LPO Programme notes 30 Nov 11

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

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Wednesday 30 November 2011 | 7.30pm

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor LARS VOGT piano

MATTHIAS PINTSCHER towards Osiris (7’) beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major (Emperor) (38’)

PROGRAMME £3 CONTENTS 2 Southbank Centre / Leader 3 List of players 4 About the Orchestra 5 Vladimir Jurowski 6 Lars Vogt 7 Programme notes 11 2011/12 Annual Appeal 12 LPO Christmas gifts 13 Supporters 14 Recordings 15 Future concerts 16 LPO administration The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

Interval bruckner Symphony No. 1 in C minor (Linz version, 1865/66) (48’)

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

This concert is being broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 in Radio 3 Live In Concert.

Welcome

pieter schoeman Leader

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

WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

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A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment: PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium.

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MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins.

© Patrick Harrison

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

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

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

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

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

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

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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

Radu Bitica Helena Smart Katalin Varnagy Catherine Craig Tina Gruenberg Martin Höhmann Chair supported by Richard Karl Goeltz

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

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

Fiona Higham Ashley Stevens Marie-Anne Mairesse Dean Williamson Sioni Williams Heather Badke Peter Graham Stephen Stewart Mila Mustakova Sheila Law

Violas Tom Dunn Guest Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Katharine Leek Benedetto Pollani Susanne Martens Emmanuella ReiterBootiman Martina Forni Michelle Bruil Daniel Cornford Isabel Pereira Alistair Scahill

Piccolos Stewart McIlwham* Principal Susan Thomas

Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal David Whitehouse Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal

Oboes Ian Hardwick Principal Angela Tennick

Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Cor Anglais Sue Bohling Principal

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Chair supported by Julian and Gill Simmonds

Clarinets Cellos Robert Hill* Principal Kristina Blaumane Principal Nicholas Carpenter* Susanne Beer Co-Principal Francis Bucknall Bass Clarinet Laura Donoghue Paul Richards Principal Jonathan Ayling Contra-bass Clarinet Chair supported by Caroline, Steve Morris Jamie and Zander Sharp Gregory Walmsley Bassoons Santiago Carvalho† Gareth Newman* Principal Susanna Riddell Laurence O’Donnell Tom Roff Helen Rathbone Contra-bassoon Simon Estell Principal Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Horns Tim Gibbs Co-Principal John Ryan Principal Laurence Lovelle Alec Frank-Gemmill George Peniston Guest Principal Richard Lewis Martin Hobbs Tom Walley Mark Vines Co-Principal Joe Melvin Gareth Mollison Helen Rowlands Flutes Jaime Martín* Principal Susan Thomas Stewart McIlwham*

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Olly Yates Ignacio Molins Harps Rachel Masters* Principal Helen Sharp Piano and Celeste Catherine Edwards

Assistant Conductor Nicholas Collon Chair supported by an anonymous donor

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

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

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal Joe Sharp

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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

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

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

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

The London Philharmonic Orchestra tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first-ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring remains a big part of the Orchestra’s life: tours in the 2011/12 season include visits to Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the US, Spain, China, Russia, Oman, Brazil and France.

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

You may well have heard the London Philharmonic Orchestra on film soundtrack recordings: it has recorded many blockbuster scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, Philadelphia and East is East. The Orchestra also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 50 releases on the label, which are available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Dvořák’s Symphonic Variations and Symphony No. 8 conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras; Holst’s The Planets conducted by Vladimir Jurowski; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under Klaus Tennstedt; Shostakovich Piano Concertos with Martin Helmchen under Vladimir Jurowski; and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5, Pohjola’s Daughter and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The Orchestra was also recently honoured with the commission to record all 205 of the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics Team Welcome Ceremonies and Medal Ceremonies.

To help maintain its high standards and diverse workload, the Orchestra is committed to the welfare of its musicians and in December 2007 received the Association of British Orchestras/Musicians Benevolent Fund Healthy Orchestra Bronze Charter Mark.

