Ja
ISLE OF
19
y– December r a 20 u n
NOISES Landmark classics inspired by the British Isles 1689 – 2019
Concert programme
lpo.org.uk
Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI Principal Conductor Designate EDWARD GARDNER Leader PIETER SCHOEMAN supported by Neil Westreich Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Wednesday 11 December 2019 | 7.30pm
Foulds Dynamic Triptych, Op. 88 (30’) Interval (20’) Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 (The Year 1905) (60’)
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Peter Donohoe piano
The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide. CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
ISLE OF
NOISES Contents 2 Welcome Orchestra news 3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 Vladimir Jurowski 7 Peter Donohoe 8 Programme notes 11 Recommended recordings Christmas gifts from the LPO 12 LPO Annual Appeal 2019/20 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration
This concert is being broadcast live by BBC Radio 3 and will be available for 30 days after broadcast on BBC Sounds; simply search for Radio 3 in Concert.
Welcome
Welcome to Southbank Centre We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries, please ask a member of staff for assistance. Eating, drinking and shopping? Enjoy fresh seasonal food for breakfast and lunch, coffee, teas and evening drinks with riverside views at Concrete Cafe, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Riverside Terrace Cafe, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall. Visit our shops for products inspired by our artistic and cultural programme, iconic buildings and central London location. Explore across the site with Foyles, Giraffe, Strada, wagamama, YO! Sushi, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Spiritland, Honest Burger, Côte Brasserie, Skylon and Topolski. If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit, please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone us on 020 3879 9555, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk 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 AND WATCHES should be switched off before the performance begins.
Out now The Autumn 2019 edition of our free LPO magazine, Tune In. Copies are available at the Welcome Desk, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall, or phone the LPO office on 020 7840 4200 to receive one in the post. Also available digitally: issuu.com/londonphilharmonic
2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Orchestra news
W
elcome to this evening’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Royal Festival Hall. Tonight is our final concert of 2019 at Southbank Centre: tomorrow morning the Orchestra heads off to Vienna to perform at the city’s Konzerthaus, before travelling onwards for concerts in Dortmund, Stuttgart and Frankfurt. The musicians will finally take a well-earned break over Christmas and spend some time in the studio on various recording projects in early January, before returning to Royal Festival Hall on 15 January for a semi-staged production of Ravi Shankar’s opera Sukanya. After our successful premiere of the opera in 2017, many soloists are reprising their roles in this production, which promises to be an unmissable musical event. Then, on 8 February, we launch our brand new series, 2020 Vision. Throughout 2020 we’ll explore the journey of music with pioneering works that have defined the sound of the 21st century, alongside pieces written exactly 100 and 200 years before: to find out more visit lpo.org.uk/2020vision. In the summer we shared the news of our new Principal Conductor Designate, Edward Gardner, who will take up the baton when Vladimir Jurowski’s tenure concludes in 2021. We are thrilled that, as a landmark of his final season as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Vladimir Jurowski will conduct two complete Wagner Ring Cycles with the Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall in January and February 2021. Tickets are on sale now: for more information visit lpo.org.uk/ringcycle Wishing you a very happy Christmas and New Year from all of us at the LPO. Thank you for your support of the Orchestra, and we hope you will be able to join us again in 2020.
LPO 2020/21 season launch Booking for our 2020/21 season will open on Tuesday 3 March 2020 online and via the LPO Ticket Office. To take advantage of priority booking (from Tuesday 25 February), become a Friend of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for as little as £60 a year. Call Izzy Keig on 020 7840 4225 or visit lpo.org.uk/support/memberships
On stage tonight
First Violins Pieter Schoeman Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich
Kevin Lin Co-Leader Chair supported by The Candide Trust
Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Minn Majoe Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler
Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Chair supported by the Chiltern Friends of the LPO
Martin Hรถhmann Robert Pool Yang Zhang Chair supported by Eric Tomsett
Rebecca Shorrock Morane Cohen-Lamberger Katherine Waller Georgina Leo Lasma Taimina Eleanor Bartlett Miranda Allen John Dickinson Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan
Clarice Curradi Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley
Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Sioni Williams Sheila Law Kate Cole Sarah Thornett Nilufar Alimaksumova Caroline Sharp Jamie Hutchinson
Violas David Quiggle Principal Richard Waters Co-Principal Robert Duncan Ting-Ru Lai Katharine Leek Susanne Martens Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins
Alistair Scahill Daniel Cornford Richard Cookson Martin Wray Joseph Fisher Sarah Malcolm Laura Vallejo Mark Gibbs Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden
Pei-Jee Ng Co-Principal Jean Kim Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue David Lale Gregory Walmsley Helen Rathbone Sibylle Hentschel George Hoult Tom Roff Elisabeth Wiklander Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar Co-Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Tom Walley Charlotte Kerbgian Lowri Morgan Samuel Rice Cathy Colwell David Johnson
