London Philharmonic Orchestra 14 Apr 2018 Brighton concert programme by London Philharmonic Orchestra

b e m ov e d IN BRIGHTON

2017/18 Season at Brighton Dome Concert Hall Concert programme

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation Principal Guest Conductor ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADA Leader pieter schoeman supported by Neil Westreich Patron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

Brighton Dome Concert Hall Saturday 14 April 2018 | 7.30pm

Stravinsky Jeu de cartes (21’) Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 (18’) Interval (20’) Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44* (38’)

John Storgårds conductor Stéphane Tétreault cello * In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.

The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide. CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA IN ASSOCIATION WITH BRIGHTON DOME

Contents 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 11

Welcome Orchestra news On stage tonight About the Orchestra Leader: Kevin Lin John Storgårds Stéphane Tétreault Programme notes LPO 2018/19 season at Brighton Dome 14 Supporters 16 LPO administration

Welcome

Welcome to Brighton Dome Chief Executive Andrew Comben We hope you enjoy the performance and your visit to Brighton Dome. For your comfort and safety, please note the following: LATECOMERS may not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance. Some performances may contain no suitable breaks.

Orchestra news

hank you for joining us at Brighton Dome for the final concert in our 2017/18 season. We hope you enjoy the concert and look forward to returning to Brighton next October for the start of our new season. We’ll be giving four more concerts at Brighton Dome in 2018/19, and hope you will be able to join us. Tickets for the new season will be on sale from this Monday, 16 April: turn to page 11 for more details. Pick up a season brochure in the foyer today, request one by post via 020 7840 4200 or book online at lpo.org.uk/brighton

SMOKING Brighton Dome is a no-smoking venue. INTERVAL DRINKS may be ordered in advance at the bar to avoid queues. PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium. RECORDING is not allowed in the auditorium. MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switched off before entering the auditorium. Thank you for your co-operation. The concert at Brighton Dome on 14 April 2018 is presented by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in association with Brighton Dome.

Vladimir Jurowski: Royal Philharmonic Society Award nomination We’re delighted that LPO Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Vladimir Jurowski, has been shortlisted in the Conductor category for the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards. The annual Awards are © Simon Pauly the highest recognition for classical music-making in the United Kingdom and reflect the RPS’s guiding principles of excellence, creativity, understanding and inclusivity. This year’s winners will be announced at the RPS Music Awards Presentation Dinner on Wednesday 9 May. Read more about the Awards and the full list of nominations at rpsmusicawards.com

New on the LPO Label: Petrushka and The Firebird Brighton Dome gratefully acknowledges the support of Brighton & Hove City Council and Arts Council England. Brighton Dome is managed by Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival, which also runs the annual threeweek Brighton Festival in May. brightondome.org | brightonfestival.org

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This month’s CD release on our LPO Label is a disc of Stravinsky’s exuberant ballets Petrushka and The Firebird conducted by Klaus Tennstedt, recorded live in concert at Royal Festival Hall in 1992 (LPO-0105). The CD is priced at £9.99 and, along with 100+ other titles on the label, is available to buy from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets. Our recordings are also available to download or stream via iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and others.

On stage tonight

First Violins Kevin Lin Leader Vesselin Gellev Sub-Leader Katalin Varnagy Chair supported by Sonja Drexler

Catherine Craig Thomas Eisner Martin Höhmann Geoffrey Lynn Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert Pool Yang Zhang Tina Gruenberg Rebecca Shorrock Amanda Smith Evin Blomberg Katherine Waller Second Violins Tania Mazzetti Principal Chair supported by Countess Dominique Loredan

Nancy Elan Fiona Higham Chair supported by David & Yi Buckley

Joseph Maher Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Robin Wilson Sioni Williams Harry Kerr Kate Cole Kalliopi Mitropoulou Judith Choi-Castro

Violas Rachel Roberts Guest Principal Robert Duncan Katharine Leek Benedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Naomi Holt Isabel Pereira Stanislav Popov Martin Fenn Martin Wray

