Issuu

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 1

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†

MAHLER ANNIVERSARY

PROGRAMME £3

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Saturday 29 January 2011 | 7.30pm VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor BARNABÁS KELEMEN violin

(10’)

BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 1

8 9 10 17 18 19 20

List of Players Orchestra History Leader / Southbank Centre Vladimir Jurowski Barnabás Kelemen / Thomas Blunt / Jacob Thorn Melanie Diener / Christianne Stotijn Michael König / Christopher Purves London Philharmonic Choir Programme Notes Supporters Recordings Administration Future Concerts

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

(21’)

INTERVAL MAHLER Das klagende Lied (original version)

(71’)

THOMAS BLUNT offstage band conductor JACOB THORN treble †

2 3 4 5 6 7

MELANIE DIENER soprano CHRISTIANNE STOTIJN mezzo soprano MICHAEL KÖNIG tenor CHRISTOPHER PURVES baritone LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR LIGETI Lontano

CONTENTS

supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 2

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINS Pieter Schoeman* Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Chair supported by John and Angela Kessler

Lucy Baker Katalin Varnagy Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Tina Gruenberg Martin Höhmann Chair supported by Richard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Alain Petitclerc SECOND VIOLINS Heather Cottrell Guest Principal Clare Duckworth Co-Principal Chair supported by Richard and Victoria Sharp

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

Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Nynke Hijlkema Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Imogen Williamson Sioni Williams Alison Strange Peter Graham Mila Mustakova VIOLAS Jonathan Barrett Guest Principal Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Benedetto Pollani Emmanuella Reiter-Bootiman Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Isabel Pereira Michelle Bruil Daniel Cornford Miranda Davis Sarah Malcolm

CELLOS Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Simon Yates and Kevin Roon

Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Santiago Sabino Carvalho + Jonathan Ayling Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp

Gregory Walmsley Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell David Lale Tom Roff DOUBLE BASSES Kevin Rundell* Principal Tim Gibbs Co-Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Richard Lewis Tom Walley Helen Rowlands Louis Garson FLUTES Sue Thomas* Principal Joanna Marsh Guro Pettersen Stewart McIlwham* PICCOLOS Stewart McIlwham* Principal Guro Pettersen ALTO FLUTE Joanna Marsh OBOES Ian Hardwick Principal Katie Bennington Will Oinn COR ANGLAIS Sue Bohling Principal Chair supported by Julian and Gill Simmonds

CLARINETS Nicholas Carpenter Principal Emily Meredith Paul Richards David Fuest BASS CLARINET Paul Richards Principal

CONTRA BASS CLARINET David Fuest BASSOONS John Price Principal Gareth Newman* Laurence O’Donnell CONTRA BASSOON Simon Estell Principal HORNS John Ryan Principal Martin Hobbs Nicolas Wolmark Gareth Mollison Samuel Jacobs TRUMPETS Paul Beniston* Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff and Meg Mann

Daniel Newell David Hilton Lucy Leleu TROMBONES Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse Robert Workman BASS TROMBONE Lyndon Meredith Principal TUBAS Lee Tsarmaklis Principal Jonathan Rees

OFFSTAGE BAND FLUTES/PICCOLOS Ian Mullin Guest Principal Guro Pettersen Marta Santamaria CLARINETS/E FLAT CLARINETS Robert Hill Principal James Burke Richard Russell BASSOONS Emma Harding Guest Principal Stuart Russell TRUMPETS/CORNETS/ FLUGELHORNS Nicholas Betts Principal Tom Rainer Tony Cross Robin Totterdell Joe Sharp Heidi Bennett PERCUSSION Ignacio Molins Guest Principal Eddie Hackett Christopher Thomas

TIMPANI Simon Carrington* Principal PERCUSSION Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Sarah Cresswell

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR Thomas Blunt * Holds a professorial appointment in London +

Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose player is not present at this concert: The Tsukanov Family

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

HARPS Rachel Masters* Principal Helen Sharp Ruth Faber Patrizia Meier Lucy Haslar Stephanie Beck

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 3

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Seventy-eight years after Sir Thomas Beecham founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage. Following Beecham’s influential founding tenure the Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passed from one illustrious musician to another, amongst them Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive tradition continued in September 2007 when Vladimir Jurowski became the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and, in a further exciting move, the Orchestra appointed Yannick Nézet-Séguin its new Principal Guest Conductor from September 2008. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It plays there around 40 times each season with many of the world’s most sought after conductors and soloists. Concert highlights in 2010/11 include an exploration of Mahler’s symphonies and complete song cycles during the composer’s anniversary season; the premières of works by Matteo D’Amico, Magnus Lindberg and Brett Dean; a rare opportunity to hear Rossini’s opera Aureliano in Palmira in collaboration with long term partner Opera Rara; and works by the Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson. In addition to its London season and a series of concerts at Wigmore Hall, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. It is unique in combining these concert activities with esteemed opera performances each summer at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where it has been the Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964. The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs to enthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring continues to form a significant part of the Orchestra’s schedule and is supported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2010/11 include visits to Finland, Germany, South Korea, Spain, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Having long been embraced by the recording, broadcasting and film industries, the London

Philharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domestic and international television and radio. It also works with the Hollywood and UK film industries, recording soundtracks for blockbuster motion pictures including the Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and scores for Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, Philadelphia and East is East. The London Philharmonic Orchestra made its first recordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after its first public performance. It has recorded and broadcast regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its own record label. The recordings on its own label are taken mainly from live concerts given with distinguished conductors over the years including the Orchestra’s Principal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, through Haitink, Solti and Tennstedt, to Masur and Jurowski. Recent additions to the catalogue have included acclaimed releases of Christmas choral music conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, Verdi’s Requiem conducted by Jesús López-Cobos, Holst’s The Planets conducted by Vladimir Jurowski and Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 and Sea Pictures with Vernon Handley and Janet Baker. The Orchestra’s own-label CDs are also widely available to download. Visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop for the latest releases. The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners through its rich programme of community and school-based activity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, which includes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, its Foyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme for outstanding young instrumentalists, and regular family and schools concerts. To help maintain its high standards and diverse workload, the Orchestra is committed to the welfare of its musicians and in December 2007 received the Association of British Orchestras/Musicians Benevolent Fund Healthy Orchestra Bronze Charter Mark. There are many ways to experience and stay in touch with the Orchestra’s activities: visit www.lpo.org.uk, subscribe to our podcast series, download our iPhone application and join us on Facebook and Twitter. www.lpo.org.uk London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 4

