LPO programme notes 24 September 2011

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 Saturday 24 September 2011 | 7.30pm VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor JULIA FISCHER violin IGOR LEVIT piano LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR LUCY CARTER lighting designer

BEETHOVEN The Creatures of Prometheus (excerpts) (30’) MATTHIAS PINTSCHER Mar’eh for Violin and Orchestra (UK première) (24’) Commissioned by the Lucerne Festival, Alte Oper Frankfurt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Interval LISZT Prometheus (Symphonic Poem No. 5) (13’) scriabin Prometheus, Poem of Fire (21’)

* supported by the Tsukanov Family † supported by Macquarie Group CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

PROGRAMME £3 CONTENTS 2 Southbank Centre / Leader 3 List of players 4 About the Orchestra 5 Vladimir Jurowski 6 Julia Fischer 7 Igor Levit 8 London Philharmonic Choir 9 Lucy Carter 10 Programme notes 17 Supporters 18 Autumn 2011: Players’ Picks 20 LPO administration The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

pieter schoeman

Welcome

Leader

Pieter Schoeman joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader in 2002, and was appointed Leader in 2008.

WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

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If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact Kenelm Robert, our Head of Customer Relations, at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX or phone 020 7960 4250 or email 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.

© Patrick Harrison

We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries please ask any member of staff for assistance.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winning numerous competitions including the 1984 World Youth Concerto Competition in the US. In 1987 he was offered the Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study with Eduard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman, who recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. In 1994 he became her teaching assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Pieter has performed worldwide as a soloist and recitalist in such famous halls as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s Rachmaninov Hall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chamber musician he regularly performs at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall.

As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pieter has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concerto with Boris Garlitsky, Brahms’s Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane and Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the Orchestra’s own record label to great critical acclaim.

He has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film and television, and led the Orchestra in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has performed frequently as Guest Leader with the symphony orchestras of Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon and Baltimore, as well as with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

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

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Vesselin Gellev Chair supported by John and Angela Kessler

Ji Hyun Lee Katalin Varnagy Catherine Craig Tina Gruenberg Martin Höhmann Chair supported by Richard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Yang Zhang Alain Petitclerc Galina Tanney Joanne Chen Caroline Sharp Rebecca Shorrock Peter Nall Second Violins Clare Duckworth Principal Chair supported by the Sharp Family

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

Fiona Higham Ashley Stevens Marie-Anne Mairesse Nynke Hijlkema Dean Williamson Sioni Williams Stephen Stewart Mila Mustakova Elizabeth Baldey Alison Strange Naomi Anner Linda McLaren

Violas Iakov Zats Guest Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Susanne Martens Emmanuella Reiter-Bootiman Michelle Bruil Daniel Cornford Isabel Pereira Naomi Holt Sarah Malcolm Martin Fenn Pamela Ferriman Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Susanne Beer Co-Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Jonathan Ayling Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp

Gregory Walmsley Santiago Carvalho† Susanna Riddell Tae-Mi Song William Routledge Tom Roff Helen Rathbone Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Tim Gibbs Co-Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Richard Lewis Kenneth Knussen Joe Melvin Tom Walley Helen Rowlands Catherine Ricketts

Flutes Jaime Martin Principal Joanna Shaw Lysette Pennings

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

Piccolo Nicholas Betts Co-Principal Stewart McIlwham* Principal Daniel Newell Joe Sharp Oboes John MacDomnic Ian Hardwick Principal Angela Tennick Trombones Alison Alty Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse Cor Anglais Sue Bohling Principal Bass Trombone Chair supported by Lyndon Meredith Principal Julian and Gill Simmonds

Clarinets Nicholas Carpenter Principal Emily Meredith James Burke Bass Clarinet Paul Richards Principal Bassett Clarinet Paul Richards Bassoons Gareth Newman* Principal Laurence O’Donnell Laura Vincent Contra-bassoon Simon Estell Principal Horns John Ryan* Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Marcus Bates Jonathan Bareham Tim Ball Jason Kozcur Alistair Rycroft

Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis Principal Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Olly Yates Ignacio Molins Sarah Cresswell Harp Rachel Masters* Principal Helen Sharp Organ Catherine Edwards

Assistant Conductor Nicholas Collon Chair supported by an anonymous donor

* Holds a professorial appointment in London † Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most adventurous and forward-looking orchestras.

As well as performing classical concerts, the Orchestra also records film and computer game soundtracks, has its own record label, and reaches thousands of Londoners every year through activities for schools and local communities.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and since then has been headed by many of the great names in the conducting world, including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. The current Principal Conductor is Russian Vladimir Jurowski, appointed in 2007, with French-Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin as Principal Guest Conductor.

You may well have heard the London Philharmonic Orchestra on film soundtrack recordings: it has recorded many blockbuster scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, Philadelphia and East is East. The Orchestra also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 50 releases on the label, which are available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Dvořák’s Symphonic Variations and Symphony No. 8 conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras; Holst’s The Planets conducted by Vladimir Jurowski; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under Klaus Tennstedt; and Shostakovich Piano Concertos with Martin Helmchen under Vladimir Jurowski. The Orchestra was also recently honoured with the commission to record all 205 of the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics Team Welcome Ceremonies and Medal Ceremonies.

