LPO Tune In newsletter – Spring/Summer 2012

– ISSUE TWO – – SPRING / SUMMER 2012 –

Prokofiev has made an immense, priceless contribution to the musical culture of Russia.

Dmitri Shostakovich

PROKOFIEV: MAN OF THE PEOPLE?

tour news

Backstage

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Vladimir Jurowski presents a festival exploring one of the most misunderstood men in 20th-century music

All the latest on the Orchestra's travels, including its recent trips to Oman and China

Meet Simon Carrington, the Orchestra’s Principal Timpanist

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New recordings on the LPO Label

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

Sir adrian boult conducts busoni's doktor faust CD £9.99

LPO-0056

'Buried treasure indeed … A rewarding and fascinating document, in sum, and one not to be missed.'

Classicalsource.com, 30 September 2011

LPO-0057

Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 and Pohjola’s Daughter, and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra CD £9.99

Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music grant programme

‘This has to be one of the best recordings around of Sibelius’s Fifth. And Lutosławski’s Concerto can never have been more brilliantly played.’

Classic FM Magazine, December 2011

Vladimir Jurowski conducts Honegger’s Pastorale d’été, Symphony No. 4 and Une Cantate de Noël CD £9.99 LPO-0058

‘[The Fourth Symphony] is full of charm and tactile invention, vividly realised in this live recording.’

The Sunday Times, 30 October 2011

Next release: March 2012 RAVEL

DAphnis Et ChLoé

bernard Haitink conducts ravel's daphnis et chloÉ

LPO-0059

BERnARD hAitinK conductor LonDon phiLhARMoniC oRChEstRA John ALLDis ChoiR

A BBC recording

Browse the full catalogue and sign up for updates at lpo.org.uk/recordings

Downloads available from iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and classicsonline.com.

In-kind sponsors: Google Inc Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Villa Maria

Timothy Walker © Patrick Harrison

All recordings available from lpo.org.uk/shop, the London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office (020 7840 4242, Monday–Friday 10am–5pm), all good CD outlets and the Royal Festival Hall shop.

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tune in – SPRING / SUMMER 2012 –

WELCOME

H

appy New Year! Welcome to the Spring 2012 edition of the London Philharmonic Orchestra's newsletter, Tune In. It's hard to believe we're already halfway through our 2011/12 season, but there's plenty to look forward to over the next few months. The highlight of the New Year is our three-week festival Prokofiev: Man of the People? (13 January–1 February) curated by Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski, in which he explores both well-loved favourites and lesser-known works by this most fascinating of composers. Having shed revelatory light on Tchaikovsky in 2008 and Schnittke in 2009, for this year's festival Jurowski has selected works embracing the full range of Prokofiev's craft: from colourful orchestral works like the Lieutenant Kijé Suite and virtuoso concertos performed by an array of distinguished soloists, to the powerful oratorio Ivan the Terrible with the London Philharmonic Choir, plus talks and a study afternoon with leading Prokofiev experts in which we dig deep into the complex personality behind the music. Thanks to the generous support of JTI, all bookers for any festival event can claim a free download of Danjulo Ishizaka playing Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra: visit our dedicated site at lpo.org.uk/prokofiev for more information.

Between now and May, we welcome some of the most exciting young soloists on today's international stage: cellist Danjulo Ishizaka and pianists Lukáš Vondráček, Boris Giltburg, Hong Xu and Martin Helmchen. There's also a chance to see the next generation of conducting talent in the culmination of the 2012 International Conductors’ Academy of the Allianz Cultural Foundation on 13 April – read more on page 10.

For choral enthusiasts there are plenty of treats in store, with the London Philharmonic Choir joining us for five concerts including Prokofiev's oratorio Ivan the Terrible on

Timothy Walker © Patrick Harrison

Editor Rachel Fryer Publisher London Philharmonic Orchestra Printer Graphic Impressions Cover image Painting of Prokofiev by Vasily Shukhayev © RIA Novosti/Alamy

– Timothy walker – Chief Executive and Artistic Director

2012/13 season launch

Booking for our new season opens on Monday 6 February. To take advantage of priority booking (from 25 January), become a Friend of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for as little as £50 a year. Call Elisenda Ayats on 020 7840 4225 or visit lpo.org.uk/support_us/friends.html

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28 January, magnificent sacred music by Bruckner on 4 February and Delius's haunting Sea Drift on 24 March with Sir Mark Elder and baritone Roderick Williams.

The Orchestra's tireless touring schedule shows no signs of slowing down this season.

After the Autumn's opening celebrations for the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman with Yo-Yo Ma, followed by concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall with Emanuel Ax and Janine Jansen, and in Madrid with Renée Fleming, the Orchestra spent the New Year in China performing in the recently opened Guangzhou Opera House, as well as in Wuhan, Changsha and Beijing. Read more on page 7.

Coming up later in the year are trips to Spain and Germany, and our first visit to Russia since the 1970s. Turn to page 15 for more details of where you can catch the Orchestra abroad.

Many of us will have at some point watched an orchestra's timpanists and percussionists during a concert and been mesmerised by their skill, precision and dynamism. In this issue's 'Backstage' interview we meet the Orchestra's Principal Timpanist, Simon Carrington, and ask him about the challenges of his role as well as what makes it so rewarding (back cover).

We'd love to hear your feedback on Tune In, as well as your suggestions of what you'd like to read about in future editions. Email admin@lpo.org.uk, or come and chat to us at the LPO Information Desk in the Royal Festival Hall foyer on concert nights.

If you haven't already got a copy of our season brochure, do pick one up next time you're at Royal Festival Hall. In the meantime, turn to page 13 for full listings for the spring both in the UK and abroad, or browse the full season at lpo.org.uk.

Thank you for your support of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Download our free app for iPhone & android

lpo.org.uk/iphone

Contents prokofiev festival preview 04 TOUR NEWS 07 new & noteworthy 08 brightsparks schools' concerts 11 Concert listings 13–15 Backstage 16

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, we cannot accept liability for any statement or error contained herein. © 2012 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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tune in – SPRING / SUMMER 2012 –

London philharmonic orchestra

PROKOFIEV: mAN OF THE PEOPLE?

Festival Artistic Director Vladimir Jurowski

As his music became known in London, Paris and the United States, Prokofiev was exoticised as a musical Bolshevik. Blanching at the comparison, he nevertheless recognised that success could not come without scandal.

As the chaos of the so-called October Revolution turned into civil war, Prokofiev headed East, making his way through Japan to the West Coast of the United States.

Having anticipated a small crowd of envious local pianists for a recital in New York in November 1919, Prokofiev was amazed to be greeted by an almost full house of some 1,300 enthusiastic listeners. As the performance unfolded, the crowd pressed closer and closer to the stage to hear his scintillating rendition of his 1912 Second Piano Sonata. The stiff action of the piano repeatedly flustered him, but he triumphed.

Prokofiev bowed ten times during three breaks in the concert, and the next day tallied 11 reviews, most stressing his phenomenal

technique, his ability to hammer ‘hell itself’ into the piano with ‘excruciating dynamics’.

