figures as Ilya Musin, Mariss Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov and EsaPekka Salonen. Between 1994 and 1997, Petrenko was Resident Conductor at the St Petersburg State Opera and Ballet Theatre in the Mussorgsky Memorial Theatre.

Following considerable success in a number of international conducting competitions including the Fourth Prokofiev Conducting Competition in St Petersburg in 2003, the Shostakovich Choral Conducting Competition in St Petersburg in 1997 and the Sixth Cadaques International Conducting Competition in Spain, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the State Academy Orchestra of St Petersburg from 2004 to 2007. During recent seasons he has conducted many key orchestras in Russia including the St Petersburg Philharmonic and the Moscow Philharmonic.

Vasily Petrenko took up his position as Principal Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2006 and six months into his first season this contract was extended to 2012. In 2009, the contract was again extended to 2015, and he also assumed the title of Chief Conductor. Also in 2009, following his tremendous debut with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, he was appointed their Principal Conductor and works with them each season.

In recent seasons, Petrenko has made numerous critically acclaimed debuts with major orchestras including the London Symphony, Philharmonia, Russian National, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Oslo

He has made a series of highly successful North American debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra as well as with the San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Baltimore, Cincinnati and St Louis Symphony Orchestras. In 2011 he will return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony, and make his debut with the Philadelphia, Minnesota, National Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Montreal Symphony Orchestras.

Equally at home in the opera house, Petrenko made his debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2010 with Verdi’s Macbeth, and has conducted Puccini’s Le Villi and Messa di Gloria, Verdi’s I due Foscari and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov at the Netherlands Reisopera, and Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades at Hamburg State Opera.

Future plans include his debuts at the Opéra de Paris with Eugene Onegin and at Zurich Opera with Carmen.

His recordings with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra include a rare double bill of Fleishman’s Rothschild’s Violin and Shostakovich’s The Gamblers, Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances and Isle of the Dead, a critically acclaimed series of recordings for Naxos including Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony which won the 2009 Gramophone Award for Best Orchestral Recording, Liszt’s Piano Concertos and the first discs of an ongoing Shostakovich cycle. In October 2007 Vasily Petrenko was named Young Artist of the Year at the annual Gramophone Awards, and in 2010 he won the Male Artist of the Year at the Classical BRIT Awards. In 2009 he was awarded Honorary Doctorates by both the University of Liverpool and Liverpool Hope University, in recognition of the immense impact he has had on the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the city’s cultural scene.

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OLEG MARSHEV PIANO

involvement that informs every note.’ A frequent performer in Scandinavia, he regularly plays with the Aarhus, Helsingborg, Sønderjyllands and Aalborg Symphony Orchestras and works with conductors such as Mikhail Jurowski, Owain Arwel Hughes, James Loughran, Niklas Willen and Vladimir Ziva. Alongside his concert engagements, Oleg gives masterclasses in many different countries and is a Professor at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz, taking a very active role in the life of the university both lecturing and teaching individual pupils.

Following a series of prestigious victories in international piano competitions, Oleg Marshev caught the attention of the classical music world with his authoritative recordings of the complete solo piano music of Prokofiev. He has since recorded over thirty critically-acclaimed CDs and ranks among the most admired Russian pianists performing today.

Recent performances have included Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in October 2009 as well as recordings and concerto engagements with the Norrköpings Symfoniorkester and conductor Mikhail Jurowski and the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester with conductor Vladimir Ziva. Future concerts include a recital at the Wigmore Hall.

Born in Baku, formerly in the USSR, Oleg Marshev is a fifth-generation representative of Russian piano playing that can be traced directly back to Franz Liszt, through Mikhail Voskresensky, his teacher at the Moscow Conservatory. Resident in Italy since 1991, Marshev has received awards at several international piano competitions in Canada, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the USA, including four first prizes.

Oleg Marshev made his New York debut at the Lincoln Center with a critically acclaimed recital at Alice Tully Hall and has performed on numerous occasions at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and other concert halls and festivals throughout the world, including the A.B. Michelangeli Festival of Brescia-Bergamo in Italy, the Ruhr Klavier Festival in Germany, and the Roque d’Antheron Festival in France. A review of his recent debut with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra declared that: ‘Marshev has a natural gift of idiomatic

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Oleg Marshev is the first pianist to have recorded the complete concertos by the ‘Great Four’ Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. His recent recording of concertos by Pabst, Rimsky-Korsakov and Scriabin has received glowing reviews from BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone, with his virtuosic playing described in the Daily Telegraph as ‘mind boggling’. He has also recorded many lesser-known concertos by Schytte, Rubinstein and Balakirev. His interest in rarely performed piano works has led to several worldpremière recordings, including Emil von Sauer’s complete piano music and concertos by Romantic Danish composers.

