LPO Tune In newsletter – Autumn/Winter 2011

tune in – Autumn / winter 2011 –

– ISSUE ONE – – AUTUMN / WINTER 2011 –

Prometheus, the fire-bringing god, is one of my lasting obsessions.

Vladimir Jurowski

2011/12 season launch

Education & COMMUNITY

Backstage

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Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski explores the myth of Prometheus

Exciting new partnerships inspiring the next generation of musicians

Meet Sue Bohling, the Orchestra’s Principal Cor Anglais

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The generosity of our Corporate Partners and Supporters is gratefully acknowledged:

Man of the people?

13 January – 1 February 2012 Get closer to Sergei Prokofiev A festival curated

by Vladimir Jurowski

Festival highlights include – Performances by Steven Osborne and Janine Jansen – The world première of an oratorio version of Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible – Free classical club night with Gabriel Prokofiev and Rambert Dance Company

lpo.org.uk/prokofiev Get closer to one of the most misunderstood men in 20th-century music

In-kind sponsors: Google Inc Heineken The Langham London Lindt und Sprüngli Ltd Villa Maria – 02 –

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WELCOME

W

elcome to the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2011/12 season. This is the first of a new revitalised format for our newsletter, Tune In, which will be published twice-yearly and which I hope will help you stay in touch with the Orchestra: the news, the events, the people and – of course – the music.

As well as a round-up of recent news and events – including the 2011 Glyndebourne season and our part in the London 2012 Olympic preparations – we look ahead to the first two concerts of the new season with Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski: a celebration of his Russian countryman Mussorgsky in the opening concert on 21 September, and a spectacular fusion of sound and light on 24 September. We’ve come to expect nothing less than the most inspiring programming from Vladimir, and this season is no exception: yet again we can enjoy being introduced to some fascinating new works by today’s most exciting living composers alongside enduring favourites of the repertoire. Our roll-call of guest soloists is also second to none: in the first half of the season alone we’ll enjoy performances by violinists Julia Fischer, Vadim Gluzman, Nicola Benedetti and Janine Jansen, pianist Maria João Pires, guitarist Craig Ogden and soprano Renée Fleming.

From FUNharmonics family concerts to schools’ events, our Education & Community team is always on the go, finding new ways to get more people involved in the Orchestra and deepening their enjoyment of the music.

The next few months are shaping up to be as busy as ever: on page 10 we find out about the new Animate Orchestra, made up of talented youngsters from our local boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham, and about the BrightSparks schools’ concerts which, with the generous support of Deutsche Bank, introduce over 15,000 local schoolchildren to the Orchestra each year.

Editor Rachel Fryer Publisher London Philharmonic Orchestra Printer Tradewinds Cover image Prometheus statue by Paul Manship in Rockefeller Plaza, New York © Kamran Shaukat / Alamy

– Timothy walker – Chief Executive and Artistic Director

I hope you will be able to join us, whether in London, elsewhere in the UK or further afield.

You may already have heard of LPO Contemporaries, our membership scheme for the city’s young professionals. On page 11 we find out more about the scheme and about recent musical and social events, as well as plans for the year ahead, and an insight into how their support benefits the Orchestra’s activities.

Of course, it’s the players that are at the heart of the Orchestra, and their highlights of the new season make interesting reading – turn to page 12 to meet a few of them and find out what they can’t wait to get their teeth into. In a new series of glimpses into backstage life, we also talk to Principal Cor Anglais Sue Bohling about life as a musician and what the Orchestra means to her (back cover).

If you haven’t already got a copy of our 2011/12 season brochure, turn to page 14 for listings for the autumn both at home and abroad, or browse the full season at lpo.org.uk. A great year lies ahead and I hope you will be able to join us, whether in London, elsewhere in the UK or further afield.

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Contents 2011/12 opening concerts 4 new & noteworthy 7 education news / LPO contemporaries 10/11 Concert listings 14/15 Backstage 16

lpo.org.uk/iphone

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, we cannot accept liability for any statement or error contained herein. © London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The paper used for printing this magazine has been sourced from responsibly managed forests, certified in accordance with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). It is manufactured to the ISO 14001 international standard, minimising negative impacts on the environment and is manufactured from pulp that has been bleached without the use of chlorine compounds using oxygen (elemental chlorine free), which are considered harmful to the environment.

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London philharmonic orchestra

2011/12 season opening concerts

Mussorgsky was the forerunner – the preparer, if you will – of modernity.

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Mussorgsky © Royal College of Music

Vladimir Jurowski © Chris Christodoulou

Vladimir Jurowski

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As the start of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2011/12 season approaches, we delve into the first two concert programmes to find out what’s in store ...

Mussorgsky © Royal College of Music

Vladimir Jurowski © Chris Christodoulou

T

he new season kicks off on Wednesday 21 September, when Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski presents a programme of music by Mussorgsky, together with that of 20th-century German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann and a brand new work by Jurowski’s fellow Russian, Alexander Raskatov.

Not the most obvious combination at first glance, but Jurowski explains the inspiration behind his choice of programme: ‘Mussorgsky was the forerunner – the preparer, if you will – of modernity. Debussy and Ravel wouldn’t be possible without Mussorgsky, and nor would Shostakovich. In this concert I hope we’ll show Mussorgsky as seen through the eyes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.’

The concert opens with one of Mussorgsky’s best-known works: the spine-tingling evocation of a witches’ Sabbath, Night on a Bare Mountain, followed by orchestrations of two of his pieces originally composed for piano – In the Village and On the Southern Shore of the Crimea. This is followed by the world première of Alexander Raskatov’s homage to Mussorgsky, A White Night’s Dream. Alfred Schnittke described Raskatov, who was born in 1953, as ‘one of the most interesting composers of his generation’, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Composer in Residence Julian Anderson explains: ‘The sounds are sometimes on the threshold of audibility, but there is something very passionate under the surface and that sometimes bursts out. You get these sudden explosions which grip you by the throat.’