PIETER SCHOEMAN

SOUTHBANK CENTRE

LEADER

In 2002, Pieter Schoeman joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader. He was appointed Leader in 2008. Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten. He studied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winning numerous competitions, including the 1984 World Youth Concerto Competition in America. In 1987 he was offered the Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study with 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 Schoeman has performed as a soloist and recitalist throughout the world in such famous halls as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s Rachmaninov Hall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and 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, he has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concerto with Boris Garlitsky and Benjamin Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the Orchestra’s own record label to great critical acclaim. Last October he performed the Brahms Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane. In 1995 Pieter Schoeman 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 the BBC Symphony Orchestra. This season he has been invited to lead the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra on several occasions. Pieter Schoeman has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film and television. He led the Orchestra in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He teaches at Trinity College of Music in London.

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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 and Feng Sushi, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery. If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact Kenelm Roberts, our Head of Customer Relations, at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk or phone 020 7960 4250. We look forward to seeing you again soon. A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment: PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 5

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI

Karen Robinson

CONDUCTOR

Born in Moscow, the son of conductor Mikhail Jurowski, Vladimir Jurowski completed the first part of his 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 Rimsky-Korsakov’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 Festival, Semperoper Dresden 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 of 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, Dresden Staatskapelle, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras as well as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Highlights of the 2010/11 season and beyond include his debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Cleveland, San Francisco Symphony and Mahler Chamber Orchestras, and return visits to the Chicago Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, St Petersburg Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras. His 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, as well as Die Zauberflöte, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Rake’s Progress and Peter Eötvös’ Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Opera. Future engagements include new productions of Die Meistersinger and The Cunning Little Vixen at Glyndebourne, Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, Russlan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre, and Iolanta at the Dresden Semperoper. Jurowski’s discography includes the first ever recording of Giya Kancheli’s cantata Exil for ECM (1994), L’Étoile du Nord by Meyerbeer for Naxos-Marco Polo (1996), and Werther for BMG (1999) as well as live recordings of works by Rachmaninov, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Brahms and Shostakovich on the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s own label, and Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery on Glyndebourne Opera’s own label. He also records for PentaTone with the Russian National Orchestra, with releases to date including Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 3 and Stravinsky’s Divertimento from Le Baiser de la fée, Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos 1 and 6, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet Incidental Music. 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 New York, and his first concert as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor featuring works by Wagner, Berg and Mahler (released by Medici Arts).

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 6

BARNABÁS KELEMEN

THOMAS BLUNT

VIOLIN

OFFSTAGE BAND CONDUCTOR

Hungarian violinist Barnabás Kelemen has already captured the attention of the music world. His wide repertoire spans classical to contemporary music and he has given the Hungarian premières of the Ligeti and Schnittke Violin Concertos. He has performed with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Marek Janowski, Peter Eötvös, Robert Spano, Zoltán Kocsis and Ivan Fischer, and as a chamber musician he has given recitals at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall. Future highlights will include engagements with the Malaysian Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic and Trondheim Symphony Orchestras, and recitals and chamber music throughout Europe with recital partners Zoltán Kocsis and Shai Wosner. This season he is Artist in Residence at the Musis Sacrum in Arnhem. His discography includes Brahms’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano which won a Diapason d’Or; Liszt’s complete works for violin and piano, awarded the 2001 Grand Prix du Disque by the International Liszt Society; a live DVD of the complete Mozart Violin Concertos; and CDs of Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Solo Sonata. Born in Budapest in 1978, Barnabás Kelemen studied at the Franz Liszt Music Academy and won Third Prize at the 2001 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and First Prize at the International Violin Competition in Indianapolis in 2002. He has received the 2001 Sándor Vegh Prize, the 2003 Franz Liszt Prize and the 2003 Rózsavölgyi Prize. Since 2005 he has been a professor at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest and a guest professor at Bloomington Indiana University. He plays a Guarneri del Gesú violin of 1742 (ex Dénes Kovács), generously on loan from the State of Hungary.

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Chorus master of Glyndebourne from 2006 to 2009, British conductor Thomas Blunt is now Assistant Conductor to Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in 1977, he studied the cello and conducting before taking up an organ scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 2007 he made his conducting debut with Glyndebourne in L’elisir d’amore for Glyndebourne on Tour, and in 2009 conducted the second half of their run of Falstaff. Other highlights have included the world première of Ghosts at the Linbury Studio Theatre; The Rape of Lucretia and Così fan tutte at the Benjamin Britten International Opera School; work on The Knot Garden at the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano; and a performance of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette for British Youth Opera. Last year he worked as an assistant conductor for Opera North on Rusalka and Così fan tutte, and conducted The Rape of Lucretia at the Arcola Theatre in London. Future engagements include performances of La Cenerentola for Glyndebourne on Tour and Bruckner’s Mass No. 2 in Sao Paolo.

JACOB THORN TREBLE

Jacob is a scholar at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and was a chorister in the choir of Magdalen College for three years until June 2009. He studies singing and Alexander Technique with Maria Thompson. As well as solos with the choir, he sang the Young Nicolas in Britten’s cantata St Nicolas with the Queen’s College Choir and was treble soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Nicholas Cleobury. In 2010 he won the Michael Howard Junior Vocal Prize at the Oxford Festival, was a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year competition and was a featured soloist for the BBC Oxford Carol Service. Future engagements as a treble soloist include the Fauré Requiem with the English Chamber Orchestra and Nicholas Cleobury, and his operatic debut in the title role of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors in St Helen’s Church, Abingdon, where he currently sings in the parish choir.