The Orchestra is based at Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre, where it has performed since it opened in 1951 and been Resident Orchestra since 1992. It gives around 40 concerts there each season with many of the world’s top conductors and soloists. Concert highlights in 2011/12 include a three-week festival celebrating the music of Prokofiev, concerts with artists including Sir Mark Elder, Marin Alsop, Renée Fleming, Stephen Hough and Joshua Bell, and several premières of works by living composers including the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson. In addition to its London concerts, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Every summer, the Orchestra leaves London for four months and takes up its annual residency accompanying the famous Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

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.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. 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 remains a big part of the Orchestra’s life: tours in the 2011/12 season include visits to Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the US, Spain, China, Russia, Oman, Brazil and France.

Find out more and get involved!

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra maintains an energetic programme of activities for young people and local communities. Highlights include the ever-popular family and schools concerts, fusion ensemble The Band, the Leverhulme Young Composers project and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training scheme for outstanding young players. Over the last few years, developments in technology and social networks have enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download from iTunes and, as well as a YouTube channel, news blog, iPhone app and regular podcasts, the Orchestra has a thriving presence on Facebook and Twitter.

lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI

© Karen Robinson

CONDUCTOR

Born in Moscow, the son of conductor Mikhail Jurowski, Vladimir Jurowski completed his initial musical studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory.

In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany where he continued his studies in Dresden and 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 he 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 di Venezia, Opéra Bastille de Paris, Théâtre de la Monnaie Bruxelles, Maggio Musicale Festival Florence, Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro, Edinburgh International Festival, Dresden Semperoper and the 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 with 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 is a regular guest with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia orchestras, as well as the Staatskapelle

Dresden and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

Highlights of the 2011/12 season and beyond include his debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo and San Francisco Symphony, and return visits to the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Staatskapelle Dresden, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Chicago Symphony, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw and Philadelphia orchestras.

Jurowski’s operatic engagements have included Jenůfa, The Queen of Spades and Hänsel und Gretel at the Metropolitan Opera, Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera, War and Peace at the Opéra National de Paris, Eugene Onegin at La Scala Milan and Iolanta at the Dresden Semperoper, as well as The Magic Flute, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Don Giovanni, The Rake’s Progress, and Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Future engagements include new productions of Ariadne auf Naxos and The Cunning Little Vixen at Glyndebourne, Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper Berlin and Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre.

Jurowski’s discography includes the first ever recording of Giya Kancheli’s cantata Exil for ECM (1994), Meyerbeer’s L’étoile du nord for Naxos-Marco Polo (1996), and Werther for BMG (1999) as well as live recordings of works by Brahms, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Britten and Shostakovich on the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s own label, and Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery on Glyndebourne Opera’s own label. He has also recorded works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky for PentaTone with the Russian National Orchestra. Glyndebourne have released DVD recordings of his performances of La Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, Die Fledermaus and Rachmaninov’s The Miserly Knight, and other recent DVD releases include Hänsel und Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera, his first concert as London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor featuring works by Wagner, Berg and Mahler, and DVDs with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, all released by Medici Arts.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

julia fischer

© Kasskara

violin

German violinist Julia Fischer is recognized worldwide as an exceptionally gifted artist, reflected in the numerous awards and effusive reviews she has received for both her live performances and recordings. She was named Artist of the Year at the Gramophone Awards in 2007 and Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2009 MIDEM Classical Awards.

Julia Fischer began the 2011/12 season at the Lucerne Festival with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski on 11 September. There she gave the world première of Matthias Pintscher’s violin concerto Mar’eh, written especially for her. Forthcoming highlights of the season include European tours with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, playing and directing a programme of Mozart, Puccini and Verdi, as well as with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov. Guest appearances will see Julia with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and Emmanuel Krivine, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and Juanjo Mena, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich with David Zinman as well as with the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, both under the baton of Juraj Valčuha.

Recital tours with pianist Milana Chernyavska will take her to Italy and Spain as well as to six cities in the US. The season is rounded off with recital and chamber music performances at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad and Copenhagen’s Tivoli Concert Hall in summer 2012.

In April 2011, Decca released Julia Fischer’s latest recording, Poème, featuring Chausson’s Poème, Respighi’s Poema Autunnale, Suk’s Fantasy in G minor and Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending to great critical acclaim. Poignantly, this album was also the last recording made by the late Yakov Kreizberg – a close collaborator of Julia Fischer for many years – conducting the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra.

This recording was preceded by the Autumn 2010 release of Paganini’s 24 Caprices and her 2009 bestselling recording for Decca of Bach violin concertos 6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Upon its US release the recording became the fastest-selling classical music debut in iTunes history. Previous recordings were released on the PentaTone label.