Flutes Juliette Bausor Principal Sue Thomas*
Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Chair supported by Donors to the 2019 Gala Player Appeal
Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp
Anne McAneney*
Stewart McIlwham*
Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann
David Hilton Ruth Shaddock
Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal
Trombones Michael Buchanan Guest Principal David Whitehouse
Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday Sue Bรถhling*
Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal
Cor Anglais Sue Bรถhling* Principal Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi
Clarinets Thomas Watmough Principal
Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE
Chair supported by Roger Greenwood
James Maltby Paul Richards*
Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal
Bass Clarinet Paul Richards* Principal
Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Keith Millar Jeremy Cornes Oliver Yates Karen Hutt
Chair supported by Andrew Davenport
Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey
Gareth Newman Simon Estell* Contrabassoon Simon Estell* Principal Horns John Ryan* Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Duncan Fuller
Harps Rachel Masters Principal Lucy Haslar Olivia Jageurs Tomos Xerri Celeste Katherine Tinker Assistant Conductor Tim Murray * Holds a professorial appointment in London
The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: William & Alex de Winton | Friends of the Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic is playing at the peak of its form. Richard Fairman, The Financial Times (27 September 2019: Jurowski conducts Knussen, Britten & Tchaikovsky at Royal Festival Hall)
One of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with its reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-looking ensembles. As well as its concert performances, the Orchestra also records film soundtracks, releases CDs and downloads on its own label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and local communities. The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and has since been headed by many great conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In 2017 Vladimir Jurowski celebrated his tenth anniversary as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor. Edward Gardner is currently Principal Conductor Designate, and will take up the position when Jurowski’s tenure concludes in September 2021. 4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Throughout the rest of 2019 we have celebrated the music of Britain in our festival Isle of Noises, exploring music from and inspired by the British Isles, from Purcell to the present day. 2020 will see a new series entitled 2020 Vision, which features some of the most exciting works written since 2000, each combined in concert with pieces composed exactly 100 and 200 years earlier. The London Philharmonic Orchestra enjoys flourishing residencies in Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden, and performs regularly around the UK. Every summer, the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sellout audiences worldwide.
Pieter Schoeman leader
In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians. We recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of our Education and Community department, whose work over three decades has introduced so many people of all ages to orchestral music and created opportunities for people of all backgrounds to fulfil their creative potential. Our dynamic and wide-ranging programme provides first musical experiences for children and families; offers creative projects and professional development opportunities for schools and teachers; inspires talented teenage instrumentalists to progress their skills; and develops the next generation of professional musicians. The Orchestra’s work at the forefront of digital technology has enabled it to reach millions of people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download and stream and, as well as a YouTube channel and podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on social media. lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra youtube.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra
Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002. © Benjamin Ealovega
The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded many blockbuster film scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 100 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5 under the late Kurt Masur, and a film music disc under Dirk Brossé.
Born in South Africa, Pieter made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. Five years later he won the World Youth Concerto Competition in Michigan. Aged 17, he moved to the US to further his studies in Los Angeles and Dallas. In 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman who, after several consultations, recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. 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 appears at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. At the invitation of Yannick Nézet-Séguin he has been part of the ‘Yannick and Friends’ chamber group, performing at festivals in Dortmund and Rheingau. Pieter has performed several times as a soloist with the LPO, and his live recording of Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov was released on the Orchestra’s own label to great critical acclaim. He has also recorded numerous violin solos for film and television, and led the LPO 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 appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. In April 2016 he was Guest Leader with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra for Kurt Masur’s memorial concert. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter’s chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5
Vladimir Jurowski Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor
In Vladimir Jurowski we have a haven of hope. His programmes are always thoughtful, his mind connected to higher ideals and principles.