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 7

MELANIE DIENER

CHRISTIANNE STOTIJN

SOPRANO

MEZZO SOPRANO

The German soprano Melanie Diener studied with Sylvia Geszty in Stuttgart, with Rudolf Piernay in Mannheim, and at Indiana University. She made her debut as Ilia in Idomeneo at the Garsington Opera Festival in 1996 and has since been heard at the Vienna Staatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Bavarian Opera, Semper Oper and Berlin Staatsoper, as well as in Paris, Zurich, Lausanne and Ferrara. Her repertoire predominantly includes the operas of Mozart and Strauss, comprising roles such as Elettra (which she has sung in Vienna), Fiordiligi (in London, Paris, Zurich, Dresden, Ferrara and the Met), Donna Elvira (in London, Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Vienna, Munich and the Met), Vitellia (in Berlin and the Met) the Marschallin (in Berlin and Hamburg), Ariadne and Chrysothemis (in Zurich, Munich and Vienna).

Christianne Stotijn studied singing in Metz, London and Amsterdam, and later with Noelle Barker, Jard van Nes and Dame Janet Baker. She has worked extensively with Bernard Haitink, who invited her to sing Mahler’s Ruckert Lieder with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Lucerne Festival and Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As well as her busy concert career, she is an impassioned song recitalist and has appeared at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, Théâtre des Champs Elysées and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and Kennedy Center in Washington. Her operatic career has seen her perform the role of Pauline in The Queen of Spades at the Paris Opera, Ottavia in Poppea at the Netherlands Opera, Cornelia in Giulio Cesare at the Monnaie and Netherlands Opera and Tamerlano at Covent Garden.

Melanie Diener made her Bayreuth Festival debut in 1999 as Elsa in Lohengrin, a role she has also sung in Zurich, London, Vienna and Munich, and was heard at the 2002 and 2003 Salzburg Festivals as Donna Elvira under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. She achieved great success in the title roles of Fidelio in Zurich and Katya Kabanova in Berlin and Vienna, as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes at the Vienna Staatsoper and Dresden, and as Sieglinde in Dresden. She has collaborated with most of the major orchestras and conductors of our time, and her concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Britten’s War Requiem, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Strauss’s Four Last Songs, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. Future projects include the role of Ursula in Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler in Paris, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer in Lisbon, Sieglinde in Amsterdam and Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony in Turin.

This season Christianne gives an American recital tour with pianist Joseph Breinl and collaborates with pianists Imogen Cooper, Graham Johnson and Julius Drake at recitals in London, Berlin and Dortmund. Future concerts include Kindertotenlieder with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Berlioz’s Romeo et Juliette with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Her recordings include CDs of Schubert, Berg and Wolf songs with Joseph Breinl, and Mahler and Tchaikovsky songs with Julius Drake. In 2006, she recorded Frank Martin’s Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke, which won the 2008 Echo Klassik Award, and in 2010 she won the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award for her CD of Tchaikovsky Romances.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 8

CHRISTOPHER PURVES

TENOR

BARITONE

Michael König was born in Mutlangen in Germany. He was a choir boy from 1976 to 1989 and from 1992 studied voice with Rudolf Piernay in Mannheim. In 1993 he made his debut at the Ludwigsburg Palace Festival and in 1994 made his opera debut in Verdi’s I due Foscari in Ludwigshafen. Many engagements followed, among them Hans in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride at the 1999 Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Narraboth in Strauss’s Salome in Frankfurt, the title role in Eugene Onegin at the Basel Opera and Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in Frankfurt. More recent engagements have included Der Freischütz in Vienna; Jenůfa in Hamburg; Tannhäuser in Paris; Fidelio at the Frankfurt Opera; The Diary of One who Disappeared in Barcelona and Tokyo; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Fidelio in Paris; Lohengrin and Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Frankfurt Opera; Der Freischütz at the Hamburg State Opera; and Mahagonny at the opening of the Teatro Real Madrid’s 2010/11 season.

Born in Cambridge Christopher Purves was a choral scholar at King’s College Cambridge where he studied English. On leaving university he joined the highly innovative rock & roll group Harvey and the Wallbangers. Since then Christopher has worked regularly with the director Richard Jones and has enjoyed much critical acclaim for his interpretations of the title role in Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera, Tonio in I Pagliacci for English National Opera, the title role in Falstaff at the Glyndebourne Festival and Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger for WNO. Other roles have included Marco in Gianni Schicchi at Covent Garden, Balstrode in Peter Grimes for Opera North, The General in James Macmillan’s The Sacrifice for WNO, Alcina at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly for ENO. He made his Salzburg debut in Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore, and created the role of Executioner in James Macmillan’s Ines de Castro for Scottish Opera.

On the concert platform Michael König has worked with conductors such as Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Jurowski, Mikhail Jurowski, Lothar Zagrosek, Seiji Ozawa, Paolo Carignani, Gustav Kuhn and Christof Prick.

On the concert platform Christopher has sung Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Saul with De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Acis and Galatea with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh and Alexander’s Feast with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He made his debut as a recitalist at the Aldeburgh Festival and last season sang Schubert’s Schwanengesang in Leeds and Cambridge. Recordings include the title role in Le nozze di Figaro, Messiah and Maria de Rohan. Future engagements include Aci, Galatea et Polifemo with Les Arts Florissants, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the Casa da Musica in Porto, Mr Redburn in Billy Budd for Netherlands Opera, Méphistophélès in The Damnation of Faust for ENO, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress for Opéra de Lille and Balstrode in Peter Grimes for La Scala.