Flutes Juliette Bausor Principal Hannah Grayson Stewart McIlwham*

Oboes Ian Hardwick* Principal Alice Munday

Bass Trombone Lyndon Meredith Principal

Cellos Morwenna Del Mar Guest Principal Francis Bucknall David Lale Gregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander Susanna Riddell Helen Rathbone Iain Ward

Cor Anglais Sue Böhling* Principal

Tuba Lee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Double Basses Sebastian Pennar Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Laurence Lovelle Thomas Walley Lowri Morgan

Trumpets Paul Beniston* Principal Jason Lewis Guest Principal Anne McAneney* Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Piccolo Stewart McIlwham* Principal

Trombones David Whitehouse Principal Charlotte Van Passen

Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

Timpani Simon Carrington* Principal

Clarinets Robert Plane Guest Principal Thomas Watmough

Percussion Andrew Barclay* Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Henry Baldwin Co-Principal

Bass Clarinet Paul Richards* Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Bassoons Jonathan Davies Principal Gareth Newman Simon Estell* Contrabassoon Simon Estell* Principal Horns Mark Vines Principal Martin Hobbs Elise Campbell Gareth Mollison Michael Gibbs

Keith Millar Feargus Brennan Barnaby Archer Harp Rachel Masters Principal Celeste Catherine Edwards * Holds a professorial appointment in London Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: The Candide Trust • William & Alex de Winton • Sir Simon Robey • Victoria Robey OBE • Bianca & Stuart Roden Eric Tomsett • Laurence Watt • Neil Westreich

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London Philharmonic Orchestra

The LPO musicians really surpassed themselves in playing of élan, subtlety and virtuosity. Matthew Rye, Bachtrack, 24 September 2017 (Enescu’s Oedipe at Royal Festival Hall) Recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most forwardlooking ensembles. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, releases CDs on its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and local communities. Celebrating its 85th anniversary this season, the Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is the Orchestra’s current Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, and this season we celebrate the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary partnership. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives around 40 concerts each season. Our year-long Belief and Beyond Belief festival in partnership with Southbank Centre

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ran throughout 2017, exploring what it means to be human in the 21st century. In 2018, we explore the life and music of Stravinsky in our series Changing Faces: Stravinsky’s Journey, charting the life and music of one of the 20th century’s most influential composers. Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: tours in 2017/18 include Romania, Japan, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Italy and France, and plans for 2018/19 include a major tour of China and Asia, as well as Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.

Kevin Lin leader

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, 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 Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 and Fidelio Overture conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Mozart and Rachmaninoff piano concertos performed by Aldo Ciccolini under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 under Kurt Masur. 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 through an energetic programme of activities for young people. In 2017/18 we celebrate 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. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the Young Composers Programme; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Its work at the forefront of digital engagement and social media has enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download from iTunes and, as well as regular concert streamings and a popular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on social media. lpo.org.uk facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra twitter.com/LPOrchestra

Kevin Lin joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader in August 2017. Originally from New York, Kevin has performed as a soloist and recitalist in the UK, Taiwan, South Korea and Canada, in addition to numerous performances in the USA. He was previously Guest Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony and in 2015 was invited to lead the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has also served as Concertmaster and Principal Second Violin at The Colburn School and The Curtis Institute of Music. An avid chamber musician, Kevin has collaborated with the Tokyo and Ebène quartets, Edgar Meyer, MengChieh Liu, John Perry, Hal Robinson of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Andrew Bain of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In recent years he has received prizes from the Irving M. Klein International Competition and the Schmidbauer International Competition, and competed in the George Enescu International Violin Competition and the Menuhin International Violin Competition. Kevin spent his early years studying with Patinka Kopec in New York, before going on to study with Robert Lipsett at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. He then continued his studies at The Curtis Institute in Philadelphia as a Mark E. Rubenstein Fellowship recipient, under the pedagogy of Aaron Rosand.

youtube.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

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John Storgårds conductor

With Storgårds, instinct and refinement become one, which is a rare gift indeed.

