CONCERT PROGRAMME
2018/19 CONCERT SEASON
AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
2019/20 concert season at Southbank Centre
CONCERT PROGRAMME
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 CBE AM
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall Saturday 1 February 2020 | 3.00pm
Richard Wagner Siegfried Opera in three acts
Sung in German with English surtitles This performance will last approximately 6 hours including one 30-minute interval and one 75-minute interval.
Vladimir Jurowski conductor Torsten Kerl Siegfried Evgeny Nikitin Wanderer Elena Pankratova Brünnhilde Adrian Thompson Mime Robert Hayward Alberich Brindley Sherratt Fafner Anna Larsson Erda Alina Adamski Woodbird Rob Casey lighting designer Pierre Martin video designer Generously supported by members of the Orchestra’s Ring Cycle Syndicate.
The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide. CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Contents 2 Welcome 3 On stage 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 Vladimir Jurowski 7 Soloists 11 Production team 12 Today’s performance 13 Siegfried at a glance 14 Synopsis 15 Wagner on the LPO Label 16 Programme note 18 Recommended recordings 19 Complete Ring Cycle 2021 20 LPO Annual Appeal 2019/20 21 Sound Futures donors 22 Supporters 24 LPO administration
Join the conversation: Tweet your thoughts on the performance with #LPORing @LPOrchestra
Welcome
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 Spring 2020 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
A
warm welcome to this semi-staged performance of Wagner’s Siegfried with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. This is the third instalment in our journey through Wagner’s Ring Cycle, following our acclaimed performances of Das Rheingold in 2018 and Die Walküre in 2019. We are very much looking forward to January/February 2021, when we will present two complete Ring Cycles over two weeks here at Royal Festival Hall (see page 19). The cycles will be conducted by Vladimir Jurowski as the climax of his final season as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, before he becomes the LPO’s Conductor Emeritus and assumes his new role as Music Director at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in Spring 2021. Tickets for the cycles are selling fast, so don’t miss out – turn to page 19 for more details. We are delighted that many of the wonderful soloists from our performances of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre are returning for this performance, and we also welcome a number of talented artists making their LPO debuts. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the members of the Orchestra’s Ring Cycle Syndicate, without whose generous support these performances would not be possible. So, join us now deep in the forest, where the orphaned Siegfried has grown to manhood without ever knowing fear. A dragon’s gold, a sleeping goddess, and the shattered fragments of his father’s sword will all help shape his destiny, and set him on a path that leads to love, glory, and – perhaps – a new world. Part fairytale, part cosmic myth, it’s never less than gripping.
Timothy Walker CBE AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Timothy Walker © Chris Blott
Welcome to Southbank Centre
On stage First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich
Kevin Lin Co-Leader Chair supported by The Candide Trust
Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Lasma Taimina Katalin Varnagy
Susanne Martens Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins
Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Daniel Cornford Isabel Pereira Martin Wray Martin Fenn
Chair supported by Sonja Drexler
Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Chair supported by the Chiltern Friends of the LPO
Martin Hรถhmann Robert Pool Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Chair supported by Eric Tomsett
Georgina Leo Nilufar Alimaksumova Rebecca Shorrock Caroline Sharp Eleanor Bartlett Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan
Alexandra Lomeiko Helena Smart Kate Birchall Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley
Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Kate Cole Sarah Thornett Mathilde Gheorghiu Ioana Forna Helena Nicholls Sion Williams Violas David Quiggle Principal Richard Waters Co-Principal Robert Duncan Ting-Ru Lai Katharine Leek
Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden
Pei-Jee Ng Co-Principal David Lale Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Sue Sutherley Helen Rathbone George Hoult Sibylle Hentschel David Bucknall Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar Co-Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Tom Walley Charlotte Kerbegian Lowri Morgan Adam Wynter Flutes Juliette Bausor Principal Sue Thomas* Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp
Hannah Grayson Piccolos Stewart McIlwham* Principal Hannah Grayson Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday Katherine Bryer
Cor Anglais Sue Bรถhling* Principal Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi
Clarinets Thomas Watmough Principal Chair supported by Roger Greenwood
James Maltby Elliot Gresty Bass Clarinet Paul Richards* Principal
Trombones Dudley Bright Guest Principal Tom Berry Bass Trombone Joe Arnold Contrabass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal
Bassoons Gareth Newman Principal Emma Harding Simon Estell*
Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE
Contrabassoon Simon Estell* Principal
Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal
Horns John Ryan* Principal Nicolas Mooney Guest Principal Martin Hobbs Duncan Fuller Gareth Mollison Mark Vines Co-Principal Elise Campbell Oliver Johnson Meilyr Hughes Wagner Tubas Mark Vines Elise Campbell Oliver Johnson Meilyr Hughes Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Chair supported by Donors to the 2019 Gala Player Appeal
Anne McAneney* Gwyn Owen Bass Trumpet David Whitehouse
Jeremy Cornes
Chair supported by Andrew Davenport
Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Keith Millar Harps Rachel Masters Principal Lucy Haslar Emma Ramsdale Fiona Clifton-Welker Tamara Young Tomos Xerri * 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 Sir Simon Robey
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The LPO/Jurowski all-Russian Prom was one of the rarest programmes of the season, sumptuously persuasive about Glazunov’s theme-park Fifth (has the orchestra ever sounded more top-league?) The Arts Desk: ‘Best of 2019’ (BBC Proms 2019: Jurowski conducts Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff & Glazunov) 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. The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Throughout 2019 we celebrated the music of Britain in our festival Isle of 4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Noises, exploring music from and inspired by the British Isles, from Purcell to the present day. February 2020 sees the launch of 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. Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton, Eastbourne and at Saffron Hall in Essex, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights of recent seasons have included a major tour of Asia including South Korea, Taiwan and China, as well as performances in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Switzerland and the USA.