His recordings on the Danacord label have all met with unanimous praise in the international classical music press. BBC Music Magazine wrote of his Shostakovich Concertos disc: ‘Marshev is a phenomenon – a master of every mood … but above all a controlling sensibility of intelligence and feeling.’ Gramophone wrote of his Prokofiev recordings: ‘pianistically … all one could wish for – superb rhythmic impetus, tremendous force, wonderful phrasing and in the slower, more reflective moments, beautiful tonal control and expressive nuance’ and of his Oleg Marshev in Recital recording: ‘an astonishing, all-stops out release’.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD The Russian Revolution of 1917 impacted hugely on the three composers in tonight’s concert. Igor Stravinsky, abroad at the time, publically turned his back on Russia, yet his music shows how strongly memories of his homeland continued to tug at his heart. His early Scherzo fantastique has something of the vividly colourful, sometimes frightening quality one encounters in Russian folk tales. Stravinsky may have ‘moved’ on from such musical exoticism; Sergei Prokofiev never did. His Third Piano Concerto has some fabulous ‘fantastic’ writing, and plenty of demonic energy. The piano writing is so challenging that, after the first performance, Prokofiev’s

Igor STRAVINSKY

friend Nikolai Myaskovsky insisted that ‘only you will be able to play it!’ Fortunately for us, a select few have succeeded since then. Dmitri Shostakovich was 11 when the revolution happened, and he spent the rest of his life under repressive Soviet rule. Throughout his life Shostakovich trod a delicate balance between placating the authorities and giving vent to his true feelings in music. The Eleventh Symphony is a powerful example of how he achieved that balance. From a Soviet point of view its subject matter would have seemed ‘politically correct’; but the sense of grief and, finally, outrage burn through the carefully chosen titles and revolutionary songs.

SCHERZO FANTASTIQUE

1882-1971 Stravinsky’s big break came in 1909. The formidable Russian ballet impresario, Serge Diaghilev – increasingly desperate to find a composer for his planned ballet The Firebird – acted on an inspired hunch and commissioned the virtually unknown 27 year-old to write the score. It was the making of Stravinsky as a composer, and perhaps also as a man. Firebird may be Stravinsky’s first masterpiece, but the two works he finished the year earlier, Fireworks and Scherzo fantastique, are more than interesting juvenilia. The Scherzo fantastique contains several strong foretastes of the glittering, sensuous orchestral colours of Kashchei’s enchanted garden in Firebird. (In their original versions both scores make

imaginative use of three harps.) Listening to this score it is easy to understand why the ‘fantastic’ fairy-tale imagery of Firebird should have brought out the best in the young composer. In later years Stravinsky liked to claim that such things were of no interest to him at the time; but the older Stravinsky was always keen to distance himself from his earlier late-romantic self. In any case, when he steeled himself to look over the score of Scherzo fantastique again in the 1960s, even the exacting Stravinsky was pleased by what he found. ‘The orchestra “sounds”, the music is light’, he commented approvingly. True genius, we may sense, is only one more step around the corner.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Sergei PROKOFIEV

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 IN C, OP. 26 OLEG MARSHEV piano Andante – Allegro | Andantino (Theme and Variations) | Allegro ma non troppo

1891-1953 Prokofiev wrote his Third Piano Concerto during the years 1916-21 – five years in which the world he knew changed out of all recognition. At the beginning, Russia was still home. But the old Tsarist regime was completely unprepared for the onset of the First World War and the assault against Germany was poorly managed. Appalling losses followed, stoking up the resentment that would lead to the revolution of 1917 and the destruction of the old Russia. By the time Prokofiev had finished the Third Piano Concerto, Tsarism had been replaced by Bolshevism, and Prokofiev (no revolutionary sympathiser) found it advisable to stay abroad. At first he tried to make a living in the USA and, when that failed, he tried Paris instead, with more success. And yet Prokofiev never felt fully at home in the West. For him, as for Stravinsky, Russian remained ‘the exiled language of my heart’.

Although the unaccompanied clarinet tune that opens the Third Concerto doesn’t sound quite like any authentic folksong, many have found something characteristically Russian here. The theme seems ready to expand lyrically (strings and flute), but then it is swept away by a racing Allegro full of devilish rapid figuration for the soloist. In music like this we can gauge something of Prokofiev’s own brilliance as a

pianist: commenting on Prokofiev’s playing not long after his arrival in America, one journalist dubbed him ‘the man with the steel fingers’. Nothing stays the same for long however: throughout this concerto mood, textures and character keep changing, sometimes with startling rapidity, and Prokofiev the deft, wicked ironist is rarely far away. The first movement’s second theme (oboe and pizzicato violins) seems jaunty enough, but the clicking castanets add a slightly macabre touch, which is strongly underlined when the theme returns towards the end of the movement.