Clive Barda

MICHAEL KÖNIG

Among his future engagements are Fidelio in Amsterdam and Zurich; and Messiaen’s St François d’Assise and Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in Madrid. In spring 2012 he will make his debut in Zemlinsky’s Eine florentinische Tragödie in Toronto and in summer 2012 he appears for the first time at the Bayreuth Festival as Erik in a new production of The Flying Dutchman with Christian Thielemann. This will be followed by a new production of Boris Godunov in Madrid in autumn 2012 and Lohengrin in Frankfurt and Berlin in 2013.

8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 9

LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR PATRON: HRH Princess Alexandra PRESIDENT: Sir Roger Norrington ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Neville Creed

ACCOMPANIST: Iain Farrington CHAIRMAN: Mary Moore CHOIR MANAGER: Kevin Darnell

Sopranos Annette Argent, Katy Austin, Tessa Bartley, Olivia Carter, Paula Chessell, Katja Cleasby, Sally Cottam, Sheila Cox, Sarah Deane-Cutler, Sally Donegani, Alison Flood, Rachel Gibbon, Jane Hanson, Sally Harrison, Joanna Hartman, Carolyn Hayman, Elizabeth Hicks, Alexa Hills, Jessica May Hislop, Georgina Kaim, Mai Kikkawa, Jenni Kilvert, Ilona Kratochvilova, Suzannah Lipmann, Joanna Loxton, Georgie Mawby, Marj McDaid, Natalie Millett, Katie Milton, Linda Park, Beth Procopio, Isobel Pyrke, Victoria Smith, Claire Spencer, Tania Stainer, Caroline Taunt, Susie Thomas, Isobel Timms, Agnes Tisza, Jenny Torniainen, Nicola Ward, Frances Wheare

Swijghuisen Reigersberg, Harriet Shawcross, Catherine Travers, Susi Underwood, Libby Vannet, Jenny Watson

Altos Joanna Arnold, Phye Bell, Sally Brien, Noel Chow, Yvonne Cohen, Liz Cole, Janik Dale, Margaret de Valois Rowney, Margaret Driver, Moira Duckworth, Andrea Easey, Carmel Edmonds, Regina Frank, Erica Howard, Kasia Hunt, Alexis Kessler Calice, Young Kim, Andrea Lane, Mary Moore, Rachel Murray, Raluca Negruic, Elisabeth Nicol, Helene Richards, Jenny Ryall, Muriel

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. Enjoying a close relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Choir frequently joins it for concerts in the UK and abroad. Last season’s highlights included performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Seven Last Words, Honegger’s Une Cantate de Noël, Poulenc’s Stabat Mater, Janáček’s The Eternal Gospel, Myaskovsky’s Symphony No. 6 and Liszt’s A Faust Symphony. This season, the Choir has performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin, Dvořák’s Te Deum and Stabat Mater, and Fauré’s Requiem. Future engagements include Holst’s The Planets and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Recently released CDs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra include Dvořák’s Requiem conducted by Neeme Järvi, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with

Tenors David Aldred, Geir Andreassen, Chris Beynon, John Boyne, Keith Chaundy, Lorne Cuthbert, Kevin Darnell, Michael Delany, Jack Dixon, Oliver Firth, Colin Fleming, Iain Handyside, Stephen Hodges, Rob Home, Patrick Hughes, Rhydian Peters, Luke Phillips, Paul Thirer, Tony Wren Basses Ken Atkinson, Stephen Benson, Jonathon Bird, Gordon Buky-Webster, Adam Bunzl, Geoff Clare, David Clark, Phillip Dangerfield, Marcus Daniels, Ian Frost, Paul Gittens, Nigel Grieve, Christopher Harvey, Mark Hillier, Stephen Hines, David Hodgson, Martin Hudson, Steve Kirby, Robbie Li, John Luff, Anthony McDonald, Ashley Morrison, John Murton, William Parsons, Johan Pieters, David Regan, Daniel Snowman, Peter Sollich, Peter Taylor, Alex Thomas, Edwin Tomlins, James Torniainen, John Wood, Hin-Yan Wong

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Holst’s The Planets under Vladimir Jurowski. The Choir appears regularly at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and performances have included Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Rachmaninov's The Bells and the UK premières of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s A Relic of Memory and Goldie’s Sine Tempore in the Evolution! Prom. The Choir shared the stage with Daleks and other creatures at the Doctor Who Prom in 2008 and for a second time in 2010. The Choir also works with other leading orchestras, has visited many countries in Europe and travelled as far afield as Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Perth, Australia. It sings in Raymond Gubbay’s Classical Spectacular, Organ Gala and Christmas Classics concerts, and recently 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.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 10

PROGRAMME NOTES

FROM CENTRAL EUROPE Tonight’s programme consists of music by composers from different parts of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Hungarian-born György Ligeti wrote Lontano in 1967, just over a decade after his escape to the West: it is a characteristic example of his music of the period, in which drifting clouds of texture, built up through intricate canons, create a sense of distance and enchantment. Ligeti’s great Hungarian predecessor Béla Bartók composed his long-suppressed First Violin Concerto in 1907/08 for the violinist Stefi Geyer, during a passionate love affair with her: its two movements, a linked pair of slow and fast in the manner of a Hungarian rhapsody, portray different aspects of the dedicatee’s character.

György LIGETI

Gustav Mahler was born in Bohemia 150 years ago last July, and died in Vienna, the Imperial capital, a hundred years ago this May. He completed his cantata Das klagende Lied in 1880 when he was just twenty, though it already sounds astonishingly like the music of his maturity. It is based on a folk tale in which a knight kills his brother to win a queen’s hand, but a bone from the dead brother, fashioned into a flute by a roaming minstrel, sings out the truth and wrecks the wedding. Tonight’s performance not only includes the first and longest part of the work, ‘Forest Tale’, which Mahler suppressed in his lifetime, but also matches it with the original versions of the remaining two parts, starker and even more startling in their effect than Mahler’s later revised versions.