Pieter Schoeman LEADER
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, Mozart chamber works with LPO Principal players, and the late Ravi Shankar’s only opera, Sukanya. 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.
Pieter Schoeman © Benjamin Ealovega
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. 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
Vladimir Jurowski marked his 10th anniversary with the London Philharmonic Orchestra – one of the glorious partnerships of UK musical life – with the opening opera of a complete Ring Cycle ... The terrific LPO and Jurowski, proven Wagnerians all, stole the show. The Observer, February 2018 (Das Rheingold 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
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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, 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 conducts 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.
Vladimir Jurowski © Simon Pauly
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 (see page 19).
Evgeny Nikitin
TENOR | SIEGFRIED
B ASS -B ARITONE | WANDERER
German singer Torsten Kerl is one of the world’s most sought-after Heldentenors. This season, opera projects have taken him to the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse as Paul in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt; to the New National Theatre in Tokyo as Tannhäuser; and to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Rienzi. In concert he sang Siegmund with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra under Edo de Waart. He will reprise the role of Siegfried in both Götterdämmerung and Siegfried with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf in April 2020, and in the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s complete Ring Cycles under Vladimir Jurowski in January/February 2021.
Evgeny Nikitin hails from Murmansk in northern Russia. As a teenager he played and sang in heavy metal bands, but his vocal gift took him in a different direction. Accepted at the St Petersburg Conservatory in 1992, he combined his studies with his first solo engagements at the Mariinsky Theatre under Valery Gergiev. He has subsequently been invited to major theatres and festivals across the world, and continues to sing regularly at the Mariinsky.
Torsten Kerl specialises in the German repertoire, particularly Wagner: he has appeared in the roles of Erik, Parsifal, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Loge, Siegmund, Tristan, Rienzi and both Siegfrieds. He has also sung the roles of Max (Der Freischütz), Paul (Die tote Stadt), Florestan (Fidelio), Pedro (d’Albert’s Tiefland), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Kaiser (Die Frau ohne Schatten). Recent appearances include Max in Der Freischütz at the New National Theatre in Tokyo and at the Semperoper Dresden. He also sang the leading roles in Siegfried and Götterdämmerung in Odense, as well as at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe. At the Enescu Festival he sang Albrecht von Brandenburg in Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler under the baton of Lawrence Foster. In concert he sang Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in Berlin and Breslau; Waldemar in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder in Aarhus and Berlin; and in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in several renowned European concert halls. Torsten is a regular guest at international opera festivals including the Bayreuther Festspiele (Der fliegende Holländer, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg); the Salzburger Festspiele (Mozart’s Requiem, Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae and Die tote Stadt); the Edinburgh International Festival; the Glyndebourne Festival; and the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland. In 2000 he won the Grammy Award for Best International Recording of the Year.
© Naïve/Marco Borggreve
Torsten Kerl
2002 marked his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in War and Peace, and he regularly returns for engagements including Tristan and Isolde, Das Rheingold, Siegfried and Parsifal. He made his Parisian debut in the title role of Rubinstein’s The Demon, and returned in 2005 to sing Boris Godunov. Further Paris appearances include Jochanaan (Salome), Klingsor, Tomsky (The Queen of Spades), Gunther (Götterdämmerung), Oreste (Elektra) and Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero. Other engagements include Tosca and Don Carlo in Baden Baden; Der fliegende Holländer in Madrid, Toronto, Paris, Leipzig and Tokyo; Parsifal in Berlin and Valencia; Fidelio in Valencia; Salome in Zurich and Amsterdam; and Scarpia in Chicago. He has sung regularly at the Bavarian State Opera since 2008, most recently in a new production of Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel. Evgeny Nikitin appears at major festivals such as Aix-en-Provence, the BBC Proms, Salzburg and Verbier, and in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome and London Symphony Orchestra. Last month he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera’s New Year’s Eve Gala, and later this season he returns to Paris to sing Boris Godunov and tours Russia as Der fliegende Holländer. This is his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7
Elena Pankratova
Adrian Thompson
SOPRANO | BRÜNNHILDE
TENOR | MIME
Elena Pankratova was the first Russian dramatic soprano to perform in the 140-year history of the Bayreuth Festival, where between 2016 and 2019 she appeared as Kundry in Parsifal (released on DVD & Blu-ray by Deutsche Grammophon) and – from 2019 onwards – as Ortrud in Lohengrin. For her remarkable achievements and her extraordinary stage presence – as Kundry in Bayreuth and Dyer’s Wife at the Berlin State Opera – the soprano was awarded the ‘Casta Diva’ award as best female singer of the year in 2018. Her repertoire includes Odabella (Attila), Leonora (La forza del destino), Leonora (Il trovatore), Amelia (Un ballo in maschera), Abigaille (Nabucco), Leonore (Fidelio), Turandot, Elektra, Tosca, Norma, Ariadne, Senta and Sieglinde. Elena Pankratova has received praise for her interpretations of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at the Kioi Hall in Tokyo, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14 in Munich, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in Frankfurt, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the MITO Festival in Turin and at the Beijing Music Festival, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Marseille, as well as Tove in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan in 2019. Elena will reprise the role of Brünnhilde in the Orchestra’s complete Ring Cycles under Jurowski in January/February 2021.