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

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

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI

© Chris Christodoulou

CONDUCTOR

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

In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany where he continued his studies in Dresden and Berlin, studying conducting with Rolf Reuter and vocal coaching with Semion Skigin. In 1995 he made his international début at the Wexford Festival, where he conducted RimskyKorsakov’s May Night. The same year saw his brilliant début at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Nabucco. In 1996 he joined the ensemble of Komische Oper Berlin, becoming First Kapellmeister in 1997 and continuing to work at the Komische Oper on a permanent basis until 2001.

Since 1997 Vladimir Jurowski has been a guest at some of the world’s leading musical institutions including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Opéra Bastille de Paris, Théâtre de la Monnaie Bruxelles, Maggio Musicale Festival Florence, Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro, Edinburgh International Festival, Dresden Semperoper and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (where he served as Principal Guest Conductor between 2000 and 2003). In 1999 he made his début 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 titles of Principal Artist with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra. From 2005 to 2009 he served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra, with whom he will continue to work in the years ahead.

Vladimir Jurowski is a regular guest with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic

and Philadelphia orchestras, as well as the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

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

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

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

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

LARS VOGT piano

© Felix Broede

Lars Vogt has rapidly established himself as one of the leading pianists of his generation. Born in Düren, Germany, in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition. He has since gone on to give major concerto and recital performances throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America.

An EMI recording artist, Lars Vogt has made 15 discs for the label, including the Hindemith Kammermusik No. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado; and the Schumann, Grieg and first two Beethoven concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, who has described him as ‘one of the most extraordinary musicians of any age group that I have had the fortune to be associated with’.

Recent recordings include solo Schubert for CAvi-music and Mozart concertos with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra for Oehms Classics. In September 2010 he released a solo Liszt and Schumann disc on the Berlin Classics label.

During the 2011/12 season Lars Vogt will make several appearances in North America, performing with orchestras in Toronto, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Seattle and undertaking an extensive tour with violinist Christian Tetzlaff to New York, Philadelphia and other major cities. Concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra feature prominently: as well as tonight’s appearance with Vladimir Jurowski, he will also tour in the UK and Germany with Yannick NézetSéguin. Other concerto engagements include the New Japan Philharmonic and Daniel Harding; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Myung-Whun Chung; Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Rotterdam Philharmonic; National Orchestra of Spain; and orchestras in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Milan, Florence and Copenhagen. His recital appearances include the Vienna Konzerthaus and the International Piano Series at London’s Southbank Centre.

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Lars Vogt began the 2010/11 season with two appearances at the BBC Proms; a solo recital and the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Other orchestral appearances included the London Philharmonic Orchestra; Orchestre de Paris; and the BBC, Boston, Frankfurt Radio, Bavarian Radio, Swedish Radio and Finnish Radio symphony orchestras. Last summer he returned to the BBC Proms in duo with Christian Tetzlaff; toured with the Deutsches SymphonieOrchester Berlin; and performed at the Salzburg, Verbier, Schwarzenberg and Montreux Festivals.

His special relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic has continued following his appointment as its first ever Pianist in Residence in 2003/04. Other highlights of recent seasons have included residencies at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg with both the Vienna Philharmonic under Christoph Eschenbach and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Harding; and appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, NHK Symphony (Tokyo), London Symphony, and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras; the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Bayerische Staatsorchester, Dresden Staatskapelle and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

Lars Vogt enjoys a high profile as a recitalist and chamber musician, and recent appearances include London, Paris, Munich, Madrid, Rome and New York.

In June 1998 he founded his own festival in Heimbach, Germany. Known as ‘Spannungen’, its huge success has been marked by the release of ten live recordings on EMI. He enjoys regular partnerships with violinist Christian Tetzlaff and bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff and collaborates occasionally with actor Klaus Maria Brandauer and comedian Konrad Beikircher.

PROGRAMME NOTES

Collectors’ items?

You may have towards Osiris by the up-andcoming German composer Matthias Pintscher on your CD shelves (or your storage device of choice) without realising it, as it was one of four ‘asteroids’ commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic to complement Holst’s The Planets. It’s a short study for large orchestra, featuring a free-wheeling virtuoso trumpet solo before its textures fragment and eventually disappear into mid-air, or perhaps into outer space.