Modest Mussorgsky

The concert will also feature Stille und Umkehr (‘Silence and Return’) by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, a German composer who died in 1970. Zimmermann was something of a tragic figure: while composing Stille und Umkehr he was confined to hospital during one of his many depressive episodes, and the work has frequently been interpreted as a cry of helplessness that foreshadowed Zimmermann’s suicide only a few months later. In Julian Anderson’s words, the still and slowly-shifting landscape of the 10-minute work ‘creates the most remarkable atmosphere and casts a real spell on the audience’. For percussion or trivia enthusiasts, Stille und Umkehr is also notable as one of only a few pieces in the orchestral repertoire to

include the musical saw, which is bowed and struck to create a distinctive and haunting metallic sound.

To conclude the concert on 21 September, legendary baritone Sergei Leiferkus is at home in his native Russian repertoire: Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death. This is a series of four songs based on Russian poems, each viewing death from a different perspective: from the tragedy of death in childhood to drunken misadventure. Originally written for baritone and piano, in this concert they will be given a fresh outing in a new orchestral accompaniment by Alexander Raskatov, which brings their dark and haunting undertones to life.

Before the concert, at 6pm, there is a free chamber performance of Mussorgsky’s colourful Pictures at an Exhibition by members of the 2011/12 Foyle Future Firsts programme, the Orchestra’s training scheme for talented young instrumentalists. The programme helps to bridge the transition between music college and the professional platform, giving 16 participants each year real ‘on-the-job’ experience of rehearsing and performing with a world-class orchestra. The performance is free and everyone is welcome – why not come along early and hear this year’s new intake in action? The performance will be conducted by Nicholas Collon in his first official appearance as Assistant Conductor to Vladimir Jurowski for the 2011/12 season – read more about his appointment on page 7.

Article continues overleaf

Full concert listings and booking information on page 14 – 05 –

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Lighting designer Lucy Carter

The climax of the 24 September concert is Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s rarely performed Prometheus, Poem of Fire.

Composed in 1910, this unique 20-minute work draws on Scriabin’s belief in the mystical and his interest in the interrelationship of the arts, which many believe incorporated a strong sense of synaesthesia. Prometheus, Poem of Fire is scored for piano, orchestra, wordless chorus and clavier à lumières or ‘colour organ’: an instrument that is played like a piano but instead of producing sound, projects coloured light that changes hue with the underlying key of the music, bathing the concert hall in a blaze of colours.

Although Scriabin was experimenting with such an instrument while he was writing Prometheus, there were no performances of the work including light in his lifetime. But in recent years there have been a number of attempts to realise his plan. The lighting for the 24 September concert has been choreographed by award-winning British lighting designer Lucy Carter. Carter has worked extensively in opera and ballet, including several collaborations with choreographer Wayne McGregor, and believes in light as an expressive medium

For more information about the first two concerts, and to hear soundclips, visit lpo.org.uk

Full concert listings and booking information on page 14

Tickets are priced £9–£39 (discounts for groups and concessions) and are available from the London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office on 020 7840 4242 or online at lpo.org.uk

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Glyndebourne © Alastair Muir – Nicholas Collon © Benjamin Ealovega

The second Royal Festival Hall concert, on Saturday 24 September, is inspired by the Greek myth of Prometheus: the god who stole fire from Zeus and brought it to mortals, and who has fascinated artists and composers for centuries. It features excerpts from Beethoven’s exhilarating ballet score The Creatures of Prometheus (whose familiar principal theme the composer later used in his ‘Eroica’ Symphony) as well as Liszt’s symphonic poem Prometheus. There’s also a chance to hear another new work: Julia Fischer will perform a piece for violin and orchestra by German composer Matthias Pintscher. Its title is Mar’eh, a Hebrew word meaning ‘face’ or ‘beautiful vision’ – or as the composer describes it, ‘something wonderful which suddenly appears before you’. Pintscher composed the work especially for Julia Fischer, explaining that ‘the title came to me when I thought of the fine lines which she can spin from her instrument, a constant materialising of new sounds out of nothing’. The work is a joint commission by the Lucerne Festival, Alte Oper Frankfurt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and will be premièred by the Orchestra and Julia Fischer at the Lucerne Festival on 11 September.

Matthias Pintscher © Priska Ketterer – Lucy Carter © Adrian Brooks

Matthias Pintscher, whose work Mar’eh is premièred on 24 September

in itself. In her words, she is ‘interested in making the members of the audience feel and experience colours and textures around them, adding a new layer of sensation.’ As Julian Anderson remarks of Scriabin’s work, ‘Even without the lighting, you can sense when you listen to the piece, this is music which you can feel has a colourful substance, is about lights flickering and changing; it’s about light and dark and different kinds of shade on the orchestra; the orchestra seems to be illuminated. It’s also a great opportunity for a multimedia spectacle. Scriabin really was the pioneer, along with Wagner, of what we would now call multimedia, in composing the lighting, composing the design of the music as well as the actual notes of the score. I think people are going to have a great time with this piece.’

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new & noteworthy

New assistant conductor

David McVicar’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, May 2011

Glyndebourne © Alastair Muir – Nicholas Collon © Benjamin Ealovega

Matthias Pintscher © Priska Ketterer – Lucy Carter © Adrian Brooks

GLYNDEBOURNE 2011 Each summer the Orchestra demonstrates its versatility when it moves from the concert hall to the opera house to spend four months accompanying the famous Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside.

It has been Resident Symphony Orchestra there for over 40 years, but this year’s new production of Wagner’s epic comedy Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg directed by David McVicar was by far the largest production ever mounted at Glyndebourne, with over 130 cast members squeezed onto the stage at one point!