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London-born Adrian Thompson is an artist of extraordinary versatility with a wide-ranging opera, concert and recital repertoire. He trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he is now a professor of vocal studies. Operatic credits include the title role in Peter Grimes, Monostatos in The Magic Flute, Skuratov in From the House of the Dead and Canio in Pagliacci (Frankfurt); Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Teatro alla Scala); Mao in Nixon in China and First Jew in Salome (Canadian Opera Company); Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier (Royal Opera House); Rev. Adams in Peter Grimes (Geneva); the title role in The Diary of One Who Disappeared (Aix-en-Provence); Mr Upfold in Albert Herring, Triquet in Eugene Onegin and School Teacher in The Cunning Little Vixen (Glyndebourne); and Monostatos at English National Opera and Opéra National du Rhin. Recent engagements include Judith Weir’s In the Land of Uz at the BBC Proms; Scribe (Khovanshchina) and Shapkin (From the House of the Dead) for Welsh National Opera; Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro) with Irish National Opera; and Bardolfo (Falstaff) and Monostatos for Garsington Opera, as well as Monostatos for Scottish Opera. Engagements in 2019/20 include Emperor in a new production of Turandot for the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; and Snout (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at The Grange Festival. Adrian sang the role of Mime in the LPO’s performance of Das Rheingold under Vladimir Jurowski in January 2018, and will return to the role for the Orchestra’s complete Ring Cycles in January/February 2021.
Elena Pankratova © Vitaly Zapryagaev – Adrian Thompson © © Grzegorz Monkiewicz
A combination of musical sensitivity, superlative technique and strong stage presence marks Elena Pankratova out from among a new generation of dramatic sopranos. The spectacular success of her first Dyer’s Wife in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten under Zubin Mehta at the 2010 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival proved an important breakthrough in her career, and led to invitations from such renowned opera houses as La Scala, Milan; the Teatro Colón; the Bayerische Staatsoper; the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; the Vienna State Opera; the Mariinsky Theatre; the Semperoper Dresden; and the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden.
Robert Hayward
Brindley Sherratt
B ASS -B ARITONE | ALBERICH
B ASS | FAFNER
Robert Hayward made his professional opera debut singing the title role in Don Giovanni for Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1986.
Robert Hayward © Bogdan Frymorgen – Brindley Sherratt © Sussie Ahlberg
He has performed at the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Frankfurt Opera, Stuttgart Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opera North, Scottish Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, in a wide repertoire including Wotan in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Amfortas (Parsifal), Telramund (Lohengrin), Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde), Jochanaan (Salome), Iago (Otello), Scarpia (Tosca), Marcello (La bohème), Escamillo (Carmen), Tomsky (The Queen of Spades), Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress), Mandryka (Arabella), Golaud (Pelléas et Mélisande), Prince Ivan Khovansky (Khovanshchina), Simone (Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy), and the title roles in Eugene Onegin, Don Giovanni, Mazeppa, Der fliegende Holländer, Falstaff and Macbeth. Recent and forthcoming operatic engagements include Fidelio, Moses und Aron and Khovanshchina for Welsh National Opera; The Makropulous Case, Tosca, Peter Grimes, Die Walküre, Andréa Chenier, Frank Maurrant in Weill’s Street Scene, Jochanaan and Scarpia for Opera North; Jupiter (Orpheus in the Underworld), The Caller (Harrison Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus) and the Chief of Police (Iain Bell’s Jack the Ripper) for ENO; Vodnik (Rusalka) for Garsington Opera; Jochanaan for Northern Ireland Opera; the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle and Telramund for Frankfurt Opera; La damnation de Faust for the Staatstheater Stuttgart; the title role in Mazeppa and Moses (Moses und Aron) for the Komische Oper Berlin; the title role in Falstaff for The Grange Festival; and Bluebeard’s Castle for Scottish Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and in concert with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Robert sang the role of Alberich in the LPO’s performance of Das Rheingold under Vladimir Jurowski in January 2018, and will return to the role for the Orchestra’s complete Ring Cycles in January/February 2021.
