London Philharmonic Orchestra concert programme 29 Oct 2014

I N S I D E

Concert programme

O U T

lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff

Winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI* Leader pieter schoeman† Composer in Residence magnus lindberg Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 29 October 2014 | 7.30pm

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor (45’) Interval

Contents 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 11 12 14 15 16

Welcome LPO 2014/15 season On stage tonight About the Orchestra Leader: Pieter Schoeman Vassily Sinaisky Pavel Kolesnikov Programme notes Recommended recordings Next concerts Supporters Sound Futures donors LPO administration

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

Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 in E minor (54’)

Vassily Sinaisky conductor Pavel Kolesnikov piano

In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation

* supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation † supported by Neil Westreich CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

This concert is being broadcast live by the BBC on Radio 3 Live In Concert – live concerts every day of the week. Listen online in HD Sound for 30 days at bbc.co.uk/radio3

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.

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, Feng Sushi and Topolski, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone 020 7960 4250, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk

London Philharmonic Orchestra 2014/15 season Welcome to tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, part of our season-long festival Rachmaninoff: Inside Out. Whether you’re a regular concert-goer, new to the Orchestra or just visiting London, we hope you enjoy your evening with us. Browse the full season online at lpo.org.uk/performances or call 020 7840 4242 to request a copy of our 2014/15 brochure.

Other highlights of the season include: •

Appearances by today’s most sought-after artists including Maria João Pires, Christoph Eschenbach, Osmo Vänskä, Lars Vogt, Barbara Hannigan, Vasily Petrenko, Marin Alsop, Katia and Marielle Labèque and Robin Ticciati.

•

Premieres of works by Magnus Lindberg, Harrison Birtwistle, Julian Anderson, a children’s work, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, by Colin Matthews, and a new piece for four horns by Titanic composer James Horner.

•

Choral highlights with the London Philharmonic Choir include Stravinsky’s Requiem Canticles, Verdi’s Requiem, Rachmaninoff’s Spring and The Bells, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass.

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.

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

On stage tonight

First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Ji-Hyun Lee Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Martin Höhmann Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert Pool Yang Zhang Grace Lee Rebecca Shorrock Galina Tanney Robin Wilson Kate Cole Nilufar Alimaksumova Caroline Frenkel Caroline Sharp Ishani Bhoola Francesca Smith Second Violins Anna-Liisa Bezrodny Guest Principal Fiona Higham Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Floortje Gerritsen Stephen Stewart John Dickinson Elizabeth Baldey Naomi Anner Nynke Hijlkema Dean Williamson Sioni Williams Mila Mustakova

Violas Cyrille Mercier Principal Gregory Aronovich Laura Vallejo Martin Fenn Miriam Eisele Karin Norlen Emma Sheppard Georgina Payne Susanne Martens Isabel Pereira Sarah Malcolm Linda Kidwell Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Steffan Morris Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Santiago Carvalho† David Lale Elisabeth Wiklander Gregory Walmsley Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Tom Walley Helen Rowlands Lowri Morgan Laura Murphy Catherine Ricketts Charlotte Kerbegian Antonia Bakewell

Flutes Joshua Batty Guest Principal Sue Thomas*

Trumpets Nicholas Betts Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Chair supported by the Sharp Family

Tom Rainer

Stewart McIlwham* Trombones David Whitehouse Principal Roger Harvey

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal

Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal

Oboes Ian Hardwick Principal Amy McKean Sue Böhling

Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Cor Anglais Sue Böhling Principal

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Clarinets Robert Hill* Principal Thomas Watmough

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Bass Clarinet Paul Richards Principal Bassoons Gareth Newman Principal Laura Vincent Horns David Pyatt* Principal Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* Principal Martin Hobbs Duncan Fuller Gareth Mollison

Olly Yates Keith Millar Sarah Mason * Holds a professorial appointment in London † Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: An anonymous donor William & Alex de Winton Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Full marks to the London Philharmonic for continuing to offer the most adventurous concerts in London.