© Simon Pauly
Classical Iconoclast, 10 November 2018 (LPO at Royal Festival Hall: Debussy, Lindberg, Stravinsky & Janáček)
One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007, following four seasons as Principal Guest Conductor. In September 2021, when his tenure concludes, he will become the Orchestra’s Conductor Emeritus in recognition of his transformative time with the LPO – over the last 12 years his creative energy and artistic rigour have been central to the Orchestra’s success. In January–February 2021 Vladimir will bring his three-year journey through Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to a thrilling conclusion with two semi-staged complete Ring Cycles across two weeks at Royal Festival Hall. Vladimir Jurowski will take up the position of General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich from the 2021/22 season. He is currently Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. In addition he holds the titles of Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the George Enescu International Festival, Bucharest. 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). Vladimir enjoys close relationships with the world’s most distinguished artistic institutions, collaborating with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Royal
6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago and Boston symphony orchestras, and has also conducted the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras. A committed operatic conductor, Vladimir’s recent highlights include Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Wozzeck at the Salzburg Festival; Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper Berlin; his acclaimed debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper with Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel; and his first return to Glyndebourne as a guest conductor, in the world premiere production of Brett Dean’s Hamlet with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Vladimir’s 2019/20 season brings a particular focus on opera: he opened the season with Die Frau ohne Schatten in Berlin and Bucharest with the Berlin Radio Symphony; continues his LPO Ring Cycle with Siegfried (1 February 2020); and returns to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden to lead a new production of Jenůfa, and to the Komische Oper Berlin for Henze’s The Bassarids. At the Staatsoper Berlin he will conduct a new production of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, and in Moscow he conducts performances of Wustin’s Die verliebte Teufel at the Stanislavsky Theatre and Boris Godunov with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has released a wide selection of Vladimir Jurowski’s live recordings with the Orchestra on its own label, including the complete symphonies of Brahms and Tchaikovsky; Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 4; and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Symphonic Dances.
Peter Donohoe piano
I cannot imagine a living pianist capable of improving upon Donohoe’s outstanding artistry.
© Sussie Ahlburg
Robert Matthew-Walker, Musical Opinion
Peter Donohoe was born in Manchester in 1953. He studied at Chetham’s School of Music for seven years, graduated in Music from Leeds University, and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Derek Wyndham, and then in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. He is acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique. Peter Donohoe last appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall in March 2018, when he performed Weber’s Konzertstück and Stravinsky’s Capriccio with conductor Andrés OrozcoEstrada. In recent seasons he has also appeared with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and BBC Concert orchestras, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonia, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Belarusian State Symphony Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He has undertaken a UK tour with the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as giving concerts in many South American and European countries as well as in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Russia and the USA.
the latter of which was described as ‘thoughtful and poignant’ by The Guardian. Peter Donohoe has performed with all the major London orchestras, as well as orchestras from across the world: the Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Vienna Symphony and Czech Philharmonic orchestras, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He made his 22nd appearance at the BBC Proms in 2012, and has appeared at many other festivals including six consecutive visits to the Edinburgh Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron in France, and the Ruhr and Schleswig Holstein festivals in Germany. Peter Donohoe is an honorary doctor of music at seven UK universities, and was awarded a CBE for services to classical music in the 2010 New Year’s Honours List.
Donohoe’s most recent discs are two volumes of Mozart Piano Sonatas with SOMM Records. The first was BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Recording of the Month’ in April 2019; and the second has received high praise from Gramophone, Classical Ear and Musical Opinion. Other recent discs include ‘Stravinsky: Music for Solo Piano and Piano and Orchestra’ with the Hong Kong Philharmonic (SOMM); a new recording of Shostakovich’s Piano Concertos and Sonatas with Orchestra of the Swan; and a disc of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues (both Signum Records),
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7
Programme notes
Speedread Tonight’s concert brings together a composer acknowledged throughout his often embattled career as one of the 20th century’s greatest musical presences, and a figure who has only in the last 40 years or so become recognised for his invigorating individuality. Shostakovich lived in an age and country where it was hard for any major work not to be political, and his vivid, almost cinematic Eleventh
John Foulds 1880–1939
Loftily dismissed in 14 lines of the 1980 edition of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, John Foulds has in recent decades emerged as an unjustly neglected figure in English 20th-century music. Born the son of a bassoonist in the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, he was in the orchestra himself as a cellist by the age of 20. As a composer, however, he was largely self-taught, and while his most successful composition was the grandiose A World Requiem, heard at remembrance services and concerts several times during the 1920s, his other works – many of which remained unperformed and unpublished during his lifetime – reveal a practical, brightly explorative and in many ways unconventional musician whose achievements encompassed light music, theatre scores (including for the first production of George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan), the music of India (where he lived and worked for the last five years of his life), early experiments with quarter-tones, and orchestral scores and chamber works whose many and various influences gather into music of enormous individuality and strength.
8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony – inspired by the events of the failed 1905 Revolution – treads a typically canny line between inner and outer meaning, leaving listeners to find their own interpretations, whether conscious or subconscious, and allowing the composer to keep his to himself. John Fould’s brilliant Dynamic Triptych is also true to itself, though this time in music of almost electric vitality and force.