Conducted by our Principal Conductor and Glyndebourne Music Director Vladimir Jurowski, and starring Gerald Finley and Marco Jentzsch, Die Meistersinger received a flood of 4- and 5-star reviews (see opposite).

The 26 June performance was also streamed online and live into cinemas for public screenings across the UK and Germany, and filmed for DVD release next year.

The Orchestra’s 2011 Glyndebourne season continued with productions of L’elisir d’amore, Rusalka and The Turn of the Screw.

‘Perhaps the greatest joy of this evening was in hearing Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra weaving so rich and detailed a narrative. The playing was at times extraordinarily beautiful with solo oboe and clarinet distilling and elevating so many special moments.’

Edward Seckerson, Independent on Sunday, 22 May 2011

‘Vladimir Jurowski conjured playing of mercurial clarity ... from the London Philharmonic Orchestra, sustained with unfailing vigilance and concentration. Can someone award them bonus pay?’

Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 29 May 2011

‘… the London Philharmonic, on exhilarating form under Vladimir Jurowski’s assured direction, matches the hero’s darkest hour with beautifully crafted dark timbres.’

Richard Morrison, The Times, 23 May 2011

We are delighted to announce that Nicholas Collon has been appointed Assistant Conductor to Vladimir Jurowski for the 2011/12 season. As Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the award-winning Aurora Orchestra, 28-year-old Nicholas has rapidly gained a remarkable reputation for his imaginative programming, which often combines challenging repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries with works from earlier eras, as well as other art forms.

He has worked with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the BBC Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony orchestras, London Sinfonietta, Britten Sinfonia and Sinfonia ViVa. This season marks his debuts with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and Munich Chamber Orchestra.

In his Assistant Conductor role, Nicholas will assist Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski throughout the season as well as taking to the podium with the Orchestra in Dorking and Eastbourne on 8 and 9 October, and at the FUNharmonics Family Concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 23 October. His first appearance of the season is on 21 September, when he conducts the Foyle Future Firsts in a free pre-concert performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Nicholas’s position is generously supported by an anonymous donor.

FIND OUT MORE nicholascollon.co.uk

foyle future firsts lpo.org.uk/futurefirsts

FIND OUT MORE glyndebourne.com

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New & noteworthy SÃO PAULO tour, November 2011 From 7–13 November, a group of 15 wind and brass soloists from the Orchestra will visit São Paulo in Brazil for a three-concert tour in collaboration with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) and Chorus. They will perform music by Gabrieli, Mozart and Bruckner with conductor Thomas Blunt.

This is a rare trip to South America for the Orchestra and we hope it will strengthen our links with the São Paulo Symphony and pave the way for future collaborations.

new cd releases

On stage with the kinks’ ray davies

browse the catalogue and buy online lpo.org.uk/recordings

live concerts on bbc radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is now broadcasting a series of live concerts from venues across the UK at 7.30pm every weeknight, as part of a revitalised Performance on 3 series renamed Radio 3 Live in Concert. Several live broadcasts of our concerts are planned as part of the 2011/12 season. Live in Concert editor Edward Blakeman said: ‘This is an exciting development – we’ll follow the best classical music concerts and be there bringing them to audiences live, directly from the venue.’

FIND OUT MORE bbc.co.uk/radio3

Mark Vines

Welcome A warm welcome to Mark Vines, who joined the Orchestra in July as Third Horn. Mark has spent the last 13 years as Principal Horn with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and has also played as Guest Principal with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Australia, the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in Japan and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Andrew Chenery, Orchestral Personnel Manager, in action

Anyone for cricket?

The annual cricket fixture between the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Brighton University Professors took place at Falmer, Sussex, on 24 June. A bright sunny day was somewhat marred by a bitter wind sweeping up from the English Channel but enthusiasm was undimmed!

The Brighton Professors batted first and scored a creditable 103 off their 20 overs.

Principal Timpanist Simon Carrington and Marketing Manager Ellie Dragonetti opened for the Orchestra but, despite fine innings from Carrington and trumpeter Joe Sharp, the Orchestra’s total was a more meagre 88.

After lunch, each team had a further 15 overs with the Professors extending their total to 181. Again Carrington was the star batsman for the Orchestra with good scores also from Joe Sharp and Orchestral Personnel Manager Andrew Chenery. With one ball to go and four runs needed to overtake the Brighton Professors’ total, victory seemed a tall order.

But Co-Principal Double Bass Tim Gibbs rose to the occasion with a magnificent sweep that pierced the Brighton defence and sped to the boundary – 182 for a remarkable win!

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Jonathan Edwards © LOCOG – Gala © Benjamin Ealovega

On 19 June the Orchestra performed to a sold-out Royal Festival Hall with former Kinks frontman Ray Davies and the Crouch End Festival Chorus . The concert was the finale of this year’s Meltdown Festival at Southbank Centre, of which Davies was guest director.

The evening’s entire first half was dedicated to performing an orchestrated version of the Kinks’ 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, followed by a second half packed full of hits including Waterloo Sunset, All Day and All of the Night and You Really Got Me.

Ray Davies © Mark Mawston – Mark Vines © Richard JM Bamping – Cricket © David Whitehouse

The latest release on the Orchestra’s own record label is Ferruccio Busoni’s opera Doktor Faust, recorded live in concert in 1959 with Sir Adrian Boult and featuring a world-class cast of soloists including Dietrich FischerDieskau and Heather Harper. Left unfinished at the time of the Italian composer’s death in 1924, this is one of the most experimental operatic masterpieces of the 20th century.

Other recent releases include an all-Dvořák tribute to the late Sir Charles Mackerras featuring the Symphonic Variations and Symphony No. 8; and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Choir, which was chosen as Editor’s Choice in the August 2011 edition of Gramophone magazine.