The Financial Times, 14 April 2014 The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with its present-day position as one of the most dynamic and forward-looking ensembles in the UK. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, releases CDs on its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and community groups.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur.

Vladimir Jurowski is currently the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, appointed in 2007. From September 2015 Andrés Orozco-Estrada will take up the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence.

The Orchestra is based at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has performed since the Hall’s opening in 1951 and been Resident Orchestra since 1992. It gives around 30 concerts there each season with many of the world’s top conductors and

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

soloists. Throughout 2013 the Orchestra collaborated with Southbank Centre on the year-long The Rest Is Noise festival, charting the influential works of the 20th century. 2014/15 highlights include a seasonlong festival, Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, exploring the composer’s major orchestral masterpieces; premieres of works by Harrison Birtwistle, Julian Anderson, Colin Matthews, James Horner and the Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence, Magnus Lindberg; and appearances by many of today’s most soughtafter artists including Maria João Pires, Christoph Eschenbach, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Osmo Vänskä, Lars Vogt, Barbara Hannigan, Vasily Petrenko, Marin Alsop, Katia and Marielle Labèque and Robin Ticciati.

Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer it takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also 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.

Pieter Schoeman leader

Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the LPO in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 80 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Strauss’s Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben with Bernard Haitink; Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 6 & 14, Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 and Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy with Vladimir Jurowski; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Hans Graf.

In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians through an energetic programme of activities for young people.

Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the Young Composers Programme; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Its work at the forefront of digital engagement and social media has 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 and regular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on Facebook and Twitter.

© Patrick Harrison

Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2014/15 season include appearances across Europe (including Iceland) and tours to the USA (West and East Coasts), Canada and China.

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.

Find out more and get involved! lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7

In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter’s chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

Vassily Sinaisky conductor

Sinaisky grabbed the reins and presented the audience with a performance of great power and sheer sound ... Remarkable conducting.

© Marco Borggreve

ConcertoNet, February 2012

Vassily Sinaisky’s international career was launched in 1973 when he won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Karajan Competition in Berlin. His early work with Kirill Kondrashin at the Moscow Philharmonic and with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatoire provided him with an incomparable grounding. Soon after his success at the Karajan Competition, Sinaisky was appointed Chief Conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, a post he held from 1976 to 1987. He then became Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic, leading numerous high-profile projects with the Orchestra both in Russia and on tour.

Sinaisky enjoys regular collaborations with such orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland, London Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony, Stuttgart Radio Symphony and Czech Philharmonic orchestras.

Recent seasons have also seen him conduct the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and NHK Symphony, Tokyo.

Sinaisky holds the positions of Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Philharmonic and Honorary Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Sweden. Memorable projects with the BBC Philharmonic have included the ‘Shostakovich and his Heroes’ festival, tours to Europe and China, and many appearances at the BBC Proms. With the Malmö Symphony, Sinaisky has toured to the UK and to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and recorded an acclaimed four-disc series of the symphonies of Franz Schmidt.

Sinaisky has also held the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Music Director of the Russian State Orchestra. From 2010–13, he held the position as Chief Conductor and Music

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow and conducted acclaimed productions including Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel directed by Kirill Serebrennikov and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier directed by Stephen Lawless (the first ever staging of this work in Moscow).

Sinaisky has a distinguished pedigree as an operatic conductor. He recently conducted Iolanta and Francesca da Rimini in new productions by Stephen Lawless at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, and Boris Godunov at San Francisco Opera. Other productions have included Carmen and Der Rosenkavalier for English National Opera and an acclaimed Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with Hans Neuenfels at the Komische Oper Berlin.

Vassily Sinaisky’s recordings include the aforementioned set of the symphonies of Franz Schmidt for Naxos with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, and many recordings with the BBC Philharmonic including works by Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shchedrin, Glinka, Liadov, Schreker and Szymanowski.

Vassily Sinaisky is a noted and influential teacher, and holds the position of Professor of Conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatoire.