You may well have Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto in your collection too. It’s the last of his five classic concertos for his own instrument, a famous challenge to a soloist’s virtuosity. It’s also one of Beethoven’s major statements in his ‘heroic’ key of E-flat major – defined by the three big chords that

Matthias PINTSCHER

form the pillars of the piano cadenza at the start of the powerful first movement. The slow movement is a calm interlude in the remote key of B major, from which a neat harmonic sidestep leads into the exuberant final Rondo.

You might have to be a bit of a specialist in the composer or an avid accumulator of box sets to own a recording of Bruckner’s First Symphony. It’s an early work, written before Bruckner left provincial Linz for the bright lights of Vienna; and, rather than looking ahead to the grand plans and lofty heights of his later symphonies, it’s a compact, tightly integrated piece. But there are plenty of anticipations of the mature Bruckner’s blazing passages for full orchestra, intricate contrapuntal textures, wide-arching melodies and rhythmic drive.

towards osiris

Born 1971

Matthias Pintscher, a native of the German province of North Rhine-Westphalia, is one of the leading European composers of his generation, and also greatly in demand as a conductor. He has held residencies with The Cleveland Orchestra in the USA and with orchestras, concert halls and festivals in Europe and Australia; he is now based in New York. His most recent major work is a violin concerto, Mar’eh, a joint commission by the Lucerne Festival, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which was premièred

by Julia Fischer with the Orchestra in Lucerne, London and Frankfurt in September 2011. He currently has works in progress for the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Pintscher’s towards Osiris was composed in 2005.

It was one of four short orchestral works commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic as ‘asteroids’ to partner Holst’s suite The Planets. (The others were by Kaija Saariaho, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Brett Dean.)

The specific reference in the title is presumably to the main-belt asteroid 1923 Osiris. But Pintscher had also encountered an art-work by Joseph Beuys called Osiris, consisting of pasteboard objects mounted apparently at random on a blank canvas; and he had been led by this to explore the ancient Egyptian myth of the god Osiris, murdered and dismembered, but lovingly reassembled by his sister and wife Isis. The result was a major orchestral work, also called Osiris, which was first performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

PROGRAMME NOTES

and Pierre Boulez in February 2008. Pintscher describes towards Osiris as ‘an independent orchestral study’ for this larger work.

The piece lasts about seven minutes, and is scored in meticulous detail for a large orchestra, including a substantial percussion section. At the start, in a landscape (or spacescape) of slides, trills and shortlived eruptions from different parts of the orchestra, a single trumpet emerges as a virtuoso soloist. When it relinquishes the foreground, nothing else takes its place:

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN 1770–1827

Beethoven wrote his last piano concerto in early 1809, though it was not performed for more than two years after that – and then without the composer as soloist, since he had been forced from the concert platform by his deafness. One reason for the delay was that, shortly after the completion of the work, Vienna had been occupied by the French army. The fact that the invading French forces were led by Beethoven’s former idol Napoleon gives a certain irony to the title of ‘Emperor’ that the Concerto has somehow acquired in Englishspeaking countries. But the nickname does at least suggest that this is a work on Beethoven’s grandest scale, including some of his most powerful piano writing – though accompanied by an orchestra still only larger by one flute than that of the much more intimate Fourth Concerto – and in his ‘heroic’ key of E-flat major.

The first Allegro begins, in fact, with a massive assertion of this key: its three primary chords, E-flat, A-flat and B-flat, played by the orchestra, form the giant pillars of a cadenza-like piano solo. This opening with the soloist is an extrovert parallel to the introverted opening of the Piano Concerto No. 4. As in No. 4, it proves to be an introduction, not replacing but leading into a

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a texture of drifting fragments is punctuated by sharp off-beat attacks. A brass crescendo on a single note launches a meteor shower on percussion; woodwind reiterate an insistent signal; the strings coalesce in high, translucent clouds. The brass combine in another crescendo, more sustained and more menacing – perhaps a distant echo of The Planets? A passage of furious orchestral activity is finally dispersed when the violins join forces in a melody that arches upwards, to disappear in the ether.

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 5 IN E-FLAT MAJOR (EMPEROR) LARS VOGT piano Allegro Adagio un poco mosso – Rondo: Allegro

full-scale double exposition of the material of the movement, first orchestral and then with the soloist, in the Classical tradition. At the same time, it is not simply an introduction: it contains ideas that are later incorporated into the closely knit argument of the movement; and after the development section it returns, in a varied form but with the same three chords as a basis, to launch the recapitulation. A further formal innovation of this movement is that Beethoven denies the soloist his usual opportunity for a cadenza; or rather at the appropriate moment he supplies one that merges into a coda with orchestra, a summing-up on a grand scale commensurate with the mighty span of the whole movement.