The next release is Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra with Jukka-Pekka Saraste, which will be released in October. This recording is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

A disc of Honegger with Vladimir Jurowski will follow in November.

All our own-label recordings are available to buy directly from our website or from CD stockists, or you can download single tracks or complete works from iTunes, Amazon, eMusic or classicsonline.com.

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London philharmonic trust After over a decade as a member of the London Philharmonic Trust and over five years as Chairman, Pehr Gyllenhammar stood down from his position at the end of June. We are extremely grateful to him for his work on the Orchestra’s behalf. Victoria Sharp has been appointed as his successor. Victoria is a committed supporter of the Orchestra and Chief Executive of the music education charity London Music Masters.

Staff update Jonathan Edwards puts the LPO through its paces

Olympic feat for the lpo The Orchestra was recently honoured with the mammoth task of recording all 205 of the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics, to be played at the victory ceremonies during the Games as the winners are presented with their medals. The anthems, which the Orchestra tackled in alphabetical order from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, were conducted by Philip Sheppard at Abbey Road Studios in a six-day marathon involving 15,000 sheets of music, 51 recording hours and 970 takes.

Copyright restrictions meant that neither previous recordings of anthems nor even previous arrangements could be used, so Philip had to re-orchestrate each anthem from scratch. To make things even more tricky, each was strictly limited to between a minute and 90 seconds – the length of time taken for the victorious nation’s flag to mount the Olympic flagpole.

The Orchestra celebrated being awarded the recording contract by LOCOG, the Olympic organising committee, with an impromptu performance of an anthem medley at Royal Festival Hall conducted by Olympic gold medallist and LOCOG board member Jonathan Edwards.

Jonathan Edwards © LOCOG – Gala © Benjamin Ealovega

Ray Davies © Mark Mawston – Mark Vines © Richard JM Bamping – Cricket © David Whitehouse

GALA 2011

We’ve welcomed several new faces to the London Philharmonic Orchestra office since the spring: Patrick Bailey joined us as Education and Community Director, and Caz Vale as Community Officer. Alexandra Rowlands joined the Development team as Corporate Relations Manager, and Laura Luckhurst as Corporate Relations and Events Officer. The Marketing team welcomed Rachel Fryer as Publications Manager and Julia Boon, our new Intern.

In June we said a fond farewell to Frances Cook, who retired after 28 years’ service as Publications Manager. We are enormously grateful to Frances for her incredible contribution to the Orchestra and wish her all the best for a happy and well-earned retirement! We also say goodbye to Phoebe Rouse, who has spent the last two years as Corporate Relations Manager.

Marriages Congratulations to Roanna Chandler, Concerts Director, and Sarah Thomas, Orchestra Librarian, both of whom got married on 16 July 2011! Roanna married freelance percussionist and percussion teacher Steve Gibson in London, while Sarah and her husband, freelance singer Jon Benton, tied the knot in Shropshire. We wish them all the very best.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2011 Gala took place on 28 June in the spectacular surroundings of London’s historic Guildhall in the heart of the City. Hosted by the London Philharmonic Trust, the black-tie event was held in the presence of the Orchestra’s Patron, HRH The Duke of Kent KG. Guests were treated to a Champagne Taittinger reception, formal dinner and a performance of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf featuring actor Simon Callow as narrator. The evening also included The Langham, London Prize Draw and a fundraising auction led by Lord Dalmeny of Sotheby’s.

We are hugely grateful to all our donors and guests for their generous contributions: the income raised to date stands at £109,000, all of which will go directly towards supporting the work of the Orchestra.

new arrivals A special welcome to Samuel Aidan Jackman, son of Development Director Nick Jackman and his wife Alex, who arrived on 9 April 2011, and to Tilda Esme Templeton, daughter of Principal Trombone Mark Templeton and his wife Ruth, who was born on 12 May 2011.

Congratulations too to trumpeter Dan Newell and his wife Kim on the birth of their son Levi, who was born in June.

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education & COMMUNITY

inspiring partnerships

I feel inspired to carry on playing because Animate Orchestra has shown me how much fun the flute is to play.

Animate member

energetic and the performances committed.

Participants, professionals and audience all went home delighted. One of the young participants wrote to us afterwards saying: ‘Instead of professional adults, we have sort of professional children. We don’t copy music – we make our own music from scratch.’

Next year’s plans are already underway and as a direct consequence of the project’s success, two more music services – Lambeth and Southwark – want to join the fun, and we are hoping to extend Animate across all four boroughs. From those conversations, plans have emerged for a new South London Music Collaboration: the LPO, Trinity Laban and the four boroughs pooling resources, working together to benefit young people and provide unique and first-rate performance opportunities – a crucial part of any child’s musical education.

Another example of the Orchestra’s work with schools is the BrightSparks schools’ concerts at the Royal Festival Hall. Thanks to

the ongoing generous support of Deutsche Bank we are able to offer free tickets to 15,000 schoolchildren to hear the Orchestra each year, over three quarters of whom are hearing an orchestra live for the first time. For the last BrightSparks concert of the 2010/11 season in June , we were joined by another long-term partner, The Bridge Project, run by London Music Masters (LMM). The Bridge Project works with over 300 young people in Lambeth, embedding music and particularly violin playing at the heart of their school life.

The results are extraordinary. We all wanted to celebrate with these talented young players and we invited them to perform with the LPO. Sixty students and violin soloist Jennifer Pike (herself an LMM award winner) gave the world première of Scenes from Wonderland by Charlotte Bray, an LPO/LMM co-commission. One teacher described the event as ‘a fantastic experience, which the children were awed by and which the adults also really enjoyed’.

To find out more about our Education & Community activities visit lpo.org.uk/education – 10 –

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LPO Contemporaries © Benjamin Ealovega

The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Education & Community Department continues to offer first-rate opportunities for young musicians to perform new music alongside professional musicians.

During the 2010/11 season we teamed up with Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, two local music services – Lewisham and Greenwich – and the Mayor’s Music Fund to start a new ensemble: Animate Orchestra.

Animate Orchestra is a musical pathway for talented young musicians, designed to be a young people’s orchestra for the 21st century.

A team of LPO musicians, Trinity Laban students and workshop leaders, and music service teachers led introductory sessions in schools throughout the two boroughs, enticing 120 young musicians aged 10–13 to sign up for two short courses in the Easter holidays. From these courses a crack squad of 50 met in May to create, develop and rehearse new music for a performance at Blackheath Halls. The concert was outstanding, the music

Animate Orchestra © Tas Kyprianou

London Philharmonic Orchestra cellist Pavlos Carvalho coaches the Animate Orchestra strings

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LPO people

lpo contemporaries Designed especially for London’s young professionals, LPO Contemporaries offers a year-round programme of cultural and social events

The social side is fantastic – high quality food and drink and like-minded people. I look forward to every occasion!

LPO Contemporaries © Benjamin Ealovega

Animate Orchestra © Tas Kyprianou

LPO Contemporaries member

Meet the LPO Contemporaries, one of young cultural scene, the London London’s most vibrant groups of young Philharmonic Orchestra and the LPO professionals. Established in 2009, it is a Contemporaries Committee have created a unique membership scheme for individuals in programme which will foster lifelong their 20s and 30s who are seeking to support friendships whilst providing opportunities to and enjoy world class music in a social context meet the personalities behind the music. provided by a series of exciting Current members are derived from a networking and cultural activities. diverse range of professional The scheme brings together backgrounds, from financial and London Philharmonic It was such a lovely legal to health, architecture, IT, Orchestra performances with evening; I’m really excited design and consultancy, cocktail parties and dining about the year ahead for creating a wealth of through a year-long calendar networking opportunities the Contemporaries. of events, offering members within the group.

Natalie Spraggon, LPO Contemporaries the opportunity to meet Not surprisingly, the Committee Member like-minded people and programme has attracted explore London’s versatile some of London’s busiest young cultural life. people. It is tailor-made to be No other orchestra in the capital slotted into crowded diaries: currently caters for the up-and-coming communication is online and members have professionals who will drive corporate and their own dedicated contact within the individual support of the arts in the coming Orchestra’s office. Each year features a decades. Keen to replicate New York’s vibrant specially-selected Subscription Series

constructed with the aim of showcasing three unmissable performances. A reserved seating area in the Royal Festival Hall and a dedicated interval bar space ensure that members can mingle and chat. Postperformance dinners with Orchestra members are held at nearby restaurants including the glamorous Skylon (where members enjoy a generous discount) with its quality cuisine and spectacular river views.

Other events include a VIP Evening – a chance to live the high life with complimentary stalls tickets and access to the Orchestra’s Corporate Bar; a ‘Champagne Saturday’ – an exclusive open rehearsal plus a glass of bubbly in Skylon; and an annual Christmas party. Events away from Southbank Centre have included an intimate private view of Tracey Emin’s Hayward Gallery retrospective, a corporate networking evening at Willis’s City HQ, and a discount shopping night at Thomas Pink’s flagship Jermyn Street store.

A core group of dedicated members forms the LPO Contemporaries volunteer Committee, which provides advice and feedback, helps to plan events and brings new members on board. They play an invaluable role in linking the Orchestra to the membership and have been fundamental in launching the scheme and its growth to date.

They are always on hand to ensure that our newest members are welcomed on board.

LPO Contemporaries membership is just £150 (or £15 per month over 10 months).

Executive Level Membership at £250 includes a donation of £100 towards the Orchestra’s work. Membership makes an ideal birthday or Christmas present. To find out more, including details of our first event of the season on Friday 7 October, contact Elisenda Ayats (details below).

For more information or to join, contact Elisenda Ayats: 020 7840 4225 or elisenda.ayats@lpo.org.uk, or visit lpo.org.uk/lpocontemporaries – 11 –

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LPO 2011/12 season

players’ picks Whatever your musical tastes, there’s something for everyone in the new 2011/12 season. We asked a few of the players in the Orchestra which concerts they’re most looking forward to between now and December ...

clare duckworth, violin

ANNE mcaneney, trumpet

Andrew Barclay, percussion

I’m looking forward to 24 September when violinist Julia Fischer plays the new work Mar’eh by Matthias Pintscher. She’s formidable technically, and so powerful in performance. Audiences love her, and I always find her playing really inspiring. We went on tour with her last season, and she played blisteringly in the concertos, but then pulled something completely different out of the bag for the encores; for me, her Ysaÿe encores were particularly memorable – such cool control, with such musical force.

I’m also looking forward to Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra on 19 October. This was the first work I played by Richard Strauss. I was 17, in the National Youth Orchestra, and I was really swept away by it – the sound world, the huge forces ... it seemed to sum up all that I loved (and still love) about orchestral playing.

It reminds me of the time I decided for definite that I wanted to go into the music profession.

I still love Strauss’s music, and wish we played the big works more often. The end of his opera Der Rosenkavalier is in my all-time top five – I can’t wait for it to come up at Glyndebourne!

November sees us performing Bruckner Symphonies Nos. 1, 4 and 7. A feature of these large-scale works is blocks of sound that bring out the colours created by each section of the orchestra. The brass writing, for example, which is chorale-like in places, provides us with a great opportunity to play with a rich and well-balanced tone. I have particularly fond memories of the LPO performing Bruckner symphonies under the baton of Kurt Masur when I first became a member of the trumpet section in 2000. He greatly developed this aspect of our playing, encouraging a sound that was full and round and never forced. Conductors always bring something of themselves to a performance and so it is with interest that I await the interpretations of Bruckner in November by such differing personalities as Osmo Vänskä, Vladimir Jurowski and Christoph Eschenbach.

The opening concert of the new season on 21 September looks very interesting from my point of view. It’s always great to work with Vladimir but especially when he creates a programme that contains only one piece I’ve done before (which doesn’t often happen to me these days!). I’m looking forward to the unknown, I suppose, but Vladimir has already told me that I need to find a musical saw for the Zimmermann piece Stille und Umkehr.

So I’ll be off into the shed when I’ve finished writing this ...

I’m also looking forward to the concert on 28 October, as Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances is one of my favourite pieces. Here’s a great composer who knew exactly how to write for percussion instruments. Incisive and at times electrifying, not a single note is unnecessary or out of place. It’s challenging but hugely rewarding to play – and not a single item from my shed required!

Anne’s chair is supported by Geoff and Meg Mann.

Andrew’s chair is supported by Andrew Davenport.

Clare’s chair is supported by the Sharp Family.

Full concert listings and booking details on page 14 – 12 –

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francis bucknall, cello

KATE BIRCHALL, VIOLIN

DAVID WHITEHOUSE, TROMBONE

I’m really looking forward to the concert on 19 October. Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony is the perfect opener: joyful and exuberant. The cello part is particularly good, but also tricky in places – it’s sometimes used as a sightreading test in auditions!

I don’t know the Mark-Anthony Turnage piece, On Opened Ground, at all, but as usual with his works I’m intrigued by the title! It’s a viola concerto and I’ve heard wonderful playing from the soloist Lawrence Power on Radio 3, so I can’t wait to work with him and hear him live.

Everyone knows the famous opening of Also sprach Zarathustra from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, but the whole piece is wonderfully scored for the strings. As always in Strauss, the string parts are really demanding – every part is written like a solo line – which means a certain amount of preparation is needed, but it’s so satisfying when it all comes together. The audience in the concert hall will also be treated to the ultimate range of dynamics in this piece, something that’s impossible to achieve anywhere else, however much broadcasters may try to persuade you otherwise. There’s no substitute for experiencing music live!

Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture (14 December) always brings back memories for me of playing in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra back in 1998 under Claudio Abbado. He insisted that the violins learn the piece from memory as he wanted to see all our eyes on him while we were playing. No mean feat, as it has pages of fast-moving semiquavers and all you could hear for days on end was frenzied violin practice coming out of hotel rooms. Still, the training seemed to stand me in good stead when I came to perform it again during my trial for the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the watchful gaze of Kurt Masur.

Then, as now, the overture was paired with the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. I’m excited to be working with Renée Fleming again as she has that star quality that makes it a privilege to be on stage with her. I often debate with my chair sponsors, David and Victoria Graham Fuller, as to whose rendition is the consummate performance of the songs, so maybe this will be the one to satisfy us all.

Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony is an enduring favourite, not least because it has a great second violin part and is full of rhythmic ingenuity that can still pose traps for the unwary! The monumental fugal texture in the slow movement never fails to move me and the sparkling finale is an exhilarating play.

I’m particularly looking forward to the opening concert of the new Royal Festival Hall season on 21 September. It rings in the changes after our summer at Glyndebourne, and promises to be a great opening to an exciting new season. Vladimir always compiles creative and sometimes challenging programmes that often mix the familiar with the not-so-familiar, and this concert is no exception. Night on a Bare Mountain is familiar to many concertgoers, but less familiar is the version we will be playing, which is Mussorgsky’s original and not the more often-played Rimsky-Korsakov version.

The differences between the two are quite striking and are more than simply differences in orchestration.

I’m also looking forward to the concert on 25 November, which includes Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. As a second trombonist, solo opportunities are few and far between, but if a euphonium (sometimes called a tenor tuba) is required, I am often called upon to play it – probably because I own one – and Pictures has a solo for euphonium in the movement entitled ‘Bydło’, which vividly depicts an oxcart approaching, passing, then fading away into the distance.

Kate’s chair is supported by David and Victoria Graham Fuller.

The concert on 14 December is generously supported by the Sharp Family.

Full concert listings and booking details on page 14 – 13 –

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London philharmonic orchestra

concert listings Royal festival hall Standard prices £9–£39 Premium seats £65 (14 December standard prices £12–£48 Premium seats £75) London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office (no booking fee) 020 7840 4242 Mon–Fri 10am–5pm lpo.org.uk Southbank Centre Box Office (booking fee applies) 0844 847 9920 Daily 9am–8pm southbankcentre.co.uk JTI Friday Series is supported by Wednesday 21 September 2011 | 7.30pm Mussorgsky Night on a Bare Mountain (original) Mussorgsky (orch. Zimmermann) In the Village; On the Southern Shore of the Crimea Alexander Raskatov A White Night’s Dream (Homage to Mussorgsky) for orchestra (world première)* Zimmermann Stille und Umkehr (orchestral sketches) Mussorgsky (orch. Raskatov) Songs and Dances of Death (UK première) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Sergei Leiferkus baritone 6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert performance Royal Festival Hall A performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition by Foyle Future Firsts orchestral apprentices conducted by Nicholas Collon†

Friday 7 October 2011 | 7.30pm J Strauss II Overture, Die Fledermaus Korngold Violin Concerto Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) Vassily Sinaisky conductor Vadim Gluzman violin Wednesday 12 October 2011 | 7.30pm Sir Thomas Beecham Anniversary Concert Weber Overture, Oberon Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20, K466 Schubert Symphony No. 9 (Great) Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Aldo Ciccolini piano Saturday 15 October 2011 | 7.30pm BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2 ROSSINI Stabat Mater Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Eri Nakamura soprano Ruxandra Donose mezzo soprano Ji-Min Park tenor Matthew Rose bass London Philharmonic Choir Wednesday 19 October 2011 | 7.30pm Mozart Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter) Mark-Anthony Turnage On Opened Ground for viola and orchestra R Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra Markus Stenz conductor Lawrence Power viola 6.15–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Mark-Anthony Turnage and Lawrence Power discuss On Opened Ground

FREE Barlines post-concert event Level 2 Central Bar, Royal Festival Hall Artists involved in the performance discuss the evening’s programme.

Friday 21 October 2011 | 7.30pm Sibelius The Dryad Beethoven Violin Concerto Brahms Symphony No. 2

Saturday 24 September 2011 | 7.30pm Beethoven The Creatures of Prometheus (excerpts) Matthias Pintscher Mar’eh for violin and orchestra (UK première)‡ Liszt Prometheus Scriabin Prometheus, Poem of Fire

Jukka-Pekka Saraste conductor Thomas Zehetmair violin

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Julia Fischer violin Igor Levit piano London Philharmonic Choir Lucy Carter lighting designer FREE Barlines post-concert event Level 2 Central Bar, Royal Festival Hall Artists involved in the performance discuss the evening’s programme.

Wednesday 26 October 2011 | 7.30pm Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 Shostakovich Symphony No. 8 Jaap van Zweden conductor Maria João Pires piano Friday 28 October 2011 | 7.30pm R Strauss Don Juan Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23, K488 Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances James Gaffigan conductor Paul Lewis piano

Wednesday 2 November 2011 | 7.30pm Brahms Double Concerto for violin and cello Bruckner Symphony No. 7 Christoph Eschenbach conductor Nicola Benedetti violin Leonard Elschenbroich cello Wednesday 16 November 2011 | 7.30pm Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4 Osmo Vänskä conductor Janine Jansen violin Friday 25 November 2011 | 7.30pm Antonio José Suite, The Muleteer Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez Falla Suites Nos. 1 and 2, The Three-Cornered Hat Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel) Pictures at an Exhibition Eduardo Portal conductor Craig Ogden guitar Wednesday 30 November 2011 | 7.30pm Matthias Pintscher Towards Osiris Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) Bruckner Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Lars Vogt piano Saturday 3 December 2011 | 7.30pm Julian Anderson Fantasias§ Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5, K219 Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony Vladimir Jurowski conductor Janine Jansen violin 6.15–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Composer in Residence Julian Anderson looks in detail at his work Fantasias Wednesday 14 December 2011 | 7.30pm Wagner Overture, Tannhäuser R Strauss Four Last Songs Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Christoph Eschenbach conductor Renée Fleming soprano Concert generously supported by the Sharp Family

* Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ferrara Musica and Ars Musica Brussels. † The Foyle Future Firsts Programme is generously funded by The Foyle Foundation with additional support from the Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust and the Musicians Benevolent Fund. ‡ Commissioned by the Lucerne Festival, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Alte Oper Frankfurt. § This performance is supported by The Boltini Trust.

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Around the UK Saturday 8 October 2011 | 7.30pm Dorking Halls LISZT Prometheus BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1 BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 Nicholas Collon conductor Chloë Hanslip violin Sunday 9 October 2011 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Liszt Prometheus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20, K466 Brahms Symphony No. 2 Nicholas Collon conductor Francesco Piemontesi piano Tuesday 11 October 2011 | 7.30pm Symphony Hall, Birmingham Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) Schubert Symphony No. 9 (Great) Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Lars Vogt piano Sunday 30 October 2011 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Beethoven Symphony No. 2 Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (excerpts) Andrew Gourlay conductor Jack Liebeck violin Saturday 19 November 2011 | 7.30pm Brighton Dome Antonio José Suite, The Muleteer Falla Nights in the Gardens of Spain Falla Suites Nos. 1 and 2, The Three-Cornered Hat Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel) Pictures at an Exhibition Eduardo Portal conductor Javier Perianes piano Monday 19 December 2011 | 7.30pm Royal Albert Hall, London CLASSIC CAROLS Christopher Warren-Green conductor Bonaventura Bottone tenor London Philharmonic Choir

INTERNATIONAL CONCERTS Wednesday 7 September 2011 | 8.00pm Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium Mussorgsky Night on a Bare Mountain Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Liszt Prometheus Scriabin Prometheus, Poem of Fire Vladimir Jurowski conductor Nikolai Lugansky piano Igor Levit piano Latvian State Choir Saturday 10 September 2011 | 8.30pm Settimane Musicali di Ascona, Locarno, Switzerland KODÁLY Dances of Galánta Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 Brahms Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Dezsö Ránki piano Sunday 11 September 2011 | 7.30pm Lucerne Festival, Switzerland Beethoven The Creatures of Prometheus (excerpts) MATTHIAS Pintscher Mar’eh for violin and orchestra (world première) Liszt Prometheus Scriabin Prometheus, Poem of Fire Vladimir Jurowski conductor Julia Fischer violin Igor Levit piano Choir of the Collegium Musicum Luzern University of Fribourg Chamber Choir Tuesday 27 September | 8.00pm Philharmonie, Essen, Germany Thursday 29 September | 8.00pm Liederhalle, Stuttgart, Germany Friday 30 September | 8.00pm Théâtre Musical de Besançon, France Beethoven Overture, The Creatures of Prometheus Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1 Brahms Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Nikolai Lugansky piano Wednesday 28 September 2011 | 8.00pm Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany Saturday 1 October 2011 | 8.00pm Philharmonie, Luxembourg Beethoven The Creatures of Prometheus (excerpts) MATTHIAS Pintscher Mar’eh for violin and orchestra Brahms Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Julia Fischer violin