Vassily Sinaisky discusses his path to becoming a conductor in a YouTube video by the Seattle Symphony: http://y2u.be/z2L5vGeSdbs

Pavel Kolesnikov Honens Prize Laureate | piano

Tremendous clarity, unfailing musicality and considerable beauty.

© Colin Way

BBC Music Magazine, March 2013

Following Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov’s Wigmore Hall debut in January 2014, The Telegraph gave his recital a rare five-star review and called it ‘one of the most memorable of such occasions London has witnessed in a while.’ Since becoming Prize Laureate of the Honens International Piano Competition in 2012, Kolesnikov has been winning hearts around the world. A live recording of his prize-winning performances was released on the Honens label in March 2013, praised by BBC Music Magazine for its ‘tremendous clarity, unfailing musicality and considerable beauty’. This June, his debut studio recording was released on the Hyperion label to critical acclaim. The Sunday Times described his playing on this all-Tchaikovsky disc as having ‘affection and élan’.

Significant recital and festival appearances resulting from the Honens Prize have included Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, the Louvre (Paris), Vancouver Recital Society, La Jolla Music Society, Spoleto Festival (USA), Canada’s Ottawa ChamberFest and Banff Summer Festival, and the Plush Festival in Dorset, UK. Tonight is Kolesnikov’s concert debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Other recent and upcoming orchestral appearances include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Russia’s National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

London-based Pavel Kolesnikov was born in Siberia into a family of scientists. He studied both the piano and violin for ten years, before concentrating solely on the piano. He has studied at the Moscow State Conservatory with Sergey Dorensky, at London’s Royal College of Music with Norma Fisher and at Brussels’s Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with Maria João Pires, thanks to the generous support of Mr Christopher

D Budden, the RCM Scholarship Foundation and Hattori Foundation. This autumn he was named one of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists for 2014–16, a scheme that provides opportunities to develop live and recorded performances, including broadcasts with the BBC orchestras.

On the work he performs tonight, Kolesnikov says: ‘I remember very vividly how, as a little boy, I listened to Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto, and thought jealously that I would never be able to play it. And now, every time I go on stage to play it, it is somewhat hard to embrace the fact that I bear this incredible treasure in my hands!

For it is not only a musical masterpiece, but also a piece of history, telling us of the fates and ways of the world with such an emotional power, in such a truthful, simple and yet prophetic manner that the work both melts and breaks our hearts at the same time. And, as a musician, I can say that there are very few things in life (if any) that quite compare to letting such an absolute masterpiece revive and speak through oneself.’

pavelkolesnikov.com facebook.com/pavel.kolesnikov.982 vimeo.com/channels/pavelkolesnikov

In the LPO’s October 2014 podcast, Pavel discusses what it’s like to play Rachmaninoff’s music and performs the cadenza from the first movement of the Third Piano Concerto. lpo.org.uk/explore/podcasts

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

Programme notes

Speedread Two of Rachmaninoff’s finest works sit side by side in tonight’s concert. Both were criticised in earlier times and only in the last 50 years or so have they escaped from a prevailing attitude that thought it necessary to make them more palatable by means of savage cuts. Yet today, one of them has acquired a status as the ultimate model of the Romantic

Serge Rachmaninoff 1873–1943

Although not as popular as its predecessor, and not as well-stocked with Romantically lingering tunes, Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is in many other ways his most admired. This was not always the case; ‘dry, difficult and unappealing’ was how the young Prokofiev heard it (he preferred the ‘charming’ First and Second), and many of the earlier performances and recordings of the work (including the composer’s own, made in 1939) were afflicted by damaging cuts.

Prokofiev was right about it being difficult, though.

The Third is one of the most technically daunting of all the major piano concertos, its 45-minute span demanding of its executants heroic feats of virtuosity, stamina and power, while at the same time challenging them to show the more musicianly qualities of precision, clarity and line.