LONTANO, FOR LARGE ORCHESTRA

1923-2006 György Ligeti, who died five years ago this June, was one Donaueschingen Festival. Scored for a large orchestra of the greatest and most original composers of the later but without percussion, it stands in a direct line of descent from two of his earlier works of the 1960s, the twentieth century. A native of Transylvania, then in orchestral Atmosphères and the choral Lux aeterna (both Hungary though now part of Romania, he studied after of which were used by Stanley Kubrick for the sound the Second World War at the Budapest Academy of track of his film 2001 – A Space Odyssey). For most of its Music, where he later taught. But, finding his artistic ambitions severely restricted by the Communist régime, length, the textures of Lontano are made up of shifting, drifting clouds of sound, created by multiple statements he escaped in 1956 to western Europe. He made his of the same line at different speeds. (In his biography of home first in Cologne, where he worked alongside Ligeti, Richard Steinitz has shown that these are all Karlheinz Stockhausen at the pioneering electronic based on a single melodic line derived from Lux music studio, and later in Hamburg. His mature style aeterna.) Three passages created in this way are was formed by many influences, including his Hungarian background, his studio experience, and several different strands of contemporary and folk music; but it always The same that oft-times hath reflected his distinctive personality, at once Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam humorous and visionary.

Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Ligeti composed Lontano in 1967, in response to a commission of South West German Radio for that year’s

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LINES FROM JOHN KEATS’S ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE, CITED BY GYÖRGY LIGETI AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION WHILE HE WAS WRITING LONTANO

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 11

PROGRAMME NOTES

separated by two freer, more static and more sparsely scored interludes, the first beginning with held notes at the very top and bottom of the orchestra’s pitch range, the second with a cluster sustained by two cellos and bass clarinet; and in the closing stages of the piece the two characters are superimposed. The work’s title means ‘distant’, and is often used in orchestral scores to indicate parts played from, or sounding as if played from, offstage. Here it indicates a

Béla BARTÓK

sense of changing perspectives within the orchestra, generated by gradations of density, variations of scoring, layers of different dynamics, and the degree of dissonance in the harmonies – so that for example entries in octaves cut through the texture like shafts of light. And the overall dynamic level is low, so that the whole piece sounds as if it is coming from a distance, before disappearing at the end beyond the limits of hearing.

VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1, OP. POSTH. BARNABÁS KELEMEN violin Andante sostenuto – | Allegro giocoso

1881-1945

The first of Bartók’s two violin concertos was written between July 1907 and February 1908, but was suppressed during the composer’s lifetime. It reflects the composer’s intense but short-lived love affair with the brilliant and beautiful violinist Stefi Geyer, which took place not long before his marriage to his pupil Márta Ziegler. The first movement was designed as an intimate portrait of ‘the idealised Stefi Geyer’, while the second was a portrayal of the ‘witty and entertaining’ side of her character. Only a week after the latter was completed, Geyer ended the relationship. Bartók nevertheless sent her the manuscript of the work, and although she did not play it she kept it until her death in 1956. Meanwhile, Bartók retained a copy, but chose not to put the Concerto forward for performance. However, in 1910 he paired its first movement with a new finale on a related theme for orchestra alone, an expansion of a piano piece, and the following year he published the result as Two Portraits, entitled respectively ‘Ideal’ and ‘Grotesque’. The Concerto was not played in its original form until 1958; it was published the following year. The work, scored for relatively large forces including two harps, shows the young Bartók’s growing mastery of the orchestra. As yet, there are few signs of the researches which he had begun during the previous few years into

the folk music of rural Hungary. But the two movements, played without a break, correspond broadly to the slow and fast sections of the traditional Hungarian verbunkos, or recruiting dance, as reproduced in Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies and Bartók’s own works with the title ‘Rhapsody’. The ‘sustained’ first movement is characteristic of the later Bartók in its textures of tautly woven counterpoint. It is based on the melody with which the solo violin opens the work – starting with a series of rising thirds which Bartók told Stefi Geyer constituted her motif – together with the counter-melody added by the front desk of first violins. The orchestra unfolds a fugue on the first theme, with the soloist adding a soaring descant; there is a slightly faster orchestral interlude on the second theme; and the soloist returns for a final section based more freely on the first theme, which rises to an urgent orchestral climax but ends calmly. The ‘cheerful’ second movement is in classical sonata form, with an athletic first theme and a more relaxed second-subject group in triplet rhythms. After a predominantly playful and highly virtuosic development section, the first theme returns exuberantly on the orchestra, and the second begins more reflectively than before but reaches a passionate climax. The coda

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 12

PROGRAMME NOTES

includes a snatch of march tune on the flutes, presented in the score between quotation marks and footnoted with a place name and date, presumably as a souvenir

of something Bartók had heard with Stefi in a moment of shared happiness; and there is a last reference back to her motif before the emphatic orchestral ending.

