CD booklet: Beethoven – Symphony No. 3 / Overture, Fidelio by London Philharmonic Orchestra

BEETHOVEN

SYMPHONY NO. 3 (EROICA) overture, fidelio VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

LUDwig van beethoven SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN E FLAT major (EROICA), OP. 55 If Beethoven’s first two symphonies hinted at the revolutionary character of their creator, the third unleashed it in a veritable torrent. It was the turn of the 19th century, and Beethoven found himself inspired by acts of heroism throughout Europe. One young leader in particular caught his eye – Napoleon Bonaparte, who Beethoven saw as a force for good; a social revolutionary who would lift the burden of the oppressed. It was more the ideal of social heroism that fired Beethoven’s imagination in forging the ‘Eroica’ Symphony, rather than any one individual – which made the composer’s eventual removal of Napoleon’s name from the head of the score a pretty incidental act (Napoleon declared himself Emperor in 1804, which didn’t chime with Beethoven’s libertarian stance). Persistence, endurance and fortitude may be features Beethoven associated with such an ideal, and they’re all evident here – not least in the Symphony’s length: it’s almost twice that of any by Mozart or Haydn, the most significant symphonists who preceded Beethoven. The colossal opening movement is prefaced by two orchestral jabs (apparently added as an afterthought by Beethoven), after which the main theme launches – a motif that seems to

embody persistence as it rocks back and forth through the notes of a major-key arpeggio. As the movement continues, this main theme gains momentum and variance (and is joined by five others), while Beethoven interrupts the discourse on two standout occasions: firstly with a set of lurching, gatecrashing low discords and secondly with the ‘false’ heralding of the return of the main theme by a horn. Both of these dumbfounded critics, musicians and audiences at the work’s Vienna premiere in April 1805. Beethoven’s second movement is a huge funeral march complete with double fugue which metamorphoses into celebration. A lament for Napoleon, or General Abercrombie – another of Beethoven’s heroic icons? It’s impossible to say. The offhand remark at the time of Napoleon’s actual death recorded by Anton Schindler, in which Beethoven allegedly claimed to have ‘written the music for that sad event some 17 years ago’, is both tenuous and unreliable. In the following Scherzo you can sense an explosion lurking from the opening notes, and it soon arrives – as insistent and heroic as the Symphony’s opening, rallied by the hunting calls of the three horns in a gesture that seems to pine towards the classical

spirit of Mozart and Haydn. Beethovenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last movement actually comes in shorter than the first and second, but puts a definitive full-stop on the work nonetheless. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s based on a little dance tune that had been proving a personal motto for the composer for some years, and which creeps in wittily after the opening cascade and is then subjected to musical variations. Along the way the theme gains sobriety, introspection and emotional gravitas, and eventually wraps up the Symphony with inspiring heroism. Programme note ÂŠ Andrew Mellor

OVERTURE, fidelio, OP. 72 Beethoven wrote only one opera. Vestas Feuer, the stage work he had planned with Emanuel Schikaneder (the librettist of The Magic Flute), was abandoned in favour of work on the ‘Eroica’ Symphony. But there was also a more pertinent libretto on offer, based on French revolutionary Jean-Nicolas Bouilly’s play Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal. Beethoven’s resulting opera Fidelio tells the tale of Leonore who, disguised as a boy called Fidelio, rescues her husband from prison. Some have seen Florestan’s incarceration as an allegory for Beethoven’s deafness, while others have found in Leonore’s selfless resolve the progressive spirit of the age. Even when pondering that the prisoner might not be her husband, Leonore persists: ‘I will loose your chains whoever you are, unhappy man, by God I will save you and set you free.’ When the opera was first performed in Vienna in 1805, four days after Napoleon’s troops entered the city, Fidelio had a different overture. The piece heard on this disc was probably written for an 1807 production of the opera in Prague. Its radiant E major tonality – the polar opposite of the prison’s predominant key of B-flat major – speaks of hoped-for liberation. On the surface, Beethoven’s sole opera belonged to a Viennese tradition of domestic comedies and heroic melodramas,

but its philosophical ambitions were much greater, communicated in this grand but spirited prelude. Programme note © Gavin Plumley

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor One of today’s most soughtafter conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow and studied at the Music Academies of Dresden and Berlin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival conducting Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, and the same year saw his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Nabucco. Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming Principal Conductor in 2007. He also holds the titles of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra and in 2017 becomes Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. He has previously held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997–2001), Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–03), Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian

National Orchestra (2005–09), and Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001–13). He is a regular guest with many leading orchestras in Europe and North America, including the Berlin and New York philharmonic orchestras; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; The Philadelphia Orchestra; The Cleveland Orchestra; the Boston, San Francisco and Chicago symphony orchestras; the TonhalleOrchester Zürich, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. His opera engagements have included Rigoletto, Jenůfa, The Queen of Spades, Hansel and Gretel and Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera; War and Peace at the Opéra national de Paris; Eugene Onegin at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre; Moses und Aron at Komische Oper Berlin and Iolanta and Die Teufel von Loudun at Semperoper Dresden, and numerous operas at Glyndebourne including Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Cunning Little Vixen, Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons, Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which won the 2015 BBC Music Magazine Opera Award.

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with its presentday position as one of the most dynamic and forward-looking ensembles in the UK. This reputation has been secured by the Orchestra’s performances in the concert hall and opera house, its many award-winning recordings, trail-blazing international tours and wideranging educational work. Founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, the Orchestra has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors, including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski was appointed the Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor in March 2003, and became Principal Conductor in September 2007.

The Orchestra is based at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has been Resident Orchestra since 1992, giving around 30 concerts a season. Each summer it takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra performs at venues around the UK and has made numerous international tours, performing to sell-out audiences in America, Europe, Asia and Australasia. 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. These recordings are taken mainly from live concerts given by conductors including LPO Principal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, through Haitink, Solti and Tennstedt, to Masur and Jurowski. lpo.org.uk

Vladimir Jurowski on the LPO Label

Shostakovich: Symphonies 6 & 14 ‘The most stunning Shostakovich disc I have heard this year’ BBC Music Magazine

Jurowski conducts Julian Anderson ‘This is thoroughly likeable, engaging music’ The Strad

Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 4 & 5 ‘Stunning, well-engineered live performances’ The Arts Desk

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Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 / 10 Songs ‘Delightfully seductive playing’ The Observer

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Stravinsky: Petrushka / Orpheus ‘This is very careful, very exquisitely balanced playing’ BBC Radio 3 Record Review

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For more information or to purchase CDs telephone +44 (0)20 7840 4242 or visit lpo.org.uk

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ludwig van beethoven (1770–1827)