Julia’s debut CD, a recording of Russian violin concertos

by Khatchaturian, Prokofiev and Glazunov with the Russian National Orchestra under Yakov Kreizberg, won Germany’s coveted ECHO Award in 2005. She recorded Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin in 2005 and this recording earned worldwide critical praise including the rare distinction of winning three of France’s most prestigious awards: the Diapason d’Or from Diapason; the CHOC from Le Monde de la Musique; and the highest rating from Classica Repertoire. The Bach recording also saw her awarded the BBC Music Magazine Award as Best Newcomer in 2006. In 2007, her Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto recording saw her awarded the ECHO award for Instrumentalist of the Year.

Born in Munich in 1983, Julia Fischer began learning the piano aged three with her mother and soon thereafter started violin lessons. She became a pupil of Ana Chumachenco at the Munich Academy of Music and at just 11 years old, she won the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, an event that catapulted her towards a career as a soloist.

Throughout her career, Julia has always maintained her piano studies. In January 2008 she made her professional piano debut at the Alte Oper Frankfurt performing the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and conductor Matthias Pintscher. In the same programme, she performed Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3. A DVD of this concert, recorded by Unitel Classica, was released by Decca in September 2010.

igor levit

© Felix Broede

piano

Recently appointed a BBC New Generation Artist, the young German-Russian pianist Igor Levit has also been announced as one of the participants in the ECHO Rising Stars series from the 2012/13 season.

Rising Stars will showcase Levit’s talent in venues such as BOZAR in Brussels and the Barbican in London.

As well as tonight’s performance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, highlights of Igor’s 2011/12 season include concerts with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer and the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover under Eivind Gullberg Jensen, his debut with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Mikhail Jurowski, concerts with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra under Andrey Boreyko and a return to the English Chamber Orchestra. In recital, he will return to the Prinzregententheater in Munich, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper and the Heidelberg Spring Music Festival, and make his debut at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Mozarteum Salzburg, and Konzerthaus Berlin. He will also visit Japan for a recital tour in February 2012. Further ahead, Igor will make his debut with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and will tour Japan with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra.

Renaud Capuçon, Mischa Maisky, Maxim Vengerov, Valeriy Sokolov and Maximilian Hornung.

Igor won four prizes at the 2005 International Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition despite being the youngest entrant, won second prize at the 2004 International Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens, and first prize at the International Hamamatsu Piano Academy Competition in Japan.

Igor Levit recently graduated from the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover, achieving the highest grades in the history of the college. His teachers have included Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Matti Raekallio, Bernd Goetzke, Lajos Rovatkay and Hans Leygraf. Since 2003 Igor Levit has been supported by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben. He plays a Steinway D-Grand piano generously provided by the Independent Opera foundation at Sadler’s Wells.

Recent concert highlights have included performances with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons, the NDR Symphony Orchestra under John Axelrod and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as recital debuts in Berlin’s Radialsystem, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Rheingau Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Schumannfest Düsseldorf and Musikfest Stuttgart.

He performs regularly at the Kissinger Sommer festival – where he was awarded the 2009 Luitpold Prize for young artists – and has most recently performed chamber music concerts, a recital and a concert with the National Philharmonic of Russia and Vladimir Spivakov.

A keen chamber musician, Igor’s recital partners have included Lisa Batiashvili, François Leleux, Gautier and London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

london philharmonic choir PATRON: HRH Princess Alexandra PRESIDENT: Sir Roger Norrington ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Neville Creed

ACCOMPANIST: Jonathan Beatty CHAIRMAN: Mary Moore CHOIR MANAGER: Kevin Darnell

Founded in 1947, the London Philharmonic Choir is widely regarded as one of Britain’s finest choirs, consistently meeting with great critical acclaim. It has performed under leading international conductors throughout its history and made numerous recordings for CD, radio and television. Its Artistic Director is Neville Creed.

Appearing regularly at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, the Choir’s performances have included Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Rachmaninov’s The Bells and the UK premieres of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s A Relic of Memory and Goldie’s Sine Tempore in the Evolution! Prom. The Choir performed at the Doctor Who Proms in 2008 and 2010, and this year appeared in Verdi’s Requiem, Liszt’s A Faust Symphony and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

Enjoying a close relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Choir frequently joins it for concerts in the UK and abroad. In 2010/11, engagements included Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Das klagende Lied, Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin, Dvořák’s Te Deum and Stabat Mater, Fauré’s Requiem, Holst’s The Planets and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.

This season, concerts with the LPO include Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 3, Zemlinsky’s Psalm 23, Delius’s Sea Drift and Suk’s The Ripening.

Recently released CDs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra include Dvořák’s Requiem conducted by Neeme Järvi, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Holst’s The Planets, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross under Vladimir Jurowski.