Then in the second movement, Prokofiev seems to take grim pleasure in subjecting his innocent-sounding Andantino (woodwind) theme to all manner of extreme transformations, through the angular violence of Variation III, and the eerie stillness of IV to the violent obsessive climax of Variation V. A more good-natured grotesquerie seems to emerge in the finale, but before long we see the demonic side of the piano again. After a while the tempo drops and a luscious melody, introduced by cellos, is treated to some fabulous intricate decorative work by the piano – magical Prokofievian night music at its finest. But then the dancing, pounding main theme returns, and the concerto ends in a whirl of steely sound.

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 NO. 11 IN G MINOR, OP. 103, ‘THE YEAR 1905’ Palace Square (Adagio) | The Ninth of January (Allegro) | Eternal Memory (Adagio) | The Alarm Bell (Allegro non troppo – Adagio – Allegro)

1906-1975

To the Soviet authorities, Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony must have seemed an impeccable piece of Socialist art when it first appeared in 1957. Written for the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution, the symphony’s title invoked a suitably revolutionary theme: the failed Russian uprising of 1905, brutally put down by the troops of Tsar Nicholas II. The unmistakably tragic character of the work was apparently balanced by Shostakovich’s use of stirring Russian revolutionary songs. So amid the violence and grief one could find the seeds of hope: and perhaps also the determination that would lead to the successful revolution of 1917.

The Soviet powers greeted the new symphony with hymns of praise. In private though, some of Shostakovich’s admirers were bitterly disappointed: had their hero sold out? Had the element of dissidence, of impassioned protest, that had sounded out in so many of his works during the Stalin years finally been silenced? However others saw beyond the surface. After the Leningrad première, the great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova found another message in those revolutionary songs: for her they are ‘like white birds flying against a terrible black sky’.

In fact the songs quoted in Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony are all anguished in tone. They express despair, rage against tyranny, grief for sufferings past – but there is no hope, no anticipation of the ‘glorious revolutionary dawn’. In private Shostakovich pointed out that he’d written the symphony in the aftermath of the Hungarian Uprising. In 1956, the year before the Eleventh Symphony appeared, Soviet troops had crushed a genuine popular revolution in Hungary. Bear that in mind, and the words of the songs, and the manner in which Shostakovich treats them, take on a wholly new meaning.

The opening of the Eleventh Symphony is intensely atmospheric. Hushed, icy strings and harp evoke the mood before the uprising – tense, still, expectant. The feeling of anticipation intensifies as drums beat a quiet tattoo, and a muted trumpet sounds distant, ominous fanfares. Later, two flutes introduce the first of the revolutionary songs, Listen: ‘The autumn night is black as treason, black as the tyrant’s conscience.

Blacker than that night a terrible vision rises from the fog – prison.’

Suddenly, without a break, the tempo increases. Lower strings introduce a scurrying figure, which is then sung out in slower note-values by clarinets and bassoons.

This is another revolutionary song: ‘Oh Tsar, our dear father! Look around you; life is impossible for us because of the Tsar’s servants, against whom we are helpless.’ Excitement builds in two great waves, the second reaching its peak in an outburst of unprecedented violence: savage martial rhythms for full orchestra, with timpani and five percussionists – the uprising is crushed.

Abruptly the violence ceases. Suddenly we are transported from the thick of the violence to its aftermath, the vast square filled with the bodies of the victims. Strings recall the opening of the symphony, now with ghostly trills. A slow, quiet processional begins, introducing the elegiac song You fell as heroes on violas. This builds gradually to a grandly impassioned climax, with timpani and percussion recalling the recent massacre. A desolate calm descends, You fell as heroes is heard once more, then the finale erupts, with another protest song on brass and timpani: ‘Rage, you tyrants – mock us, threaten us with prison and chains. We are strong in spirit, if weak in body! Shame, shame on you tyrants!’

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PROGRAMME NOTES

More memories are heard: ‘Oh Tsar, our dear father’ (full orchestra), the icy strings-harp harmonies from the opening of the symphony, then a solo cor anglais broods plaintively. Deep bell sounds then ring out from low wind, percussion, harp and pizzicato bass strings.