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

Gustav MAHLER 1860-1911

DAS KLAGENDE LIED (ORIGINAL VERSION) JACOB THORN treble; MELANIE DIENER soprano; CHRISTIANNE STOTIJN mezzo soprano; MICHAEL KÖNIG tenor; CHRISTOPHER PURVES baritone; LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR Waldmärchen (Forest Legend) | Der Spielmann (The Minstrel) | Hochzeitsstück (Wedding Piece)

Other solo parts sung from the Choir will be taken by members of the Glyndebourne Chorus: Pamela Wilcock, Maria Kozlova sopranos, Charlotte Stephenson, Natalia Brzezinska mezzo sopranos, Giuseppe De’Ligia, David Butt Philip tenors/baritones, Callum Thorpe, Cirprian Droma basses ‘The first work in which I really came into my own as “Mahler” was a fairy-tale for choir, soloists and orchestra: Das klagende Lied. I number that work Opus 1.’ So Mahler wrote to a music critic in 1896, as part of a potted history of his career; and though he never in fact used opus numbers, the cantata is indeed his first significant composition. He compiled the verse text himself in the spring of 1878, while he was in his last year at the Vienna Conservatoire. It is based on a folk tale, as re-told by Ludwig Bechstein (and, in some details, by the Grimm Brothers). In ballad fashion, without individual voices representing particular characters, it tells the story of two brothers, brown and blond knights, who search in the forest for a rare flower which will win the hand of a queen. The blond younger knight finds it, but he is murdered in his sleep by his brother, and buried beneath a willow tree. A minstrel comes along, picks up a bone from the body, and carves it into a flute; but when he plays it, it tells the blond knight’s story of how he was killed. The minstrel’s travels take him to the castle where the queen is about

12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

to marry the brown knight. On seeing the bone flute, the brown knight seizes it and begins to play, only for his brother to accuse him directly. The queen sinks to the floor as the castle collapses. The composition of the cantata occupied Mahler until the autumn of 1880, by which time he was just beginning, at the age of 20, to get work as an opera conductor. The score failed to win the 1881 Beethoven Prize of the Viennese Society of Friends of Music, a decision which Mahler later complained had condemned him to continue ‘my whole cursed operatic career’. But he went on trying to obtain performances of the work, revising it twice during the 1890s – and in the process removing the first and longest of the three parts, ‘Waldmärchen’. The shortened work was published in 1898, and first performed under the composer in Vienna in 1901. Subsequently the score of the original version was passed down within Mahler’s family, and formed the basis for performances of ‘Waldmärchen’ in Brno in 1934. Later it was sold to an

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 13

PROGRAMME NOTES

American collector, who donated it to Yale University in 1969. Publication of ‘Waldmärchen’ followed, giving rise to a number of performances and recordings of a hybrid version in which the rediscovered Part I was followed by the revised Parts II and III. It was not until the late 1990s that the original versions of Parts II and III were made public, as part of a complete performance and recording by Hallé forces under Kent Nagano, and in a supplementary volume of the complete Mahler edition. Tonight’s performance is of the complete original version, not only restoring ‘Waldmärchen’ but also reverting to Mahler’s unrevised full score of Parts II and III. This version has the obvious merits of telling the story complete, rather than in truncated form, and of consistency. It foregoes the detailed changes which Mahler made to the orchestration and tempo markings in his revisions of Parts II and III, no doubt on the basis of his practical conducting experience in the meantime. But this is not an unequivocal loss, as Mahler’s original orchestral sound is generally leaner and sharper. It is also more distinctive in other ways, for example in its request for six harps if possible to share the two harp parts. The offstage band which represents the wedding feast, asked to play very loudly in the far distance, is also treated differently in the first version: it includes shrill E flat clarinets, and military flugelhorns and cornets rather than the orchestral brass of the final version; it appears briefly at the end of Part II as well as in Part III; and its music in places clashes violently with that of the main orchestra. Listeners who know the revised version well will also recognise some differences in the text (Mahler’s revision having had to take the absence of Part I into account) and some short passages which he rewrote completely. And not the least important changes were in the allocation of the solo parts: the original version has four principal soloists rather than

the three of the revision (from which Mahler eliminated the baritone), and it also includes two boy soloists, alto and treble, who take turns in the crucial pronouncements of the singing bone. (Tonight the boy alto part will be sung by the solo soprano.) One incidental benefit of the original version is that it confirms beyond doubt how much Mahler anticipated the language of his mature music at the age of 19 and 20. That language has its roots in German Romantic opera, from Weber to early Wagner, with an admixture of the tradition of folk-like song from Schubert onwards, and of bird-calls, popular dances, songs, marches, fanfares, Lutheran chorales, and even the plainchant ‘Dies irae’ – all treated with bold individuality in clear, open textures. There are pre-echoes of the First Symphony in particular: the start of the prelude to ‘Waldmärchen’ resembles the opening of the Symphony in its evocation of the mysterious primeval forest; the Minstrel’s song is close to the ‘Song of the Wayfaring Lad’ paraphrased in the main section of the Symphony’s first movement; and a despairing moment in Part III reappears exactly at the climax of the Symphony’s finale. The musical treatment is obviously dictated by the text rather than by abstract symphonic form, so themes tend to alternate in verse-and-refrain patterns rather than being subjected to development. But there are significant ideas which recur within and between the three parts: groups of motifs associated with the knights, the murder, the minstrel, the singing bone and the wedding feast, a lament to the words ‘O Leide’, and a simple descending scale (in ‘piano practice’ rhythm) which runs through all three parts of the cantata and right to its dramatic end. Programme notes by Anthony Burton © 2011

DAS KLAGENDE LIED

THE PLAINTIVE SONG

1. Waldmärchen

1. Forest Legend

Es war eine stolze Königin, gar lieblich ohne Maßen, kein Ritter stand nach ihrem Sinn, sie wollt' sie alle hassen. O weh! Du wonnigliches Weib! Wem blühet wohl dein süßer Leib?

There was a proud queen, Lovely beyond measure; No knight was suitable in her mind, She hated all of them. O woe, you fair woman! For whom will your sweet body bloom?

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 14

PROGRAMME NOTES

Im Wald eine rote Blume stand, ach so schön wie die Königinne, welch’ Rittersmann die Blume fand, der konnt' die Frau gewinnen. O weh! Du stolze Königin! Wann bricht er wohl, dein stolzer Sinn?

In the forest there grew a red flower As beautiful as the queen; The knight who found the flower Could win her for his wife. O woe, you proud queen! When will your proud spirit break?

Zwei Brüder zogen zum Walde hin, die wollten die Blume suchen, der Eine hold und von mildem Sinn, der And’re konnte nur fluchen. O Ritter, schlimmer Ritter mein! O ließest du das Fluchen sein!