The Telegraph, 21 July 2015

Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa and Artistic Partner of the Munich Chamber Orchestra, John Storgårds enjoys a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso, and is widely recognised for his creative flair for programming. He additionally holds the title of Artistic Director of the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland. John Storgårds appears with such orchestras as the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Bamberger Symphoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, RundfunkSinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre national de France, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and BBC Symphony Orchestra, as well as all the major Nordic orchestras including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was Chief Conductor from 2008–15. Further afield, he appears with the Sydney, Melbourne and NHK symphony orchestras, as well as the Boston, St Louis, Toronto and Vancouver symphony orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. John Storgårds’s vast repertoire includes the complete symphonies by Sibelius, Nielsen, Bruckner, Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann. He gave a historical cycle of all 54 symphonies by Mozart (including the unnumbered works) and conducted the Finnish premieres of Schumann’s only opera Genoveva and his early ‘Zwickau’ symphony, as well as the world premieres of Sibelius’s Suite Op. 117 for violin and strings and the Late Fragments. He regularly conducts world premieres of works by contemporary composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Brett Dean, Per Nørgård and Pēteris Vasks, and many composers have dedicated their works to him.

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Storgårds conducted the Finnish premiere of Haydn’s Orlando Paladino at the Finnish National Opera, and recently he led a new production by Paul-Émile Fourny of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. John made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra yesterday evening at London’s Royal Festival Hall, conducting Stravinsky’s Jeu de cartes and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3. Other highlights this season include a return to the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic, and debuts with the Chicago Symphony and Vienna Radio Symphony orchestras. In autumn 2017 Storgårds conducted the world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s opera Höstsonaten – Autumn Sonata at the Finnish National Opera. John Storgårds’s award-winning discography includes works by Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn, and rarities by Vagn Holmboe and Pēteris Vasks featuring him as soloist. Two cycles of symphonies by Sibelius (2014) and Nielsen (2015) with the BBC Philharmonic were released to critical acclaim by Chandos. Their latest recording, released in 2017, includes works by American avant-garde composer George Antheil. Other successes include discs of works by Nørgård, Korngold and Rautavaara, the latter receiving a Grammy nomination and a Gramophone Award. Storgårds’s recording with the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland of Kalevi Aho’s concertos for theremin and horn received the ECHO Klassik award in 2015. Storgårds studied violin with Chaim Taub and subsequently became leader of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen, before studying conducting with Jorma Panula and Eri Klas.

Stéphane Tétreault cello

After no more than four bars Tétreault had my full attention, so charmed was I by his elegance, lyricism and faithful yet personality-filled readings.

Charlotte Gardner, Gramophone, December 2016

In addition to numerous awards and honours, Canadian cellist Stéphane Tétreault was selected as laureate of the 2015/16 ‘Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle’ from the Louis Vuitton Foundation, and received the 2015 Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award. He was the very first recipient of the $50,000 Fernand-Lindsay Career Award, as well as the Choquette-Symcox Award in 2013. First Prize-winner at the 2007 Montreal Symphony Orchestra Standard Life-OSM Competition, he was named Radio-Canada’s ‘Révélation’ in classical music for 2011/12, Personality of the Week in La Presse newspaper in 2012, and received the Opus Award for New Artist of the Year in 2013. For three straight years, Stéphane was ranked amongst CBC Radio’s ‘30 Hot Canadian classical musicians under 30’. As the first ever Soloist-in-Residence at the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal, Stéphane performed alongside Principal Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin during the 2014/15 season. In 2016 he made his debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra under Nézet-Séguin, as well as performing at the prestigious Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland. During the 2017/18 season he has taken part in the Orchestre Métropolitain’s first European tour with Nézet-Séguin. Tonight’s concert marks his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Stéphane has performed with violinist and conductor Maxim Vengerov and pianists Alexandre Tharaud, Jan Lisiecki, Charles Richard-Hamelin and John Lenehan, and has participated in a number of masterclasses, notably with cellists Gautier Capuçon and Frans Helmerson. He has worked with conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, Paul McCreesh, Julian Kuerti,