His reputation as a performer and composer for the piano was secured, but success in the larger forms was harder to come by. He looked to Europe for opportunities. The more progressive opera houses of London and Berlin beckoned, as did the illustrious Ballets Russes of Paris. By 1929, he had completed three operas and four ballet scores, fulfilled recording contracts, and continued to perform recitals of his own music. Scores were stored in suitcases, scenarios and librettos drafted on hotel letterhead. Along the way, he married a Madrid-born, New York-raised singer, Lina Codina, and they had two sons.

Prokofiev began to think seriously about moving back East, to the Soviet Union, after an enormously successful homecoming tour in 1927. In 1936, after several years of hesitation, Prokofiev and his family left France to take up permanent residence in Russia, an altogether transformed nation. Prokofiev thereafter found himself trapped, unable after 1938 to travel abroad, and unable to compose in the manner he desired. Though valued by the Stalinist regime, he suffered correction and censorship, the result being a gradual sapping of his creative energies.

Prokofiev revised and re-revised his late ballets and operas in an attempt to appease cultural officials but more often than not, his labours went to waste. He had much greater success with his piano music and symphonies, receiving numerous official prizes for them.

Following his official denunciation in 1948, jittery concert and theatre managers pulled his works from the repertoire. Then his wife Lina was arrested on false charges of treason

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Prokofiev © The Serge Prokofiev Archive

S

erge Prokofiev lived a distracted, restless life, always in the moment.

His music, however, suggests careful, patient thought – if not protracted labour. He might be compared to Mozart or, closer to home, Tchaikovsky, both of whom were able to imagine entire worlds of sound and commit them to paper in nearly finished form. And remarkably for a modern composer, Prokofiev’s music is just as popular.

As Vladimir Jurowski, the festival's Artistic Director, observes, however, much of his oeuvre ‘remains widely unknown to the general – and even to the music-loving – audience’, despite the fact that the neglected works are ‘indispensable in understanding him as an artist’.

In 1918, after completing his studies at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, Prokofiev departed war-torn Russia for the United States. After a two-year stay, he moved to France where, like most émigré artists of the period, he made Paris his home. Throughout his youth, he sought to stay on the cutting edge of modernist musical fashion, and earned himself a reputation at the Conservatoire as a musical rabble-rouser, an enfant terrible. He shocked his conservative, tradition-bearing teachers by breaking the rules of traditional harmony and indulging in tempestuous chromaticism. His ‘Classical’ Symphony of 1917 [to be performed by the LPO on 1 February] was conceived in response to the traditionalism of his teachers, who had rejected his previous symphonic efforts.

Jurowski points out that Prokofiev was ‘very, very proud as a young man about having attained a specifically individual voice as a composer’.

Vladimir Jurowski © Chris Christodoulou

As we embark on a festival exploring the music of Prokofiev, Simon Morrison introduces this most fascinating and complex of composers.

Prokofiev © The Serge Prokofiev Archive

Vladimir Jurowski © Chris Christodoulou

tune in – SPRING / SUMMER 2012 –

and sent to the prison camps; she would not be released until after Prokofiev’s death.

However clichéd, it remains the case that Prokofiev’s life teems with mysteries. What convinced him to return to Russia in 1936?

Why exactly was his first wife, a singer of modest talent, arrested in 1948, and how did this arrest relate to his own political problems? How did Prokofiev’s faith (Christian Science) inform his career? And what guided his stylistic modulations?

Jurowski also wonders: ‘How honest was Prokofiev with himself and with other people when describing himself as “the people’s artist”?’

This festival will address such mysteries while also deepening our understanding of Prokofiev’s achievement, from the halcyon beginning of his career to its troubled conclusion. Jurowski describes the programme and its rationale: ‘Following the experience of the Tchaikovsky and Schnittke festivals of previous years, we want to explore Prokofiev’s Prokofiev with his two sons, Sviatoslav and Oleg, in 1936 music; put it in context through his own writings, his diaries, his letters and his to make people’s view of Prokofiev as statements about his music. As usual with complete as physically possible.’ these series, we’ll be trying to avoid works Prokofiev is often branded a neoclassicist, that are too famous, or trying to put them in a though he himself neither embraced nor slightly different context; so there will be the respected that complicated term, preferring ‘Classical’ Symphony and Symphony No. 5 instead to see his music as the product of [both 1 February] , but alongside them you competing stylistic attitudes, from the will hear the much less frequently performed grotesque to the playful to the sentimental – Symphony No. 2 [21 January], the Fourth and with the division between the sincere and the Fifth Piano Concertos [25 January and 18 January], works such as the Symphonic satiric carefully obscured. He was a man of Song [18 January], and the recent, unknown the people in the sense that, during the version of the Ivan the Terrible oratorio Soviet period, he received the prepared by Prokofiev’s assistant title of ‘People’s Artist’ and and secretary Levon Atovmyan, sought to fulfil official with Prokofiev’s permission demands for folksy How honest was [28 January]. There will be film tunefulness and Prokofiev when music by Prokofiev, there will transparent textures. But be incidental music describing himself as he cared little for the presented with actors, there politics, even though 'the people’s artist'? will be vocal music, there will many of his later works be ballets – and this time it’s Vladimir Jurowski are on political themes – not going to be Romeo and the most notorious being Juliet, it’s going to be Cinderella, the cantata Zdravitsa ('A and Chout [both 25 January]. Of Toast!'), his 1939 paean to course we can't embrace the entire Stalin on the occasion of the ruler’s 60th oeuvre of such a prolific man as Prokofiev birthday. In accordance with the teachings of within the festival, but we’ll try to do as much Christian Science, Prokofiev regarded his as possible, to play as much chamber music as talent as God-given, divinely bestowed and possible around our concerts and also to detached from earthly concerns. Even the present public discussions and symposiums,

piece for Stalin would stand the test of time, he believed. His compromised final works make for painful listening when compared to those from the 1920s and 1930s, but there remain glimpses of his spiritually optimistic outlook even in the scores, like the Concertino for Cello [21 January], that he left unfinished.

Those in charge of Soviet cultural affairs denounced him for not making his music more like the world around him. Yet he wanted the world around him to be more like his music.

Simon Morrison is a Professor of Music at Princeton University, where he teaches 19thand 20th-century Russian and French music.

Along with other leading Prokofiev experts, he will lead the study day 'The Unknown Prokofiev' on 28 January 2012.

Festival event listings overleaf. For more information about the festival, including pre-and post-concert events, visit lpo.org.uk/prokofiev Book through the London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office on 020 7840 4242 or online at lpo.org.uk

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Man of the people? tune in – SPRING / SUMMER 2012 –

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

by Vladimir Jurowski

Man of the people?