The first movement ends on a chord of E-flat major with an E-flat at the top; the first chord of the slow movement has the same note at the top, but as a D-sharp in the key of B major. The new key strikes the ear as unutterably remote. This sets the tone for the serene other-worldliness of the whole movement, with muted strings, wind used sparingly (no trumpets and drums), and the piano mostly given floating melodic lines in its upper register.

The end of this idyll is as striking as its beginning: the bass drops a semitone from B to a sustained B-flat, over which the piano muses on an arpeggio of E-flat major, in what turns out to be an anticipation of the springing principal theme of the final Rondo. Later, the same semitone drop from B (or C-flat) to B-flat, now more concealed in the soloist’s figuration, precedes the first two returns of the main rondo theme; and it is also a significant interval in the second theme which appears in the first and last of the three subsidiary episodes.

The central episode is more of a development section, and the process of development is resumed in the coda. Again, there is no opportunity here for a full-scale cadenza; but there is a passage in which the piano is accompanied only by the timpani, with a repeated rhythmic figure on a low B-flat lulling the music to a temporary halt before a final burst of orchestral energy.

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

Anton BRUCKNER

Symphony No. 1 in c minor (Linz version, 1865/66) Allegro Adagio – Andante – Adagio Scherzo: Schnell and Trio: Langsamer Finale: Bewegt, feurig

1824–96

Bruckner put himself through a severe apprenticeship as a symphonist, writing a so-called ‘Study Symphony’ in F minor and beginning another one in D minor, later dubbed ‘Die Nullte’ or ‘No. 0’, before embarking on a work he was prepared to number as his First. He wrote it in 1865–66 in Linz, where he was organist of the cathedral, and conducted the first performance there in May 1868, shortly before leaving to take up a teaching post in Vienna. Two and a half decades later, in 1890/91, when the Viennese court conductor Hans Richter expressed an interest in performing it, Bruckner made a completely revised version, which was published in 1893. This revision has been much regretted by Bruckner’s admirers, who point out that it treats an early work from the inappropriate perspective of his later style, and who resent the time spent on it that could have been devoted to the Ninth Symphony, which remained unfinished at the composer’s death. In any case, tonight’s performance is of what the composer and

Bruckner expert Robert Simpson called ‘the bold, clean Linz version’, in an edition by Leopold Nowak published in 1955.

In later life, Bruckner referred to the First Symphony as ‘das Beserl’, which like its English equivalent ‘the besom’ can indicate either a fierce female battleaxe or a new broom that sweeps clean. The Symphony is on a relatively compact scale compared to the composer’s later masterpieces, and full of Beethovenlike passages in which a small motif is repeated and developed, generating great rhythmic energy; and its outer movements are studded with strikingly vehement passages for the full orchestra, with different rhythmic layers in counterpoint as if improvised by Bruckner at the organ on two manuals and pedals.

The first movement begins, in a manner untypical of the mature Bruckner, in urgent march time with a melody in

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

PROGRAMME NOTES

crisp dotted (long–short) rhythms. The main contrasting ideas are a singing second theme in contrapuntal textures, and a plunging trombone figure accompanied by upper string figuration recalling Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture. The closing themes of the opening exposition section, a wide-arching woodwind melody answered by strings, provide (as often in Bruckner) the starting-point for the ensuing development section. The trombone melody reappears in a new version, with its Wagnerian descant, as the centrepiece of the development; but it is omitted from the recapitulation, which instead turns towards the initial march rhythms for the C minor coda.

The A-flat major slow movement (the last of the four to be written) begins restlessly with a series of fragmentary ideas, before easing into more melodic writing with a chorale for the strings answered by three flutes, and a long, winding theme for the violins over undulating violas. The tempo then changes from Adagio (‘broad’) to Andante (‘walking pace’), and the metre from 4/4 to 3/4, for a middle section in which a long, ornate melodic line starts out in the first violins, is taken up at different times by the oboes, flute and bassoons, and returns to the violins again. The violin line overlaps into the unsettled beginning of the reprise of the Adagio; the chorale returns on horns and woodwind, and the winding melody begins on clarinets

and bassoons, before the strings work it up to the movement’s shining climax.