Sopranos Annette Argent, Catherine Allum, Charlotte Cantrell, Olivia Carter, Paula Chessell, Sally Cottam, Sheila Cox, Sarah Deane-Cutler, Sally Donegani, Alison Flood, Claudie Gheno, Rachel Gibbon, Hannah Grace, Jane Hanson, Sally Harrison, Carolyn Hayman, Elizabeth Hicks, Laura Hunt, Georgina Kaim, Mai Kikkawa, Jenni Kilvert, Olivia Knibbs, Ilona Kratochvilova, Frances Lake, Janey Maxwell, Natalie Millet, Linda Park, Diana Richards, Claire Spencer, Tracey Szwagrzak, Susan Thomas, Agnes Tisza, Jenny Torniainen, Nicola Ward, Laura Amy Westcott, Frances Wheare Altos Joanna Arnold, Phye Bell, Susannah Bellingham, Lara Carim, Noel Chow, Yvonne Cohen, Liz Cole, Margaret de Valois Rowney, Margaret Driver, Moira Duckworth, Lynn Eaton, Carmel Edmonds, Sarah Elstone, Regina Frank, Clare Galton, Kathryn Gilfoy, Katy Jones-Pritchard, Andrea Lane, Lisa MacDonald, Laetitia Malan, Mary Moore, Marjana Morrison, Rachel Murray, Angela Pascoe, Georgina Pearson, Helene Richards, Jenny Ryall, Carolyn Saunders, Muriel Swijghuisen Reigersberg,

8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

The Choir works with other leading orchestras, has visited numerous European countries and performed in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Perth, Australia.

It also sings in Raymond Gubbay’s Classical Spectacular, Organ Gala and Christmas Classics concerts, and last December joined Katherine Jenkins in her Christmas show at the Royal Albert Hall.

The London Philharmonic Choir prides itself on achieving first-class performances from its members, who are volunteers from all walks of life. For more information, including details about how to join, please visit www.lpc.org.uk

Erica Tomlinson, Susi Underwood, Libby Vannet, Philippa Walden, Jenny Watson, Erika Weingarth, Chloë White Tenors Simon Best, Chris Beynon, John Boyne, Lorne Cuthbert, Kevin Darnell, Michael Delany, Jack Dixon, Aloysius Fekete, Colin Fleming, Iain Handyside, Stephen Hodges, Rob Home, Patrick Hughes, Tony Masters, Kevin Rainey, Paul Thirer, Owen Toller, Tony Wren Basses Julian Anderson, Jonathon Bird, Gordon Buky-Webster, Adam Bunzl, Geoff Clare, Rob Collis, Phillip Dangerfield, Marcus Daniels, Nigel Grieve, Mark Hillier, Stephen Hines, David Hodgson, Rylan Holey, Martin Hudson, John Luff, Anthony McDonald, John McLeod, Ashley Morrison, William Parsons, Johan Pieters, Tony Piper, Michael Probert, David Regan, Fraser Riddell, David Rippon, John Salmon, Daniel Snowman, Peter Sollich, James Torniainen, James Wilson, Hin-Yan Wong, John Wood

LUCY CARTER lighting designer

Lucy Carter has been designing lighting for dance, ballet, opera and theatre for 20 years. She trained in Dance and Drama at Roehampton Institute and in Lighting Design at Central School of Speech and Drama.

Her most recent designs for opera include Janáček’s The Adventures of Mr Brouček (Opera North/Scottish Opera); Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Handel’s Acis and Galatea (The Royal Opera/The Royal Ballet); Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda (Opera North); James MacMillan’s Parthenogenesis (Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House); and Handel’s Imeneo (Opera Ireland). Recent theatre designs include Wastwater

by Simon Stephens, directed by Katie Mitchell, at the Royal Court Theatre; Breathing Irregular at The Gate; The London Eye Mystery at the Unicorn; The Crucible at the Abbey Theatre; Where There’s a Will (English Touring

INTERNATIONAL piano series 2011/12

Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich Sunday 2 October 2011, 12 noon, 3pm and 4.30pm

Steven Osborne Wednesday 5 October 2011, 7.30pm

Liszt Forum

Saturday 15 October 2011, 10am – 5.30pm

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

Sunday 23 October 2011, 3pm

Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Tuesday 8 November 2011, 7.30pm Wednesday 7 December 2011, 7.30pm

Alice Sara Ott

Theatre); Wonderful Tennessee at the Lyric Theatre Belfast; and the musical Kirikou & Karaba, directed and choreographed by Wayne McGregor.

Lucy works extensively in dance and ballet and is a regular collaborator with choreographer Wayne McGregor. Their recent work includes Chroma (Bolshoi Ballet, National Ballet of Canada and San Francisco Ballet); L’ Anatomie de la Sensation (Paris Opera Ballet at the Bastille); Live Fire Exercise (The Royal Ballet); FAR and Entity (Random Dance); Yantra (Stuttgart Ballet); Outlier (New York City Ballet); Chroma, Limen, Infra and Qualia (The Royal Ballet); Dyad 1909 (Random Dance, Sadlers Wells); and Dyad 1929 (Australian Ballet Theatre). In 2008 she won the Knight of Illumination Award for Dance, for Chroma. She also recently designed lighting for The Most Incredible Thing at Sadlers Wells, directed and choreographed by Javier De Frutos with Pet Shop Boys; Still Life for Val Caniparoli and Scottish Ballet; Invitus Invitam by Kim Brandstrup and The Royal Ballet; and When Once is Never Enough, Faun and As You Are for CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Ireland.