Dynamic Triptych, Op. 88 Peter Donohoe piano 1 Dynamic Mode 2 Dynamic Timbre: Lento molto 3 Dynamic Rhythm
From 1927–30 Foulds lived in Paris, where he met leading figures such as Ravel, Stravinsky, Varèse and the composers of ‘Les Six’, and gained a considerable reputation as a silent-film accompanist. He also composed, however, and among the works he produced during this period was the Dynamic Triptych for piano and orchestra – in effect a three-movement piano concerto. The piece was composed in 1929, and the premiere took place in Edinburgh on 15 October 1931. The three movements are conventional in that they employ sonata and rondo frameworks, but, as their titles suggest, in each one Foulds allows the character to be determined by emphasis on a chosen particular musical element, or ‘dynamic’. Thus, the bravura toccata that is ‘Dynamic Mode’ assumes a distinctive colouring by restricting itself to the seven pitches of a nonconventional scale (or mode) of Foulds’s own devising: D–E#–F#–G–A–B#–C#. The exquisite ‘Dynamic Timbre’ concerns itself with colourings, the most striking being the quarter-tone slides that recur in the lower strings – not technical gimmicks, but sincere expressions of
Foulds’s psyche. The deeply romantic piano melody, like the towering orchestral climax that occurs towards the end, is no less heartfelt or touching. To finish, the momentum of ‘Dynamic Rhythm’ is underpinned by a near-consistent iteration of a sequence of 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 bars, occasionally disguised as diversions into a march or waltz. The end, prepared by a teasing dramatic silence, is a swirl of incandescent brilliance.
Interval – 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.
RADIO 3 IN CONCERT Enjoy the best concerts from across the UK.
Listen at bbc.co.uk/radio 3 or on the BBC Sounds app
32544 BBC Radio 3_150x105 Adverts.indd 2
27/06/2019 14:27
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9
Programme notes continued
Dmitri Shostakovich 1906–75
Shostakovich originally intended his symphony celebrating the 1905 Revolution to be ready for the 50th anniversary of that event, but for various reasons was not able to get down to it until the summer of 1956. ‘At the moment I am working on my Eleventh Symphony, which should be finished by the winter’, he wrote in a magazine article marking his own 50th birthday that September. ‘Its theme is the Revolution of 1905. I am very fond of this period in our country’s history, a period vividly reflected in various workers’ revolutionary songs. I do not know whether I shall directly quote the melodies of any of these songs in the symphony, but its musical language will presumably be in the same vein as the Russian revolutionary songs.’ Shostakovich eventually finished the work on 4 August 1957. The concept seems straightforward enough: a symphony by the USSR’s leading composer remembering the heroes and victims of the popular uprising that briefly threatened to unsettle the Tsarist regime; a work with revolutionary song at its heart by a composer who had already visited this territory in his Second and Third symphonies and in numerous film scores, and whose own father had witnessed at first hand some of the occurrences of 1905; and a piece which, although late for its original purpose, was nevertheless ready in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the more historically decisive Revolution of 1917. And indeed, the work’s official premiere in Moscow on 30 October 1957 revealed an epic creation centred on the gunning-down of more than 200 unarmed protesters outside St Petersburg’s Winter Palace on 9 January 1905, and cast in four great panels of music almost cinematic in their vivid directness of purpose. Less psychologically intimate than in his Mahlerian Eighth and Tenth symphonies, the Eleventh looks back
10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 (The Year 1905) 1 2 3 4
Palace Square: Adagio – The 9th of January: Allegro – Eternal Memory: Adagio – The Tocsin: Allegro ma non troppo
towards the more openly illustrative, people-orientated manner of 19th-century Russian nationalists such as Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin. Reaction in Russia was favourable, and helped Shostakovich climb back to favour from the dark days of his denouncement as a ‘formalist’ by the authorities in 1948; in 1958 it even won him the Soviet Union’s highest artistic honour, a Lenin Prize. In the rest of the world, however, it was less wellreceived, often derided as propaganda art of small depth. But, this being Shostakovich, there certainly is more to the piece than that. How could there not be, indeed, when the composer had himself already suffered so much aggravation at the hands of the Soviet system? And how, given its subject matter, could its overall message not have become affected during its very composition by the gruesome events of October and November 1956, when Red Army tanks rumbled into Hungary to suppress an antiCommunist rebellion at a cost of over 2,000 lives? For the Russian intelligentsia it was a distressing reminder that their own leadership could visit the same kind of state violence on civilians that the revolutionaries had thought they were fighting against, and that such atrocities could repeat themselves anytime and anywhere. In Testimony, Solomon Volkov’s 1979 biography of Shostakovich, the composer told the author that he ‘wanted to show this recurrence in the Eleventh Symphony. I wrote it in 1957 and it deals with contemporary themes even though it’s called “1905”. It’s about the people, who have stopped believing because the cup of evil has run over’. The authenticity of Volkov’s biography has been contested, but in any case these are hardly sentiments Shostakovich could have made public in 1957. To hear the visceral terror and anger of the second movement of the Eleventh makes them highly believable.