JTI Friday Series

Get closer to Sergei Prokofiev

Prokofiev Suite, Lieutenant Kijé Prokofiev Cello Concerto, Op. 58 Prokofiev Symphony No. 7 A festival curated Alexander Vedernikov conductor

by Vladimir Jurowski Danjulo Ishizaka cello

Wednesday 18 January 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall

13 January 1 February 2012

Festival highlights – Performances by S and Janine Jansen – The world premièr oratorio version o Ivan the Terrible – Free classical club Gabriel Prokofiev Dance Company

lGet po.or g.uk/pr okofiev closer to

Sergei Prokofiev

Get closer to one of the most misunderstood men in music A20th-century festival cu rated

Festival highlights include – Performances by Steven Osborne

by Vladimir Jurowski and Janine Jansen Wednesday 25 January 2012 | 7.30pm – The world première of an Royal Festival Hall oratorio version of Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible Prokofiev Chout ('The Buffoon') (excerpts) – Free classical club nightProkofiev with Piano Concerto No. 4 (for the left hand)* Gabriel Prokofiev and Rambert Prokofiev Cinderella (excerpts) Dance Company Vladimir Jurowski conductor Leon Fleisher piano

lpo.org.uk/

Get closer to one o most misundersto in 20th-century mu

lpo.org.uk/prokofiev

* Supported by Dunard Fund Get closer to one of the most misunderstood men in 20th-century music Saturday 28 January 2012 | 2.00–5.30pm Level 5 Function Room, Royal Festival Hall

Prokofiev Symphonic Song, Op. 57 Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 5* Prokofiev Symphony No. 6

The Unknown Prokofiev Leading Prokofiev experts Simon Morrison, David Nice, Nelly Kravetz and Fiona McKnight discuss Prokofiev’s popular music for Soviet consumption and why these works are virtually unknown.

His grandson Gabriel Prokofiev provides a personal insight into the reasons behind Prokofiev’s return to Stalin’s Russia only to endure censorship and difficulties as a Soviet composer.

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Steven Osborne piano * Supported by Dunard Fund Saturday 21 January 2012 | 7.30pm Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Royal College of Music, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BS Prokofiev Two Poems, Op. 7 Prokofiev (arr. Kabalevsky) Concertino for Cello Prokofiev Ode to the End of the War Prokofiev Symphony No. 2

In collaboration with The Serge Prokofiev Foundation Saturday 28 January 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall Prokofiev Incidental music to 'Egyptian Nights'* Prokofiev (arr. Levon Atovmyan) Ivan the Terrible (world première of this version)**

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Kristina Blaumane cello Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Sunday 22 January 2012 | 3.30pm Royal Festival Hall

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Ewa Podleš contralto Andrey Breus baritone Simon Callow narrator Miranda Richardson narrator London Philharmonic Choir * With texts by George Bernard Shaw, Pushkin and Shakespeare ** Generously supported by The Serge Prokofiev Foundation

The Prokofiev Diaries Readings from Prokofiev's diaries and other autobiographical writings, alongside musical extracts.

Wednesday 1 February 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Simon Callow as Prokofiev Joan Rodgers soprano Piers Lane piano Rex Lawson pianola

Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 (Classical) Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2 Prokofiev Symphony No. 5

Concert generously supported by Mr Leonid and Mrs Olga Makharinsky

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Janine Jansen violin

Tickets £9–£39

Guangzhou Opera House © Iwan Baan – Truck © Roanna Gibson

13 January – 1 February Friday 13 January 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival Hall 2012

Man of the people?

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

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tune in – SPRING / SUMMER 2012 –

tour news

The LPO reaches new heights in Eindhoven, October 2011

Rostropovich Festival, april 2012

The new Guangzhou Opera House

Guangzhou Opera House © Iwan Baan – Truck © Roanna Gibson

T

OMAN and CHINA, autumn 2011

he London Philharmonic Orchestra has always been a trailblazer when it comes to international tours – in 1956 it was the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first-ever visit to China by a Western orchestra – and this season is no exception.

In November 2011 the Orchestra ventured for the first time to Oman in the Middle East, to perform as part of the opening celebrations for the new Royal Opera House in the capital, Muscat. Under conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the Orchestra performed Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 and Dvořák's Cello Concerto with soloist Yo-Yo Ma. The spectacular new Royal Opera House Muscat is a landmark building: it is the first dedicated venue for musical performances in Oman, and its opening season features an exciting line-up of stellar artists including Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Andrea Bocelli and the Mariinsky Ballet. Timothy Walker, the LPO's Chief Executive and Artistic Director, said 'The London Philharmonic Orchestra is honoured to be part of the opening festival of the Royal Opera House Muscat. We applaud the decision to build this magnificent facility for the country. It is a state-of-the-art building that will draw great artists and audiences from all over the world.

We look forward to many happy returns.'

The Orchestra played in another new venue when it spent the New Year in China, performing in the recently opened

Guangzhou Opera House under conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier with pianist Hong Xu. This stunning asymmetrical building (above) was designed by architect Zaha Hadid as the result of an international competition, and evokes the smoothing of rocks in the nearby Pearl River. During the tour the Orchestra also performed in Wuhan, Changsha and Beijing.

The Orchestra continues its international travels in 2012 with a tour of Spain in February, where it will perform in Valladolid, Oviedo, Barcelona, San Sebastián, Zaragoza and Madrid, followed by concerts in the German cities of Wuppertal and Cologne in early March, and Moscow in April (see opposite). Later it will head off to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, and to Austria's Grafenegg Festival in August. Turn to page 15 for more details.

FIND OUT MORE lpo.org.uk/performances

The Orchestra is looking forward to a rare trip to Russia this April – its first since 1975 – where it has been invited to perform as part of the prestigious International Rostropovich Festival in Moscow. The annual festival, which first took place in 2010, was created to honour the memory of the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who died in 2007.

The Orchestra will perform two concerts at Moscow's Bolshoi Conservatory Hall. On 1 April Vladimir Jurowski will conduct Brahms's Symphony No. 4 and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 with pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, and on 2 April music by his Russian countryman Prokofiev: excerpts from the composer's music for the play Egyptian Nights and his music for Sergei Eisenstein's film Ivan the Terrible with the Moscow Conservatory Chamber Choir, in a newly discovered oratorio version by Levon Atovmyan. This work will have been premièred by the Orchestra and Jurowski at Royal Festival Hall on 28 January, as part of the 'Prokofiev: Man of the People?' festival.

Members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Red Square, Moscow, during its first Russian tour in 1956

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tune in – SPRING / SUMMER 2012 –

new & noteworthy RAVEL

DAphnis Et ChLoé

BERnARD hAitinK conductor LonDon phiLhARMoniC oRChEstRA John ALLDis ChoiR

A BBC recording

world premiÈres in 2012 The Orchestra reinforces its commitment to new music this season with two exciting world premières – The Discovery of Heaven by the Orchestra's Composer in Residence Julian Anderson on 24 March, and a Percussion Concerto by Finnish composer Kalevi Aho on 18 April.

Julian Anderson was appointed the Orchestra's Composer in Residence in 2010. He launched his residency by composing a fanfare for the Royal Society's 350th Anniversary celebrations at Southbank Centre in June 2010, followed by performances of his works The Stations of the Sun and The Crazed Moon. His new piece, The Discovery of Heaven, will be premièred on 24 March 2012 alongside two English works from the turn of the 20th century: Delius's Sea Drift and Elgar's Symphony No. 1, under conductor Sir Mark Elder with baritone Roderick Williams.