Shostakovich was almost certainly thinking of the deep bell effect in Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov, which he had reorchestrated in 1940. In the work that claims to be his memoirs, Testimony, there’s a very memorable description of this bell-sound and what it meant to Shostakovich: ‘When the bell tolls, it’s a reminder that

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there are powers mightier than man, that you can’t escape the judgement of history.’ The message is underlined forcefully in the final pages: angry, lamenting wind and brass, more pounding militaristic percussion, and the drum tattoo-figure from the opening of the symphony transformed threateningly by bells. If ever there was a musical depiction of a raised fist, this is it.

Programme notes © by Stephen Johnson 2010

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RECORDINGS ON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL LPO-0001 Kurt Masur conducts Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos 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 No. 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 No. 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 No. 9), Franz Welser-Möst (Strauss, Mozart, Schubert and Bruckner), Kurt Masur (Shostakovich Symphonies Nos 1 and 5) and Vladimir Jurowski (Shostakovich Symphony No. 14 as above).

LPO-0039 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos 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

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. CDs 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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PHILHARMONIC NEWS On Tour The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski have recently returned from a tour in Europe which started off with two concerts in Madrid and one in Pamplona, the programmes repeating those given in London with Vladimir Jurowski and soloists Sarah Connolly and Leif Ove Andsnes on 27 and 30 October.

The Mozart Question Sunday 5 December 2010 | 3.30pm Royal Festival Hall An afternoon of music and storytelling, suitable for children aged 8 and over, based on Michael Morpurgo’s well-loved book which tells of one family’s experience of the holocaust and the incredible healing power of music.

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Daniel Pioro violin Michael Morpurgo narrator Alison Reid narrator Simon Reade director Excerpts from: Beethoven Violin Concerto Vivaldi The Four Seasons Strauss The Blue Danube Bach Violin Sonata No. 1 Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik Running time 75 minutes. No interval.

Tickets Under 16: £7 £9 Adult: £14 £18 For booking details see page 16.

Dedicated by the Dorset Foundation in memory of the late Harry M. Weinrebe and supported by a syndicate of individual donors.

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From Spain the Orchestra flew to Germany for concerts in Stuttgart, Friedrichshafen, Düsseldorf, Hannover, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt. Leif Ove Andsnes was the soloist at the first four concerts and the Orchestra was joined by Julia Fischer for performances of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto at the last three concerts.

On to France for concerts at the Dijon Opera Auditorium and the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, before the tour ended with a concert at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

Next month the Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski will be off again, this time for a concert of Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms in Istanbul on 8 December followed by concerts of Mendelssohn, Prokofiev and Brahms in Skopje, Macedonia, on 10 December and in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 11 December.

Before that tour you can catch the Orchestra in London on 26 November and on 1, 4 and 5 December.

Christmas Carols Another event you may not want to miss is the annual performance at Waterloo Station at 5.30pm on Monday 6 December when members of the brass and percussion section along with singers from the London Philharmonic Choir will regale passing commuters with a selection of Christmas music. As usual, the event will raise money for Save the Children.

Alternatively, you could relax at home with the Orchestra’s new CD of festive choral music which features Vaughan Williams’s The First Nowell, Bach’s Cantata No. 63 and Mendelssohn’s Vom Himmel Hoch taken from a live performance at the Royal Festival Hall last December. For full details visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop

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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 The Tsukanov Family Simon Yates & Kevin Roon

Guy & Utti Whittaker

Commander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel Goldstein Mrs Barbara Green 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

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

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

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 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 AREVA UK 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 Donor Lombard Street Research In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Heineken The Langham London Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sela / Tilley’s Sweets Villa Maria

Trusts and Foundations Allianz Cultural Foundation The Andor Charitable Trust Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Boltini Trust Borletti-Buitoni Trust Britten-Pears Foundation 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 Equitable Charitable Trust The Eranda Foundation The Ernest Cook Trust The Fenton Arts Trust The Foyle Foundation The Jonathan & Jeniffer Harris Trust Capital Radio’s Help a London Child The Idlewild Trust The Emmanuel Kaye Foundation Maurice Marks Charitable Trust The Michael Marks Charitable Trust Marsh Christian Trust

UK Friends of the FelixMendelssohn-Bartholdy Foundation The Mercers’ Company Adam Mickiewicz Institute Paul Morgan Charitable Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund The R K Charitable Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Rubin Foundation The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust Sound Connections The Steel Charitable Trust The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation The Swan Trust John Thaw Foundation The Underwood Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Youth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

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FREE Pre-Concert Event The Clore Ballroom Royal Festival Hall Foyer Southbank Centre 4 December 2010 | 6 pm THE BAND The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s youth community fusion ensemble is back!