Shostakovich’s frankly pictorial approach is evident from the opening, an atmospheric vision of Palace Square in which the icy stillness of the strings’ opening theme is gradually animated by ominous rhythmic patterns on timpani and muted fanfares – some menacing, some heroic – on trumpets and horns. After a while the first of the revolutionary song melodies appears, wistfully on flutes at first and then in more sinister tones on brass and side-drum. A broad contrapuntal discourse, instigated by a new theme introduced by the cellos and basses, enriches the orchestral texture before the revolutionary song reappears on bassoon, and finally the opening theme with its muttering timpani and cheerless fanfares. Shostakovich chose to run all four movements together in this Symphony, and so it is from this quiet that the terrifying events of the massacre itself rush towards us in the second. The course of the music does not need much describing here, though it is worth pointing out that the heroic theme which seems to unite the people as their sense of purpose grows is a sloweddown version of its own bustling accompaniment. Eventually the crowd’s fervour spends itself, but then in the silence a side-drum signal rings out and murder is let loose in music of almost mechanistic violence. This ends even more suddenly than it began, however, and although the scene returns to the glacial stillness of the Symphony’s opening, it is now haunted by sad distortions of the first movement’s themes.
Recommended recordings of tonight’s works by Laurie Watt Foulds: Dynamic Triptych Peter Donohoe | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | Sakari Oramo (Warner Classics) Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Vassily Petrenko (Naxos) or Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Yevgeny Mravinsky (Regis)
The third movement is a noble requiem led off by the revolutionary song ‘You fell as victims’, intoned soulfully by muted violas. The movement builds to a central massive climax that remembers the previous movement in an outburst of anger and (perhaps) desire for vengeance, before regaining its composure in a return to the viola theme. The people are on the march again, this time with greater confidence and resolve, in the fourth movement, entitled ‘The Tocsin’ (or alarm bell). A terse brass call to arms is answered by steadily and long-gathering orchestral excitement, climaxing at a convulsive percussion crash that heralds an icy reprise of the Palace Square music, this time with the added eloquence of a mournful cor anglais. The energy picks up again, however, propelling the work to a finish in which the major-minor indecisiveness of desperate bell-notes undermines thoughts of a simplistically triumphant trajectory. Whether we hear this Symphony as a mighty silent film score or a one-act voiceless opera, there is no doubt that it leaves us contemplating an uncertain future. Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp
Christmas gifts from the LPO Searching for the perfect Christmas present for the music lover in your life? With more than 100 CD releases on the LPO Label, tickets for concerts in London, Eastbourne or Brighton, gift vouchers and memberships, there’s something for everyone. Share the joy of music and make it a Christmas to remember. Visit lpo.org.uk/gifts to explore the full collection, or call the LPO Ticket Office on 020 7840 4242. Please make sure you order your gifts by Monday 16 December to allow us time to process your order in time for Christmas.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11
COME BEHIND THE SCENES
You know the London Philharmonic Orchestra for our UK concerts, our international tours, the residency at Glyndebourne, our education work and music recordings... BUT BEHIND THE WORK THAT YOU DO SEE IS A WORLD OF WORK THAT YOU DON’T. DURING OUR INCREDIBLY AMBITIOUS 2019/20 SEASON ...
2277 To deliver 20 concert performances on tour, 2277 hotel rooms will be booked.
135
To support our Young Talent schemes, LPO members will deliver 234 hours of mentoring.
7500
The LPO Library will produce an average of 65 folders of music for every concert.
560
For a single performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, 3440 pages of music will be ordered – and that’s just the chorus parts.
234
Performing 54 operas at Glyndebourne will require the coordination of 135 hours of ensemble rehearsals.
65
3440
The LPO Ticket Office will process over 7500 tickets for primary school children to experience a live orchestral concert.
To record key performances, more than 560 participation forms will be prepared.
24
Approximately 24 hours of raw footage will be shot, edited and crafted into content for our digital platforms.
4x2
4 TONNES
For every rehearsal and every concert, the on-the-road team will load and unload over four tonnes of instruments and flight cases … twice.