Kalevi Aho's new Percussion Concerto will receive its première on 18 April, with soloist Colin Currie under conductor Osmo Vänskä. Scottish percussionist Currie's 'athletic percussionism, compulsive showmanship and deep musicality' (The Guardian) has inspired composers from around the globe, and he has given several premières with the London Philharmonic Orchestra including Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto in 2007 and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Incantations in 2009.

Tickets for both concerts are £9–£39 and are available from the LPO Box Office.

GLYNDEBOURNE 2012 The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been Resident Symphony Orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera since 1964, spending each summer accompanying the opera performances in the Sussex countryside. The 2012 Glyndebourne season opens on 20 May and will run until 26 August, during which time the Orchestra will give performances of Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen, Rossini's La Cenerentola, Puccini's La bohème and a double-bill of Ravel's L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges. Public booking opens on Saturday 24 March 2012.

Early access to tickets is available for corporate and individual supporters of the LPO. FIND OUT MORE lpo.org.uk/support_the_lpo/glyndebourne.html glyndebourne.com

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

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The Band © Rhydian Peters

Julian Anderson, the Orchestra's Composer in Residence

The latest release on the London Philharmonic Orchestra's own label is a disc of music by 20th-century Swiss composer Arthur Honegger conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, which was released in November. It features three of Honegger’s most lyrical works: the dreamy Pastorale d’été, the nostalgic Fourth Symphony, subtitled ‘The Delights of Basel’ in remembrance of the sanctuary offered by the Swiss city during the war, and his final composition, the reflective and heartfelt Christmas Cantata. The Sunday Times praised Jurowski's interpretation as ' full of charm and tactile invention', while Hi-Fi Critic described the recording as 'an engrossing and uplifting experience'.

Other 2011 releases are riding high in the classical charts and the music press, with Vladimir Jurowski's recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 chosen as August 2011's Recording of the Month by Gramophone.

Reviewer Edward Seckerson praised it as 'a performance of revelations, big and small, and easily the most illuminating to have appeared on disc in a very long time', adding that 'Jurowski wipes the floor with the recent Rattle and Jansons accounts and is probably now the prime recommendation, the 'library' choice, that has for so long eluded us.' October 2011's release of Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra with Jukka-Pekka Saraste was equally acclaimed, with Classic FM Magazine declaring: 'This has to be one of the best recordings around of Sibelius’s Fifth. And Lutosławski’s Concerto can never have been more brilliantly played.'

Forthcoming releases include Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, conducted by Bernard Haitink with the John Alldis Choir in a live 1979 recording, due for release in March, and Ravi Shankar's Symphony with his daughter Anoushka on sitar alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which was recorded live in performance at Royal Festival Hall in July 2010 and which will be released in April.

Julian Anderson © Maurice Foxall

new cd releases

tune in – SPRING / SUMMER 2012 –

ANNUAL APPEAL 2011/12: London Philharmonic Orchestra Community Programme VIDEO GAME HEROES – album out now The Orchestra branched out into the world of video game music on 2 September 2011, devoting a concert at Royal Festival Hall to soundtracks from well-loved games including Angry Birds, Super Mario Bros, Battlefield, The Elder Scrolls, Tetris, Final Fantasy and Little Big Planet. The concert was conducted by Andrew Skeet and presented by comedian Iain Lee. An album of tracks from the concert is now available on CD and for download, priced £7.99 – visit lpo.org.uk/heroes. After the concert, many of the audience took to Twitter with their feedback: here are a few of your comments. youremyichiban Saw #videogameheroes @lporchestra at royal festival hall 2nite.

Amazing amazing amazing! Faves-Dead Space, James Bond, Tetris, Elder Scrolls katesigrist @LPOrchestra thanks for a fantastic night! Wandered off into the night humming Super Mario, wonderful :) please do a pt 2! #videogameheroes

cainux thanks @LPOrchestra for taking me back through my years of gaming. MGS was awesome, Halo was epic but Zelda, was just beautiful The Band © Rhydian Peters

Julian Anderson © Maurice Foxall

MakiSCI @LPOrchestra THANK U for the wonderful performance tonight Video Game Heroes! Loved Angry Birds MGS Tetris & Final Fantasy

BrassStudent @LPOrchestra album of popular video game themes? Why is it not in my hands RIGHT NOW!?! listen to clips and download the album lpo.org.uk/heroes

The Band is the Orchestra’s fusion ensemble for young people in South London aged 15–19, who meet to improvise, create, and rehearse their own music – from classical to jazz, hip-hop, rock, and more. This is just one of the dynamic projects within the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Community Programme, enabling young people and their families to experience and create live music.

Also part of the programme is Animate Orchestra, a creative ensemble for children aged 10–13, and our FUNharmonics Family Concerts performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with surrounding foyer activities.

In order to undertake this essential work we depend entirely on donations from charitable sources, and we are asking you to help us to support this work in the communities surrounding the South Bank.

We are extremely grateful to those who have already donated. Any contributions you feel able to make to this year's Appeal would be very welcome. Gifts of any size make a real difference; to donate please contact Elisenda Ayats on 020 7840 4225 or email elisenda.ayats@lpo.org.uk find out more lpo.org.uk/support_us/appeal.html

‘HUGO’ SOUNDTRACK RECORDING The Orchestra has been busy in the studio recording the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s new 3D family adventure film Hugo. The film, an adaptation of a children’s book called The Invention of Hugo Cabret, tells of a 12-year-old orphan boy living in a Paris train station who finds himself embroiled in a magical mystery surrounding his late father and wind-up toys.

It stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer and Jude Law.

win wine with villa maria!

Villa Maria, New Zealand’s most awarded winery for more than 30 years, is proud to be the official wine sponsor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Founded in 1961 by Sir George Fistonich, 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of Villa Maria’s first vintage.

Although the last 50 years have seen many changes, Villa Maria remains firmly family owned and still run day to day by Sir George.

Family ownership has enabled Villa Maria to stay true to George’s founding principles, to make quality wines that are expressive of their origins for the enjoyment of everyone, everywhere.

To celebrate its anniversary, Villa Maria is delighted to offer one lucky winner 12 bottles from the exceptional ‘Reserve’ range, worth nearly £200. The prize will consist of six bottles of the lusciously delicate Villa Maria Reserve Riesling 2008, and six bottles of the rich and concentrated Villa Maria Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2009.

To enter, please email competitions@hatch.co.uk with your answer to the following question: What is your favourite music and wine match?

Please include your name, address and telephone number, and put ‘LPO 50th Competition’ in the Subject line.

Terms and conditions All entrants must be aged 18 years or over.

A full UK mainland address and telephone number must be provided for delivery purposes. Competition closes 31 March 2012.