Jonathan Biss

Leif Ove Andsnes

Peter Jablonski

Mitsuko Uchida

Richard Goode

Yuja Wang

Tuesday 17 January 2012, 7.30pm

Thursday 29 March 2012, 7.30pm

Tuesday 31 January 2012, 7.30pm

Sunday 12 February 2012, 3pm

Monday 23 April 2012, 7.30pm

Tuesday 1 May 2012, 7.30pm

Lars Vogt

Piano Takeover

Tuesday 15 May 2012, 7.30pm

Saturday 18 February 2012, 4pm & 7pm

Arcadi Volodos

Tuesday 22 May 2012, 7.30pm

Peter Donohoe Tuesday 28 February 2012, 7.30pm

Alexei Volodin

Wednesday 13 June 2012, 7.30pm

Maurizio Pollini

Tuesday 6 March 2012, 7.30pm

François-Frédéric Guy

TICKETS 0844 847 9929 SOUTHBANKCENTRE.CO.UK SerieS diScount available

Tuesday 20 March 2012, 7.30pm

Tuesday 22 November 2011, 7.30pm Pierre-Laurent Aimard © Alexander Newton

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

PROGRAMME NOTES

Three views of Prometheus – and a new violin concerto In Greek mythology, and specifically in Aeschylus’s tragedy Prometheus Bound, Prometheus was a Titan who stole fire from the gods, by capturing the sparks from their chariot wheels, and gave it to mankind.

For this act of treachery, he was punished by being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten every day by an eagle. He was eventually rescued by the hero Heracles.

Colour, in the sense of instrumental colour, is also an important element in Mar’eh, the new violin concerto written for Julia Fischer by the German composer Matthias Pintscher (who turned 40 in January). Almost throughout the work’s continuous span, the constantly shifting colours and textures of the orchestra, often close to the edge of audibility, surround and support the soloist’s long, slender singing line.

© Prometheus statue by Paul Manship in Rockefeller Plaza, New York © Kamran Shaukat /Alamy

The myth has been interpreted and developed in many different ways. In Beethoven’s colourful early ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, seven numbers of which will be performed tonight, Prometheus uses the heavenly fire to bring two statues to life, then carries them off to Olympus to be instructed in the ways of civilisation. In the symphonic poem Prometheus by Liszt (born 200 years ago next month), the Titan’s story becomes an allegory of Christian suffering, hope and redemption.

In Scriabin’s Prometheus (Poem of Fire), the gift of fire is the start of the ascent of mankind to oneness with the cosmos – an ambitious subject for which the composer demanded not only a large orchestra, solo piano and wordless chorus, but also a complementary display of colours.

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN 1770–1827

Beethoven’s Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, one of the few extended ballet scores to have survived from the Classical period, was composed in 1800–01, between his First and Second Symphonies. It was written for a ballet devised by an Italian ballet-master named Salvatore Viganò, which was presented before the Empress Maria Theresia in Vienna in March 1801 and enjoyed considerable public success over the following two years. The complete score contains over an hour of music; and in order to maintain variety of colour over such a long span, Beethoven included some uncharacteristic concertante writing for various instruments.

Viganò called Prometheus a ‘heroic-allegorical’ work, and gave it an unusually serious scenario, based on a mid-18th-century French version of the story. In this, Prometheus uses the fire stolen from the gods to bring to life two clay statues that he has made. Finding them lacking in reason or emotion, he leads them to Parnassus, where they are instructed by Apollo, the Muses, Bacchus (here a god of war rather than wine) and Pan, and in the words of the original playbill ‘they are made susceptible to all the passions of human life through the power of harmony’.

This selection begins with the familiar Overture, which consists of a solemn introduction and a main quick section full of flickering fire. The graceful No. 3 ends the short first act, in which the creatures reveal their lack of human thoughts and feelings. In No. 5, according to a contemporary description of the ballet, the playing of Euterpe, the muse of music, and the celebrated musician Amphion begins to arouse both reason and emotion in Prometheus’s creatures. The movement, in two sections, includes prominent parts for harp,

THE CREATURES OF PROMETHEUS (EXCERPTS) Overture No. 3 No. 5 No. 9 No. 12 No. 14

No. 16

Adagio – Allegro molto e con brio Allegro vivace Adagio – Andante quasi Allegretto Adagio – Adagio – Allegro molto Solo di Gioja: Maestoso – Adagio – Allegro Solo della Signora Cassentini: Andante – Adagio – Allegro – Allegretto Finale: Allegretto – Allegro molto – Presto

presumably representing Amphion’s lyre, flute, clarinet and bassoon, and a solo cello, which introduces itself with a cadenza. No. 9 seems to be the scene in which Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, displays the extremes of human emotion by accusing Prometheus of bringing grief to his creatures, and stabbing him fatally. It consists of an introduction, an instrumental recitative for oboe with bassoon and tremolo strings, and a dramatic Allegro which ends by fading away to nothing.

