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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†

JTI FRIDAY SERIES

PROGRAMME £3

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Friday 25 November 2011 | 7.30pm

CONTENTS 2 Welcome 3 List of players 4 About the Orchestra 5 Eduardo Portal 6 Craig Ogden 7 Programme notes 11 LPO Christmas gifts 12 2011/12 Annual Appeal 13 Supporters 14 Recordings 15 Future concerts 16 LPO administration

EDUARDO PORTAL conductor CRAIG OGDEN guitar

Antonio José Suite, The Muleteer (9’) Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez (22’) Falla Suites Nos. 1 and 2 from ‘The Three-Cornered Hat’ (25’) Interval Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel) Pictures at an Exhibition (30’)

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

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

Welcome

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

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

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.

LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance.

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

PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium.

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.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Enjoyed the concert? Donate by text The London Philharmonic Orchestra has teamed up with Just Giving to enable you to donate by text message. It is one of the easiest ways to give, and 100% of the donation will go towards the Orchestra’s work both on and off the concert platform. To donate, text PHIL12 and the amount you wish to donate (£1, £2, £3, £4, £5, or £10) to 70070. e.g. to donate £10, text PHIL12 £10 to 70070 Your donation is also eligible for Gift Aid, enabling us to claim an extra 25p per £1 at no extra cost to you. Just follow the instructions in the confirmation text you will receive from Just Giving. Your donation will be added to your next mobile phone bill or deducted from your Pay As You Go credit. Donating via text message is just one of the ways you can support the Orchestra’s 2011/12 Fundraising Appeal in aid of The Community Programme. More details about the Appeal can be found on page 12. lpo.org.uk/text Texts are charged at your mobile phone operator’s standard rate. The charity [the London Philharmonic Orchestra] will receive 100% of your donation. You must be 16 or over and please ask the bill payer’s permission. For full terms and conditions and more information, please visit www.justgiving.com/info/terms-of-service.

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Chair supported by John and Angela Kessler

Grace Lee Catherine Craig Tina Gruenberg Martin Höhmann Chair supported by Richard Karl Goeltz

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

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

Fiona Higham Andrew Thurgood Ashley Stevens Marie-Anne Mairesse Nynke Hijlkema Imogen Williamson Sioni Williams Stephen Stewart Naomi Anner Violas Helen Kamminga Guest Principal Robert Duncan Katharine Leek Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Susanne Martens Daniel Cornford Michelle Bruil Stephen Gorringe Matthias Wiesner

Cellos Timothy Walden Guest Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Jonathan Ayling Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp

Susanna Riddell Tae-Mi Song William Routledge Philip Taylor Double Basses Tim Gibbs Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Helen Rowlands Tom Walley Lowri Morgan Flutes Daniel Pailthorpe Guest Principal Joanna Marsh

Contra-bassoon Simon Estell Principal Horns Adrian Uren Guest Principal Martin Hobbs Nicolas Wolmark Gareth Mollison Emma Whitney Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney*

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal Daniel Newell Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse Becky Smith Bass Trombone Lewis Edney Euphonium David Whitehouse

Oboes Ian Hardwick Principal Angela Tennick

Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Cor Anglais Sue Bohling Principal Chair supported by Julian and Gill Simmonds

Clarinets Nicholas Carpenter* Principal Katie Lockhart Bass Clarinet Paul Richards Principal Alto Saxophone Martin Robertson Bassoons Paul Boyes Guest Principal Susanna Dias

Vesselin Gellev (Leader)

Chair supported by Geoff and Meg Mann

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal

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

Keith Millar Sacha Johnson Eddy Hackett Sarah Cresswell Harps Rachel Masters* Principal Emma Ramsdale Piano / Celeste Catherine Edwards * Holds a professorial appointment in London

First Violins Vesselin Gellev Leader

Bulgarian violinist Vesselin Gellev has been a featured soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Juilliard Orchestra, among others. He won First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York as a member of the Antares Quartet, and has recorded several albums and toured worldwide as Concertmaster of Kristjan Järvi’s Grammy-nominated Absolute Ensemble. He has performed as Guest Leader with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Vesselin studied at The Juilliard School, and joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Sub-Leader in 2007. His chair is supported by John and Angela Kessler.