If you do not wish to hear from Villa Maria from time to time in the future, please write 'No database' in the body of your email. more information about villa maria villamaria.co.nz

corporate partnerships with the lpo lpo.org.uk/support_us/corporate.html

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new & noteworthy

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Members of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra attended the Orchestra's two performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall in December. Following the concert on Thursday 8 December, Vladimir Jurowski and Emanuel Ax were the guests of honour at a Champagne and dessert reception at Manhattan’s glamorous Petrossian restaurant, which helped raise vital funds for the tour. The American Friends is a charitable organisation that provides invaluable support for the Orchestra’s visits to the United States as well as promoting its own concert series of performances by emerging artists. more information lpo.org.uk/support_us/americanfriends .html

annual fundraisinG GALA 2012 We are delighted to announce that the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Annual Fundraising Gala will take place at Banqueting House on 27 June 2012, raising funds to mark the Orchestra's 80th anniversary. Guests will enjoy a Champagne Taittinger reception in the Undercroft, followed by a special orchestral performance and formal dinner, accompanied

by Villa Maria wines, in the stunning Main Hall.

Formal invitations will be sent out shortly.

To find out more about this event please contact Laura Luckhurst on 020 7840 4209 or email laura.luckhurst@lpo.org.uk FIND OUT MORE

PRINCIPAL FRIENDS' LUNCH

Friday 13 April 2012 marks the culmination of the 2012 International Conductors’ Academy of the Allianz Cultural Foundation. Three up-and-coming international conductors have spent the past year working alongside both the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra, observing rehearsals and concerts conducted by the orchestras' respective Principal Conductors, as well as taking part in podium sessions. The 2012 participants are British conductor Thomas Blunt , Venezuelan Domingo Hindoyan and Ward Stare from the USA. The three participants will each in turn conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall on 13 April 2012 in a programme comprising Mozart's Symphony No. 35, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist John Lill, Past Hymns by the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence Julian Anderson and Stravinsky’s Symphony in C. Tickets are priced £9–£39 and are available from the LPO Box Office (see page 13 for details).

The first Principal Friends' Lunch took place on 16 November 2011. Following the morning’s rehearsal featuring Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Janine Jansen and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, we headed to Le Pain Quotidien on Festival Terrace, next to Royal Festival Hall. Principal Friends, London Philharmonic Orchestra musicians and staff met and chatted over a two-course lunch and a glass of wine. Martin Höhmann, Chairman of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Board and violinist in the Orchestra attended, talking to the Principal Friends about upcoming tours and concerts. We were delighted to be able to offer our Principal Friends the opportunity to get to know some of the Orchestra's players better over an informal lunch, and to learn more about the workings of the Orchestra. lpo friends lpo.org.uk/support_us/friends.html

WELCOME

the allianz cultural foundation

A warm welcome to our newest member, Gregory Aronovich, who joined the Orchestra's viola section in January.

Gregory (known as Grisha) grew up and studied in Israel, and has sinced played in orchestras in Germany, Norway and Denmark.

allianz-kulturstiftung.de/en

TEXT: A NEW WAY OF GIVING The London Philharmonic Orchestra has teamed up with Just Giving to enable you to donate by text message. It is one of the easiest ways to give, and 100% of the donation will go towards the Orchestra’s work both on and off the concert platform. To donate, text PHIL12 and the amount you wish to donate (£1, £2, £3, £4, £5, or £10) to 70070.

For example, to donate £10, text PHIL12 £10 to 70070.

Your donation is also eligible for Gift Aid, enabling us to claim an extra 25p per £1 at no extra cost to you. Just follow the instructions in the confirmation text you will receive from Just Giving. Your donation will be added to your next mobile phone bill or deducted from your Pay As You Go credit.

Donating via text message is just one of the ways you can support the Orchestra’s 2011/12 Annual Appeal, in aid of The Community Programme. More details about the Appeal can be found on page 9.

More information lpo.org.uk/text

lpo.org.uk/support_us/gala.html

Staff news In September we said goodbye to Camilla Begg, who moved on after three and a half years in the Orchestra's Concerts department.

We are delighted that Julia Boon, previously Intern in the Marketing department, has taken over the role of Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager.

new arrivals Congratulations to the Orchestra's former Development Director (and LPO Contemporaries Committee member) Emma O’Connell and her husband John on the birth of their daughter, Alice, on 4 September 2011.

AFLPO © Cutty McGill

AFLPO Board members Kristina McPhee, David Dangoor and Margot Astrachan (Chairman) enjoy the post-concert reception at Petrossian.

ALLIANZ CONDUCTORS' CONCERT 13 APRIL

Full concert listings and booking information on pages 13–15 – 10 –

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education & COMMUNITY

A Bright future for schools' concerts This season, with the help of Deutsche Bank, the Orchestra's schools' concerts are reaching out to even more young people.

A London Philharmonic Orchestra schools' concert at Royal Festival Hall

AFLPO © Cutty McGill

B

rightSparks, the London engage students who have opted to study Philharmonic Orchestra’s concerts music beyond the age of 14 and take them on for schools, started in 2001 and the next step of the journey, exposing them to grew out of the existing series of another layer of repertoire and exploring it in schools' concerts. Until the current greater depth. season, the concerts’ focus has been for Taking as our starting point the need for all children at the first three Key Stages of the GCSE students to have a solid grounding in National Curriculum – up to the age of the history of music from the Baroque 14. We design each concert to be period to the present day, and of appropriate to a specific Key the requirement of some exam It was well Stage so the concert will boards to study set works, we organised and enjoyed engage, inform and entertain. have devised a programme immensely by the children. that charts the development BrightSparks is central to our A great introduction to education programme in of music (and the orchestra) schools, providing a basis for from Handel to John Adams. classical music! many subsequent projects.

Presented and conducted by Dollis Infant School, June 2011 From 2012, we are extending regular collaborator Stuart the series to include for the first Stratford, the concerts will offer time concerts for GCSE music the chance for students to hear the students. We felt this was vital to the music taken apart and rebuilt, to integrity of our education programme. appreciate the organic development of Bringing under-14s into the hall for the first musical styles and to revel in hearing music time and leading them into the intoxicating from Mozart to Schoenberg played by a great and exhilarating world of orchestral music is orchestra. Accompanied by detailed teachers’ hugely important. However, there would packs, the concerts aim to inspire as well as clearly be an enormous gap if we did not then inform.

As one of the flagship projects in its extensive Corporate Social Responsibility programme, Deutsche Bank has been supporting the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s BrightSparks schools' concerts since 2001 and has funded this expansion into the GCSE curriculum. Through the Deutsche Bank Free Tickets Scheme, its generous funding ensures that schoolchildren and their teachers in the Greater London area have the opportunity to experience a live performance by the Orchestra for free.

'Deutsche Bank has a history and reputation for its support of the use of arts within education to positively impact on the teaching and learning of young people in disadvantaged areas', says Kate Cavelle, Head of Corporate Citizenship UK at Deutsche Bank.

'Our relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra has been at the core of this support for over ten years, providing thousands of young people with the exciting opportunity to see a live concert at Royal Festival Hall. This partnership ensures that we have a true impact on learning whilst simultaneously increasing access to the wonderful world of music for young people who might otherwise never have the opportunity to go.'