Timothy Vernon, James Feddeck, José-Luis Gomez, Kensho Watanabe and many others. Stéphane’s debut CD, recorded with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and conductor Fabien Gabel, was chosen as Editor’s Choice in the March 2013 issue of Gramophone magazine. His second album, with pianist Marie-Ève Scarfone and featuring works by Haydn, Schubert and Brahms, was chosen as Gramophone’s Critics’ Choice 2016 and recognised as one of the best albums of the year. Stéphane has garnered great praise from the world’s leading music critics: ‘Tétreault’s disc charmed me from the off; this is just pure, lyrical, unadulterated playing of the highest order, with a maturity that belies his 22 years ... I can’t wait to hear more from him’ (Charlotte Gardner, Gramophone); ‘His vibrato and tone are varied, his bowing techniques immaculate and his awareness of harmony and consequent shading omnipresent’ (Joanne Talbot, The Strad); ‘The solo playing is astonishingly mature, not merely in its technical attributes but also in its warmth, brilliance and subtlety of colour and inflection’ (Geoffrey Norris, Gramophone). A student of the late cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky for more than 10 years, Stéphane holds a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from the University of Montreal. He plays the 1707 ‘Countess of Stainlein’, ex-Paganini Stradivarius cello, on generous loan by Mme Jacqueline Desmarais.

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Programme notes

Speedread When revolution transformed Russia a century ago in 1917, the music didn’t stop. As a member of the aristocracy, Sergei Rachmaninoff got out while he could. He travelled to Europe and then America and continued to write. But his music took on the melancholy hues of an exile. Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony of 1935 was inspired by his homeland, but now the composer was writing of it from the outside – in longing and frustration rather than fascination and wonder. A year later, another Russian wrote a score powered by energy and joy. The First World War – and certain creative opportunities – had prompted Igor Stravinsky to move to Switzerland and then France.

Igor Stravinsky 1882–1971

Igor Stravinsky instigated some of the most significant musical developments of the 20th century. His notorious 1913 score for the ballet The Rite of Spring tore up the musical rulebook in its placing of harmony and melody at the service of rhythm. But Stravinsky’s musical style changed throughout his career, and the next two decades saw him prize chiseled craftsmanship and elegant restraint over iconoclastic barbarism and dramatic power. But Stravinsky remained committed to ballet music. After a visit to New York in 1935, he was commissioned by the American Ballet Company to write a ballet score to a scenario of his choice. Stravinsky, who loved playing poker, was in a Parisian taxi when he had the idea to write the ballet based on a game of cards, with dancers 8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

You could easily conclude from Jeu de cartes that, for Stravinsky, the excitement of mid-century Paris and New York was enough to take his mind off his own distance from home. Some say melancholy is a consistent temperament of those from the northern extremes of the continent. Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, which arrived some six decades before the two other works heard tonight, would seem to argue the case. Tchaikovsky’s piece for cello and orchestra is ostensibly about sparkle and joie de vivre. But isn’t it as a residue of those emotions that melancholia is most profoundly felt?

Jeu de cartes Ballet in three ‘deals’ 1 2 3

First Deal: Alla breve – Moderato assai – Tranquillo Second Deal: Alla breve – Marcia – Variazioni 1–5 – Coda – Marcia Third Deal: Alla breve – Valse – Presto – Tempo del principio

dressed as the cards themselves. So delighted was Stravinsky with the brainwave that he invited the taxi driver to have a drink with him. Jeu de cartes (‘Game of Cards’), which was first performed at the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York in April 1937, is a continuous score divided into three ‘hands’. In each, we hear the cards being dealt using the same musical material (the music which opens the piece and returns to end it). In the first hand, the joker appears in dark, aggressive music. In the second, a stately march is subjected to variations (representing the Queens of all four suits) but the joker prevails once more. In the third, developing from a fullscale waltz, the joker is finally defeated.

Stravinsky’s capering music is brimming with clarity and incident. But the composer warned of the fable at the heart of the piece, referring to the joker who can knavishly assume any identity: ‘Peace in itself is a fine thing, I agree, but what use can it be with enemies who do not keep their word?’