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

The London Philharmonic Orchestra 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. 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. 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.

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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; Shostakovich Piano Concertos with Martin Helmchen under Vladimir Jurowski; and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5, Pohjola’s Daughter and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. 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. 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 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. Find out more and get involved! lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra

EDUARDO PORTAL

CONDUCTOR

During the 2011/12 season, young Spanish conductor Eduardo Portal will make his débuts with the Philharmonia Orchestra; the Lausanne Chamber and Vienna Chamber orchestras; the Tenerife, São Paulo and Madrid symphony orchestras (including performances with the latter at the Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid and the Teatro Real); and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia. Last season he made his débuts with the Hallé, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Northern Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata, Euskadi Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid and Orquesta del Vallés.

masterclass with Sir Colin Davis, and he also took part in several masterclasses with Bernard Haitink and Peter Eötvös, amongst others. Eduardo is particularly committed to contemporary repertoire and is founder of the Antares Ensemble in Spain, whose focus is on the performance of new music and research into its links with historical and rarely performed masterpieces.

Recent seasons have seen Eduardo conduct the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia and National Youth Orchestra of Spain. His operatic experience includes performances of Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène, Janáček’s Katya Kabanová, Bernstein’s Candide, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Handel’s Imeneo. In summer 2011 he assisted on Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Since graduating from the University of the Arts in Berlin and the Royal Academy of Music in London, Eduardo has held the position of Assistant Conductor at the London Philharmonic Orchestra (during the 2010/11 season), the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the National Youth Orchestra of Spain. Sir Mark Elder headed the jury that in 2008 unanimously voted Eduardo winner of the Junior Fellowship in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music, a position he held for two years. In 2008 Eduardo was chosen to conduct at the Interaction Workshops in Germany with musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden and baritone Thomas Quasthoff; he was later invited to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in a public London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

CRAIG OGDEN GUITAR

Australian guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. His CD, The Guitarist, was No. 1 in the UK classical chart for six weeks after being released by Classic FM in summer 2010 and his latest CD, Summertime, also shot straight to No. 1. Craig’s recent performances have included concertos with the Hallé, Ulster Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia and English Symphony Orchestra. Future plans include a series of six concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London and with the WDR Orchestra in Cologne, as well as recordings and broadcasts for the BBC and a busy schedule of recitals throughout the UK and abroad. Craig Ogden studied at the University of Western Australia, followed by the Royal Northern College of Music’s Professional Performance Diploma with Distinction, the RNCM’s highest award for performance. In December 2004 Craig Ogden was honoured by the RNCM with a Fellowship in recognition of his achievements. Performances have taken Craig to venues throughout the UK, Europe, the USA, southeast Asia, South Africa and Australia. In the UK he has performed concertos with the London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Philharmonia orchestras, and with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Northern Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia, English Sinfonia and Manchester Camerata, among others. His concerto appearances elsewhere include the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Riga Kammermusika, St Petersburg Festival Orchestra and National Orchestra of South Africa, and the Tasmanian Symphony, West Australian Symphony and Melbourne Symphony orchestras. Craig Ogden’s recordings for Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion, Naxos and Sony have received great praise. His début solo CD of 20th-century classics by British composers was nominated for a Grammy Award. 6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