Rachmaninoff composed it at his family estate in Ivanovka in the autumn of 1909 specifically for his forthcoming first tour to the USA, and he was the soloist at its premiere with the New York Symphony Orchestra on 28 November with Walter Damrosch conducting. An even more memorable performance,

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piano concerto – texturally rich, soaringly lyrical and toweringly difficult to play, as befits the work of one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century – while the other shows this great composer’s resource, seriousness and depth as a composer away from the keyboard. Rachmaninoff at his best!

Piano Piano Concerto Concerto No. No. 3 in 3 in DD minor, minor, Op. Op. 3030 Simon PavelTrpčeski Kolesnikov piano piano 1 1 Allegro Allegro mama non non tanto tanto 2 2 Intermezzo: Intermezzo: Adagio Adagio – – 3 3 Finale: Finale: Alla Alla breve breve

however, must have been the one Rachmaninoff gave with the New York Philharmonic the following January, when the conductor was Gustav Mahler.

‘Mahler touched my composer’s heart straight away’, Rachmaninoff wrote, ‘by devoting himself to my concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had been practised to the point of perfection.’

The complexity that Rachmaninoff refers to is due not only to the orchestral accompaniment’s richness, but also to the important role it plays in the work’s construction. While he may not have been the composer to reproduce the taut motivic discourse of a Schoenberg or a Bartók, in this Concerto Rachmaninoff achieves a satisfying sense of unity through laid-back but persistent allusion to themes outlined in the first movement. Of these, none is more of a presence than the long, tender melody uncurled by the piano right at the start. Its restless Russian melancholy is unmistakable, but Rachmaninoff denied suggestions that it had origins in folksong or Orthodox chant: ‘It simply wrote itself’, he said. ‘I was thinking only of the

sound. I wanted to “sing” the melody on the piano, as a singer would sing it.’ Whether naturally arising or not, this theme and its lilting accompaniment inform many of the melodic outlines that follow, giving the whole work the flavour of ongoing, seamless development.

Eventually a second theme appears, introduced with a new rhythmic impulse that seems almost like a fanfare in the circumstances, but soon settling down to more expansive lyricism under the pianist’s hands.

The development section starts with a reprise of the opening, though naturally one which takes new turns.

The music builds to a climax, then subsides, the texture thinning until the piano is left to embark on a long solo cadenza whose own powerful climax is in turn calmed by snippets of the first theme on solo winds.

A recapitulation of this theme in its original form follows, but the movement is nearly done now, and the end arrives with a few quiet echoes of the second theme.

The title of the second movement, Intermezzo, suggests a desire to relax the atmosphere, as does the drop in key

to D flat major. In fact the free variations on the sombre melody introduced by the orchestra at the outset encompass both textural detail and much Romantic warmth, while a faster and lighter section turns out to be a waltz-like, major-key transformation of the firstmovement theme in which brilliant piano figuration accompanies the woodwind. A brief and passionate return to the original theme is broken off, however, by a commanding interposition by the pianist, who whips things up and pitches us decisively into the Finale.

Here the dominant element is a vigorous, twitching line made from an inversion of the rocking accompaniment figure from the opening of the Concerto. The somewhat militaristic flavour it now gives off is contrasted with another soaringly Romantic second theme, but it returns, along with a melancholy lower-string reminiscence of the first movement’s main theme, in a skittish development section. The recapitulation begins after a moment of near stillness, but, after the soaring theme has returned in glory, the Concerto ends in an exhilarating dash to the finish.

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

Serge Rachmaninoff

Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

Thanks largely to the concertos, Rachmaninoff is usually thought of primarily as a composer for the piano, but before he left Russia for the last time in 1917 he was more widely recognised as a composer of vocal, chamber and orchestral music and a gifted conductor active both in the concert hall and the opera house.

The Third Piano Concerto came well into a period of heartening success that had served to wipe away the creatively crippling depression caused by the disastrous premiere of the First Symphony ten years earlier:

1901 had seen him return to form with the Second Piano Concerto; in 1902 he had married, his wife giving birth to a daughter the following year; and 1904 had brought a conducting post at the Bolshoi Opera in Moscow, where, early in 1906, he presided over wellreceived premieres of his operas Francesca da Rimini and The Miserly Knight.