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 Stéphane Tétreault cello

1840–93

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

Moderato quasi Andante Tema: Moderato semplice Variazione 1: Tempo del Tema Variazione 2: Tempo del Tema Variazione 3: Andante sostenuto Variazione 4: Andante grazioso Variazione 5: Allegro moderato Cadenza Variazione 6: Andante Variazione 7 e Coda: Allegro vivo

In the cello, Tchaikovsky found the ideal vehicle for his own brand of melancholy-tinged Romanticism. And in the cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, the composer encountered the human inspiration he needed to write a handful of works for the instrument. Fitzenhagen, a German, became a student at the Moscow Conservatoire in 1870 where he struck up a friendship with Tchaikovsky, playing the cello in the first performances of the composer’s string quartets. Soon enough, Tchaikovsky was persuaded to write a series of works for his friend. The first was this set of miniatures for cello and orchestra, based on a theme which the composer labelled Rococo – implying the sort of intricacy and grace associated with a certain form of florid late Baroque architecture and design. Tchaikovsky invented

the theme himself, which was probably intended as a salute to Mozart. Its cheerful, skipping disposition conceals the severe depression Tchaikovsky was experiencing when he wrote it. His new opera Vakula the Smith and his ballet Romeo and Juliet had both been lampooned by a faction of hostile critics. Emotional highs and lows were common in Tchaikovsky’s life. They almost always informed the nature of his music, but not always in the most obvious ways. There’s little overt tragedy in the Variations, which tend to move between wistful lyricism and virtuoso sparkle. Before the premiere in Moscow in 1877, Fitzenhagen suggested certain changes, and eventually the composer sanctioned a wholesale re-arrangement by the cellist. Fitzenhagen’s version, which is used today despite the publication of Tchaikovsky’s original some years ago, jettisons one of Tchaikovsky’s original variations (there were originally nine) and changes the order of the others. Fitzenhagen’s edition of the piece came to irritate Tchaikovsky, but there’s no denying it gives the work the feel of a full concerto in its clearer sense of shape and of a journey completed. The original theme is easily traceable through the seven variations even when it’s not technically there: it’s merely implied

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Programme notes continued

through snippets in the orchestra-soloist exchanges of Variation 2 and outlined with skeletal suggestions in the penultimate Andante (in Variation 5 it’s not heard on the cello at all, but the flute). The piece’s delicacy and inventiveness – and its sense of space and freedom – raise it high above the status of a musical distraction. When Franz Liszt heard the variations in 1879, he declared that ‘here, at last, is music again.’

Interval – 20 minutes An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.

Serge Rachmaninoff 1873–1943

Fate dealt a cruel hand when it pushed into exile a man so filled with love for his native country as Serge Rachmaninoff. The composer fled Russia at the Revolution of 1917 and effectively gave up hope of ever returning. ‘His homesickness assumed the character of a disease as the years passed’, wrote Rachmaninoff’s most famous interviewer David Ewen, ‘and one symptom of that disease was an unshakeable melancholy.’ It was a melancholy that seeped into Rachmaninoff’s late orchestral scores, heating their brooding passion and tempering their epic sweep. The inspiration was still Russia, but now the composer was writing of it from the outside – in longing and frustration rather than fascinated wonder. That is felt strongly in the Third Symphony. Not only does it sound more Russian than its two predecessors, it conveys that sense of nostalgia and loss more profoundly through both its aching lyricism and thundering explosions. Most of the Symphony was written in Rachmaninoff’s villa overlooking Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. The 10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44 I Lento – Allego moderato – Allegro II Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro vivace III Allegro – Allegro vivace – Allegro (Tempo primo) – Allegretto – Allegro vivace