His release, A Quiet Thing, with countertenor David Daniels received universal acclaim, as did the duo’s subsequent USA recital tour. As well as The Guitarist, Craig Ogden has released seven CDs on the Chandos label. His recording of all three Rodrigo guitar concertos with the BBC Philharmonic was selected as the ‘One To Own’ in Classic FM magazine. His CD, Music from the Novels of Louis de Bernières, reached No. 10 in the UK classical chart and was The Telegraph’s ‘CD of the Week’. Selling over 10,000 discs in three months, it is Chandos Records’ fastest-ever selling CD and Craig now performs regularly with Louis de Bernières in ‘words and music’ recitals. Recent solo recordings include a CD of music by British composer Paul Coles, music by the Irish composer Greg Caffrey (First Construction in Nylon), Souvenirs with mandolinist Alison Stephens, and a recital of Spanish songs with soprano Patricia Rozario. Craig Ogden regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at London venues including the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Barbican. He has also performed at most of the major UK festivals and is the most sought-after guitarist for chamber music in the UK, performing with the Brodsky Quartet, London Tango Quintet and tenors Mark Padmore and Ian Bostridge, among others. Craig also frequently records for film soundtracks and was featured in the 1999 hit, Notting Hill. Ogden’s world première performances include a concerto written for him by Gerard Brophy with the BBC Philharmonic, Sun Trap for solo guitar by Jonathan Cole commissioned by the Britten Festival, The Hinchinbrook Riffs for solo guitar and digital delay by Nigel Westlake, and an Alec Roth song cycle for the Chester Festival. In July 2008 he premièred a new solo work by MarkAnthony Turnage at the Cheltenham Festival, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. In his first foray into presenting, Ogden travelled to Spain with writer Louis de Bernières to make a programme on Segovia for BBC Radio 3, which was first broadcast in February 2008. This year Ogden has also presented a series of interviews with artists including John Williams for ABC Classic FM radio in Australia. Craig Ogden is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Visiting Lecturer at London’s Royal College of Music.

PROGRAMME NOTES

Speedread ‘A magical art that evokes feelings, people and places’. Manuel de Falla’s 1916 description of ‘the new music’ defines a whole philosophy of composition: the belief that music should conjure up visual imagery, evoke past times, and tell stories. For Spanish composers, this meant music rooted in the soil of Spain herself. Antonio José’s unperformed opera The Muleteer is based on an episode from Don Quixote, and is flavoured with folksongs from his native Burgos. Joaquín Rodrigo’s masterly guitar concerto conjures up the gardens of the Royal Palace at Aranjuez in their 18th-century heyday. The past is also evoked in Falla’s ballet The Three-Cornered Hat: a farcical tale

Antonio JOSÉ

of lust, envy and fidelity, suffused with the musical mannerisms of its early 19th-century setting. When Falla tried to trace the origins of this ‘magical art’, it was to Russia that he turned, and especially to Modest Mussorgsky, whose works all have a vivid extramusical dimension. This is especially true of Pictures at an Exhibition, which takes its inspiration from works by the Russian architect and painter Victor Hartmann. Mussorgsky does not merely recreate these images; rather, he transcends them, liberating human characters and physical movement from the static canvases.

Suite from ‘The Muleteer’ Prelude Popular Dance

1902–36

When Antonio José Martínez Palacios was shot during the first days of the Spanish Civil War, aged just 33, the pianist Arthur Rubinstein mourned the loss of ‘a new Falla’. Antonio José’s music was lost to view for many years, but its current rediscovery reveals a composer of originality and talent. Like Falla, he was rooted in his native territory – in his case the imposing northern city of Burgos. In his 20s he made a study of the traditional music of the province, publishing a collection of folksongs that won the Premio Nacional de Música in 1932. Around the same time, he was working on his only opera, El mozo de mulas (‘The Muleteer’), based on an incidental episode from Don Quixote: the story of Don Luis, a nobleman’s son, who disguises himself as a muleteer so that he may follow his sweetheart Clara and her father, a judge, on their travels – an expedition

that brings all three into the company of the demented knight and his squire. The two movements to be heard this evening were premièred by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid in November 1934; the full opera, alas, remains unperformed. The Prelude presents four principal themes from the work. An unaccompanied oboe melody (associated with Clara) leads to a Tristan-like chromatic motif on the strings, representing hopeful love; these two themes recur at the end of the movement. The central portion of the Prelude combines Clara’s love theme (on the flute) with the more thickly-scored love theme of Don Luis. The Popular Dance, taken from the second act of the opera, is based on a genuine round dance from the province of Burgos: it is distinguished by irregular metres and spectacular orchestration.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Joaquín RODRIGO 1901–99

Along with Antonio José and artists in other media such as Dalí, Lorca and Buñuel, the Valencian composer Joaquín Rodrigo is often associated with the ‘Generación del ’27’, a loose-knit group of artists who came to prominence around that year, with similar aspirations to renew Spanish art by aiming for technical perfection. By 1939 many of them were dead, victims of the Nationalists in the Civil War. But chance found Rodrigo abroad at the outbreak of war, where he chose to remain. When he returned to Spain in 1939, he carried with him the score of the Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra: the work that was to bring him worldwide recognition. Rodrigo intended his concerto to evoke life at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez under the Bourbon kings Charles IV and Ferdinand VII. The Palace, surrounded by verdant formal gardens, is clearly modelled on Versailles – but the imagery that Rodrigo had in mind was intensely Spanish: he spoke of ‘majas’ and bullfights. The musical language breathes an elegant neoclassical atmosphere: it is completely tonal and its structure is carefully poised. The first movement is pure filigree: scraps of melody are thrown to the wind and allowed to flutter freely. The third movement is a set of variations on what could well have been a courtly dance of the 18th century. But it is the second movement that forms the apex of the work: a beautifully tragic melody, heard first on the cor anglais and then developed rhapsodically, before reaching (via the work’s only real cadenza) a final statement of breathtaking emotional intensity. The concerto places truly virtuosic demands on the soloist as both technician and interpreter: in addition to the challenges set by such things as rapid scales (extremely difficult on the guitar), the music demands great melodic sensitivity. This would be difficult to balance against a full-size orchestra were it not

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Concierto de AranjueZ CRAIG OGDEN guitar Allegro con spirito Adagio Allegro gentile

for Rodrigo’s remarkably transparent scoring. (The composer was not averse, however, to having the soloist amplified electronically in large concert halls.) Rodrigo wrote several more concertos for various instruments, all of them fine works with equally evocative titles, but he was never to repeat the success of the Concierto de Aranjuez.

Manuel de FALLA

Suites Nos. 1 and 2 from ‘The Three-Cornered Hat’

1876–1946

Suite No. 1: Scenes and Dances Introduction Afternoon Dance of the Miller’s Wife: Fandango The Corregidor The Grapes Suite No. 2: Three Dances The Neighbours’ Dance: Seguidillas The Miller’s Dance: Farruca Final Dance: Jota After his apprenticeship in Paris, Manuel de Falla returned to Spain in 1914 and embarked on the most prolific stage of his career. The culmination of this period of intense work was the première in London of his ballet The Three-Cornered Hat, given in July 1919 by the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev, who had commissioned the work when the troupe was based in neutral Spain during the war. The ballet was rapturously received, and was to become a keystone of Diaghilev’s post-war repertoire. The two suites that Falla extracted from the ballet preserve the vast majority of the music: the only omissions are the first few pages of the first act, and a single dance and some connecting material from the second. The ballet is based on a novella by the Granadine author Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (1833–91), set in the early years of the 19th century. It tells of a miller and his beautiful wife, who is coveted by an elderly local magistrate (whose symbol of office gives the work its title). The magistrate’s various attempts to

bring about an assignation with the miller’s wife have farcical results, and the ballet ends with a spectacular ensemble dance (a jota) in which the villagers ridicule the magistrate by tossing him in a blanket. The music narrates the story in intricate bar-by-bar detail, complete with leitmotifs and onomatopoeic orchestral effects. Though there are traces (in the ‘Miller’s Dance’, for instance) of the arabesque and highly rhythmical Andalusian style recognised as Spanish the world over, The Three-Cornered Hat marks the first step in Falla’s adoption of a more neoclassical style: the language is unremittingly tonal, and the rhythms often evoke the formal dances of the early 19th century. In this respect he was ahead of his time. Diaghilev, much impressed by the work, proposed a new project to Falla: a ballet based on themes of Pergolesi. We can only speculate how different the history of music might have been had he accepted; as it is, he had other fish to fry, and the commission for Pulcinella went to Stravinsky.

INTERVAL – 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval. London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

PROGRAMME NOTES

Modest MUSSORGSKY

pictures at an exhibition

1839–81 orchestrated by maurice ravel (1875–1937)

Promenade Gnomus Promenade The Old Castle Promenade Tuileries Bydło Promenade – Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle The Market Place at Limoges Catacombæ (Sepulcrum Romanum) – Cum mortuis in lingua mortua The Hut on Hen’s Legs The Great Gate of Kiev Modest Mussorgsky had much in common with the architect and painter Victor Hartmann (1834–73): both sought to incorporate strongly Russian themes and motifs into their works; both also brought together in close harmony the curiously complementary worlds of realism and fantasy. Mussorgsky wrote his piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition in a matter of days in 1874, after attending a memorial exhibition of 400 of his friend’s designs. Eleven such paintings are represented in the suite; sadly, five of these designs are now lost. Pictures at an Exhibition is Mussorgsky’s only major instrumental work, but in its own way it is almost as theatrical as Boris Godunov or Khovanshchina. Each movement injects life into Hartmann’s paintings; thus, a costume design for an unhatched chick – essentially a dancer wearing an egg – becomes in Mussorgsky’s hands a real-life bird that waddles, pecks and clucks. Similarly, the two Jews, Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle – whom Hartmann painted in separate pictures – are brought together and made to converse. Even Mussorgsky himself gets involved in the action,

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for the recurring ‘Promenade’ theme (which initially depicts his contemplative strolling from one exhibit to another) gradually insinuates itself into the pictures themselves: thus it seems to be Mussorgsky himself who ascends from the Paris Catacombs at the end of the eighth picture, rather than Hartmannn and two companions as in the original painting. The present popularity of the work owes much to Maurice Ravel’s extraordinarily effective orchestration, commissioned by Sergei Koussevitzky in 1920. In fact, Mussorgsky’s writing for the piano is at times so unnatural that it is easy to forget which version came first: the Catacombs movement, for instance, has hairpin crescendi written under held chords! Mussorgsky had been one of Ravel’s favourite composers since the early 1900s, when the Frenchman and his friends used to meet at one another’s homes to play through Russian music. The imagery of Pictures would have been extremely attractive to this most childlike of French composers, in whose home a clock in the shape of a witch’s hut on a chicken’s legs would not have been out of place. Programme notes © Chris Collins

Wrap Music! Virtual Christmas gifts from the London Philharmonic Orchestra Virtual gifts are a lighthearted way to share the power and beauty of music this Christmas whilst supporting the charitable objectives of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Whether you are helping us to produce world-class concerts or providing an Inner London child with a first experience of live music, your gift will have an impact long after the tinsel has come down. Gifts of just £15 can support one of the iconic solo moments of the Orchestra’s 2012 season. Alternatively you can help the Orchestra to make a difference by taking music into schools throughout South London. For full details on how to give the gift of music this Christmas visit lpo.org.uk/virtualgifts or call Elisenda Ayats on 020 7840 4225. We will send a card direct to the recipient, or to you if you prefer, to let them know what their gift is supporting. 1. Take a Bow £15 Your opportunity to support a sensational solo from a London Philharmonic Orchestra musician during one of next spring’s concerts. Each gift includes a card and a 10% discount voucher for London Philharmonic Orchestra concert tickets. • • • • • • • •

Violin solo from Elgar Symphony No. 1 (Saturday 24 March 2012) Cello tune from Dvořák Symphony No. 8 (Wednesday 8 February 2012) Flute solo from Dvořák Symphony No. 8 (Wednesday 8 February 2012) Oboe solo from Brahms Violin Concerto (Wednesday 22 February 2012) Clarinet solo from Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 (Saturday 28 April 2012) Horn solo from Brahms Symphony No. 1 (Wednesday 18 April 2012) Opening fanfare from Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 (Saturday 28 April 2012) The biggest bang in the world première of Kalevi Aho’s Percussion Concerto (Wednesday 18 April 2012)

2. Adopt A Class £30 Your gift will pay for an LPO player to spend an hour with disabled children in a London school and help them to overcome their disabilities through music. Gift includes a card and a 10% discount voucher for London Philharmonic Orchestra concert tickets. 3. Roll Call £40 Help us to liven up an assembly in one of South London’s schools by sending in a group of LPO musicians. Gift includes a card and a 10% discount voucher for London Philharmonic Orchestra concert tickets. 4. Centre Stage £50 Your gift will help us to offer the opportunity for a South London school child to perform on the Royal Festival Hall stage as part of our Next Generation Prokofiev project in the New Year. Gift includes an invitation to see the culmination of our Prokofiev schools composition project on 1 February 2012 and a 10% discount voucher for London Philharmonic Orchestra concert tickets. You can also buy a year’s membership of London Philharmonic Orchestra Friends or LPO Contemporaries. For full details visit lpo.org.uk/gifts In order to guarantee delivery by Christmas please order by Monday 19 December 2011. Virtual gifts are intended as a way to show your support for the Orchestra’s charitable objectives this Christmas. The London Philharmonic Orchestra reserves the right to vary concert programmes if necessary. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is a registered charity No 238045.

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London Philharmonic Orchestra

Annual Appeal 2011/12 in aid of the Community Programme Despite living close to Royal Festival Hall, many people in South London have never visited the venue or heard an orchestra perform. We are committed to our work in the community to ensure that as many people as possible can access and enjoy music of the highest quality. There are three dynamic projects within the Community Programme, providing inspirational musical opportunities for children and their families. Animate Orchestra is a young person’s ‘orchestra for the 21st century’, offering young people in Lewisham and Greenwich a creative pathway for them to continue their playing as they make the transition from primary to secondary education – a time when many young musicians give up. Young people make music side by side with London Philharmonic Orchestra musicians. The Band is the Orchestra’s fusion ensemble for young people in South London, at which they improvise, create, and rehearse their own music – from classical to jazz, hip hop, rock, and more. Members have inspirational contact with London Philharmonic Orchestra players, in sessions led by some of the UK’s leading tutors. ‘When I first came to The Band I was amazed how everyone worked so well with each other … and I thought this is a place where I can really fit in, make music and share ideas.’ Member of The Band FUNharmonics are our Family Concerts – an interactive introduction for all the family to music and the orchestra, presented by Chris Jarvis of CBeebies. Free foyer activities before and after the concert include Have-a-Go sessions where children can try out a range of orchestral instruments with our musicians; and the Human Orchestra – fun rhythmic sessions where music is performed using body percussion, singing, drumming, and clapping. Your Support In order to undertake this essential work we depend entirely on donations from charitable sources each year, and we are asking you to help us to support this work in the communities surrounding the South Bank. If you do feel able to contribute to this year’s Appeal we would be extremely grateful. Gifts of any size make a real difference; to donate please contact Elisenda Ayats on 020 7840 4225 or elisenda.ayats@lpo.org.uk. For more information, and to donate online, please visit lpo.org.uk/support_us/appeal And now, for the first time, you can also donate up to £10 to the Orchestra via text message – see page 2 for more details.

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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 The Tsukanov Family Anonymous 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 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

Pauline & Peter Halliday Michael & Christine Henry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr R K Jeha 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 Bill Yoe

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

Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Pehr G Gyllenhammar Edmund Pirouet 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 Charles Russell Destination Québec – UK Lazard Leventis Overseas Man Group plc 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 Arts and Business Allianz Cultural Foundation Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation The Boltini Trust Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Charitable Trust The Coutts Charitable Trust The Delius Trust Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust The Eranda Foundation The Fenton Arts Trust The Foyle Foundation The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Hattori Foundation for Music and the Arts Capital Radio’s Help a London Child The Hobson Charity The Kirby Laing Foundation The Leverhulme Trust Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Maurice Marks Charitable Trust Marsh Christian Trust

The Mercers’ Company Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust Paul Morgan Charitable Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund Newcomen Collett Foundation 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 | 13

Recent recordings

on the London Philharmonic Orchestra label Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 and Pohjola’s Daughter, and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra ‘This has to be one of the best recordings around of Sibelius’s Fifth. And Lutosławski’s Concerto can never have been more brilliantly played.’ Classic FM magazine, December 2011 Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music grant programme LPO-0057

Vladimir Jurowski conducts Honegger’s Pastorale d’été, Symphony No. 4 and Une Cantate de Noël ‘[The Fourth Symphony] is full of charm and tactile invention, vividly realised in this live recording.’ The Sunday Times, 30 October 2011

LPO-0058

The perfect gift for Christmas Treat someone to a London Philharmonic Orchestra CD subscription and they will receive all the new releases on the LPO Label, mailed before the CDs are available in the shops.

• Full year CD subscription: £79.99 10 CDs (worth at least £100)

• Half year CD subscription: £44.99 5 CDs (worth at least £50)

• Both subscriptions include exclusive pre-release mailing Buy online lpo.org.uk/gifts Or call the London Philharmonic Orchestra box office: 020 7840 4242

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Next London Philharmonic Orchestra concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Wednesday 30 November 2011 | 7:30pm Matthias Pintscher towards Osiris Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) Bruckner Symphony No. 1 (Linz edition) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Lars Vogt piano

13 Januaryconcerts — Opening

Festival highlights include —

The world première of an oratorio version of 1 February Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible Full festival details at lpo.org.uk/prokofiev — Prokofiev’s incidental music to Egyptian Nigh 2012

with excerpts from texts by Bernard Shaw, Pushkin and Shakespeare read by Simon Ca

Friday January Get 13 closer to2012 | 7.30pm — Excerpts from ballets Cinderella and Chout ( Buffoon) Sergei Prokofiev JTI FRIDAY SERIES

— Free classical club night with Gabriel Prokofi

Prokofiev Lieutenant Kijé and Rambert Dance Company A festivalSuite, curated by Vladimir Jurowski Prokofiev Cello Concerto, Op. 58 lpo.org.uk/prokofiev Prokofiev Symphony No. 7 Get closer to one of the

Vladimir Jurowski and Lars Vogt

Saturday 3 December 2011 | 7:30pm Julian Anderson Fantasias* Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony Vladimir Jurowski conductor Janine Jansen violin * This performance is supported by the Boltini Trust. 6.15–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Composer in Residence Julian Anderson looks in detail at his work Fantasias. Wednesday 14 December 2011 | 7:30pm Wagner Overture, Tannhäuser R Strauss Four Last Songs Beethoven Symphony No. 7

Alexander Vedernikov conductormost misunderstood men in 20th-century music Danjulo Ishizaka cello 6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Professor Alexander Ivashkin explores the importance of the cello to Prokofiev. Wednesday 18 January 2012 | 7.30pm Prokofiev Symphonic Song, Op. 57 Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 5 Prokofiev Symphony No. 6 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Steven Osborne piano 6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert performance Royal Festival Hall Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 1 and Quintet, performed by musicians from the Royal College of Music.

Booking details

Christoph Eschenbach conductor Renée Fleming soprano

Tickets £9–£39 | Premium seats £65 14 December: £12–£48 | Premium seats £75

Concert generously supported by the Sharp Family.

London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office 020 7840 4242 Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (no transaction fee) Southbank Centre Box Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pm southbankcentre.co.uk (transaction fees apply)

Christoph Eschenbach and Renée Fleming

In person at Royal Festival Hall Box Office Daily 10.00am–8.00pm (no transaction fee)

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

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