The third movement is a rhythmically insistent Scherzo in G minor, with a slower and more relaxed Trio section in G major, and an exact reprise of the scherzo, which spills over into a coda.

The Finale (marked ‘with movement, solemn’) is dominated by passages of fierce full-orchestra counterpoint, including the opening theme. The contrasting second subject is an airy string melody including an elegant trill and turn, accompanied by violas off the beat. The closing statement is allocated, as in the first movement, to woodwind (and horns) answered by strings. The development section falls into three phases: the first building up from the closing theme, by way of chorale prelude textures over tramping quavers in the bass, to a fierce fortissimo; the second growing out of the second subject and ending in a thicket of trills; the third a strenuous contrapuntal discussion of a handful of motifs, leading to a transition joined by a timpani roll on a low G. The first two themes return in short order, the second of them in C major – which opens the way to a ringing C major coda.

Programme notes © Anthony Burton

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Annual Appeal 2011/12 in aid of the Community Programme Despite living close to Royal Festival Hall, many people in South London have never visited the venue or heard an orchestra perform. We are committed to our work in the community to ensure that as many people as possible can access and enjoy music of the highest quality. There are three dynamic projects within the Community Programme, providing inspirational musical opportunities for children and their families.

Animate Orchestra is a young person’s ‘orchestra for the 21st century’, offering young people in Lewisham and Greenwich a creative pathway for them to continue their playing as they make the transition from primary to secondary education – a time when many young musicians give up. Young people make music side by side with London Philharmonic Orchestra musicians.

The Band is the Orchestra’s fusion ensemble for young people in South London, at which they improvise, create, and rehearse their own music – from classical to jazz, hip hop, rock, and more. Members have inspirational contact with London Philharmonic Orchestra players, in sessions led by some of the UK’s leading tutors.

‘When I first came to The Band I was amazed how everyone worked so well with each other … and I thought this is a place where I can really fit in, make music and share ideas.’ Member of The Band FUNharmonics are our Family Concerts – an interactive introduction for all the family to music and the orchestra, presented by Chris Jarvis of CBeebies. Free foyer activities before and after the concert include Have-a-Go sessions where children can try out a range of orchestral instruments with our musicians; and the Human Orchestra – fun rhythmic sessions where music is performed using body percussion, singing, drumming, and clapping.

Your Support In order to undertake this essential work we depend entirely on donations from charitable sources each year, and we are asking you to help us to support this work in the communities surrounding the South Bank. If you do feel able to contribute to this year’s Appeal we would be extremely grateful. Gifts of any size make a real difference; to donate please contact Elisenda Ayats on 020 7840 4225 or elisenda.ayats@lpo.org.uk.

For more information, and to donate online, please visit lpo.org.uk/support_us/appeal And now, for the first time, you can also donate up to £10 to the Orchestra via text message – see the page opposite for more details.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Virtual Christmas gifts from the London Philharmonic Orchestra Virtual gifts are a lighthearted way to share the power and beauty of music this Christmas whilst supporting the charitable objectives of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Whether you are helping us to produce worldclass concerts or providing an inner London child with a first experience of live music, your gift will have an impact long after the tinsel has come down.

Gifts of just £15 can support one of the iconic solo moments of the Orchestra’s 2012 season. Alternatively you can help the Orchestra to make a difference by taking music into schools throughout South London.

For full details on how to give the gift of music this Christmas visit lpo.org.uk/virtualgifts or call Elisenda Ayats on 020 7840 4225.

We will send a card direct to the recipient, or to you if you prefer, to let them know what their gift is supporting.

1. Take a Bow £15 Your opportunity to support a sensational solo from a London Philharmonic Orchestra musician during one of next Spring’s concerts. Each gift includes a card and a 10% discount voucher for a Spring 2012 London Philharmonic Orchestra concert of the recipient’s choice.

• • • • • • • •

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

2. Adopt A Class £30 Your gift will pay for an LPO player to spend an hour with disabled children in a London school and help them to overcome their disabilities through music. Gift includes a card and a 10% discount voucher for a Spring 2012 London Philharmonic Orchestra concert of the recipient’s choice.