The closing stages of the ballet, in which Prometheus is brought back to life, seem to constitute a celebratory divertissement. No. 12 is a solo for Ferdinando Gioja, who danced the role of Bacchus; accordingly, its orchestra includes warlike trumpets and timpani, though the principal solo instrument, in the Adagio second section, is an oboe. No. 14 is a solo for Maria Cassentini, who danced Prometheus’s female creation: it is an elaborate piece in four sections, with solo parts for oboe and basset horn – Beethoven’s only use of the alto clarinet loved by Mozart. The Finale is an extended rondo, with a main theme that Beethoven was subsequently to use as the basis first for a set of piano Variations and then for the finale of his Eroica Symphony. The coda is in two progressively faster sections, the first beginning with a little fugato on a theme derived from the Overture, the second more distantly echoing the Overture in a forceful scale figure.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Matthias PINTSCHER

MAR’EH FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA (UK première) JULIA FISCHER violin

Born 1971

Matthias Pintscher, a native of the German province of North Rhine-Westphalia, is one of the leading composers of his generation, and also greatly in demand as a conductor. He has held residencies with the Cleveland Orchestra in the USA and with orchestras, concert halls and festivals in Europe and Australia; he is now based in New York. A measure of his international standing is that he currently has works in progress for the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic and Boston Symphony orchestras.

During the 2007/08 season, the London Philharmonic Orchestra gave performances of Five Orchestral Pieces, his breakthrough work for the 1997 Salzburg Festival, and his 2005 Towards Osiris (which it will repeat this season, on 30 November). The association has been cemented by Pintscher’s new violin concerto Mar’eh, a joint commission by the Lucerne Festival, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which was premièred by tonight’s performers in Lucerne on 11 September.

The work, written in 2010–11, bears a double dedication: ‘in memory of Luigi Nono’ and ‘for Julia Fischer’. The Italian avant-garde composer Nono (who died in 1990) is remembered in an inscription near the beginning of the score that indicates some of the work’s preoccupations: ‘presenze – memorie – colori – respiri’ (appearances, memories, colours, breaths). Julia Fischer’s playing suggested both the nature of the concerto and its title, a Hebrew word that means ‘face’ or ‘sign’, but that Pintscher says ‘can also mean the aura of a face, a beautiful vision’ – an idea that came to mind when he ‘thought of the fine lines which she can spin with her instrument’. The soloist plays almost continuously throughout the work, for the most part sustaining a

filigree thread of sound, often including harmonics, with unobtrusive virtuosity. The orchestra is a relatively large one, including a substantial percussion section, with individual parts notated in Pintscher’s usual meticulous detail (including instructions for some unconventional playing techniques). Its principal function is to support, respond to and amplify the soloist’s line, with the orchestral violins and the three flutes playing particularly important roles in a kind of middle ground.

The concerto is in a single movement, lasting an estimated 23 minutes. For the most part, it alternates between two slow tempi, though with many fluctuations; even when it moves into more animated episodes in changing time signatures, there are no strong downbeats, so the effect is of floating. This is enhanced by the low dynamic levels, generally around pianissimo and frequently going closer to the threshold of audibility, with only momentary excursions to forte or above. The density of the orchestral part varies considerably, from a single line or a single percussion sonority to much fuller, though still subdued, textures, forming what the composer describes as ‘a large, light, transparent mass’.

Occasionally, the orchestra falls silent altogether for a few bars; and about three-quarters of the way through the piece there is a cadenza, beginning unaccompanied and continuing with minimal orchestral support. After it, the soloist is restricted for a while to tiny pizzicato gestures; but then she resumes her fine-spun line, over full-orchestra textures including repeated ‘mobiles’ played by individual string players in free time. But finally the textures thin out again, the flutes repeat a recurring sub-tone figure for the last time, and the sounds of the percussion and the soloist disappear into silence.

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

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Franz LISZT

Prometheus (Symphonic Poem No. 5)

1811–1886

In August 1850, the Duchy of Weimar unveiled a statue to the poet and Christian philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder, who had lived in the city for many years until his death in 1803. In conjunction with this event, Liszt, the court Kapellmeister, presented a new work, a cantata on texts from Herder’s drama (after Aeschylus) Prometheus Unbound. It consisted of eight choruses preceded by an Overture – a substantial piece, worked up and orchestrated from Liszt’s sketches, and under his guidance, by his assistant Joachim Raff.

Some years later, Liszt thoroughly revised this Overture, changing numerous details of melody, harmony, notation and expression, tightening up several passages but extending the ending, and reworking the orchestration completely. The result, renamed Prometheus, was first performed under the composer’s direction in Braunschweig (Brunswick) in October 1855, and published the following year as the fifth in Liszt’s pioneering series of symphonic poems.

So far, so sonata-form: but instead of a development section there is a fugue on a new theme, descending in thirds and then climbing back up in two phrases.