SUPPORT THE UNSEEN WORK OF THE ORCHESTRA
LPO.ORG.UK/DONATE
Sound Futures donors
We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. Thanks to their support, we successfully raised £1 million by 30 April 2015 which has now been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This has enabled us to create a £2 million endowment fund supporting special artistic projects, creative programming and education work with key venue partners including our Southbank Centre home. Supporters listed below donated £500 or over. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures. Masur Circle Arts Council England Dunard Fund Victoria Robey OBE Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Underwood Trust
The Rothschild Foundation Tom & Phillis Sharpe The Viney Family
Haitink Patrons Mark & Elizabeth Adams Dr Christopher Aldren Mrs Pauline Baumgartner Welser-Möst Circle Lady Jane Berrill William & Alex de Winton Mr Frederick Brittenden John Ireland Charitable Trust David & Yi Yao Buckley The Tsukanov Family Foundation Mr Clive Butler Neil Westreich Gill & Garf Collins Tennstedt Circle Mr John H Cook Valentina & Dmitry Aksenov Mr Alistair Corbett Richard Buxton Bruno De Kegel The Candide Trust Georgy Djaparidze Michael & Elena Kroupeev David Ellen Kirby Laing Foundation Christopher Fraser OBE Mr & Mrs Makharinsky David & Victoria Graham Fuller Alexey & Anastasia Reznikovich Goldman Sachs International Sir Simon Robey Mr Gavin Graham Bianca & Stuart Roden Moya Greene Simon & Vero Turner Mrs Dorothy Hambleton The late Mr K Twyman Tony & Susie Hayes Malcolm Herring Solti Patrons Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Ageas Mrs Philip Kan John & Manon Antoniazzi Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe Gabor Beyer, through BTO Rose & Dudley Leigh Management Consulting AG Lady Roslyn Marion Lyons Jon Claydon Miss Jeanette Martin Mrs Mina Goodman & Miss Duncan Matthews QC Suzanne Goodman Diana & Allan Morgenthau Roddy & April Gow Charitable Trust The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Dr Karen Morton Charitable Trust Mr Roger Phillimore Mr James R.D. Korner Ruth Rattenbury Christoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia The Reed Foundation Ladanyi-Czernin The Rind Foundation Robert Markwick & Kasia Robinski The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust Sir Bernard Rix David Ross & Line Forestier (Canada) Mr Paris Natar
Carolina & Martin Schwab Dr Brian Smith Lady Valerie Solti Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Miss Anne Stoddart TFS Loans Limited Marina Vaizey Jenny Watson Guy & Utti Whittaker Pritchard Donors Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Mrs Arlene Beare Mr Patrick & Mrs Joan Benner Mr Conrad Blakey Dr Anthony Buckland Paul Collins Alastair Crawford Mr Derek B. Gray Mr Roger Greenwood The HA.SH Foundation Darren & Jennifer Holmes Honeymead Arts Trust Mr Geoffrey Kirkham Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter Mace Mr & Mrs David Malpas Dr David McGibney Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Mr Christopher Querée The Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer Charitable Trust Timothy Walker AM Christopher Williams Peter Wilson Smith Mr Anthony Yolland and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13
Thank you
We are extremely grateful to all donors who have given generously to the LPO over the past year. Your generosity helps maintain the breadth and depth of the LPO’s activities, as well as supporting the Orchestra both on and off the concert platform.
Artistic Director’s Circle An anonymous donor Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet Sir Simon & Lady Robey OBE Orchestra Circle The Candide Trust Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Neil Westreich Principal Associates Richard Buxton In memory of Brenda Lyndoe Casbon In memory of Ann Marguerite Collins Associates Steven M. Berzin Kay Bryan William & Alex de Winton Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Mrs Irina Gofman Countess Dominique Loredan Mr & Mrs Makharinsky George Ramishvili Stuart & Bianca Roden In memory of Hazel Amy Smith Gold Patrons An anonymous donor David & Yi Buckley In memory of Allner Mavis Channing The Chiltern Friends of the LPO Gill & Garf Collins Andrew Davenport Sonja Drexler Mrs Gillian Fane Marie-Laure Favre-Gilly de Varennes de Beuill Virginia Gabbertas MBE Mr Roger Greenwood The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Geoff & Meg Mann Francis & Marie-France Minkoff Julian & Gill Simmonds Eric Tomsett The Viney Family Laurence Watt