3. Roll Call £40 Help us to liven up an assembly in one of South London’s schools by sending in a group of LPO musicians.

Gift includes a card and a 10% discount voucher for a Spring 2012 London Philharmonic Orchestra concert of the recipient’s choice.

4. Centre Stage £50 Your gift will help us to offer the opportunity for a South London school child to perform on the Royal Festival Hall stage as part of our Next Generation Prokofiev project in the New Year. Gift includes an invitation to see the culmination of our Prokofiev schools composition project on 1 February 2012, and a 10% discount voucher for a Spring 2012 London Philharmonic Orchestra concert of the recipient’s choice.

You can also buy a gift of a year’s membership of London Philharmonic Orchestra Friends or LPO Contemporaries. For full details visit lpo.org.uk/gifts In order to guarantee delivery by Christmas please order by Monday 19 December 2011. Virtual gifts are intended as a way to show your support for the Orchestra’s charitable objectives this Christmas. The London Philharmonic Orchestra reserves the right to vary concert programmes if necessary. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is a registered charity No 238045.

12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, Principal Benefactors and Benefactors: Thomas Beecham Group The Tsukanov Family Anonymous The Sharp Family Julian & Gill Simmonds Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport David & Victoria Graham Fuller Richard Karl Goeltz John & Angela Kessler Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie and Zander Sharp Eric Tomsett Mrs Sonja Drexler Guy & Utti Whittaker Principal Benefactors Mark & Elizabeth Adams Jane Attias Lady Jane Berrill Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr John H Cook Mr Charles Dumas

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

Pauline & Peter Halliday Michael & Christine Henry Mr Glenn Hurstfield Mr R K Jeha Mr Gerald Levin Sheila Ashley Lewis Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Mr Frank Lim Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Brian Marsh John Montgomery Edmund Pirouet Mr Peter Tausig Mrs Kazue Turner Lady Marina Vaizey Mr D Whitelock Bill Yoe

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

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

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged: Corporate Members Appleyard & Trew LLP AREVA UK British American Business Charles Russell Destination Québec – UK Lazard Leventis Overseas Man Group plc Corporate Donor Lombard Street Research In-kind Sponsors Google Inc Heineken The Langham London Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Sela / Tilley’s Sweets Villa Maria Trusts and Foundations Arts and Business Allianz Cultural Foundation

Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation The Boltini Trust Britten-Pears Foundation The Candide Charitable Trust The Coutts Charitable Trust The Delius Trust Dunard Fund The Equitable Charitable Trust The Eranda Foundation The Fenton Arts Trust The Foyle Foundation The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Hattori Foundation for Music and the Arts Capital Radio’s Help a London Child The Hobson Charity The Kirby Laing Foundation The Idlewild Trust The Leverhulme Trust Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Maurice Marks Charitable Trust Marsh Christian Trust The Mercers’ Company

Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust Paul Morgan Charitable Trust Maxwell Morrison Charitable Trust Musicians Benevolent Fund Newcomen Collett Foundation The Serge Prokofiev Foundation Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Reed Foundation The Seary Charitable Trust The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust The David Solomons Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust The Stansfield Trust The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation The Swan Trust John Thaw Foundation The Thistle Trust The Underwood Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Youth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

Recent recordings

on the London Philharmonic Orchestra label Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 and Pohjola’s Daughter, and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra ‘This has to be one of the best recordings around of Sibelius’s Fifth. And Lutosławski’s Concerto can never have been more brilliantly played.’

Classic FM magazine, December 2011 Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music grant programme LPO-0057

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

LPO-0058

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

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

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

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

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Next London Philharmonic Orchestra concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Saturday 3 December 2011 | 7:30pm Julian Anderson Fantasias* Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony Vladimir Jurowski conductor Janine Jansen violin * This performance is supported by the Boltini Trust.