Born in Lancashire, bass Brindley Sherratt studied at the Royal Academy of Music, of which he is now a Fellow and Visiting Professor. He appears regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, most recently as Judas in Elgar’s The Apostles under Martyn Brabbins in October 2019. In January 2019 he sang Fafner in the Orchestra’s performance of Das Rheingold, and he will reprise the role in the Orchestra’s complete Ring Cycles in January/February 2021. Other opera highlights in Brindley’s 2019/20 season include Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni) for The Royal Opera; Bartolo (Le nozze de Figaro) and Geronte di Revoir (Manon Lescaut) for the Metropolitan Opera; Doktor (Wozzeck) for the Aix-en-Provence Festival; and Pimen (Boris Godunov) for his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. On the concert platform he sings Marke (Tristan und Isolde) with the Spanish National Orchestra under David Afkham; Rocco (Fidelio) with the Hallé under Mark Elder; Valens (Theodora) with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen; Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the CBSO under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla; and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Richard Farnes. In demand on the concert platform, Brindley Sherratt has appeared at the Bregenz, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Salzburg and Three Choirs festivals, and at the BBC Proms. He works regularly with leading orchestras and conductors: recent engagements have included the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House with Antonio Pappano; the Philharmonia Orchestra with Andrew Davis; the Hallé with Mark Elder; the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Harding; the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with Harry Bicket; the Monteverdi Choir with John Eliot Gardiner; the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen with Louis Langrée.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9
© Anna Thorbjörnsson
Anna Larsson
Alina Adamski
ME Z ZO -SOPRANO | ERDA
SOPRANO | WOODBIRD
Globally renowned for her interpretations of Mahler, Swedish mezzo-soprano Anna Larsson has worked with the greatest Mahler conductors of our time including Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Harding, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Lorin Maazel and Kurt Masur. On the operatic stage, she is a distinguished Wagnerian and her roles include Erda, Waltraute, Kundry and Brangäne, for which she is regularly in demand. She built and inaugurated the Vattnäs Concert Barn in Sweden, which has been the stage for many community projects including a world premiere. She is an intellectual and vocal commentator and ambassador for the future of opera and classical music. In 2014 she was awarded the Royal Medal ‘Litteris et Artibus’ from the King of Sweden. Recent highlights include Suor Angelica at the Norwegian National Opera and Waltraute in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung in Budapest, as well as Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Beethoven’s Mass in C with the LA Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Engagements this season include Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried with the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and Jezibaba in Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Dutch National Opera, and performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in Stockholm, Madrid and New Zealand, where she will perform with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Anna sang the role of Erde in the LPO’s performance of Das Rheingold under Vladimir Jurowski in January 2018. Please note change of artist to previously advertised.
10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
A recent graduate of the Opernstudio in Zürich, lyric coloratura soprano Alina Adamski completed her MA studies in voice at the Academy of Music in Łódź, and also studied at the Conservatorio di Musica F. Venezze i Rovigo, Italy. This season includes performances of Helmut Lachenmann’s The Little Match Girl at the Opernhaus Zürich and Gilda in Rigoletto for Oper Frankfurt. Recent roles include Sandrina in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera and Amanda in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre. She has performed the role of Queen of the Night at the Grand Theatre in Poznań and at the National Opera Theatre in Warsaw, and participated in the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival in 2017, where she performed in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor. Born to a Polish-German family in Leśnica, Alina is a PhD student at the Academy of Music in Łódź, and studies with Eytan Pessen at the Opera Academy of the National Opera Theatre, Warsaw. This is Alina’s debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She will return for the Orchestra’s complete Ring Cycles under Vladimir Jurowski in January/February 2021, singing the roles of Woglinde in Das Rheingold and Woodbird in Siegfried.
Rob Casey
Pierre Martin
LIGHTING DESIGNER
VIDEO DESIGNER
Lighting designer Rob Casey’s credits include Silent City (Matera: Capital of Culture); Al Atal (National Theatre of Kuwait); Vespers of 1610, Silver Birch (Garsington Opera); Gianni Schicchi, Les mamelles de Tirésias (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); The One, Blueberry Toast (Soho Theatre); The Grinning Man (Trafalgar Studios); The Soldier’s Tale (BBC Proms at Lincoln Drill Hall); The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, A Christmas Carol, Messiah, King Lear (Bristol Old Vic); Octopus Soup! (Belgrade Theatre); Old Vic Gala (The Brewery); National Theatre Gala (Olivier, National Theatre); Ariodante, Giove in Argo (Britten Theatre); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Honk! (Guildford School of Acting); I and the Village (Theatre503); Sister Act (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre); and Ravi Shankar Workshop (Royal Opera House). Rob’s associate credits for the National Theatre include Bat Out of Hell (& Germany/US Tour); Pericles, wonder.land (& Paris); and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (& West End/New York/US/ UK Tour). Other associate credits include Hugh Jackman World Tour and The Jungle (Playhouse Theatre and The Curran, San Francisco).