first two movements took shape with relative ease in the autumn of 1935 but Rachmaninoff fretted over the third; it had been nearly three decades since he’d written a symphony, and his two most successful recent pieces – the Paganini Rhapsody and Corelli Variations – used tunes by other composers. ‘With each of my thoughts I thank God that I was able to do it’ Rachmaninoff wrote to his sister-in-law in June 1936 as he finally finished the finale, and the Symphony was first performed on 6 November of that year by the composer’s favoured Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski. The reception was lukewarm, but Rachmaninoff’s achievement in the Third is unquestionably outstanding. With perspective we can hear how he perfects the established hallmarks of his late style: how his tunes have that bit more shape and flair, how thoroughly he understands the qualities of individual instruments, how his orchestration is more delicate and discriminating, how his harmonic language has added pungency and danger, how his counterpoints are more skilful and considered, and how the whole symphonic

conversation has become that bit more intense and diverse. What remains from the work’s two predecessors, however, is the use of a pervading ‘motto’ theme employing narrow, stepwise intervals akin to those of a sacred chant. This is heard right at the start of the piece on clarinet, muted horn and muted cello, a gesture described by Russian music expert David Nice as ‘a ghostly reminiscence’. Cellos against gentle woodwind syncopations introduce the gorgeous secondary theme as the tempo eases, but soon the music rediscovers its thrust and becomes more schizophrenic; trumpets throw the ‘fate motif’ back at the orchestra three times and despite the impassioned protests of the strings, it wins out – closing the movement in new orchestral clothing. Only two movements follow, Rachmaninoff deploying his new trick of placing a brittle scherzo-style passage within his slow movement. A horn plays the ‘motto’

right at the start, accompanied by spread chords on a harp. But it’s a solo violin that introduces the movement’s main theme. This uses a smooth triplet rhythm (three notes in the space of two) that is itself countered by a melody on the flute topped off by a graceful trill. The struggles Rachmaninoff faced in writing the Symphony’s final movement seem immediately blown away as the movement launches. This is a tour-deforce of melody-propelled dynamism that immediately thrusts out themes before plunging into a rapid fugue heralded by the fate theme. Staggered entries from top-down strings suggest a dance, but for David Nice ‘the dance seems destined to sink in a slough of despond’, compounded by an airing of the plainsong theme referencing the ‘day of wrath’, the Dies Irae. But the dark clouds appear to be banished as a coda full of snappy, lunging brilliance wraps the Symphony up. Programme notes © Andrew Mellor

2018/19 Concert Season AT BRIGHTON DOME CONCERT Hall on sale monday 16 april 2018 20 October 2018 7.30pm

Glinka Overture, Ruslan and Ludmilla Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 Alondra de la Parra conductor Benjamin Grosvenor piano

24 November 2018 7.30pm

Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending Beethoven Symphony No. 4

12 January 2019 7.30pm

6 April 2019 7.30pm

Beethoven Coriolan Overture Brahms Violin Concerto Dvořák Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)

Bax Tintagel Grieg Piano Concerto Sibelius Suite, Belshazzar’s Feast Sibelius Symphony No. 5

Jamie Phillips conductor Alexander Sitkovetsky violin

Osmo Vänskä conductor Jan Lisiecki piano

Graham Ross conductor Carolin Widmann violin

Book ONLINE at BRIGHTONDOME.ORG or call 01273 709709 Season discounts of up to 20% available

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Restoring Rachmaninoff â€™s Life and Art

Revolution and War have scattered the artifacts documenting Sergei Rachmaninoff â€™s Life and Art all over the world. In order to enable thorough, pioneering research, the Rachmaninoff Network has launched an ambitious, worldwide initiative to bring together, link and digitally restore all traces of his life - such as letters, photos, films and manuscripts - in a single database documenting the man, the artist and his life work. Learn how you can support this groundbreaking initiative! Visit http://www.rachmaninoff.org/news facebook.com/rachmaninoffnetwork email: support@rachmaninoff.org

In partnership with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation The Rachmaninoff Network is an official charity registered under Dutch law nr. 852690460

Belshazzar’s

Feast

BRIGHTON FESTIVAL CHORUS ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA BRITTEN: Four Sea Interludes VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Lark Ascending WALTON: Belshazzar’s Feast