13 Januaryconcerts — Opening

Festival highlights include —

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

with excerpts from texts by Bernard Shaw, Pushkin and Shakespeare read by Simon Ca Friday 13 January 2012 | 7.30pm — Excerpts from ballets Cinderella and Chout ( Buffoon) JTI FRIDAY SERIES — Free classical club night with Gabriel Prokofi and Rambert Dance Company

Get closer to Sergei Prokofiev

Prokofiev Lieutenant Kijé A festivalSuite, curated

by Vladimir Jurowski Prokofiev Cello Concerto, Op. 58 lpo.org.uk/prokofiev Prokofiev Symphony No. 7 Get closer to one of the

Alexander Vedernikov conductormost misunderstood men in 20th-century music Danjulo Ishizaka cello Vladimir Jurowski and Janine Jansen

6.15–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Composer in Residence Julian Anderson looks in detail at his work Fantasias.

Wednesday 14 December 2011 | 7:30pm Wagner Overture, Tannhäuser R Strauss Four Last Songs Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Christoph Eschenbach conductor Renée Fleming soprano Concert generously supported by the Sharp Family.

6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Professor Alexander Ivashkin explores the importance of the cello to Prokofiev.

Wednesday 18 January 2012 | 7.30pm Prokofiev Symphonic Song, Op. 57 Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 5 Prokofiev Symphony No. 6 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Steven Osborne piano Supported by Dunard Fund

6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert performance Royal Festival Hall Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 1 and Quintet, performed by musicians from the Royal College of Music.

Booking details Tickets £9–£39 | Premium seats £65 14 December: £12–£48 | Premium seats £75 London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office 020 7840 4242 Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (no transaction fee) Christoph Eschenbach and Renée Fleming

Southbank Centre Box Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pm southbankcentre.co.uk (transaction fees apply) In person at Royal Festival Hall Box Office Daily 10.00am–8.00pm (no transaction fee)

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

Administration

Board of Directors

General Administration

Orchestra Personnel

Archives

Martin Höhmann Chair Stewart McIlwham Vice-Chair Sue Bohling Lord Currie* Jonathan Dawson* Gareth Newman George Peniston Sir Bernard Rix* Kevin Rundell Sir Philip Thomas* Timothy Walker AM†

Timothy Walker AM† Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager

Philip Stuart Discographer

Sarah Thomas Librarian

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive

*Non-Executive Directors

The London Philharmonic Trust Victoria Sharp Chair Desmond Cecil CMG Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. Høgel Martin Höhmann Angela Kessler Clive Marks OBE FCA Julian Simmonds Timothy Walker AM† Laurence Watt American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc. We are very grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for its support of the Orchestra’s activities in the USA.

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Manager

London Philharmonic Orchestra 89 Albert Embankment David Burke London SE1 7TP General Manager and Tel: 020 7840 4200 Finance Director Ken Graham Trucking Fax: 020 7840 4201 FSC_57678 LPO 14 January 2011 15/09/2011 12:30 Page Box 1 Office: 020 7840 4242 David Greenslade Instrument Transportation Finance and IT Manager (Tel: 01737 373305) lpo.org.uk Finance

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors Dr Louise Miller Honorary Doctor

Julia Boon Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Concert Management

Development

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Nick Jackman Development Director

Ruth Sansom Artistic Administrator

Harriet Mesher Charitable Giving Manager

Graham Wood Concerts, Recordings and Glyndebourne Manager

Alexandra Rowlands Corporate Relations Manager

Alison Jones Concerts Co-ordinator Jenny Chadwick Tours and Engagements Manager Jo Orr PA to the Executive / Concerts Assistant Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant

Professional Services Charles Russell Solicitors

Michael Pattison Stage Manager

Education & Community Patrick Bailey Education and Community Director Anne Findlay Education Manager Caz Vale Community and Young Talent Manager Richard Mallett Education and Community Producer

Melissa Van Emden Events Manager

Photograph of Matthias Pintscher © Philippe Gontier.

Photographs of Beethoven and Bruckner courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations and Events Officer

Front cover photograph © Chris Christodoulou.

Elisenda Ayats Development and Finance Officer

Printed by Cantate.

Marketing Kath Trout Marketing Director Ellie Dragonetti Marketing Manager Rachel Fryer Publications Manager Helen Boddy Marketing Co-ordinator Samantha Kendall Box Office Manager (Tel: 020 7840 4242) Lucy Martin Intern Valerie Barber Press Consultant (Tel: 020 7586 8560)

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045.

†Supported by Macquarie Group