Pierre Martin was born in northern France and studied contemporary French literature, communication and journalism before becoming a video designer. His designs focus on the relationship between text, image, typography and graphic design. With the theatre company Si vous pouviez lécher mon coeur, he created Les Particules élémentaires (2013), based on Michel Houellebecq’s book and directed by Julien Gosselin for the Avignon Festival. His recent credits for Gosselin include video designs for an adaptation of Bolaño’s 2666 for the 2016 Avignon Festival. In 2018 he created video design for Don DeLillo’s marathon for the Avignon Festival, and he recently designed the video for Vallende Man, a new piece based on DeLillo’s novel with Internationaal Theater Amsterdam. Pierre has also designed video for Tiphaine Raffier (La Chanson, Dans le Nom and France-fantôme) and for his own projects such as Palermo-Napoli, a textprojected performance about the life of the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana. With Ted Huffman he has created video for operas in London, Amsterdam and Philadelphia. With 4.48 Psychosis, they won the Achievement in Opera award at the 2016 UK Theatre Awards. Pierre made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra last January, as video designer for the Orchestra’s performance of Wagner’s Die Walküre at Royal Festival Hall. He has just finished directing two short films: Science & Hypothesis and General Relativity.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11
Today’s performance Siegfried: Opera in three acts Premiere: Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, 1876 Composer Librettist
Richard Wagner Richard Wagner
Conductor
Vladimir Jurowski
Siegfried Wanderer Brünnhilde Mime Alberich Fafner Erda Woodbird
Torsten Kerl Evgeny Nikitin Elena Pankratova Adrian Thompson Robert Hayward Brindley Sherratt Anna Larsson Alina Adamski
Lighting Designer Video Designer Assistant Conductor Music Staff Deputy Stage Manager Costume Supervisor Hair & make-up Surtitles
Rob Casey Pierre Martin Martin Pickard Peter Selwyn Jo Harris Kitty Callister Annabelle Miller Created by Simon Rees Operated by Sophie Rashbrook
Siegfried: Approximate timings Act I
75 minutes
Interval
30 minutes
Act II
70 minutes
Interval
75 minutes
Act III
90 minutes
Please note that interval durations will be strictly adhered to and latecomers will not be re-admitted.
12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
With thanks to the LPO’s Ring Cycle Syndicate Patrons: The Candide Trust Sir Simon & Lady Robey An anonymous donor Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley Hamish & Sophie Forsyth The Metherell Family David & Yi Buckley Peter & Fiona Espenhahn Peter & Lucy Noble
Siegfried at a glance
Richard Wagner © Royal College of Music, London
The third opera in Wagner’s four-part Ring Cycle, Siegfried is the coming-of-age story of the ultimate hero and his role in the struggle for supreme power, which is embodied by the magic ring introduced in Das Rheingold. Siegfried is an unusual hero by any standard: he is portrayed as an impetuous teenager who knows no fear, and Wagner made little attempt to make him likeable in a conventional sense. While characters from earlier parts of the saga return in
Siegfried, the emphasis is clearly on the eponymous human hero and, eventually, on Brünnhilde in her mortal incarnation. Wotan, leader of the gods, appears as well, but in the distinctly human shape of the Wanderer. The opera’s earthly ambience is also represented in its focus on nature: there are references to animals and their behaviour in the libretto, and the sublimely lyrical depiction of the forest landscape in Act II is among Wagner’s most striking achievements.
The creator
The music
Richard Wagner (1813–83) was the complex, controversial creator of music-drama masterpieces that continue to be performed by all the world’s greatest opera houses. Born in Leipzig, Germany, he was an artistic revolutionary who reimagined every supposition about music and theatre. Wagner wrote his own libretti and insisted that words and music were equal in his works. This approach led to the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk or ‘total work of art’, combining music, poetry, architecture, painting and other disciplines, a notion that has had an impact on creative fields far beyond traditional operatic territory.
Much of the drama of Siegfried is expressed by the orchestra: Wagner’s system of leitmotifs (characteristic themes associated with a character, object or emotion) that was begun in Das Rheingold and elaborated in Die Walküre is taken to a new level here as events and ideas overlap and evolve. The orchestra creates one of the most delicate and enchanting soundscapes in opera—the evocative Forest Murmurs in Act II. The preponderance of male voices throughout most of the work, including three bass roles, creates a dark and murky atmosphere appropriate to the setting of forest caves throughout the first half of the work. This gloom is scattered by the bright soprano voice of the Woodbird, which emerges from the Forest Murmurs. Her melody recalls the music of the Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold and evokes a sense of unsullied nature. The vocal demands of this opera are extreme even by Wagner’s monumental standards. The title role is especially daunting, both for its sheer length and for encompassing an astonishing range of dynamics—from the heroic, to the reflective, to the tender and romantic. Wagner makes ingenious (if spare, in terms of time) use of female voices in Siegfried: the extremes are covered by the deep-voiced Erda (the Earth Mother) in Act III and the graceful lyricism of the Woodbird. But the complete feminine principle remains unexplored until the final half-hour of the opera, when Siegfried awakes the sleeping Brünnhilde. The two then share one of the most exciting love duets in opera, a carefully constructed surge of sound and emotion that leads to a tremendous musical and dramatic climax.
The setting Siegfried is set in mythical times, when gods and other creatures contend for dominion over the Earth while humans are emerging as a new power. No location is specified in the libretto, but the Teutonic mythology on which Wagner based his story and the significance of the Rhine River in the epic suggest a Germanic setting.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13
Synopsis Act I In his cave in the forest, the dwarf Mime forges a sword for his foster son Siegfried. He hates Siegfried but hopes that the boy will kill the dragon Fafner, who guards the Nibelungs’ treasure, so that Mime can take the all-powerful ring from it. Siegfried arrives and smashes the new sword, raging at Mime’s incompetence. Having realised that he can’t be the dwarf’s son, as there is no physical resemblance between them, he demands to know who his parents were. For the first time, Mime tells Siegfried how he found his mother, Sieglinde, in the woods, who died giving birth to him. When he shows Siegfried the fragments of his father’s sword, Nothung, Siegfried orders Mime to repair it for him and rushes out. As Mime sinks down in despair, a stranger enters. It is Wotan, lord of the gods, in human disguise as the Wanderer. He challenges the fearful Mime to a riddle competition, in which the loser forfeits his head. The Wanderer easily answers Mime’s three questions
about the Nibelungs, the giants, and the gods. Mime in turn knows the answers to the traveller’s first two questions but gives up in terror when asked who will repair the sword Nothung. The Wanderer admonishes Mime for enquiring about faraway matters when he knows nothing about what closely concerns him. Then he departs, leaving the dwarf’s head to ‘him who knows no fear’ and who will re-forge the magic blade. When Siegfried returns demanding his father’s sword, Mime tells him that he can’t repair it. He vainly tries to explain the concept of fear to the boy and, in order to teach him, proposes a visit to Fafner’s cave. Siegfried agrees and enthusiastically begins to forge the sword himself. While he works, Mime prepares a sleeping potion to give to Siegfried once he has killed Fafner. Flashing the finished sword, Siegfried smashes the anvil in half and runs off into the forest.
Interval: 30 minutes
Act II The same night, Mime’s brother Alberich is hiding by the entrance to Fafner’s cave, obsessed with winning back the ring for himself. The Wanderer enters and tells the Nibelung to watch out for Mime. He then wakes Fafner and warns him that a young hero is on his way to kill him. Unimpressed, the dragon goes back to sleep. As Dawn breaks, Mime and Siegfried arrive. Caught up in the peaceful beauty of the woods, Siegfried thinks about his parents. He tries to imitate the song of a bird on a reed pipe but fails and blows his horn instead. This awakens Fafner, and in the ensuing fight Siegfried
Interval: 75 minutes
14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
kills the dragon. With his dying words, Fafner warns the boy of the destructive power of the treasure. When Siegfried accidentally touches a drop of Fafner’s blood to his lips, he suddenly understands the singing of the bird, which directs him to the gold in the cave. Alberich and Mime appear quarrelling but withdraw as Siegfried returns with the ring and the Tarnhelm. The bird warns Siegfried not to trust Mime, and when the dwarf offers him the potion, Siegfried kills him. The bird then tells Siegfried of a beautiful woman named Brünnhilde, asleep on a mountain surrounded by fire. He sets out to find her.
Act III High on a mountain pass, the Wanderer summons Erda, goddess of the Earth, to learn the gods’ fate. She evades his questions, and he resigns himself to the impending end of the gods’ reign. His hope now rests with Brünnhilde and Siegfried. When Siegfried approaches, making fun of the god whom he takes for a simple old man, the Wanderer attempts to block his path. With a stroke of his sword, Siegfried shatters the Wanderer’s spear—the same spear that smashed Nothung to pieces years before. Defeated, the Wanderer retreats.
Siegfried reaches the mountaintop where Brünnhilde sleeps. Never having seen a woman before, he thinks he has discovered a man. When he removes Brünnhilde’s armour, he is overwhelmed by the sight of her beauty and finally realises the meaning of fear. Mastering his emotions, he awakens her with a kiss. Hailing the daylight, Brünnhilde is overjoyed to learn that it is Siegfried who has brought her back to life. She tries to resist his declarations of passion, realising that earthly love must end her immortal life, but finally gives in and joins Siegfried in praise of love.
Synopsis reprinted courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
Wagner on the LPO Label Die Walküre, Act I
Orchestral excerpts
LPO-0092 | £7.99
from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Rienzi, Götterdämmerung, Die Walküre & Tannhäuser LPO-0003 | £9.99
Klaus Tennstedt conductor René Kollo tenor (Siegmund) Eva-Maria Bundschuh soprano (Sieglinde) John Tomlinson bass (Hunding) London Philharmonic Orchestra
Klaus Tennstedt conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra Recorded by BBC Radio 3 live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 20 August 1992.
Recorded live at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London, on 7 and 10 October 1991.
CDs available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the Southbank Centre shop, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets. Download or stream online via Primephonic, Idagio, Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify and others.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15
Programme note
I
n May of 1857, Richard Wagner wrote to his friend and patron Julie Ritter: Although I completed only the first act of Siegfried this winter, it has turned out better than I could ever have expected. It was completely new ground for me. Now that this act has turned out as it has, I am convinced that Young Siegfried will be my most popular work, spreading quickly and successfully, and drawing all the other dramas after it … But it seems increasingly probable that the first performance of the whole thing will not take place before 1860.
As things turned out, the first performance of the ‘whole thing’—Wagner’s four-part cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen—did not take place until 1876. The orchestration of Siegfried was not completed until February of 1871, after one of the most troubling gestations in the history of music. It all started in the autumn of 1848, when Wagner wrote ‘The Nibelung Myth as Sketch for a Drama’, a short plot outline based on his own reweaving of ancient Germanic and Norse myths. His tale of the rise and fall of the gods, the origins of the hero Siegfried (‘the most perfect human being’), and Siegfried’s union
with Brünnhilde eventually grew from one opera to four. By 1857, Wagner had completed the libretto to the entire cycle and composed the music to the first two operas, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. But only a month after his letter to Julie Ritter, Wagner informed another friend, the composer Franz Liszt: I have finally decided to abandon my obstinate attempts to complete my Nibelungs. I have led my young Siegfried into the beautiful forest of solitude; there I have left him beneath a linden tree and have said farewell to him with tears of heartfelt sorrow: He is better there than anywhere else. Wagner—as usual—was in desperate need of money, and the publisher who had agreed to buy the score to Siegfried and the last opera of the cycle, Götterdämmerung, had withdrawn the offer. Wagner explained to Liszt: And so, I am now resolved upon a course of selfhelp. I have conceived a plan to complete Tristan und Isolde without further delay; its modest dimensions will facilitate a performance of it, and I shall produce it in Strasbourg a year from today … I am thinking of having this work translated
Image © Alamy
Richard and Cosima Wagner with Franz Liszt and writer Hans von Wolzogen at the Wagners’ home in Bayreuth.
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into Italian and offering it to the theatre in Rio de Janeiro … I shall dedicate it to the emperor of Brazil … and I think there should be enough pickings from all this to enable me to be left in peace for a while. It was a mad plan and, like many of Wagner’s attempts to make money, came to nothing. Wagner had not yet finished the prose sketch for Tristan, to say nothing of the actual libretto or the music. His original idea ‘of leaving Siegfried alone for a year, in order to give myself some relief in writing a Tristan und Isolde’ (as he told Ritter in July 1857) eventually stretched to 12 years. During that time, he not only finished Tristan, but revised his opera Tannhäuser for Paris and wrote Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg as well. Bavaria’s new king, Ludwig II, took the throne in 1864 and became Wagner’s patron. Wagner also began an affair with Liszt’s daughter Cosima while she was still married to the conductor Hans von Bülow. Wagner and Cosima eventually married, but not before setting off a major scandal in Munich that threatened his standing with the King. More than once during this chaotic 12-year hiatus, Wagner turned back to Siegfried, but it was not until February 1869 that he ‘put the finishing strokes to the second act’, as he informed King Ludwig. By September, he had completed the music to Act III, but to avoid a performance of the work being given in Munich (as had happened to the first two operas in the Ring, very much against his will), he delayed finishing the orchestration until February 1871, making excuse after excuse to the King. There are numerous logical external reasons that kept Wagner from doing any significant work on Siegfried for 12 years, but more than likely the true reason for the postponement lay within Wagner himself. Deep in his psyche, he undoubtedly realised that he needed to gain a more complete mastery of his compositional style before writing the music for the great confrontation between Siegfried and Wotan, or Siegfried’s awakening of Brünnhilde. Siegfried is the comic opera of the Ring, but it is also the great turning point of the entire cycle, where Wotan, whose concerns dominated the first two operas, gives way to Siegfried and Brünnhilde. As Wagner wrote to his good friend August Röckel:
Siegfried awakens Brünnhilde: line engraving after Otto von Richter (1828–1911). Following his farewell to Brünnhilde [at the end of Die Walküre], Wotan is in truth no more than a departed spirit. True to his supreme resolve, he must now allow events to take their own course, leave things as they are, and nowhere interfere in any decisive way. That is why he has now become the ‘Wanderer’: observe him closely! He resembles us to a tee; he is the sum total of present-day intelligence, whereas Siegfried is the man of the future whom we desire and long for but who cannot be made by us, since he must create himself on the basis of our own annihilation. Of all the major characters in the Ring, Siegfried is probably the one who has been most misunderstood. Siegfried is not a badly socialised adult; he is a teenager – boisterous one minute, brooding and introspective the next. Emotionally, he’s more on a par with Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro or Octavian in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier than with Wagner’s Tristan or Siegmund. His only influence, other than nature itself (which he reveres) has been Mime, an evil, manipulative dwarf who plans to use Siegfried to kill Fafner and regain the Nibelung treasure. ‘Even speech I’d scarcely have mastered, had I not wrung it out of [you]’, Siegfried tells him, which tells us just how caring Mime has been. Continued overleaf London Philharmonic Orchestra | 17
Programme note continued
Like most mythic heroes, Siegfried does not know his true parents, has never experienced their nurturing love, and has been forced to trust his own, inner instinct for survival. This instinct has made him hungry for knowledge, distrustful of Mime, and it is this instinct that leads him to melt down the fragments of his father’s sword to re-forge it into his own, rather than trying to patch them together with solder as Mime has tried to do. ‘I’ve grown as old as cave and wood but never saw the like!’, Mime mutters as he watches Siegfried at work. Psychologically, it’s a masterstroke on Wagner’s part to show Siegfried forging his own manhood (of which the sword is a symbol) rather than simply accepting someone else’s sword (identity) and using it as his own, as his father, Siegmund, did in Die Walküre. Siegmund simply accepted Wotan’s sword, so when he tried to use it in opposition to Wotan’s wishes, it broke. But when Siegfried uses it against the Wanderer in Act III, he is successful because the sword is no longer borrowed from Wotan – Siegfried has made it his own. He has become his own man, a hero. And that is why he can easily pass through the magical fire surrounding the sleeping Brünnhilde, awaken her, and claim her as his mate. It is through Wagner’s astonishing music that we can truly intuit the complex truth of his characters. While working on Siegfried, Wagner wrote to Liszt: Only in the course of composing the music does the essential meaning of my poem [the libretto] dawn on me: secrets are continually being revealed to me that had previously been hidden from me. In this way, everything becomes much more passionate and more urgent. For Siegfried’s exuberant Act I entrance and laughter, Wagner wrote scampering quavers that eventually climb to a high C. But only a few minutes later, Siegfried’s music is tender as he speaks of the birds in the forest, and it becomes filled with longing when he thinks of his mother’s death. At the moment when Mime finally shows Siegfried the pieces of his father’s sword, Wagner tells us unmistakably what a significant event this is: the very sound of the orchestra instantly becomes brighter. A listener does not need to intellectually know that the trumpet plays the musical motif associated with the sword, countered by the motif representing Siegfried’s youthful strength 18 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
in the strings, in order to emotionally experience the great burst of energy and enthusiasm that explodes from the orchestra at that moment. It’s the perfect depiction of Siegfried suddenly understanding, deep inside, that this is what he needs to take the next step in life. The music of the first two acts is dominated by the dark sound of the lower instruments in the orchestra. Act I takes place in Mime’s cave deep in the woods. Act II is set next to Fafner’s cave in another part of the forest. Until we meet the Woodbird towards the end of Act II, all the singers are male. This means that Wagner’s musical palate has been largely the equivalent of a late Rembrandt self-portrait—predominantly dark but filled with subtle hues. So when Siegfried defeats the Wanderer and climbs the mountain to find Brünnhilde, the change in Wagner’s music is nothing less than astonishing. It’s the equivalent of stepping outside and taking a deep breath of fresh, clean air after being in a cramped room. The sound of the orchestra changes as the woodwinds, violins and harps (Wagner asks for six of them) become more prominent. The higher Siegfried climbs, the higher and more transparent the music becomes, until he finally reaches the summit and only the first violins are playing, their music going still higher up the scale. ‘He looks around for a long time in astonishment’, the stage directions say, and just as the violins approach a sustained C above high C, four trombones – very softly – sound the three chords that make up the fate motif, the same three chords that accompanied Wotan’s standing in the very spot where his grandson now stands. At the end of Die Walküre, Wotan stopped to look back with infinite regret at the sleeping Brünnhilde. Now, Siegfried stands in wonder, filled with awe and eagerness to continue his heroic journey. Programme note © Paul Thomason
Recommended recordings by Laurie Watt Wagner: Siegfried Soloists | Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Georg Solti (Decca) or Soloists | Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Jaap van Zweden (Naxos)
Continue the journey ...
WAGNER’s complete Ring Cycle with Vladimir Jurowski January/February 2021 Join us as we reach the end of a remarkable three-year journey with two star-studded semi-staged complete Ring Cycles at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. Ring Cycle 1 Das Rheingold Die Walküre Siegfried Götterdämmerung
Mon 25 Jan 2021 Wed 27 Jan 2021 Fri 29 Jan 2021 Sun 31 Jan 2021
7.00pm 5.00pm 4.00pm 3.00pm
Ring Cycle 2 Das Rheingold Die Walküre Siegfried Götterdämmerung
‘Jurowski’s Wagner is fit for the gods … Jurowski and the London Philharmonic on fine form had as much to say as many a fullystaged production.’
Fri 5 Feb 2021 Sat 6 Feb 2021 Mon 8 Feb 2021 Wed 10 Feb 2021
7.00pm 4.00pm 4.00pm 3.00pm
The Financial Times
On sale now For full cast information and booking, visit lpo.org.uk/ringcycle or call the LPO Ticket Office on 020 7840 4242. Support us as we realise this bold project and enjoy an enhanced concert experience. Include an add-on donation with your order. Visit lpo.org.uk/ringcycle or call 020 7840 4212 for more details.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 19
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.
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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 21
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 Anonymous donors 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 An anonymous donor 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
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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.
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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 CBE 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 CBE AM Laurence Watt Elizabeth Winter
General Administration Timothy Walker CBE 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 Fabio Sarlo Glyndebourne and Projects Manager 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
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
Sarah Holmes Librarian
Marketing Kath Trout Marketing Director
Sarah Thomas Librarian
Mairi Warren Marketing Manager
Laura Kitson Stage Manager
Alexandra Lloyd Projects and Residencies Marketing Manager
Stephen O’Flaherty Stage Manager Damian Davis Transport Manager Hannah Verkerk Orchestra Co-ordinator and Auditions Administrator
24 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
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 Design: Ross Shaw @JMG Studio Illustration: Brett Ryder/Heart Agency Printer Cantate