SUN 27 MAY BRIGHTONFESTIVAL.ORG BRIGHTONFESTIVAL BRIGHTFEST #BRIGHTONFESTIVAL

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 Victoria Robey OBE Orchestra Circle The Tsukanov Family Principal Associates An anonymous donor The Candide Trust In memory of Miss Ann Marguerite Collins Alexander & Elena Djaparidze Mr & Mrs Philip Kan Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Sergey Sarkisov & Rusiko Makhashvili Julian & Gill Simmonds Neil Westreich Dr James Huang Zheng (of Kingdom Music Education Group) Associates Steven M. Berzin Gabor Beyer Kay Bryan William & Alex de Winton HH Prince George-Constantin von Sachsen-Weimar Eisenach Virginia Gabbertas Hsiu Ling Lu Oleg & Natalya Pukhov George Ramishvili Sir Simon Robey Stuart & Bianca Roden Gold Patrons Evzen & Lucia Balko David & Yi Buckley Garf & Gill Collins Andrew Davenport Sonja Drexler Mrs Gillian Fane Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Sally Groves & Dennis Marks

The Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust John & Angela Kessler Vadim & Natalia Levin Countess Dominique Loredan Geoff & Meg Mann Tom & Phillis Sharpe Eric Tomsett The Viney Family Laurence Watt Guy & Utti Whittaker Silver Patrons Michael Allen Mrs Irina Gofman David Goldberg Mr Gavin Graham Mr Roger Greenwood Pehr G Gyllenhammar Catherine Høgel & Ben Mardle Matt Isaacs & Penny Jerram Rose & Dudley Leigh Mrs Elizabeth Meshkvicheva The Metherell Family Mikhail Noskov & Vasilina Bindley Jacopo Pessina Brian & Elizabeth Taylor Bronze Patrons Anonymous donors Dr Christopher Aldren Mrs Margot Astrachan Mrs A Beare Richard & Jo Brass Peter & Adrienne Breen Mr Jeremy Bull Mr Alan C Butler Richard Buxton John Childress & Christiane Wuillaimie Mr Geoffrey A Collens Mr John H Cook Bruno De Kegel Georgy Djaparidze David Ellen Ulrike & Benno Engelmann Ignor & Lyuba Galkin Mr Daniel Goldstein

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Mrs Dorothy Hambleton Martin & Katherine Hattrell Wim & Jackie Hautekiet-Clare Michael & Christine Henry J Douglas Home Mr Glenn Hurstfield Elena Lileeva & Adrian Pabst Drs Frank & Gek Lim Peter MacDonald Eggers Isabelle & Adrian Mee Maxim & Natalia Moskalev Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Peter & Lucy Noble Noel Otley JP & Mrs Rachel Davies Roderick & Maria Peacock Mr Roger Phillimore Mr Michael Posen Sir Bernard Rix Mr Robert Ross Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Barry & Gillian Smith Anna Smorodskaya Lady Valerie Solti Mr & Mrs G Stein Mr Christopher Stewart Mrs Anne Storm Sergei & Elena Sudakov Mr & Mrs John C Tucker Mr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Marina Vaizey Grenville & Krysia Williams Mr Anthony Yolland Principal Supporters An anonymous donor Ralph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Roger & Clare Barron Mr Geoffrey Bateman David & Patricia Buck Dr Anthony Buckland Desmond & Ruth Cecil Mr & Mrs Stewart Cohen David & Liz Conway Mr Alistair Corbett Mr Peter Cullum CBE Mr Timonthy Fancourt QC

Mr Richard Fernyhough Mr Derek B. Gray Malcolm Herring Ivan Hurry Per Jonsson Mr Raphaël Kanzas Rehmet Kassim-Lakha de Morixe Mr Colm Kelleher Peter Kerkar Mr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAF Paul & Brigitta Lock Mr John Long Mr Peter Mace Brendan & Karen McManus Kristina McPhee Andrew T Mills Randall & Maria Moore Dr Karen Morton Olga Pavlova Dr Wiebke Pekrull Mr James Pickford Andrew & Sarah Poppleton Tatiana Pyatigorskaya Mr Christopher Querée Martin & Cheryl Southgate Matthew Stephenson & Roman Aristarkhov Andrew & Rosemary Tusa Anastasia Vvedenskaya Howard & Sheelagh Watson Des & Maggie Whitelock Holly Wilkes Christopher Williams Mr C D Yates Bill Yoe Supporters Anonymous donors Mr John D Barnard Mrs Alan Carrington Miss Siobhan Cervin Gus Christie Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington Mr Joshua Coger Timothy Colyer Miss Tessa Cowie

Lady Jane Cuckney DBE Mr David Devons Cameron & Kathryn Doley Stephen & Barbara Dorgan Mr Nigel Dyer Sabina Fatkullina Mrs Janet Flynn Christopher Fraser OBE Peter and Katie Gray The Jackman Family Mrs Irina Tsarenkov Mr David MacFarlane Mr John Meloy Mr Stephen Olton Robin Partington Mr David Peters Mr Ivan Powell Mr & Mrs Graham & Jean Pugh Mr David Russell Mr Kenneth Shaw Ms Natalie Spraggon Michael & Katie Urmston Damien & Tina Vanderwilt Timothy Walker AM Mr John Weekes 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) Gabor Beyer (Hungary) Kay Bryan (Australia) HH Prince George-Constantin von Sachsen-Weimar Eisenach (Germany)

Marie-Laure Favre Gilly de Varennes de Bueil (France) Joyce Kan (China/Hong Kong) Hsiu Ling Lu (China/Shanghai) Olivia Ma (Greater China Area) Olga Makharinsky (Russia) George Ramishvili (Georgia) Victoria Robey OBE (USA) Dr James Huang Zheng (of Kingdom Music Education Group) (China/ Shenzhen) 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: William A. Kerr Chairman Xenia Hanusiak Alexandra Jupin Kristina McPhee David Oxenstierna Natalie Pray Stephanie Yoshida Antony Phillipson Hon. Chairman Noel Kilkenny Hon. Director Victoria Robey OBE Hon. Director Richard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA, EisnerAmper LLP Corporate Donors Arcadis Bonhams Celebro Media Christian Dior Couture Faraday Fenchurch Advisory Partners Giberg Goldman Sachs Pictet Bank White & Case LLP

Corporate Members Gold freuds Sunshine Silver After Digital Berenberg Carter-Ruck French Chamber of Commerce Bronze Accenture Ageas Lazard Russo-British Chamber of Commerce Willis Towers Watson Preferred Partners Fever-Tree Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd London Orthopaedic Clinic Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind Sponsor Google Inc Trusts and Foundations The Boltini Trust Sir William Boreman’s Foundation Borletti-Buitoni Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation The Candide Trust The Ernest Cook Trust Diaphonique, Franco-British Fund for contemporary music The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund The Foyle Foundation Lucille Graham Trust Help Musicians UK

John Horniman’s Children’s Trust The Idlewild Trust Embassy of the State of Israel to the United Kingdom Kirby Laing Foundation The Lawson Trust The Leverhulme Trust Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation London Stock Exchange Group Foundation Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian Trust The Mercers’ Company Adam Mickiewicz Institute Newcomen Collett Foundation The Stanley Picker Trust The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust PRS For Music Foundation Rivers Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute The R K Charitable Trust The Sampimon Trust Schroder Charity Trust Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable Trust Spears-Stutz Charitable Trust The John Thaw Foundation The Thistle Trust UK Friends of the FelixMendelssohn-BartholdyFoundation 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 Henry Baldwin* Roger Barron Richard Brass David Buckley Bruno De Kegel Al MacCuish Susanne Martens* George Peniston* Natasha Tsukanova Mark Vines* Timothy Walker AM Neil Westreich David Whitehouse* * Player-Director Advisory Council Martin Höhmann Chairman Rob Adediran Christopher Aldren Dr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass 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 Dr Catherine C. Høgel Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Geoff Mann Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham 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

Public Relations Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

David Burke General Manager and Finance Director

Talia Lash Education and Community Project Manager