In addition to its support of music education, Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Citizenship programme spans a range of themes aimed at addressing disadvantage, promoting social mobility and supporting emerging artists. Activities in the UK range from employees serving breakfast at homeless missions; strategic support and mentoring for social entrepreneurs and new small businesses; to supporting graduating artists to develop their business plans.

Globally, 194,942 people participated in cultural education programmes supported by Deutsche Bank in 2010, whilst 337,100 took part in education projects. find out more www.db.com/unitedkingdom/social_responsibility.html

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2011/12 season concerts

love is in the air Treat someone special on 14 February, with an evening of Rachmaninoff's most popular and romantic works.

I

'Technically ravishing, emotionally sensitive' : pianist Boris Giltburg

history – racking up votes from personalities as varied as John Peel, Noel Coward, Evelyn Glennie and Fred Dibnah!

The Concerto will be performed by rising star, Israeli-Russian pianist Boris Giltburg. Still in his 20s, Giltburg has drawn international praise for his Rachmaninoff interpretations, with a critic from The Spectator recalling how she was 'left shaking and speechless by the superlative music-making of Boris Giltburg', in what she described as his ' technically ravishing, emotionally sensitive interpretation' of the Rachmaninoff Concerto.

The 14 February concert also includes another stirring Rachmaninoff favourite, the lyrical and richly scored Symphony No. 2, as well as an orchestral arrangement of Fritz Kreisler's Liebesleid ('Love's Sorrow'). This was

originally one of a set of three short pieces on the theme of love for violin and piano, which composer and violinist Kreisler often played as encores at his concerts. In this concert the Orchestra will perform an equally captivating version for full orchestral forces.

If you can't make it on 14 February, the concert is repeated on Friday 17 February at Royal Festival Hall, as well as on Saturday 18 February at Brighton Dome. Tickets are priced £9–£39 (£10–£27.50 in Brighton) and booking details are on page 13.

The 14 and 17 February concerts are in co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.

Boris Giltburg © Eric Richmond

t must be that time of year again – the shops are filled with overpriced tat, florists shamelessly double their prices and restaurants are fully booked and shoehorning tables for two into every corner...

Why not escape the madness this Valentine's Day and treat someone special to a much more memorable evening? On Tuesday 14 February at Royal Festival Hall, the London Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Neeme Järvi performs two of Rachmaninoff's most-loved works: the Second Piano Concerto and the Second Symphony.

Written at the turn of the 20th century, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 was the achievement that established the composer's fame, and has become one of his most enduringly popular pieces. His first symphony, composed three years earlier, had been ridiculed by contemporary critics.

Compounded by problems in his personal life, Rachmaninoff fell into a depression that lasted for several years. His Second Piano Concerto confirmed his recovery from clinical depression and writer's block, and he dedicated it to Nikolai Dahl, a pyschiatrist who had done much to restore his self-confidence.

The piece is well-known for featuring in the 1945 film Brief Encounter, in which the haunting theme from the slow movement recurs throughout the film to highlight the intense – but unconsummated – passion between the two lead characters. This theme was also used by Eric Carmen in his 1975 ballad All by Myself. Carmen first composed the song's interlude, then took the verse from Rachmaninoff, explaining that it was his favourite classical piece.

He's not alone, as Classic FM listeners voted the Concerto the country's most popular piece of classical music in the station's 2011 annual poll. It's also been the second most popular choice for guests on Desert Island Discs over the last 69 years of the programme's

Full concert listings and booking information on pages 13–15 – 12 –

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London philharmonic orchestra

concert listings southbank centre Unless otherwise stated, standard prices £9–£39 Premium seats £65 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

Wednesday 25 January 2012 | 7.30pm Prokofiev Chout ('The Buffoon') (excerpts) Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 4 (for the left hand)* Prokofiev Cinderella (excerpts) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Leon Fleisher piano * Supported by Dunard Fund.

Saturday 28 January 2012 | 7.30pm Prokofiev Incidental Music to 'Egyptian Nights' Prokofiev (arr. Atovmyan) Ivan the Terrible (world première of this version)*

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Ewa Podleš contralto Man of the people?

Andrey Breus baritone Simon Callow narrator MirandaFestival Richardson narrator highlights include 13 January – London– Philharmonic Performances by Steven ChoirOsborne

JTI Friday Series is supported by

1 February 2012

Man of the people?

Get closer to one of the most misunderstood men in 20th-century music

Alexander Vedernikov conductor Danjulo Ishizaka cello 6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Professor Alexander Ivashkin explores the importance of the cello to Prokofiev.

Wednesday 18 January 2012 | 7.30pm Prokofiev Symphonic Song, Op. 57 Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major* Prokofiev Symphony No. 6 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Steven Osborne piano * Supported by Dunard Fund.

6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert performance Royal Festival Hall Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 1 and Quintet, performed by musicians from the Royal College of Music.

Boris Giltburg © Eric Richmond

Sunday 22 January 2012 | 3.30pm | Tickets £15 The Prokofiev Diaries Readings from Prokofiev's diaries and other autobiographical writings, alongside musical extracts.

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Simon Callow as Prokofiev Joan Rodgers soprano Piers Lane piano Rex Lawson pianola Concert generously supported by Mr Leonid and Mrs Olga Makharinsky.

Wednesday 8 February 2012 | 7.30pm MartinŮ Symphony No. 6 (Fantaisies symphoniques) Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1* Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2* Dvořák Symphony No. 8 Marin Alsop conductor Stephen Hough piano

oratorio version of Prokofiev’s

* Supported by Dunard Fund.

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

A festival curated

by Vladimir Jurowski

Barlines – FREE post-concert event Level 2 Central Bar, Royal Festival Hall An informal discussion with Yannick NézetSéguin following the evening’s performance.

and Janine Jansen

* Generously supported byofthe – The world première an Serge Prokofiev Foundation.

Ivan the FREE Terrible 6.00–6.45pm pre-concert performance – Free classical club night with 13 January Get closer to Royal Festival Hall and Rambert Gabriel Prokofiev 1 February Friday 13 January 2012 | 7.30pm Sergei ProkofievProkofiev’s Dance Company 2012 String Quartet No. 2, Humoresque for Prokofiev Suite, Lieutenant Kijé Get closer to four bassoons and Sonata two A fes tiva58 l curated Prokofiev Op. l p o . o r g . u k/profor kof ievviolins performed Sergei ProkofievCello Concerto in E minor,

by Vladimir Jurowski by musicians from the Royal College of Music. lpo.org.u k/pro Prokofiev Symphony No. 7kofiev –

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Christine Brewer soprano Mihoko Fujimura mezzo soprano Toby Spence tenor Franz-Josef Selig bass London Philharmonic Choir

Get closer to one of the

misunderstood men c.9.30pmmost FREE post-concert event in 20th-century music Clore Ballroom Floor, Royal Festival Hall A late-night collaboration between the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Rambert Dance Company and Nonclassical. Prokofiev’s early ballet score Trapeze enjoys a fresh new interpretation as part of an hour-long classical club night curated by Gabriel Prokofiev’s Nonclassical, performed by young artists associated with the London Philharmonic Orchestra: Foyle Future Firsts and Quicksilver.