Two brothers entered the forest To search for the flower, The one fair and of gentle spirit, The other could but curse. O knight, my wicked knight, Forsake your cursing!

Als sie so zogen eine Weil', da kamen sie zum Scheiden. Das war ein Suchen nun in Eil' im Wald und auf der Heide! Ihr Brüder mein, im schnellen Lauf, wer findet wohl die Blume?

When they had travelled for a while, It happened that they parted; The search was now conducted in haste In the forest and on the heath. My brothers in a hurry, Who will discover the flower?

Der Junge zieht durch Wald und Heid', er braucht nicht lang zu gehen, bald sieht er von ferne bei der Weid' die rote Blume steh’n. Die hat er auf den Hut gesteckt, und dann zur Ruhe sich hingestreckt.

The younger travelled through wood and heath, He had not far to go, Soon from the distance by a willow he saw The red flower growing. He stuck it in his hat And then lay down to rest.

Den And’re zieht im wilden Hang, umsonst durchzieht er die Heide, und als der Abend herniedersank, da kommt er zur grünen Weide! O weh, wen er dort schlafend fand, die Blume am Hut am grünen Band!

The other combed the wild hillside, In vain searched through the heather, And when the evening descended, He came to the green willow. O woe, whom he found sleeping there, The flower in his hat, in the green ribbon!

Du wonnigliche Nachtigall und Rotkehlchen hinter der Hecken, wollt ihr mit eurem süßen Schall den armen Ritter erwecken! Du rote Blume hinter’m Hut, du blinkst und glänzest ja wie Blut!

You fair nightingale And robin in the hedge, You want with your sweet sound To awaken the poor knight. You red flower in the hat, You gleam indeed like blood!

Ein Auge blickt in wilder Freud', dess’ Schein hat nicht gelogen, ein Schwert von Stahl glänzt ihm zur Seit', das hat er nun gezogen! Der Alte lacht unter’m Weidenbaum! Der Junge lächelt wie im Traum.

His eye stares with savage joy, Its look has told no lie; A sword of steel gleams at his side, Now he has drawn it! The elder laughs ’neath the willow tree, The younger smiles as in a dream.

Ihr Blumen, was seid ihr vom Tau so schwer? Mir scheint, das sind gar Tränen! Ihr Winde, was weht ihr so traurig daher,

You flowers, what makes you so heavy with dew? Methinks indeed you are weeping! You winds, why waft so sadly,

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 15

PROGRAMME NOTES

was will euer Raunen und Wähnen? ‘Im Wald, auf der grünen Heide, da steht eine alte Weide.’

What does your whispering mean? ‘In the forest on the greensward, There grows an old willow.’

2. Der Spielmann

The Minstrel

Beim Weidenbaum im kühlen Tann, da flattern die Eulen und Raben, da liegt ein blonder Rittersmann unter Blättern und Blüten vergraben. Dort ist's so lind und voll von Duft, als ging ein Weinen durch die Luft. O Leide, weh o Leide!

By the willow tree, in the cool fir wood, Where the owls and ravens flutter, There lies a fair-haired knight Under leaves and blossoms buried. It is so mild and fragrant there, As though weeping filled the air. O sorrow, sorrow!

Ein Spielmann zog einst des Weges vorbei, da sah er ein Knöchlein blitzen. Er hob es auf, es war nicht schwer, wollt' sich eine Flöte d’raus schnitzen! O Spielmann, lieber Spielmann mein! O ließest du das Flöten sein. O Leide, weh o Leide!

A minstrel wandered once that way, He saw a small bone gleaming there; He picked it up, it was not heavy, He meant to carve a flute from it. O minstrel, dear minstrel, O let the flute be. O sorrow, woe! O sorrow!

Der Spielmann setzt die Flöte an und läßt sie laut erklingen. O Wunder, was nun da begann! Welch seltsam traurig Singen! Es klingt so traurig und doch so schön, wer's hört, der möchte weinen geh’n. O Leide, Leide, weh!

The minstrel set the flute to his lips, And loudly made it sound. O wonder, what there now began, What strange and doleful singing! It sounded so sad and yet so beautiful, Who heard it might fall to weeping! O sorrow, sorrow, woe!

‘Ach, Spielmann, lieber Spielmann mein, das muß ich dir denn klagen. Um ein schönfarbig Blümelein hat mich mein Bruder erschlagen. Im Walde bleichet mein junger Leib, mein Bruder freit ein wonnig Weib!’

‘Ah minstrel, dear minstrel, I must lament to you: For a beautiful flower My brother struck me dead. In the forest my young body bleaches, My brother woos a fair woman!’

Der Spielmann ziehet in die Weite, läßt's überall erklingen. Ach weh, ach weh, ihr lieben Leut', was soll denn euch mein Singen? Weh! Weh! Weh! Weh! Hinauf muß ich zu des Königs Saal, hinauf zu des Königs holdem Gemahl. O Leide, weh o Leide!

The minstrel wandered far and wide, Letting it everywhere sound. Ah woe, ah woe, dear people! What do you think of my singing? Woe! Woe! Woe! Woe! I must up to the king’s hall, Up to the king’s gracious bride! O sorrow, woe! O sorrow!

3. Hochzeitsstück

3. Wedding Piece

Vom hohen Felsen erglänzt das Schloß, die Pauken erschallen und Zinken erschall’n. Dort sitzt der mutigen Ritter Troß,

From the high rock the castle gleams, The drums and trumpets resound; There sits the brave band of knights,

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 16

PROGRAMME NOTES

die Frau’n mit goldenen Ketten. Was will wohl der jubelnde, fröhliche Schall, was leuchtet und glänzet im Königssaal?! O Freude, heia, Freude!

The ladies with golden necklaces. What means the rejoicing, joyful sound? What shines and glitters in the king’s hall? O joy, hey-ho! Joy!