Tuesday 4 October 2011 | 8.15pm Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands Wednesday 5 October 2011 | 8.15pm Muziekcentrum Frits Philips, Eindhoven, Netherlands J Strauss II Overture, Die Fledermaus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20, K466 DvoŘák Symphony No. 8 Vassily Sinaisky conductor Francesco Piemontesi piano Saturday 5 November | 8.30pm Royal Opera House, Muscat, Oman DvoŘák Cello Concerto BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7 Christoph Eschenbach conductor Yo-Yo Ma cello Tuesday 6 December 2011 | 8.00pm Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA* MATTHIAS Pintscher Towards Osiris Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5, K219 Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony Vladimir Jurowski conductor Janine Jansen violin Wednesday 7 December 2011 | 8.00pm Carnegie Hall, New York, USA* MATTHIAS Pintscher Towards Osiris Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5, K219 Brahms Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Janine Jansen violin Thursday 8 December 2011 | 8.00pm Carnegie Hall, New York, USA* Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony Vladimir Jurowski conductor Emanuel Ax piano Friday 9 December 2011 | 8.00pm NJPAC Prudential Hall, Newark, USA* Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) Brahms Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Emanuel Ax piano Friday 16 December 2011 | 10.30pm Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, Spain Wagner Overture, Tannhäuser R Strauss Four Last Songs Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Christoph Eschenbach conductor Renée Fleming soprano * 2011 US Tour generously supported by Dunard Fund.

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backstage What was your first experience of music and playing the oboe?

I came into the world of music quite late.

I was 15 when my school music teacher found an old oboe in the cupboard and suggested I try it. She brought out this musty, ancient, obviously unloved ‘thing’ – the instrument was in a shocking state and I’m not quite sure how I got on with it really but the rest, as they say, is history! In those days music was flourishing where I lived, with abundant talented peripatetic teachers, wind band nights and Saturday music school. I was very lucky. The first piece of classical music that I remember listening to was my grandfather’s favourite piece, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez for guitar, which of course has a beautiful cor anglais solo in it. I have a strong emotional attachment to this piece and I’m looking forward to performing it with the Orchestra on 25 November.

Was the cor anglais a natural progression?

Most oboists these days play the cor and vice versa. I studied the oboe at the Royal Academy of Music but on being invited to play on a course where they needed me to play the cor anglais, I had to borrow a spare one that was lying around at the Academy.

This instrument happened to belong to Lady Barbirolli. My teacher and I were in tears of laughter when I first tried to play it as it’s quite a stretch to reach the keys for those not blessed with long limbs! Lady Barbirolli generously sold me the cor in many instalments and this is the instrument I play today. In my last year at the Academy I was offered the second oboe/cor anglais position with the Royal Ballet and I suppose from that moment I was known as a cor player.

What have been the highlights of your career so far?

Being offered the cor anglais job in the LPO comes top! Playing Sibelius’s Swan of Tuonela at the front of the Royal Festival Hall with Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde with Vladimir Jurowski and Jiří Bělohlávek at Glyndebourne. Being part of some stunning orchestral arrangements by Vince Mendoza accompanying Joni Mitchell on three of her CDs, and playing some incredible film scores by the likes of Howard Shore and James Horner.

the scenes making our reeds. Cutting up bamboo and tying bits on to tiny metal tubes is all a little crazy. So, in answer to your question, sometimes we aren’t left with much time to actually practise!

– Sue bohling – Sue is Principal Cor Anglais of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a member of the Board of Directors. We caught up with her to find out about life in the Orchestra and what she’s looking forward to in the 2011/12 season In which concerts this coming season should we especially listen out for your solos?

A favourite of mine is Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances; Shostakovich’s mighty Eighth Symphony on 26 October has a long cor anglais solo that you can’t miss, and on 25 November we perform Rodrigo’s Guitar Concerto with Craig Ogden. Plenty to keep me busy!

How much practice do orchestral players do?

Some of my colleagues are seldom separated from their instruments but personally I don’t always do enough – however it’s not through choice! Our schedules are sometimes so full that there’s barely time to keep up with what we’re playing which day, and in which country. As well as learning new repertoire, double reed players spend a lot of time behind

Your chair in the Orchestra is supported by Julian and Gill Simmonds. What does this involve?

The Orchestra is blessed with incredible support from our Trustees, Friends, Benefactors and Thomas Beecham Group patrons. Their generosity is not only financial but also in spirit. Julian and Gill’s love for the arts and for our work in particular is both heartwarming and motivating, and their enthusiasm has genuinely changed the way I feel about my work and musical life. As players we can easily become super-critical of our own efforts, so it’s very refreshing to hear their side of the concert experience. Their support and friendship is very important to me personally and to the whole Orchestra.

You have been a member of the Board of Directors of the Orchestra since 2005. Can you tell us more about this?

The Board represents the players in the Orchestra. As the Orchestra is essentially owned and run by the players who are all shareholders, regular decisions have to be made at ground level. It can be anything from ‘Do you think we can change that 5.30am start?’ on a tour, to crucial financial decisions.

The Board meets often to stay on top of things and emails will sometimes be exchanged in the early hours. Being a Board member makes you acutely aware of the inner workings of the Orchestra and the hard work that is done on our behalf behind the scenes. I have made some great friends, met fanatical music lovers and loyal LPO supporters, and this makes all the hard work worthwhile.

How do you like to spend your spare time?

Spare time is a rare thing – looking after a job, home, children and husband tend to fill the days very easily! My husband and I love walking around London on Sundays or evenings when it’s a little quieter, discovering little pockets of the city you don’t usually see.

We love good food so make the most of a free day or evening together planning a good feast for family or friends.

Newsletter published by the London Philharmonic Orchestra 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP Tel: 020 7840 4200 Fax: 020 7840 4201 Box Office: 020 7840 4242 lpo.org.uk

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