Wednesday 1 February 2012 | 7.30pm Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 (Classical) Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2 Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Janine Jansen violin 6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert performance Royal Festival Hall Over 100 young performers present their brand new work inspired by the music of Prokofiev. the culmination of a project between the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Southwark schools and the Southwark Youth Orchestra.

The Prokofiev Composition Project is supported by the Coutts Charitable Trust, the Peter Minet Trust and the Newcomen Collett Foundation.

Saturday 4 February 2012 | 7.30pm Bruckner Christus factus est Bruckner Symphony No. 9 Bruckner Te Deum

6.15–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall A discussion on the symphonies of Bohuslav Martinů with Marin Alsop.

Friday 10 February 2012 | 7.30pm Kodály Concerto for Orchestra Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 Dvořák Symphony No. 7 Marin Alsop conductor Lukáš Vondráček piano Tuesday 14 & Friday 17 February 2012 | 7.30pm Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2* Kreisler (arr. Rachmaninoff/orch. Leytush) Liebesleid (European première) Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 Neeme Järvi conductor Boris Giltburg piano In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation. * Supported by Dunard Fund.

Wednesday 22 February 2012 | 7.30pm Mozart Symphony No. 32 Brahms Violin Concerto Zemlinsky Psalm 23, Op. 14 Szymanowski Symphony No. 3 (The Song of the Night) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Joshua Bell violin Jeremy Ovenden tenor London Philharmonic Choir Concert generously supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music grant programme.

6.15–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Dr Stephen Downes, Reader in Musicology at the University of Surrey, discusses the music of Szymanowski and Zemlinsky.

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London philharmonic orchestra

concert listings contd.

Saturday 24 March 2012 | 7.30pm Julian Anderson The Discovery of Heaven (world première)* Delius Sea Drift** Elgar Symphony No. 1 Sir Mark Elder conductor Roderick Williams baritone London Philharmonic Choir * Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra

6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert performance Royal Festival Hall Thomas Blunt presents a performance with Foyle Future Firsts orchestral apprentices.

Sunday 15 January 2012 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Programme as Dorking, Saturday 14 January

The Foyle Future Firsts Programme is generously funded

by The Foyle Foundation with additional support from the Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation, the Idlewild Trust, the Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust and the Musicians Benevolent Fund.

Thursday 9 February 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Brahms Tragic Overture Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 DvoŘÁk Symphony No. 7

with kind support from The Boltini Trust and the BrittenPears Foundation, and the New York Philharmonic (Alan Gilbert, Music Director). ** Performance generously supported by The Delius Trust.

Wednesday 2 May 2012 | 7.30pm Janáček Suite, The Cunning Little Vixen Dvořák Piano Concerto* Suk Symphonic Poem, Ripening

Barlines – FREE post-concert event Level 2 Central Bar, Royal Festival Hall Sir Mark Elder and Julian Anderson discuss his new work, The Discovery of Heaven.

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Martin Helmchen piano London Philharmonic Choir

Wednesday 28 March 2012 | 7.30pm Bartók Violin Concerto No. 1 Mahler Symphony No. 9 Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Lisa Batiashvili violin Concert generously supported by the Sharp Family.

6.00–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall A performance by children involved in The Bridge Project.

Friday 13 April 2012 | 7.30pm Mozart Symphony No. 35 (Haffner) Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2* Julian Anderson Past Hymns Stravinsky Symphony in C The International Conductors’ Academy of the Allianz Cultural Foundation John Lill piano * Supported by Dunard Fund.

Wednesday 18 April 2012 | 7.30pm Schumann Overture, Genoveva Kalevi Aho Percussion Concerto (world première)* Brahms Symphony No. 1 Osmo Vänskä conductor Colin Currie percussion * Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the LuostoClassic Festival.

6.15–6.45pm FREE pre-concert event Royal Festival Hall Colin Currie explores Aho’s Percussion Concerto.

Saturday 28 April 2012 | 7.30pm Messiaen Les Offrandes oubliées Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1* Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor Hong Xu piano

* Supported by Dunard Fund.

6.15–6.45pm FREE pre-concert discussion Royal Festival Hall Professor Geoffrey Chew explores three giants of the Czech repertoire.

Tuesday 12 June 2012 | 7.30pm Queen Elizabeth Hall Debut Sounds World premières by the Leverhulme Young Composers alongside great music from the last 50 years, performed by Foyle Future Firsts and members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Generously supported by the Leverhulme Trust.

Sunday 29 July 2012 | 7.30pm GUO WENJING Overture (for the 2012 Olympics) TANG JIAN PING Sacred Fire 2008 (Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra) BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 (Choral) Tan Li Hua conductor Li Biao percussion Soloists to be announced Members of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra London Philharmonic Choir

Around the UK Saturday 14 January 2012 | 7.30pm Dorking Halls Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 (Classical) Glazunov Saxophone Concerto Villa-Lobos Fantasia Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

Marin Alsop conductor Stephen Hough piano Sunday 12 February 2012 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne DvoŘÁk Overture, Carnival DvoŘÁk Cello Concerto DvoŘÁk Symphony No. 7 Eckehard Stier conductor Colin Carr cello Saturday 18 February 2012 | 7.30pm Brighton Dome Programme as Royal Festival Hall, Tuesday 14 & Friday 17 February In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.

Saturday 17 March 2012 | 7.30pm Brighton Dome Weber Overture, Oberon Mendelssohn Violin Concerto Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending Sibelius Symphony No. 5 Fabien Gabel conductor Fanny Clamagirand violin Sunday 25 March 2012 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Programme as Brighton, Saturday 17 March Saturday 14 April 2012 | 7.30pm Wigmore Hall, London Wigmore Hall Chamber Contrasts 2011/12 Series Ravel Introduction et Allegro Bliss Clarinet Quintet Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Robert Hill clarinet Rachel Masters harp Supported by Dunard Fund.

Danail Rachev conductor Amy Dickson saxophone

Saturday 21 April 2012 | 7.30pm Brighton Dome Mendelssohn Overture, Ruy Blas Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4

Amy Dickson’s appearance is made possible by the generous support of the Hattori Foundation for Music and the Arts.

Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor Hong Xu piano

* Supported by Dunard Fund.

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Sunday 22 April 2012 | 3:00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Beethoven Overture, Egmont Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) Tchaikovsky Swan Lake (excerpts)

Thursday 5 January 2012 | 7.30pm National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing MENDELSSOHN Overture, Ruy Blas TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7

Carl Davis conductor Melvyn Tan piano

Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor Hong Xu piano

Sunday 20 May–Sunday 26 August 2012 Glyndebourne Festival Opera For full programme visit glyndebourne.com

Friday 6 January 2012 | 7.30pm National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5 RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2

Saturday 26 May 2012 St Andrew's Hall, Norwich DEBUSSY Nocturnes ELGAR Sea Pictures POULENC Gloria David Parry conductor Fflur Wyn soprano Patricia Bardon mezzo soprano Norfolk and Norwich Festival Chorus Monday 25 June 2012 Royal Albert Hall, London VERDI Requiem Richard Cooke conductor Royal Choral Society Saturday 30 June 2012 | 7.30pm Wigmore Hall, London Wigmore Hall Chamber Contrasts 2011/12 Series Brahms Piano Trio in C minor Schubert Piano Quintet 'Trout' Shostakovich Piano Quintet Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Rustem Hayroudinoff piano Supported by Dunard Fund.