Silver Patrons Ms Terri Borain Andrea d’Avack Georgy Djaparidze Ulrike & Benno Engelmann Peter & Fiona Espenhahn Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe John & Angela Kessler Jamie & Julia Korner The Metherell Family Denis & Yulia Nagy Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley Tom & Phillis Sharpe Andrew & Rosemary Tusa Guy & Utti Whittaker Grenville & Krysia Williams Bronze Patrons Anonymous donors Michael Allen Mr Mark Astaire Margot Astrachan Mr Geoffrey Bateman Mrs A Beare Dr Anthony Buckland Mr Alan C Butler Desmond & Ruth Cecil The Earl & Countess of Chichester Mr Michael Cole-Fontayn Mr John H Cook Howard & Veronika Covington Mrs Maria Danilova Guy Davies Bruno De Kegel Cameron & Kathryn Doley Jill Dyal David Ellen Ignor & Lyuba Galkin Mr Daniel Goldstein David & Jane Gosman Mr Gavin Graham Lord & Lady Hall Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Wim & Jackie Hautekiet-Clare Eugene & Allison Hayes Ms Elena Heinz Malcolm Herring Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle J Douglas Home Rose & Dudley Leigh
14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Elena Lileeva & Adrian Pabst Drs Frank & Gek Lim Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Peter & Lucy Noble Linda & Tim O’Neill Jacopo Pessina Mr Alex Petrov Mr Roger Phillimore Mr Michael Posen Mr Alex Smedley Ms Nadia Stasyuk Ms Sharon Thomas Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Marina Vaizey Ms Jenny Watson CBE Christopher Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Principal Supporters Anonymous donors Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Helen Brocklebank Mr Philip Bathard-Smith Ms Phyllia Chen Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen David & Liz Conway Mr Alistair Corbett In honour of Bea Crumbine Mr Jonathan Davies Mr Richard Fernyhough Mr Michael Fox Mr Stephen Goldring Mr Milton Grundy Mr Ian Haslegrave Michael & Christine Henry Lady Hill Mrs Maureen Hooft-Graafland Jamilya Jakisheva Per Jonsson Vadim Levin Lady Leonora, Countess of Lichfield Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter Mace Michael & Patricia MclarenTurner Alice P. Melly
Mr John Meloy Andrew T Mills Dr Karen Morton Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mrs Jannifer Oxley Mr James Pickford Natalie Pray Mr Christopher Querée Sir Bernard Rix Mr Robert Ross Barry & Gillian Smith Mr Bill Smith Martin & Cheryl Southgate Mr & Mrs G Stein Dr Peter Stephenson Matthew Stephenson & Roman Aristarkhov Marina Vaizey Howard & Sheelagh Watson Supporters Anonymous donors Mr John D Barnard Mr Bernard Bradbury Mr Richard Brooman Mrs Alan Carrington Mr Julien Chilcott-Monk Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington Mr Joshua Coger Mr Geoffrey A Collens Miss Tessa Cowie Mr David Devons Mr Anthony Diamond Samuel Edge Manuel Fajardo & Clémence Humeau Mrs Janet Flynn Scott & Icy Frantz Christopher Fraser OBE Will Gold Mr Peter Gray The Jackman Family Mr & Mrs Bon Jasperson Mr David MacFarlane Peter & Isabel Malkin Mr Frederic Marguerre Mr Mark Mishon Trevor Mulineaux Dame Jane Newell DBE Bill & Jane Nickerson Mr Stephen Olton Anju & Radhika Patel Mr David Peters
Candace Procaccini Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh Mr David Russell Deb & Jay Shaw Ms Elizabeth Shaw Mr Kenneth Shaw Ms Natalie Spraggon & Mr David Thomson Mrs John E Stauffer Ronald & Davidde Strackbein Mr John Weekes Joanna Williams Hon. Benefactor Elliott Bernerd Hon. Life Members Alfonso Aijón Kenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G Gyllenhammar Robert Hill Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE Laurence Watt LPO International Board of Governors Natasha Tsukanova Chair Steven M. Berzin (USA) Veronika Borovik-Khilchevskaya (Cyprus) Kay Bryan (Australia) Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil (France) Aline Foriel-Destezet (France) Irina Gofman (Russia) Joyce Kan (China/Hong Kong) Countess Dominique Loredan (Italy) Olivia Ma (Greater China Area) Olga Makharinsky (Russia) George Ramishvili (Georgia) Victoria Robey OBE (USA)
Thomas Beecham Group Members David & Yi Buckley The Candide Trust The Chiltern Friends of the LPO Gill & Garf Collins Andrew Davenport William & Alex de Winton Donors to the 2019 Gala Player Appeal Sonja Drexler The Friends of the LPO Irina Gofman Roger Greenwood Dr Barry Grimaldi Mr & Mrs Philip Kan John & Angela Kessler Countess Dominique Loredan Sir Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds Eric Tomsett Natasha Tsukanova Neil Westreich Guy & Utti Whittaker We are grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who assist with fundraising for our activities in the United States of America: Simon Freakley Chairman Alexandra Jupin William A. Kerr Kristina McPhee Natalie Pray Stephanie Yoshida Antony Phillipson Hon. Chairman Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP
Connecticut Gala Committee Bea Crumbine & Jill Dyal Co-Chairmen Rodica Brune Mandy DeFilippo Rachel Franco Nick Gutfreund Mary Hull Steve Magnuson Natalie Pray Victoria Robey OBE Lisa & Scot Weicker Corporate Donors Barclays L Catterton Paul Hastings LLP Payne Hicks Beach Pictet Bank White & Case LLP LPO Corporate Circle Leader freuds Sunshine Principal Berenberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce Tutti Ageas Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Walpole Preferred Partners After Digital Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsor Google Inc