1 Largo – Allegro moderato 2 Allegro molto 3 Adagio 4 Allegro vivace

By this time, however, Rachmaninoff was beginning to feel the strain of celebrity, and made the decision to give

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

Programme notes continued

himself more breathing space by removing himself and his family to Dresden. It was there that he composed his Second Symphony, in such secrecy that even his closest friends were unaware of the fact until they read about it in the press. ‘I have completed a symphony, it’s true!’, he wrote to one of them in February 1907. ‘It’s only ready in draft. I finished it a month ago and immediately put it aside. It was a severe worry to me and I am not going to think about it any more.’ The score was eventually completed early the following year and the premiere took place in St Petersburg on 8 February 1908, with Rachmaninoff himself conducting.

The Second Symphony is both one of Rachmaninoff’s most popular orchestral compositions and one of his finest, a work of relaxed expansiveness and easy melodic flow, yet also one of great expressive power and sweep. Rachmaninoff’s talent for memorable melody is as present as ever here, but it never descends into facility; like Tchaikovsky (whose influence is unmistakable), he was able to move the listener with a big tune, but also to mould his melodies into great architectural spans with a subtlety that makes them appear totally natural. This Symphony is in fact shot through with motivic connections and links, but so organic do they seem that the listener could be forgiven for hardly noticing.

Three important thematic cells are set out in the Symphony’s opening eight bars. The first, a weighty, undulating figure heard in the cellos and basses, is closely followed by a lightly syncopated stab from the woodwind and horns, and then by a downwardwinding line in the violins. All are significant to the work as a whole, but for the moment they serve to initiate a sombre slow introduction which is lengthy enough to include a powerful climax before subsiding on to a cor anglais solo. The main Allegro section of the movement features two themes, the first a dreamy transformation of the opening cello-and-bass figure, and the second (heralded by a brief clarinet solo) a romantic dialogue between wind and strings with links to the syncopated second motif. Reminders of all three motifs then continue to appear as the music drives forward through a Tchaikovskian climax in the central development section (built largely on the first motif), warm restatements of the principal themes, and on to an impassioned finish.

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The second movement starts out as a breezily confident scherzo. Simpler in design than its companions, it is in three sections, the third of which is essentially a reprise of the first. The outer sections oppose a striding main theme and a lovingly lyrical second for strings, while the central one introduces a contrasting texture of closely worked, chattering counterpoint. Towards the end of the reprise, the brass interrupt with an apparition of the first movement’s second motif, and the scherzo ends in unexpectedly ominous mood.

The Adagio that forms the third movement is one of Rachmaninoff’s most generous melodic creations, a worthy cousin to the slow movement of the Second Piano Concerto, to which it bears similarities. Strangely, its two main themes are presented almost on top of each other, the initial arpeggio-based string melody being immediately followed by a long and languid solo clarinet tune, but both are given ample space to breathe in the course of the ravishing movement that follows, as Rachmaninoff handles their leisurely juxtaposition with great skill and expressive control, decorating them here and there with glistening remembrances of the by-now familiar motifs.

The Finale announces its intentions in joyously whirling, carnivalesque music whose textural complexities carry numerous thematic references to what has gone before. Rachmaninoff does not intend to let the movement run away with him, however, and before long introduces a noble violin theme to calm things down. It is an uplifting new presence, and proves even more heart-swellingly so when – following a nostalgic reminiscence of the slow movement and a mountingly exciting section built on descending scales – it makes its majestic return as the Symphony’s crowning glory.

Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp

CDs by tonight’s pianist Pavel Kolesnikov will be on sale at the Foyles merchandise stand in the Royal Festival Hall foyer before and after tonight’s concert, and during the interval.