The Band is a group of 15-19 year olds from the south London boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. Meeting weekly at Southbank Centre, these talented young musicians work alongside members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra’s Foyle Future Firsts to write and perform their own new compositions.

FREE Pre-Concert Event Royal Festival Hall 1 December 2010 | 6 pm

Under the leadership of animateur Paul Griffiths, this vibrant group has been working over the past nine weeks to forge their own musical style, influenced by rock, classical, funk, jazz and blues. As well as the usual toe-tapping funky hits, this term’s music will in part be influenced by the flavours of Gustav Mahler whose centenary the Orchestra is celebrating this year.

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

The Band is kindly supported by The Mercers’ Company.

FOYLE FUTURE FIRSTS

www.lpo.org.uk/theband

orchestral apprenticeship programme Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (with Njabulo Madlala baritone) Kancheli Exil (with Allison Bell soprano)

The Foyle Future Firsts programme is generously funded by the Foyle Foundation with additional support from The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The Eranda Foundation, The Fenton Arts Trust and the Musicians Benevolent Fund.

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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ADMINISTRATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL

ARCHIVES

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

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager

Edmund Pirouet Consultant

Sarah Thomas Librarian

Philip Stuart Discographer

Michael Pattison Stage Manager

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive

*Non-Executive Directors

THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC TRUST 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 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 Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Manager FINANCE David Burke General Manager and Finance Director David Greenslade Finance and IT Manager CONCERT MANAGEMENT Roanna Chandler Concerts Director Ruth Sansom Artistic Administrator Graham Wood Concerts, Recordings and Glyndebourne Manager Alison Jones Concerts Co-ordinator Jenny Chadwick Tours and Engagements Manager Jo Orr PA to the Executive / Concerts Assistant

Camilla Begg Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager Ken Graham Trucking Instrument Transportation (Tel: 01737 373305)

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

DEVELOPMENT Nick Jackman Development Director Phoebe Rouse Corporate Relations Manager Sarah Tattersall Corporate Relations and Events Manager Melissa Van Emden Corporate Relations and Events Officer

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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.

Elisenda Ayats Development and Finance Officer

Photographs of Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

MARKETING

Photograph on the front cover

by Pip Eastop.

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant

Kath Trout Marketing Director

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMME

Ellie Dragonetti Marketing Manager

Anne Findlay Education Officer

Frances Cook Publications Manager

Isobel Timms Community Officer

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

Alec Haylor Education and Community Assistant

Charly Fraser-Annand Intern

Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer

Valerie Barber Press Consultant (Tel: 020 7586 8560)

Programmes printed by Cantate.

Dr Louise Miller Honorary Doctor †Supported by Macquarie Group

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FUTURE CONCERTS AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

JTI FRIDAY SERIES Friday 26 November 2010 | 7.30pm

Wednesday 15 December 2010 | 7.30pm Beethoven Overture, Egmont Martinů Violin Concerto No. 2 Julian Anderson The Stations of the Sun Nielsen Symphony No. 5

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25, K503 Bruckner Symphony No. 9 Günther Herbig conductor Andreas Haefliger piano

Jukka-Pekka Saraste conductor Frank Peter Zimmermann violin Supported by The Boltini Trust

Günther Herbig and Andreas Haefliger

MAHLER ANNIVERSARY Wednesday 1 December 2010 | 7.30pm

6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert Event Royal Festival Hall The Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence Julian Anderson discusses his role and looks at the evening’s performance of The Stations of the Sun.

Debussy (orch. Colin Matthews) Préludes: Des Pas sur la neige; La Cathédrale engloutie; Feux d’artifice Britten Les Illuminations Mahler Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Christine Schäfer soprano 6.00pm–7.00pm | FREE Pre-Concert Event Royal Festival Hall A performance of chamber music including Giya Kancheli’s Exil by the Orchestra’s outstanding young apprentice musicians conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.

Christine Schäfer and Hélène Grimaud

MAHLER ANNIVERSARY Saturday 4 December 2010 | 7.30pm Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 Mahler Symphony No. 1 (original version including Blumine) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Hélène Grimaud piano Barlines – FREE Post-Concert Event Level 2 Foyer at Royal Festival Hall An informal discussion with Vladimir Jurowski following the evening’s performance.

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Frank Peter Zimmermann

MAHLER ANNIVERSARY JTI FRIDAY SERIES Friday 14 January 2011 | 7.30pm Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 2 Mahler Symphony No. 6 Jaap van Zweden conductor Leonidas Kavakos violin 6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert Event Royal Festival Hall With the help of the Orchestra’s percussion section we take a look at Mahler’s growing interest in non-standard instrumentation.

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