Trusts and Foundations The Bernarr Rainbow Trust The Boltini Trust Sir William Boreman’s Foundation Borletti-Buitoni Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation The Candide Trust The Chalk Cliff Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The Fidelio Charitable Trust Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust John Horniman’s Children’s Trust John Thaw Foundation The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Lawson Trust The Leverhulme Trust Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation The London Community Foundation Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian Trust Adam Mickiewicz Institute PRS For Music Foundation The Radcliffe Trust Rivers Foundation The R K Charitable Trust Romanian Cultural Institute RVW Trust The Sampimon Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Steel Charitable Trust Spears-Stutz Charitable Trust The Thomas Deane Trust The Viney Family The Clarence Westbury Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust The William Alwyn Foundation and all others who wish to remain anonymous.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15
Administration
Board of Directors Victoria Robey OBE Chairman Martin Höhmann* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Dr Catherine C. Høgel Vice-Chairman Henry Baldwin* Roger Barron David Buckley Bruno De Kegel Al MacCuish Susanne Martens* Stewart McIlwham* Pei-Jee Ng* Andrew Tusa Timothy Walker AM Neil Westreich David Whitehouse* * Player-Director Advisory Council Martin Höhmann Chairman Rob Adediran Christopher Aldren Dr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass Helen Brocklebank Desmond Cecil CMG Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport William de Winton Cameron Doley Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Amanda Hill Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Geoff Mann Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Andrew Neill Jamie Njoku-Goodwin Nadya Powell Sir Bernard Rix Victoria Robey OBE Baroness Shackleton Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds Barry Smith Martin Southgate Andrew Swarbrick Sir John Tooley Chris Viney Timothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Elizabeth Winter
General Administration Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director
Education and Community Isabella Kernot Education and Community Director
David Burke General Manager and Finance Director
Talia Lash Education and Community Manager
Sarah Gee PA to the Chief Executive/ Office Administrator
Emily Moss Education and Community Project Manager
Finance Frances Slack Finance and Operations Manager
Hannah Tripp Education and Community Project Co-ordinator
Dayse Guilherme Finance Officer
Development Laura Willis Development Director
Concert Management Roanna Gibson Concerts Director
Vicky Moran Development Events Manager
Graham Wood Concerts and Recordings Manager Sophie Richardson Glyndebourne and Projects Manager (maternity leave) Fabio Sarlo Glyndebourne and Projects Manager (maternity cover) Grace Ko Tours Manager Alison Jones Concerts and Recordings Co-ordinator Christina Perrin Concerts and Tours Assistant Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant Andrew Chenery Orchestra Personnel Manager Sarah Holmes Librarian Sarah Thomas Librarian Christopher Alderton Stage Manager Laura Kitson Stage Manager Damian Davis Transport Manager Hannah Verkerk Orchestra Co-ordinator and Auditions Administrator
16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Christina McNeill Corporate Relations Manager Rosie Morden Individual Giving Manager Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager Izzy Keig Development Assistant Lewis Hammond Development Assistant ~ Nick Jackman Campaigns and Projects Director Kirstin Peltonen Development Associate Marketing Kath Trout Marketing Director Mairi Warren Marketing Manager Alexandra Lloyd Projects and Residencies Marketing Manager Megan Macarte Box Office Manager (Tel: 020 7840 4242) Rachel Williams Publications Manager Rachel Smith Website Manager Greg Felton Digital Creative Georgie Gulliver Marketing Assistant
Public Relations Premier classical@premiercomms.com Tel: 020 7292 7355/ 020 7292 7335 Archives Philip Stuart Discographer Gillian Pole Recordings Archive Professional Services Charles Russell Speechlys Solicitors Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP Auditors Dr Barry Grimaldi Honorary Doctor Mr Chris Aldren Honorary ENT Surgeon Mr Brian Cohen Mr Simon Owen-Johnstone Honorary Orthopaedic Surgeons London Philharmonic Orchestra 89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TP Tel: 020 7840 4200 Box Office: 020 7840 4242 Email: admin@lpo.org.uk lpo.org.uk The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045. Composer photographs courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Cover artwork Ross Shaw @JMG Studio Printer Cantate