This fugue subject seems to represent striving in the face of adversity, and its strict treatment the role of reason in such striving. At the climax of the fugue, the fugue subject is combined with the opening motif, to begin a transition which ends with the lament as in the introduction. The recapitulation brings back the main themes, with the melody of hope now more animated. It is followed by a coda that reintroduces the two elements of the fugue subject, together with the melody of hope in a full-orchestra version, and ends triumphantly. The preface to the score identifies this ending with the notion of redemption, suggesting that the whole work is a reinterpretation of the Prometheus myth in terms of Christian belief.

Like several other works in this series, Prometheus is concerned less with detailed narrative than with the play of ideas and emotions within a clear formal structure. What those ideas and emotions are can be deduced, with some confidence, from a preface to the score, written by the composer or on his behalf, and from musical cross-references to the choruses in the cantata.

The work has a dramatic, at times almost keyless, introduction, beginning with a stark motif representing the sentence passed on Prometheus, and ending with a recitative-like passage which is a lament for his cruel punishment. The main Allegro molto appassionato opens with an agitated theme suggesting his suffering, and refers back to the opening motif and the lament before arriving at a lyrical cello melody. This melody appears in the cantata in a prayer to Prometheus’s mother, the oracle Themis, and so stands for hope.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Alexander SCRIABIN 1872–1915

Like his contemporary and friend Rachmaninov, Alexander Scriabin had a dual career as pianist and composer in his native Russia and abroad; but while Rachmaninov was the more successful pianist, Scriabin was probably more fêted as a composer during his short lifetime. This was partly because his interest in mysticism overlapped with the widespread enthusiasm for the Theosophical movement and other esoteric cults in the early years of the 20th century. And in many ways the most mystical of his compositions is his last completed orchestral work, the tone-poem Prometheus.

It was written in Brussels between 1908 and 1910, and first performed in Moscow in 1911, with Serge Koussevitzky conducting and Scriabin himself playing the important solo piano part. The work is scored for a very large orchestra, joined towards the end by organ and a wordless chorus, and with a part throughout for a ‘light keyboard’ (described opposite).

Scriabin equated Prometheus’s gift of fire to mankind with the spark of creativity (his own, he believed) that would ultimately bring about a vast act of cosmic regeneration, in which man would triumph over his own nature and even over God, and become at one with the universe. His ideas are symbolised in great detail in the music, both in the association of themes with states of consciousness, and in their treatment. Whether because of the working-out of this symbolism or because of the natural development of Scriabin’s musical language, the result is a unique soundscape of constantly changing moods, with recurring and developing motives projected against shifting harmonies derived from a ‘mystic’ six-note chord, their restless chromaticism often verging on atonality.

Prometheus (Poem of Fire), Op. 60 igor levit piano LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR LUCY CARTER lighting designer

Prometheus is in a single movement of about 20 minutes, with a skeletal outline of introduction, exposition, development, recapitulation and double coda. The introduction suggests primeval chaos; horns announce a theme representing the creative principle; trumpets depict the moment of fire-giving, answered immediately by a rising motif representing the human will. In the exposition, the solo piano, representing man, is pitted against the orchestra, representing the cosmos; man’s self-discovery takes him into realms of eroticism, depicted by a solo cello melody with flute trills, creativity and mysticism. In the development, which begins with rising piano fanfares, the previous themes are transformed, to suggest the changes man must undergo to achieve victory over his own nature; the process leads to two sustained and intense climaxes.

After an almost vestigial recapitulation and a scherzolike ‘dance of life’, the coda, with chorus and organ, represents the attainment of Nirvana, the state in which mankind becomes pure spirit in the limitless cosmos.

Barlines – free post-concert event | Level 2 Foyer at Royal Festival Hall Join tonight’s artists for an informal discussion about the evening’s music

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Light and colour in Prometheus

Although Scriabin was experimenting with such an instrument while he was writing Prometheus, there were no performances of the work including light in his lifetime. But in recent years there have been a number of attempts to realise his plan. Tonight’s performance includes lighting devised by the awardScriabin’s representation of his ‘Key-Colour Scheme’, from the preface to the score winning lighting designer Lucy Carter, who has worked chiefly in ballet and opera. Musically literate, she plans to take account of Scriabin’s ‘light keyboard’ Like Scriabin, Carter believes in light as an expressive medium in itself; and she says she is ‘interested part, but rather than following it precisely to offer a in making the members of the audience feel and free interpretation of his intentions, worked out in experience colours and textures around them, adding collaboration with the conductor Vladimir Jurowski. a new layer of sensation.’

This will involve a purely abstract use of light, colour and texture, directed at suitable surfaces in the hall, Programme notes by Anthony Burton © 2011 and without introducing any specific imagery.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

Diagram © 1980 Ernst Eulenberg Ltd., London. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriabin had visionary ideas about the inter-relationship of the arts, going even further than Wagner’s notion of the Gesamtkunstwerk or ‘complete work of art’, and incorporating a strong sense of synaesthesia. He associated different colours with different keys, and both with specific aspects of the human condition. The score of Prometheus includes a part for a ‘light keyboard’. This is written in musical notation, with the notes – derived from the musical context – cueing the corresponding colours. There are two distinct, continuous lines, one indicating slowly changing background colours and the other more rapidly changing colours in the foreground. Thus the lighting is intended to reflect in outline and in detail the harmonic and emotional progress of the music.