Und weißt du's nicht, warum die Freud'? Hei, daß ich dir's sagen kann! Die Königin hält Hochzeit heut' mit dem braunen Rittersmann! Seht hin, die stolze Königin! Heut bricht er doch, ihr stolzer Sinn! O Freude, heia, Freude!

And know you not wherefore the joy? Hey, that I can tell you; The queen is to be married today To the brown knight. See over there, the proud queen! But today her proud spirit will be broken! O joy, hey-ho! Joy!

Was ist der König so bleich und stumm! Was geht ihm wohl im Kopfe herum? Ein Spielmann tritt zur Türe herein! Was mag's wohl mit dem Spielmann sein? O Leide, Leide, weh!

Why is the king so pale and silent? What goes on in his mind? A minstrel enters at the door! What can the minstrel’s purpose be? O sorrow, sorrow, woe!

‘Ach Spielmann, lieber Spielmann mein, dass muß ich dir nun klagen! Um ein schönfarbig Blümelein hat mich mein Bruder erschlagen. Im Walde bleicht mein junger Leib! Mein Bruder freit ein wonnig Weib!’ O Leide, weh, o Leide!

‘Ah minstrel, dear minstrel, Now I must lament to you: For a beautiful flower My brother struck me dead. In the forest my young body bleaches, My brother woos a fair woman!’ O sorrow! Woe, o sorrow!

Auf springt der König auf seinem Thron und blickt auf die Hochzeitsrund', und nimmt die Flöte in frevelndem Hohn und setzt sie selbst an den Mund. O Schrecken! Was nun da erklang! Hört ihr die Märe wüst und bang!?

The king upon his throne leaps up And looks at the wedding party; And takes the flute in outraged scorn And puts it to his own mouth. O horror, what now there sounds! Do you hear the story, confused and afraid?

‘Ach Bruder, lieber Bruder mein, Das muß ich dir nun klagen Nun bläst du auf meinem Totenbein! Dess’ muß ich ewig klagen! Was hast du mein junges Leben dem Tode schon gegeben?’ O Leide, weh, o Leide!

‘Ah brother, dear brother, Now I must lament to you! Now you play on my dead bone, Wherefore I must for ever complain. Why have you given My young life to death?’ O sorrow, woe, o sorrow!

Am Boden liegt des Königs Gemahl. Die Pauken verstummen und Zinken, mit Schrecken die Ritter und Frauen flieh’n, die alten Mauern sinken. Die Lichter verlöschen im Königssaal. Was ist es wohl mit dem Hochzeitsmahl? Ach Leide!

The king’s bride lies upon the floor, The drums and trumpets fall silent; With terror the knights and ladies flee, The ancient walls fall down. The lights go out in the king’s hall. What is there now of the wedding feast? Ah sorrow! English translation © Eric Mason, 1983 & 2007

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 17

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors: Thomas Beecham Group Mr & Mrs Richard & Victoria Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds The Tsukanov Family Simon Yates & Kevin Roon

Guy & Utti Whittaker

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

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

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

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

Mr Richard Fernyhough Ken Follett Michael & Christine Henry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr R K Jeha Mr & Mrs Maurice Lambert Mr Gerald Levin Sheila Ashley Lewis Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Mr Frank Lim Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Brian Marsh John Montgomery Edmund Pirouet Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Lady Marina Vaizey Mr D Whitelock Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Kenneth Goode Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged. Corporate Members Appleyard & Trew llp AREVA UK British American Business Brown Brothers Harriman Charles Russell Destination Québec – UK Diagonal Consulting Lazard Leventis Overseas Man Group plc Québec Government Office in London Corporate Donor Lombard Street Research In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Heineken The Langham London Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sela / Tilley’s Sweets Villa Maria

Trusts and Foundations Allianz Cultural Foundation The Andor Charitable Trust Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Boltini Trust Borletti-Buitoni Trust Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Charitable Trust The John S Cohen Foundation The Coutts Charitable Trust The Dorset Foundation The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust The Eranda Foundation The Ernest Cook Trust The Fenton Arts Trust The Foyle Foundation The Jonathan & Jeniffer Harris Trust Capital Radio’s Help a London Child The Idlewild Trust The Emmanuel Kaye Foundation The Leverhulme Trust Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Maurice Marks Charitable Trust The Michael Marks Charitable Trust Marsh Christian Trust

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

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 17

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 18

MAHLER RECORDINGS ON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL LPO-0012 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 and Songs of a Wayfarer with Thomas Hampson ‘... a stirring account, with his tight control causing Mahler’s climactic outbursts – both joyous and nostalgic – to hit home potently ... The LPO’s lead bassist tackling Mahler’s minor-key overhaul of ‘Frère Jacques’ is fittingly melancholic, while the finale is packed with energy and bracing inevitability.’ CLASSIC FM

LPO-0044 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 ‘This live version of the Resurrection is frequently startling – extremely expansive but exciting, dramatic and highly charismatic …The playing and singing are excellent, and the recording, made by the Music Performance Research Centre, is near-faultless.’ GRAHAM RICKSON, THE ARTS DESK, 22 MARCH 2010 VOTED ONE OF THE TEN BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC CDS OF 2010 BY THE WASHINGTON POST

LPO-0033 Jaap van Zweden conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 ‘He unfolds the drama of the first movement with a sure grasp of the need for subtle variations of tempo … the finale is a joyous, life-affirming rondo that lifts the spirits.’ MICHAEL KENNEDY, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, 10 AUGUST 2008

LPO-0038 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 ‘This live recording of a 1983 performance of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony might not be at the cutting edge of modern digital technology, but musically it sweeps away everything before it.’ CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. CDs may also be purchased from all good retail outlets or through the London Philharmonic Orchestra: telephone 020 7840 4242 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) or visit the website www.lpo.org.uk

18 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 19

ADMINISTRATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL