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 6 November 2019 | 7.30pm
Elgar Overture: Froissart, Op. 19 (12’) Mozart Concerto in C for Flute and Harp, K299 (29’) Interval (20’) Alwyn Lyra Angelica: Concerto for harp and string orchestra* (28’) R Strauss Don Juan, Op. 20 (18’)
Lawrence Renes conductor Juliette Bausor flute Xavier de Maistre harp * Generously supported by the William Alwyn Foundation.
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 LPO Ring Cycle 2021 3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 Lawrence Renes 7 Juliette Bausor 8 Xavier de Maistre 9 Programme notes 11 Recommended recordings 12 Don Juan on the LPO Label 13 Sound Futures donors 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration
Welcome Just announced
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
Wagner’s 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. ‘Jurowski’s Wagner is fit for the gods … Jurowski and the London Philharmonic on fine form had as much to say as many a fully-staged production.’ The Financial Times 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
Fri 5 Feb 2021 Sat 6 Feb 2021 Mon 8 Feb 2021 Wed 10 Feb 2021
7.00pm 4.00pm 4.00pm 3.00pm
On sale now For full cast information and booking, visit lpo.org.uk 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 or call 020 7840 4212 for more details.
On stage tonight
First Violins Pieter Schoeman* Leader Chair supported by Neil Westreich
Kevin Lin Co-Leader Chair supported by The Candide Trust
Lasma Taimina Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler
Thomas Eisner Chair supported by the Chiltern Friends of the LPO
Martin Höhmann Sarah Streatfeild Yang Zhang Chair supported by Eric Tomsett
Tina Gruenberg Rebecca Shorrock Amanda Smith Nilufar Alimaksumova Katherine Waller Erzsébet Rácz Miranda Allen John Dickinson Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan
Csilla Pogány Helena Smart Kate Birchall Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley
Nynke Hijlkema Joseph Maher Kate Cole Sioni Williams Sheila Law Alison Strange Caroline Sharp Jamie Hutchinson Emma Purslow
Violas Richard Waters Principal Robert Duncan Ting-Ru Lai Susanne Martens Chair supported by Gill & Garf Collins
Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Alistair Scahill Daniel Cornford Martin Wray Martin Fenn Sarah Malcolm Cellos Kristina Blaumane Principal Chair supported by Bianca & Stuart Roden
Leonardo Sesenna Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue David Lale Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Sue Sutherley Susanna Riddell Helen Rathbone Double Basses Kevin Rundell* Principal Sebastian Pennar Co-Principal George Peniston Laura Murphy Charlotte Kerbegian Lowri Morgan Colin Paris Cathy Colwell
Flutes Sue Thomas* Principal
Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal
Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp
Chair supported by Donors to the 2019 Gala Player Appeal
Emilia Zakrzewska Stewart McIlwham*
James Fountain Guest Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann
Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal
Trombones Mark Templeton* Principal Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton
Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday
David Whitehouse Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal
Cor Anglais Sue Böhling* Principal Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi
Clarinets Benjamin Mellefont Principal
Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal
Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra
Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE
Thomas Watmough Chair supported by Roger Greenwood
Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal
Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Chair supported by Sir Simon Robey
Chair supported by Andrew Davenport
Henry Baldwin Co-Principal Keith Millar
Gareth Newman Contrabassoon Simon Estell* Principal Horns John Ryan* Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Duncan Fuller
Harp Rachel Masters Principal * Holds a professorial appointment in London Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players
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 celebrate 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
Lawrence Renes conductor
The biggest share of praise, however, is due to conductor Lawrence Renes … the results are overwhelming.
© Claudine Grin
The Financial Times, January 2015 (George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Royal Swedish Opera)
Dutch-Maltese conductor Lawrence Renes is highly regarded in both the operatic and symphonic spheres, praised for his impeccable ability to balance orchestra and singers and for delivering performances of passion, nuance and style. He opened the 2019/20 season with a return to San Francisco Opera for Billy Budd, in Michael Grandage’s acclaimed production. Tonight’s concert is his third visit to the London Philharmonic Orchestra – his last appearance was in November 2017 when he stepped in for the late Stanisław Skrowaczewski to conduct Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 at Royal Festival Hall. Other highlights of this season include debuts with the Orchestre National de Lyon and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and returns to the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (on tour in South America), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (following a spectacular Verdi Requiem last season), Residentie Orkest, Tampere Philharmonic and Malta Philharmonic. Last season Lawrence performed frequently in Asia, including visits to Japan with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra. He then went on to premiere George Benjamin’s Written on Skin in China with the Beijing Music Festival and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and made his debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in an electric programme of Sibelius, Brahms and Richard Mills.
6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Other engagements in recent seasons include opera productions in Brussels, Seattle, Lisbon and Santa Fe; and symphonic appearances with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo; the Oslo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic and Seoul Philharmonic; and the Royal Scottish National, BBC Symphony, New Zealand Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony orchestras. Formerly Music Director of the Royal Swedish Opera, Lawrence’s repertoire there ranged from Mozart through to the 21st century. An energetic champion of contemporary repertoire, he is particularly associated with the music of John Adams, having conducted productions of Nixon in China at San Francisco Opera and Doctor Atomic at both English National Opera and De Nederlandse Opera — the DVD of the latter was named as one of the Ten Best Classical Recordings of the Year for 2008 in The New Yorker – but also with the music of George Benjamin, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Guillaume Connesson and Robin de Raaff.
Juliette Bausor flute
… Juliette Bausor’s flute-playing was mesmerising in its silken loveliness and magnetism…
© Julie Tinton
Classical Source, 23 January 2013 (Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the LPO, Lilli Paasikivi & Paul Groves under Mark Elder at Royal Festival Hall)
Juliette Bausor joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra in July 2016 as Principal Flute, having previously held the same position with both Royal Northern Sinfonia and London Mozart Players. Also a member of the celebrated chamber group Ensemble 360, ensemble in residence for Music in the Round at the Crucible in Sheffield, Juliette frequently appears as a recitalist at major venues and chamber music festivals, including recent performances at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Buxton, West Cork and Aldeburgh international festivals, as well as live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and BBC television. In 2016 she was invited to perform at the Spannungen Chamber Music Festival in Heimbach alongside acclaimed chamber musicians including Lars Vogt (piano), Jana Boušková (harp) and Kian Soltani (cello). She appears on two recently released chamber recordings: ‘Heatwave’, a CD of British trio music for flute, oboe and piano with Daniel Bates and Simon Lepper for Stone Records, and a Naxos release of chamber music by Stephen Dodgson with Karolos Ensemble. Other recent collaborations include performances with the Mobius Ensemble, Haffner Wind Ensemble, harpists Catrin Finch, Sally Pryce and Anneleen Lenaerts, and pianist Alasdair Beatson. Juliette began her studies with Anna Pope at the junior department of the Royal Academy of Music and the Purcell School of Music, before going on to study with Philippa Davies, Paul Edmund Davies and Samuel Coles at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She continued her tuition at the Conservatoire Nationale Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, with Sophie Cherrier and Vincent Lucas. Following early recognition in competitions – including reaching the Concerto Final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year and winning the Gold Medal in both the Shell LSO Competition and
the Royal Over-Seas League Competition – Juliette has performed as a concerto soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and London Mozart Players, among others. Success on an international scale is reflected in tours as both concerto soloist and recitalist around Europe and beyond, to Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand. In 2014 she was selected by the European Concert Hall Organisation as one of its Rising Stars, which has led to solo engagements in some of Europe’s most prestigious concert venues including the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Brussels BOZAR, Birmingham Town Hall, Budapest Palace of Arts, Vienna Musikverein, Stockholm Konserthus, L’Auditori Barcelona, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Sage Gateshead and London’s Barbican. Juliette’s debut recording of Nielsen and Mozart concertos, on the Signum label with Royal Northern Sinfonia conducted by Jaime Martín, was released to critical acclaim in 2016. She has since recorded the Mozart D major Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski, which will be released on the LPO’s own label later this month (LPO-0114). The all-Mozart disc also features the Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds and the Bassoon Concerto, performed by Juliette’s fellow LPO Principal players Jonathan Davies (bassoon), Ian Hardwick (oboe), John Ryan (horn) and Thomas Watmough (clarinet).
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7
Xavier de Maistre harp
Xavier de Maistre is a virtuoso of the highest order, profoundly musical and capable of realising a remarkable range of nuance. © Jean-Baptiste Millot
Gramophone
Xavier de Maistre is one of today’s leading harpists, and a profoundly creative musician. As a fierce champion of his instrument, he has broadened the harp repertoire, commissioning new works from composers and creating transcriptions of important instrumental repertoire, such as Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, K459. This musical vision has led him to work with conductors including André Previn, Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Kristjan Järvi, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Daniel Harding and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. He last appeared with the LPO in February 2017, when he performed Ginastera’s Harp Concerto on tour at the Philharmonie in Cologne under Andrés Orozco-Estrada. He has also been invited by orchestras such as the Chicago, Montreal, City of Birmingham and Finnish Radio symphony orchestras; the St Petersburg and China Philharmonic orchestras; the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. In his native France he has worked with the Orchestre de Paris; the national orchestras of France and Lyon; the Philharmonic orchestras of Radio France, Monte-Carlo, Montpellier, Lille and Nancy; and recitals at the Paris and Lille operas and in Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice, Poitiers and Avignon, among others. Parallel to his orchestral concerts, Xavier is passionate about chamber music and regularly puts together original recital projects. In 2019/20 he begins a new collaboration with tenor Rolando Villazón, with whom he will record a project of South American folk songs for Deutsche Grammophon over the coming season. They will perform at Moscow’s Zaryadye Hall, Oper Frankfurt, the Rheingau Music Festival, in Vienna, Prague, and a multi-city tour of Germany. Last season he worked
8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
with flamenco and castanet legend Lucero Tena in a programme of Spanish repertoire, touring Europe, Japan and China, performing at Hong Kong’s French May festival and releasing an album. This season Xavier takes up residency at the SchleswigHolstein Music Festival, giving more than 15 concerts during summer 2020. As a soloist he has been a frequent guest of many high-profile festivals, including Rheingau, Salzburger Festspielen, Wiener Festwochen, Verbier, Budapest Spring, Würzburg Mozartfest, and Mostly Mozart in New York. Xavier de Maistre has been an exclusive Sony Music artist since 2008, when he recorded his first album, Nuit d’Etoiles, dedicated to Debussy, which won an Echo Klassik Award as Instrumentalist of the Year. Recent releases have included a DVD of performances with Diana Damrau; his transcription of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19 with the Mozarteum Salzburg under Ivor Bolton; Moldau (2015), solo harp pieces by Slavic composers; and La Harpe Reine (2016) with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie. Born in Toulon, Xavier studied the harp with Vassilia Briano at his local conservatoire, before perfecting his technique with Catherine Michel and Jacqueline Borot in Paris. He also studied in Sciences-Po Paris and then at the London School of Economics. In 1998 he was awarded First Prize at the prestigious USA International Harp Competition (Bloomington), and the same year became the first French musician to be admitted to the Vienna Philharmonic. He has taught at the Musikhochschule in Hamburg since 2001. Xavier plays a Lyon & Healy instrument.
Programme notes
Speedread Music – and the instruments with which we make it – is an extension of the human personality. All music tells a story, responds to its listeners and its players. How could it not? ‘The instrument reflects the mood, the mood determines the instrument’, said the British composer William Alwyn in 1956, but Mozart would have understood what he meant. Confronted with two very particular instruments, two very particular players and a French audience that expected a certain
Edward Elgar
stateliness, Mozart wrote a concerto perfectly tailored to delight them all. Strauss, Elgar and Alwyn lived in more liberated times. In each case, they started with a favourite piece of literature and an idea of a certain kind of personality. And then, using the instruments of the orchestra and their own gift for creating musical character, they brought them vividly, unforgettably to musical life.
Overture: Froissart, Op. 19
1857–1934
At the age of 33 Edward Elgar was just married, freed from his endless round of Worcestershire violin lessons, newly settled in London and determined to start making his name as a composer. He’d had some encouraging successes – a little love song to his new wife, Salut d’Amour, had been a hit at the Crystal Palace pops concerts. Local boy makes good: the music-lovers of Elgar’s native Worcester took note, and in April 1890 they invited Elgar to write an orchestral piece for that summer’s Three Choirs Festival. In five weeks flat, he completed his first full-length orchestral work – the concert overture Froissart, Op. 19. The subject is typical Elgar. The 12th-century French writer Jean Froissart was the great chronicler of the age of chivalry. Elgar knew that, but his memory was jogged by a reference to Froissart in Old Mortality, a novel by Walter Scott that he happened to be reading at the time. And then he headed the whole thing with a quote from Keats: ‘When Chivalry / Lifted up her lance on high’.
Yet the Overture doesn’t actually tell any particular story. It’s simply an evocation of an imagined age of knights, honour and courtly love. There’s an irresistible confidence about its brilliant opening – Elgar ‘brandishes his strings aloft’, as his biographer Percy Young put it. And then we’re off into a romantic dream, of a time when the call of trumpets and the clash of shield and lance was never far away, even in the tenderest moments. ‘With further thought and study, Mr Elgar will do good work’, commented one critic. And to be fair, how could he know that, 129 years later, its stirring opening, the grand sweep up to its finish, and the clarinet’s touching solo theme would all sound – to use a word that hadn’t even been invented – so utterly Elgarian?
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9
Programme notes continued
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756–91
About four minutes into the first movement of Mozart’s flute and harp concerto – just after Mozart has twice presented his elegant, bustling series of main themes, and is now getting down to the business of developing them – the music turns dark, and the orchestra slides away downwards. It’s as if Mozart is directing our ears towards the ground – where sure enough, over the next few moments we repeatedly hear the flute, at the very bottom of its register, playing deep, sustained notes while the harp continues its music-box dance up above. That passage isn’t just an intriguing musical technicality – it’s the Concerto’s whole raison d’être. Mozart had come to Paris in March 1778 convinced that he’d make his fortune; after all, the Parisians had lionized him back in the 1760s. But as he soon found out, nothing in Paris was as stale as the last decade’s fashion. Mozart quickly realised that he’d need to adapt to modern Parisian tastes if he was even to pay his bills. If that meant accepting commissions from
Concerto in C for Flute and Harp, K299 Juliette Bausor flute Xavier de Maistre harp 1 Allegro 2 Andantino 3 Rondeau: Allegro
a wealthy amateur flautist, the Comte de Guines, and his ‘magnifique’ harpist daughter, so be it. And if the Concerto had to give Monsieur Le Comte a chance to show off the distinctive low notes on his expensive new flute, Mozart was happy to oblige. The Concerto is written in the French taste – statelier, more sentimental, and more foursquare than we expect from Mozart. But he was writing for amateurs, after all, even if the Comte did ‘play the flute matchlessly’. The Concerto is designed to challenge without embarrassing them. Mozart knew that the sparkling, featherweight texture of the two solo instruments would do the rest. And Guines was suitably charmed; two months later, Mozart was his daughter’s private composition teacher. But he’d conveniently ‘forgotten’ to pay for the Concerto. ‘He must have thought: this is a young fellow and a stupid German besides’, fumed Mozart. He left Paris in September – as far as we know, unpaid.
Interval – 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER & FRIENDS Thursday 26 March 2020 | 7.30pm Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall Please note venue
Beethoven String Trio No. 5 Jörg Widmann Study on Beethoven (UK premiere)* Beethoven String Quartet No. 10 (Harp) * Commissioned by Anne-Sophie Mutter
Anne-Sophie Mutter violin Pieter Schoeman violin David Quiggle viola Kristina Blaumane cello London Philharmonic Orchestra
BOOK NOW AT LPO.ORG.UK OR CALL 020 7840 4242
Part of Southbank Centre’s International Chamber Music Series. All proceeds from this concert will be donated to Crisis, the national charity for homeless people.
10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
William Alwyn 1905–85
Alongside its historic shoemakers and the model train magnate Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke, turn-ofthe-century Northampton produced three strikingly individual composers: Malcolm Arnold, Edmund Rubbra and William Alwyn. The son of a Shakespeare-loving grocer, Alwyn joined the London Symphony Orchestra as a flautist, but after playing under Elgar’s baton in 1927 he became increasingly convinced that his true vocation was as a composer. In the 1940s he emerged as a leading figure in British film music, scoring such classic pictures as The Winslow Boy and Odd Man Out, and by the late 1950s he had established himself in the concert hall with four powerful symphonies. Alwyn never saw music in isolation; he branched out into painting (he collected pre-Raphaelites long before they became fashionable), sculpture and literature, with a particular passion for the Metaphysical poets of the 17th century. It was to literature that he turned in 1954 when the BBC approached him to write a concerto for the harpist Sidonie Goossens. ‘The medium intrigued me’, he recalled. ‘How to preserve the character of the instrument, but at the same time, say something new and worth saying? The result of my meditations was an extended work consisting of four elegiac movements, each bearing an appropriate quotation from the 17thcentury epic poem by Giles Fletcher, Christ’s Victorie and Triumph. Alwyn scored the Concerto for strings – reducing any risk of the orchestra overpowering the more delicate harp, and allowing the solo instrument scope to explore its own personality with (as the title implies) a particular emphasis on its traditional role as the instrument closest to the angels. The four movements are headed:
Lyra Angelica Concerto for harp and string orchestra Xavier de Maistre harp 1 Adagio 2 Adagio, ma non troppo 3 Moderato 4 Allegro jubiloso
1 2 3 4
I looke for angels’ songs, and hear Him crie. Ah! who was He such pretious perills found? And yet, how can I leave Thee singing goe, When men incens’d with hate Thy death foreset? How can such joy as this want words to speak?
Lyra Angelica was premiered on the first night of the 1954 BBC Proms. Three decades later, Alwyn told his wife, the composer Doreen Carwithen, that he considered it the most beautiful of all his compositions.
Recommended recordings by Laurie Watt Elgar: Overture, Froissart London Philharmonic Orchestra | Leonard Slatkin (RCA) or London Philharmonic Orchestra | Adrian Boult (Warner Classics) Mozart: Concerto in C for Flute & Harp Magali Mosnier & Xavier de Maistre Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg | Ivor Bolton (Sony Classical) or Frank Theuns & Marjan de Haer | Anima Eterna Jos Van Immerseel (Alpha Classics) Alwyn: Lyra Angelica Osian Ellis (harp) | London Philharmonic Orchestra William Alwyn (Lyrita) R Strauss: Don Juan London Philharmonic Orchestra | Bernard Haitink (LPO Label LPO-0079: see page 12)
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11
Programme notes continued
Richard Strauss
Don Juan Tone-poem after Nikolaus Lenau, Op. 20
1864–1949
A rocketing flurry of strings, a cocksure fanfare, a crowning flourish – you don’t need to know the name of this piece to realise, within seconds, that we're in for swashbuckling adventure of the most breathless kind. Everyone’s heard of Don Juan – Casanova’s role-model, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and one of Johnny Depp’s most romantic roles. What kind of 24-year-old composer in 1889 would have the nerve to portray such a celebrated – and risqué – figure in music? Surely not Richard Strauss – the golden boy of Munich’s music scene, son of a famous horn player and the composer (so far) of respectable imitations of Brahms and Weber? Young Richard seemed to have grown up terribly suddenly. In Don Juan he took the colour, sensuousness and drama of Wagner's style and gave it the lean, classical energy of Brahms's best symphonic movements. And he did it with a brilliance, an impertinence, and a swaggering panache that were entirely his own. Don Juan was premiered on 11 November 1889 by the Weimar court orchestra. Someone asked Strauss whether he was a Wagnerian or a Brahmsian. ‘Neither’, he replied: ‘I’m a Selfian’.
Strauss took his hero from a drama of 1851 by the German poet Nikolaus Lenau. Lenau's Juan lives fast and dies young, and in Strauss’s final bars we hear him stabbed in a duel and breathing his last. But there's some sensational living to be done first. The great seducer springs immediately into action. A solo violin introduces his first conquest but the swirling, swooning love music soon yields to the next call to action; and the adventures continue until stopped in their tracks by Juan's one true love – a poignant melody for solo oboe. Juan hesitates, before rising to the challenge with a magnificent new theme: a ringing, virile call for all four horns. This is young man's music, after all. As Strauss himself told an orchestra that was about to play Don Juan: ‘Those of you who are married: play it as if you've just got engaged.’ But even as an upstart, a true artist sees further. Strauss’s final bars – a sudden, chilling, fade to black – are the work of a realist, not an escapist. Programme notes © Richard Bratby
On the LPO CD Label Strauss Don Juan Strauss Ein Heldenleben Bernard Haitink conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra Recorded live at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall.
£9.99 | LPO-0079
12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
CDs available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets. Download or stream via Spotify, Apple Music, Idagio and others.
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
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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 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 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
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Ms Elena Heinz Malcolm Herring Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle J Douglas Home Rose & Dudley Leigh 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 HooftGraafland 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 Lady Jane Cuckney OBE Mr David Devons 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 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) Kay Bryan (Australia) Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil (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) 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 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 Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-President Dr Catherine C. Høgel Vice-Chairman Henry Baldwin* Roger Barron David Buckley Bruno De Kegel Martin Höhmann* Al MacCuish Susanne Martens* 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 Sarah Thomas Librarians Christopher Alderton Stage Manager Damian Davis Transport Manager Hannah Verkerk Orchestra Co-ordinator and Auditions Administrator Laura Kitson Assistant Transport & Stage Manager
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. Elgar, Mozart & Strauss photographs courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. William Alwyn photograph © Bridgeman Images. Cover artwork Ross Shaw @JMG Studio Printer Cantate