13 January — 1 February 2012

Get closer to Sergei Prokofiev A festival curated

by Vladimir Jurowski

Festival highlights include — The world première of an oratorio version of Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible — Prokofiev’s incidental music to Egyptian Nights with excerpts from texts by Bernard Shaw, Pushkin and Shakespeare read by Simon Callow — Excerpts from ballets Cinderella and Chout (The Buffoon) — Free classical club night with Gabriel Prokofiev and Rambert Dance Company

lpo.org.uk/prokofiev Get closer to one of the most misunderstood men in 20th-century music

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors: Thomas Beecham Group The Tsukanov Family The Sharp Family Julian & Gill Simmonds 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 Mrs Sonja Drexler Guy & Utti Whittaker

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

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

Ken Follett Pauline & Peter Halliday 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 Edmund Pirouet Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Lady Marina Vaizey Mr D Whitelock

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

Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Edmund Pirouet Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

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The Mercers’ Company Adam Mickiewicz Institute Paul Morgan Charitable Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund The Serge Prokofiev Foundation Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Reed Foundation The Seary Charitable Trust The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust The David Solomons Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust The Stansfield Trust The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation The Swan Trust John Thaw Foundation The Thistle Trust The Underwood Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Youth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous London Philharmonic Orchestra | 17

autumn 2011: players’ picks

Whatever your musical tastes, there’s something for everyone in the new 2011/12 season. We asked a few of the players in the Orchestra which concerts they’re most looking forward to between now and December ...

Clare Duckworth, violin I’m looking forward to Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra on 19 October. This was the first work I played by Richard Strauss. I was 17, in the National Youth Orchestra, and I was really swept away by it – the sound world, the huge forces ... it seemed to sum up all that I loved (and still love) about orchestral playing. It reminds me of the time I decided for definite that I wanted to go into the music profession. I still love Strauss’s music, and wish we played the big works more often. The end of his opera Der Rosenkavalier is in my all time top five – I can’t wait for it to come up at Glyndebourne!

Clare’s chair is supported by the Sharp Family.

ANNE mcaneney, trumpet November sees us performing Bruckner Symphonies Nos. 1, 4 and 7.

A feature of these large-scale works is blocks of sound that bring out the colours created by each section of the orchestra. The brass writing, for example, which is chorale-like in places, provides us with a great opportunity to play with a rich and well-balanced tone. I have particularly fond memories of the LPO performing Bruckner symphonies under the baton of Kurt Masur when I first became a member of the trumpet section in 2000. He greatly developed this aspect of our playing, encouraging a sound that was full and round and never forced.

Anne’s chair is supported by Geoff and Meg Mann.

Andrew Barclay, percussion I’m looking forward to the concert on 28 October, as Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances is one of my favourite pieces. Here’s a great composer who knew exactly how to write for percussion instruments. Incisive and at times electrifying, not a single note is unnecessary or out of place. It’s challenging but hugely rewarding to play.

Andrew’s chair is supported by Andrew Davenport.

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francis bucknall, cello I’m really looking forward to the concert on 19 October. Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony is the perfect opener: joyful and exuberant. The cello part is particularly good, but also tricky in places – it’s sometimes used as a sightreading test in auditions! I don’t know the Mark-Anthony Turnage piece, On Opened Ground, at all, but as usual with his works I’m intrigued by the title!

It’s a viola concerto and I’ve heard wonderful playing from the soloist Lawrence Power on Radio 3, so can’t wait to work with him and hear him live.

DAVID WHITEHOUSE, TROMBONE I’m looking forward to the concert on 25 November, which includes Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. As a second trombonist, solo opportunities are few and far between, but if a euphonium (sometimes called a tenor tuba) is required, I am often called upon to play it (probably because I own one) and Pictures has a solo for euphonium in the movement entitled ‘Bydło’, which vividly depicts an ox-cart approaching, passing, then fading away into the distance.

KATE BIRCHALL, VIOLIN Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture (14 December) always brings back memories for me of playing in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra back in 1998 under Claudio Abbado. He insisted that the violins learn the piece from memory as he wanted to see all our eyes on him while we were playing. No mean feat, as it has pages of fast-moving semiquavers and all you could hear for days on end was frenzied violin practice coming out of hotel rooms. Still, the training seemed to stand me in good stead when I came to perform it again during my trial for the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the watchful gaze of Kurt Masur. Then, as now, the overture was paired with the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. I’m excited to be working with Renée Fleming again as she has that star quality that makes it a privilege to be on stage with her.

Kate’s chair is supported by David and Victoria Graham Fuller.

The concert on 14 December is generously supported by the Sharp Family.

Browse the season and see full concert details at lpo.org.uk Tell us what you’re looking forward to! Join the conversation on Facebook (londonphilharmonicorchestra) or Twitter (LPOrchestra)

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 19

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Photograph of Matthias Pintscher © Philippe Gontier.

Front cover photograph Vladimir Jurowski © Chris Christodoulou.

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