Mini film guides to this season’s works

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

For the 2014/15 season we’ve produced a series of short films introducing the pieces we’re performing.

We’ve picked highlights from throughout the season, creating bite-sized introductions to the music and its historical background.

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 Nikolai Lugansky piano Sakari Oramo conductor City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Warner Classics

Watch Patrick Bailey introduce Rachmaninoff’s piano music: lpo.org.uk/explore/videos.html

International Piano Series 2014/15

Maurizio Pollini © Philippe Gontier/ DGG

Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Yuri Temirkanov conductor RCA

Alice Sara Ott & Francesco Tristano © Marie Staggat Photography

Alexandre Tharaud

Ivo Pogorelich

Yevgeny Sudbin

Schubert, Mahler, Couperin and Ravel

Liszt, Schumann, Stravinsky and Brahms

Alexei Volodin

Sunwook Kim

Haydn, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Scriabin and Saint-Saëns

Schubert, Chopin and Schumann

Bach, Beethoven and Mussorgsky

Dejan Lazic

Maurizio Pollini

Ravel, Debussy, Tristano and Stravinsky

CPE Bach, Britten, D Scarlatti and Bartók

Schumann and Chopin

Denis Matsuev

Jonathan Biss

SERIES SAVINGS BOOK 3 – 4 CONCERTS AND SAVE 10% BOOK 5 OR MORE CONCERTS AND SAVE 20%

Tchaikovsky, Liszt and Rachmaninov

Berg, Schoenberg, Schumann and Beethoven

Louis Lortie

Yundi

Fauré and Scriabin

Chopin

Lukáš Vondráček

Stephen Hough

Graham Lack, Schumann, Liszt and Rachmaninov

Debussy and Chopin

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Thursday 11 December 2014

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Tuesday 31 March 2015

Thursday 29 January 2015

Monday 13 April 2015

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Media Partner

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Alice Sara Ott & Francesco Tristano Thursday 11 June 2015

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southbankcentre.co.uk/ips 0844 847 9929

Tuesday 28 April 2015

The International Piano Series is devised, co-ordinated and developed

by Harrison Parrott

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Saturday 1 November 2014 | 7.30pm

Wednesday 12 November 2014 | 7.30pm

Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection)

Pierné Overture and Suite, Ramuntcho† Poulenc Concerto for two pianos and orchestra Ravel Rapsodie espagnole Debussy La mer

Jaap van Zweden conductor Elizabeth Watts soprano Alice Coote mezzo soprano London Philharmonic Choir Please note there will be no interval during this performance.

Juanjo Mena conductor Katia Labèque piano Marielle Labèque piano

Wednesday 5 November 2014 | 7.30pm

† Supported by Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française.

Sibelius The Bard Sibelius Violin Concerto Sibelius Lemminkäinen Suite (Four Legends of the Kalevala)

Wednesday 19 November 2014 | 7.30pm

Osmo Vänskä conductor Alexandra Soumm violin Free pre-concert event 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall Musicians from the LPO join students from London Music Masters’ innovative music education programme, the Bridge Project, for a musical celebration.

Friday 7 November 2014 | 7.30pm JTI Friday Series Rachmaninoff: Inside Out* Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 4 (final version) Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 (Winter Daydreams) Osmo Vänskä conductor Nikolai Lugansky piano

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 Schubert Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) R Strauss Don Juan Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Lars Vogt piano

Friday 28 November 2014 | 7.30pm JTI Friday Series Rachmaninoff: Inside Out* Wagner Overture, Tannhäuser Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 David Zinman conductor Behzod Abduraimov piano Free pre-concert event | 6.15–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall Acclaimed film director Tony Palmer discusses the enduring popularity of Rachmaninoff’s music. * Rachmaninoff: Inside Out is presented in co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65) London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm | lpo.org.uk | Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone Southbank Centre Ticket Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pm | southbankcentre.co.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone. No transaction fee for bookings made in person

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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 Foundation Neil Westreich William and Alex de Winton Simon Robey The Sharp Family Julian & Gill Simmonds* Anonymous Garf & Gill Collins* Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller Mrs Philip Kan* Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Eric Tomsett John & Manon Antoniazzi Jane Attias John & Angela Kessler Guy & Utti Whittaker * BrightSparks patrons. Instead of supporting a chair in the Orchestra, these donors have chosen to support our series of schools’ concerts.

Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Lady Jane Berrill Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook David Ellen Commander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel Goldstein Peter MacDonald Eggers Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Mr & Mrs David Malpas Mr Michael Posen Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina Vaizey Grenville & Krysia Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Benefactors Mrs A Beare David & Patricia Buck Mrs Alan Carrington Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen Mr Alistair Corbett Georgy Djaparidze Mr David Edgecombe Mr Timothy Fancourt QC Mr Richard Fernyhough Tony & Susan Hayes Michael & Christine Henry Malcolm Herring J. Douglas Home Ivan Hurry Mr Glenn Hurstfield

Per Jonsson Mr Gerald Levin Sheila Ashley Lewis Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Dr Frank Lim Paul & Brigitta Lock Ms Ulrike Mansel Robert Markwick Mr Brian Marsh Andrew T Mills John Montgomery Dr Karen Morton Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Tom & Phillis Sharpe Martin and Cheryl Southgate Professor John Studd Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Simon Turner Howard & Sheelagh Watson Mr Laurie Watt Des & Maggie Whitelock Christopher Williams Bill Yoe and others who wish to remain anonymous Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged: Corporate Members Silver: AREVA UK Berenberg Bank British American Business Carter-Ruck Bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLP Charles Russell Leventis Overseas Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Sela / Tilley’s Sweets

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Trusts and Foundations Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation Ambache Charitable Trust Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Boltini Trust Borletti-Buitoni Trust Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Trust The Peter Carr Charitable Trust, in memory of Peter Carr The Ernest Cook Trust The Coutts Charitable Trust The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust Fidelio Charitable Trust The Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Help Musicians UK The Hinrichsen Foundation The Hobson Charity Kirby Laing Foundation The Leche Trust Marsh Christian Trust

The Mayor of London’s Fund for Young Musicians Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust The Ann and Frederick O’Brien Charitable Trust Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française Polish Cultural Institute in London PRS for Music Foundation Rivers Foundation The R K Charitable Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation Schroder Charity Trust Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation The Tillett Trust UK Friends of the Felix-MendelssohnBartholdy-Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust Youth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous

Sound Futures Donors We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to Sound Futures, which will establish our first ever endowment. Donations from those below, as well as many who have chosen to remain anonymous, have already been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant.

By May 2015 we aim to have raised £1 million which, when matched, will create a £2 million fund supporting our Education and Community Programme, our creative programming and major artistic projects at Southbank Centre.

We thank those who are helping us to realise the vision.

Masur Circle Arts Council England Dunard Fund Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Sharp Family The Underwood Trust

David Ross and Line Forestier (Canada) Tom and Phillis Sharpe Mr & Mrs G Stein TFS Loans Limited The Tsukanov Family Foundation Guy & Utti Whittaker

Welser-Möst Circle John Ireland Charitable Trust Neil Westreich

Pritchard Donors Anonymous Linda Blackstone Michael Blackstone Yan Bonduelle Richard and Jo Brass Britten-Pears Foundation Business Events Sydney Desmond & Ruth Cecil Lady June Chichester John Childress & Christiane Wuillamie Lindka Cierach Paul Collins Mr Alistair Corbett Dolly Costopoulos Mark Damazer Olivier Demarthe David Dennis Bill & Lisa Dodd Mr David Edgecombe David Ellen Commander Vincent Evans Mr Timothy Fancourt QC Christopher Fraser OBE Karima & David G Lyuba Galkina David Goldberg Mr Daniel Goldstein Ffion Hague Rebecca Halford Harrison Michael & Christine Henry Honeymead Arts Trust