INTERNATIONAL CONCERTS Monday 2 January 2012 | 7.30pm Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall, Wuhan, China MENDELSSOHN Overture, Ruy Blas BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2 Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor Hong Xu piano

Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor Hong Xu piano Friday 24 February 2012 Auditorio de Valladolid, Spain Mozart Symphony No. 32 BRAHMS Violin Concerto rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances Vladimir Jurowski conductor Joshua Bell violin Saturday 25 February 2012 Auditorio Principe Felipe, Oviedo, Spain BRAHMS Violin Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony Vladimir Jurowski conductor Joshua Bell violin Monday 27 February 2012 Palau de la Música, Barcelona, Spain BENET CASABLANCAS Darkness Visible MOZART Symphony No. 38 BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Joaquín Achúcarro piano Tuesday 28 February 2012 San Sebastián, Spain Programme as Oviedo, Saturday 25 February Wednesday 29 February 2012 Auditorio de Zaragoza, Spain Mozart Symphony No. 32 BRAHMS Violin Concerto rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances Vladimir Jurowski conductor Joshua Bell violin

Tuesday 3 January 2012 | 7.30pm Hunan Grand Theatre, Changsha, China MENDELSSOHN Overture, Ruy Blas TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2

Thursday 1 March 2012 Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid BRAHMS Violin Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony

Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor Zuo Zhang piano

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Joshua Bell violin

Sunday 4 March 2012 Historische Stadthalle, Wuppertal, Germany BRAHMS Violin Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony Vasily Petrenko conductor Joshua Bell violin Monday 5 March 2012 Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany Programme as Wuppertal, Sunday 4 March Sunday 1 April 2012 Bolshoi Conservatory Hall, Moscow BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Rudolf Buchbinder piano Monday 2 April 2012 Bolshoi Conservatory Hall, Moscow Prokofiev Incidental Music to 'Egyptian Nights' Prokofiev (arr. Atovmyan) Ivan the Terrible Vladimir Jurowski conductor Elena Zaremba mezzo soprano Andrey Breus baritone Moscow Conservatory Chamber Choir Monday 11 June 2012 Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris DvoŘÁk Cello Concerto BRUCKNER Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Truls Mørk cello Thursday 5 July 2012 Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Germany Brahms Piano Trio in C minor Schubert Piano Quintet 'Trout' Shostakovich Piano Quintet Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Friday 20 July 2012 Rheingau Festival, Germany DvoŘÁk Cello Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5 Kirill Karabits conductor Daniel Müller-Schott cello Thursday 30 August 2012 Grafenegg Auditorium, Austria DvoŘÁk Cello Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Truls Mørk cello

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backstage What were your first experiences of music, and what drew you to the timpani?

My mother and father are both very musical, singing and playing the piano respectively, so there was always music in our house. My two older sisters played cello and viola, and I started on the violin when I was six. I never much liked it but it got me playing in orchestras which I loved, simply because the music was so wonderful. I was fascinated by the variety of sounds coming from the back of the orchestra and was particularly drawn to the deep, warm sound of the timpani. I remember hearing the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (conducted by a certain young firebrand with crazy hair, no idea where he is now...) play Carmina Burana when I was eight, and from that moment I was totally hooked on timpani and percussion.

Does an orchestral timpanist need to be able to play the full range of percussion as well?

Yes, you need to study the whole gamut of timpani and percussion even if you have a preference for timpani. Not all percussionists want to play the timpani; there are many other instruments to cover employing a range of different techniques and as you gain experience you naturally gravitate towards certain instruments. I occasionally play the marimba as part of a percussion duo and still enjoy that challenge, musically and technically.

Is playing timpani physically demanding?

It certainly can be, particularly in pieces such as the big Shostakovich symphonies where frequently timpani are used as weapons of war (which of course they originally were). I remember rehearsing the big solo in the First Symphony some years ago. After my first attempt, Kurt Masur (for indeed, it was he) looked up, shook his head and bellowed 'You must KILL me!'. For the first time in my life I thrashed the drums literally as hard as I could – I was actually out of breath by the end of the solo. It sounded terrible to me but seemed to provide the dramatic effect that Masur was looking for.

What are the biggest challenges for orchestral timpanists?

The challenges are many and varied but the main ones are making a clear and articulate sound without being too bright or strident

the biggest challenge, and I'm not just referring to the obvious solo bits in the Scherzo!

The timpanists and percussionists are so visible (and audible) on stage – we can't miss you! Is that nervewracking?

I try not to think about it! On the rare occasions that I sit and watch a concert I'm always struck by just how visible everybody in the orchestra is, no matter what instrument they play. I think the pressures for everyone on stage are basically self-imposed. The turnover of repertoire is much higher in a British orchestra than in our European or American counterparts, yet the playing standards are phenomenally high all the time, in rehearsals as well as concerts.

– SIMON CARRINGTON – Simon is Principal Timpanist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

We chatted to him about his role in the Orchestra, the challenges of his instrument and how he lets off steam offstage ... (especially in the LPO, as the Orchestra naturally has such a warm sound), playing perfectly in tune across the enormous dynamic range of the orchestra and when necessary, providing a little rhythmic stability in an environment where the musicians can be up to 25 metres apart.

Who are your favourite composers to play?

Anything by Richard Strauss – he wrote for timpani so well, everything is effective and rewarding to play. The same goes for Janáček, who wrote magnificent and unusual timpani parts. Nobody makes greater demands of a timpanist than Beethoven and I always look forward to playing any of his symphonies.

Every note he wrote needs an exact volume and intensity relative to the sound around it which is, to my mind, simply not open to interpretation. The Ninth Symphony is for me

What are you most looking forward to playing with the Orchestra during the rest of the 2011/12 season?

I'm really looking forward to Vladimir Jurowski's Prokofiev festival in January: in particular Ivan the Terrible (28 January), which contains some very colourful and at times incredibly riotous music. I'm also looking forward to the Seventh Symphony (13 January), which is rarely performed but may be the most innocently tuneful and warmest of his symphonies. Finally, I’ll enjoy playing Elgar’s First Symphony (24th March); it's a wonderful symphony that I very much associate with the LPO, but we tend not to play much English music these days.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not playing in the Orchestra?

Apart from spending time with my lovely wife Mo and our two young sons, I love playing and especially watching cricket, as well as following Southampton Football Club's inexorable ascent to the Premiership. My main hobby is slalom course waterskiing: I try to go at least three times a week during the summer and even enter the odd competition to keep me honest! It's a highly technical sport: skiers can be travelling upwards of 60mph at times and if you make a mistake and fall badly it can hurt!

I have ended up in A&E on occasion but you have to live your life, don’t you? I also love Cuban music and listening to really inventive jazz pianists, and do on occasion tickle the ivories myself (usually after a couple of beers in a hotel foyer on tour!).

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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