Tennstedt Circle Simon Robey Simon & Vero Turner The late Mr K Twyman Solti Patrons Ageas Anonymous John & Manon Antoniazzi Georgy Djaparidze Mrs Mina Goodman and Miss Suzanne Goodman Robert Markwick The Rothschild Foundation Haitink Patrons Mark & Elizabeth Adams Lady Jane Berrill David & Yi Yao Buckley Bruno de Kegel Goldman Sachs International Moya Greene Tony and Susie Hayes Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons Diana and Allan Morgenthau Charitable Trust Dr Karen Morton Ruth Rattenbury Sir Bernard Rix Kasia Robinski

John Hunter Ivan Hurry Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Tanya Kornilova Peter Leaver Mr Mark Leishman LVO and Mrs Fiona Leishman Howard & Marilyn Levene Mr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Dr Frank Lim Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Peter Mace Geoff & Meg Mann Ulrike Mansel Marsh Christian Trust John Montgomery Rosemary Morgan Paris Natar John Owen The late Edmund Pirouet Mr Michael Posen Sarah & John Priestland Victoria Provis William Shawcross Tim Slorick Howard Snell Lady Valerie Solti Stanley Stecker Lady Marina Vaizey Helen Walker Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Des & Maggie Whitelock Brian Whittle Christopher Williams Peter Wilson Smith Victoria Yanakova Mr Anthony Yolland

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

Administration

Board of Directors Victoria Sharp OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Dr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. Høgel Martin Höhmann* George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Julian Simmonds Mark Templeton* Natasha Tsukanova Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Neil Westreich * Player-Director Advisory Council Victoria Sharp OBE Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness Shackleton Lord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Martin Southgate Sir Philip Thomas Sir John Tooley Chris Viney Timothy Walker AM Elizabeth Winter American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc. Jenny Ireland Co-Chairman William A. Kerr Co-Chairman Kyung-Wha Chung Alexandra Jupin Dr. Felisa B. Kaplan Jill Fine Mainelli Kristina McPhee Dr. Joseph Mulvehill Harvey M. Spear, Esq. Danny Lopez Hon. Chairman Noel Kilkenny Hon. Director Victoria Sharp OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP

Chief Executive

Education and Community

Digital Projects

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Isabella Kernot Education Director

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Director

Alexandra Clarke Education and Community Project Manager

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant

Amy Sugarman PA to the Chief Executive / Administrative Assistant Finance David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

Lucy Duffy Education and Community Project Manager

Public Relations Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer

Archives

David Greenslade Finance and IT Manager

Development

Samanta Berzina Finance Officer

Nick Jackman Development Director

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive

Concert Management

Catherine Faulkner Development Events Manager

Charles Russell Solicitors

Kathryn Hageman Individual Giving Manager

Graham Wood Concerts and Recordings Manager

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors

Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations Manager

Dr Louise Miller Honorary Doctor

Jenny Chadwick Tours Manager

Noelia Moreno Charitable Giving Manager

Tamzin Aitken Glyndebourne and UK Engagements Manager

Helen Etheridge Development Assistant

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Alison Jones Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

Rebecca Fogg Development Assistant Kirstin Peltonen Development Associate

Philip Stuart Discographer

Professional Services

London Philharmonic Orchestra 89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TP Tel: 020 7840 4200 Box Office: 020 7840 4242 Email: admin@lpo.org.uk lpo.org.uk The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045.

Jo Cotter Tours Co-ordinator

Marketing

Orchestra Personnel

Kath Trout Marketing Director

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager

Mia Roberts Marketing Manager

Photograph of Rachmaninoff courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

Sarah Holmes Sarah Thomas Librarians (job-share)

Rachel Williams Publications Manager

Cover design: Chaos Design.

Printed by Cantate.

Christopher Alderton Stage Manager

Samantha Cleverley Box Office Manager (Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Damian Davis Transport Manager

Libby Northcote-Green Marketing Co-ordinator

Ellie Swithinbank Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Lorna Salmon Intern

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra