LPO Tune In newsletter – Spring/Summer 2014

– ISSUE FOUR –

– –SPRING 2014– – SPRING// SUMMER SUMMER 2013

The classical guitar has a new hero.

The Telegraph on Miloš Karadaglić

GÓRECKI WoRLD PREMIERE

‘live and local’ with Miloš

Backstage

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The first performance of Górecki’s Fourth Symphony on 12 April 2014

The classical guitarist appears with the LPO in Leicester and Stoke-on-Trent this spring

Meet Paul Beniston, the Orchestra’s Principal Trumpet

Principal Partner

New releases on the LPO Label All recordings available on CD and to download

Principal Supporters

Mahler Das Lied von der Erde Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano Toby Spence tenor £9.99 LPO-0073 | October 2013

Julian Anderson Three works by the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence Fantasias | The Crazed Moon The Discovery of Heaven £9.99 LPO-0074 | November 2013

Education Partner

Coming soon ...

Brahms Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 Vladimir Jurowski conductor £9.99 LPO-0075 | Available February 2014

Corporate Members AREVA UK British American Business Carter Ruck Thomas Eggar LLP

Orff Carmina Burana Hans Graf conductor Sarah Tynan soprano Andrew Kennedy tenor Rodion Pogossov baritone London Philharmonic Choir Trinity Boys Choir

Lisa Bolgar Smith and Felix Appelbe of Ambrose Appelbe Appleyard & Trew LLP Berenberg Bank Berkeley Law Charles Russell Leventis Overseas

£10.99 (2 CDS) LPO-0076 | Available March 2014

Browse the catalogue and sign up for updates at lpo.org.uk/recordings CDs available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Box Office (020 7840 4242), all good CD outlets, and the Royal Festival Hall shop.

Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Villa Maria

In-kind Sponsors

Download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify and others.

Google Inc Sela / Tilley’s Sweets – 02 –

tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

WELCOME Happy New Year! Welcome to the Spring 2014 edition of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s newsletter, Tune In. It seems no time at all since we opened The Rest Is Noise festival, a year-long musical journey through the 20th century, at Southbank Centre back a year ago. And what a year it has been – from Richard Strauss to John Adams and everything in between.

2014 looks set to be no less exciting, with a packed schedule for the first half of the year.

As well as our Royal Festival Hall series and our ongoing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, we’ll be appearing in Dorking, Southend and Nottingham, and visiting Leicester and Stoke-on-Trent with guitarist Miloš Karadaglić as part of our ‘Live and Local’ tour supported by JTI: read more on page 10.

Further afield we’ll be travelling to Madrid, Paris, Dortmund, Santander and Moscow, as well as an exciting tour to New York for four performances of Britten’s Billy Budd with Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

This spring we also reinforce our commitment to new music with two world premieres at Royal Festival Hall, both commissioned by the Orchestra. On 15 January, Lawrence Power gives the first performance of a new viola concerto by James MacMillan under Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski, and on 12 April we give the long-awaited world premiere of the late Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 4, the follow-up to his phenomenally successful No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), which has been completed posthumously by the composer’s son: read more on page 8.

Over the last few months our Education and Community team have been as busy as ever, inspiring and nurturing the next generation of music-lovers – find out about their recent work in London’s special schools Editor Rachel Williams Publisher London Philharmonic Orchestra Printer Graphic Impressions

Timothy Walker © Chris Blott

Cover photo Miloš Karadaglić © Margaret Malandruccolo/DG

– Timothy walker – Chief Executive and Artistic Director

and an exciting Roald Dahl-inspired project on page 5.

In our regular ‘Backstage’ interview feature we meet Principal Trumpet Paul Beniston: turn to page 16 to read about his highlights of the last 20 years with the Orchestra – not all of them music-related! We also chat to Ulrich Gerhartz, Director of Concert and Artists Services at Steinway, who shares some of the secrets involved in preparing pianos for the concert stage (page 12).

I hope you’ve also had a chance to explore our new website – read more on page 7, and please do share your feedback with us.

Our new 2014/15 season will be announced on Thursday 23 January and will open for booking on Thursday 6 February. In the meantime, turn to page 13 for full listings for the spring both in the UK and abroad, or browse at lpo.org.uk.

We’d love to hear what you think about Tune In, as well as anything – or anyone – you’d like to read about in future issues. Email admin@lpo.org.uk, give us a call on 0207 840 4200, or come and say hello at the LPO information desk in the Royal Festival Hall foyer on concert nights.

I hope you enjoy any concerts you may be attending with us this season. Thank you for your support of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

keep up to date

2014/15 season launch Booking for our new season opens on Thursday 6 February. To take advantage of priority booking (from 27 January), become a Friend of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for as little as £50 a year. Call Sarah Fletcher on 020 7840 4225 or visit lpo.org.uk/support/memberships

Contents new & noteworthy 04–06 website relaunch 07 gÓrecki world premiere 08 recordings 09 live and local 10 annual appeal: tickets please! 11 the secrets of steinway 12 spring/summer Concert listings 13–15 Backstage: paul beniston 16

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While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, we cannot accept liability for any statement or error contained herein. © 2014 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.

Full concert listings and booking information on page 13 – 03 –

lpo.org.uk/explore

tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

lpo news

new and noteworthy

magnus lindberg: composer in residence

Anyone lucky enough to have experienced Britten’s Billy Budd at Glyndebourne last summer cannot fail to have been gripped and moved by the dramatic all-male production, hailed by The Telegraph as ‘Glyndebourne at its matchless best’ and by The Guardian as ‘a staging of outstanding perception and visual cohesion’. This February the Orchestra, with Glyndebourne Festival Opera soloists and chorus under Sir Mark Elder, will take the production to New York, where they will give four performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House. The cast includes Jacques Imbrailo as Billy Budd, Brindley Sherratt as Claggart and Mark Padmore as Captain Vere. These performances mark Glyndebourne’s first US tour in more than a decade.

Before then, on 18 January the Orchestra will travel to Madrid with Vladimir Jurowski, giving two concerts at the city’s Auditorio Nacional de Música. The second of these will include the Spanish premiere of James MacMillan’s new Viola Concerto with soloist Lawrence Power, four days after the Orchestra gives the world premiere at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Other tours this spring include visits to Paris to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées under Jurowski; Dortmund in Germany with Yannick NézetSéguin and pianist Nicholas Angelich; and a tour to Moscow also with Jurowski, where on 4 April the Orchestra will perform Britten’s War Requiem at the Tchaikovsky Hall of the Moscow Conservatory with a cast of Russian and English soloists – part of the 2014 UK-Russia Year of Culture. Later in the season the Orchestra will appear at the Santander Festival in Spain, as well as at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.

2014 gala

FIND OUT MORE lpo.org.uk/about/on-tour

glyndebourne 2014 Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s 80th anniversary season opens on 17 May 2014 and will run until 24 August. The London Philharmonic Orchestra – celebrating its 50th anniversary at Glyndebourne this year – will give performances of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier under the Festival’s new Music Director Robin Ticciati; Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin under Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber in his Glyndebourne debut; Mozart’s Don Giovanni under Andrés Orozco-Estrada, also making his Glyndebourne debut; and Verdi’s La traviata under Sir Mark Elder. Early access to tickets is available for corporate and individual supporters of the LPO. FIND OUT MORE

We are delighted to announce that the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2014 Gala will take place at One Mayfair on 10 June 2014. Guests will enjoy a reception in the Mezzanine, followed by a number of special orchestral performances and a formal dinner, complemented by Villa Maria wines, in this stunning Grade I listed deconsecrated church.

Formal invitations will be sent out shortly. To find out more about this event please contact Rebecca Fogg on 020 7840 4209 or email rebecca.fogg@lpo.org.uk FIND OUT MORE

lpo.org.uk/about/glyndebourne lpo.org.uk/support

lpo.org.uk/support/gala

lpo.org.uk – 04 –

Glyndebourne © Richard Hubert Smith – Magnus Lindberg © Saara Vuorjoki / Fimic

spring tours

Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg will become the Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence from the beginning of the 2014/15 season, following in the footsteps of MarkAnthony Turnage and Julian Anderson.

Previously Composer in Residence at the New York Philharmonic from 2009–12, Lindberg has been described by The Times as ‘one of the major voices of 21st-century composition’. The LPO 2014/15 season will feature the world premiere of a work by Lindberg for soprano and orchestra, performed by Barbara Hannigan on 28 January 2015; and the UK premiere of his Second Piano Concerto, given by Yefim Bronfman on 21 March 2015.

As Composer in Residence, Lindberg will also play an active role in the Orchestra’s education activities, mentoring the four participants on the Young Composers scheme as well as presenting a new work, Souvenir, with the Foyle Future Firsts at the opening concert of the Orchestra’s 2014/15 season on 24 September 2014. He will also conduct the annual Debut Sounds concert in June 2015.

tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

sound journeys

roald dahl’s ‘dirty beasts’

Treasure, a pupil at Drumbeat special school in Lambeth, meets LPO double bassist George Peniston and his instrument

Sound Journeys © LPO – Dirty Beasts illustration © 1983 Quentin Blake

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f a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.’ (David Thoreau) The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the partners that make up the South Riverside Music Partnership – a vital part of the music education ecology in south London.

Along with Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music & Dance, we work with the boroughs of Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark and, in particular, children and young people in schools. Some of the most stimulating, challenging and joyous work we do is with schools whose focus is away from the mainstream. In two schools in particular we are working across the whole school year, bringing our world-class players into their classrooms and introducing music in a practical and creative way. Because we believe that both the schools and the LPO are embarking on a wonderful voyage, we have called this project Sound Journeys.

Drumbeat is a brand new Special Educational Needs school in Lewisham for children and young people with autism. Already this year our team, led by Tina Pinder and including LPO members George Peniston (double bass, above) and Dave Whitehouse (trombone), have led a series of workshops with children and teachers exploring and responding to musical stimuli, improvising, composing and encouraging language and co-ordination development. This closely aligns with the school’s aims of helping pupils build upon their individual strengths and interests and, vitally, respecting and listening to their voices, however subtle or loud.

Park Campus in Lambeth is an Alternative Educational School for 11–16 year olds, many of whom have been excluded from other schools, and is the home of Lambeth’s Behaviour Partnership team. The school has no music provision, so we are working with a Year 9 group to develop their musical understanding, nurture their musical talent, and help support the school in working to improve the students’ confidence, communication and social skills.

We are all learning to step to our own music in some way. It’s quite a journey for us all.

FIND OUT MORE lpo.org.uk/education/sound-journeys Sound Journeys is generously supported by The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust, Help A Capital Child, The Kirby Laing Foundation, The David Solomons Charitable Trust, The Coutts Charitable Trust and Education Partner Faraday.

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For our FUNharmonics family concerts at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in 2014, we will be giving the public premieres of three new LPO commissions. Dirty Beasts is a sublimely ridiculous collection of absurd poems from the timeless pen of Roald Dahl.

The Orchestra commissioned brilliant young composer Benjamin Wallfisch to set them for narrator and orchestra, and the wacky, pacy results were given two preview performances – under the composer’s baton – to an enthralled and hugely entertained audience of primary school children at Royal Festival Hall in June 2013. One school wrote and told us: ‘We loved the music, the conductor, and how he makes music "crazy”.’ Another child wrote: ‘I saw the instrument that has the player’s hand put up its bottom.’ (We think he was referring to the French horn, but never did get to the ‘bottom’ of it ... ) Anyhow, catch these if you can: an aunt-eating anteater, a group of hungry Frenchmen drooling over the world’s largest snail, and a gleeful dentist using his pliers on a completely new part of the anatomy. Perfect for wise old children as well as naughty young grown-ups ...

Sunday 16 February 2014 | 12.00pm Yikes, Spikes!

Featuring Roald Dahl’s The Porcupine Sunday 11 May 2014 | 12.00pm Noses Featuring Roald Dahl’s The Ant-Eater Sunday 26 October 2014 | 12.00pm The Toad and the Snail Featuring Roald Dahl’s The Toad and the Snail FIND OUT MORE lpo.org.uk/education/funharmonics

tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

lpo news

new and noteworthy continued player news At the end of 2013 we said farewell to Principal E-flat Clarinet Nicholas Carpenter, who left the Orchestra after 18 years to take up the post of Head of Music at The Prebendal School in Chichester. We wish him all the best in his new role.

advisory council

The annual ‘Carols at Waterloo’ event has become a regular fixture in the Orchestra’s festive calendar, and 2013 was no exception.

On 12 December an ensemble of LPO brass players and London Philharmonic Choir singers spent the evening rush hour entertaining commuters at Waterloo Station, raising money for Save the Children.

royal festival Hall organ unveiled On Tuesday 18 March 2014 at 7.30pm, the iconic Harrison & Harrison organ at Royal Festival Hall will be re-inaugurated following its nine-year refurbishment, 60 years after it was first installed. This special gala concert will feature a brass ensemble from the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras along with four top organists, trumpeter Alison Balsom and a massed choir. The concert includes specially commissioned works by Master of the Queen’s Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and the late Sir John Tavener, and will be preceded by a free talk in Queen Elizabeth Hall at 6.15pm. buy concert tickets southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson

more about the organ refurbishment pulloutallthestops.org

in the office We’re delighted to welcome Isabella Kernot as Education & Community Director, succeeding Patrick Bailey who left at the end of 2013. We said goodbye too to Events Manager Melissa Van Emden, who also left at the end of December.

wedding bells Congratulations to LPO viola player Robert Duncan and recently retired LPO oboist Angela Tennick, who were married on 16 October 2013 in the unique surroundings of Horsted Keynes railway station in Sussex.

NEW aRRIvaLS Congratulations to the Orchestra's Finance & IT Manager David Greenslade and his wife Carla on the birth of their son Alexander, born on 31 October 2013.

a new look for villa maria The Orchestra’s long-standing wine partner, Villa Maria, is celebrating an exceptional 2013 vintage with a fresh new look. Over the last 50 years, Villa Maria has been making its mark with award-winning wines from New Zealand’s best wine growing regions. Inspired by the past, they have given the wines a modern yet classic new design to complement the 2013 vintage of which they are particularly proud.

As Villa Maria founder and owner Sir George Fistonich (above) explains: ‘We’re starting a new era by giving an old favourite, one that we’ve loved and cherished for the past 50 years, a fresh new look. We wanted to create some vibrancy while reinforcing that it is the same respected and trusted wine brand that consumers know and love. We’re proud to be entirely New Zealand- and familyowned, and making premium quality wine remains our focus. We’re very excited that our new label has coincided with what has been an outstanding vintage.’

Villa Maria wines will be enjoyed at the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Beecham Bar throughout the season. villa maria villamaria.co.nz

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

lpo.org.uk – 06 –

Waterloo © LPO – Organ © Nick Rochowski

carols at waterloo

The Advisory Council of the London Philharmonic Orchestra met for the first time on 28 September 2013. Council members bring a range of skills to support the Orchestra and its Board, particularly in the areas of fundraising and strategy. The Advisory Council was formed to enable individuals to further develop their relationship with the Orchestra, with current members bringing expertise from the legal, media, arts, politics, diplomatic and finance industries. A list of Advisory Council members can be found in each LPO concert programme and at lpo.org.uk/about/board. For further information contact David Burke: david.burke@lpo.org.uk or 020 7840 4221.

tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

lpo news

new website A brand new website, boasting a fresh look and a range of exciting features, is taking the Orchestra into its ninth decade – and beyond. features on their way soon include online booking of series discounts, and a record of your ticket and CD purchases in a personal account area. Vitally, with over a quarter of visitors to the site now using tablets and smartphones, and increasing every year, the site has been designed to work equally well on tablets and mobile phones as well as on full-size screens.

W

hen Sir Thomas Beecham's new London Philharmonic Orchestra announced its first ever concert, at London’s Queen’s Hall on 7 October 1932, the posters advertised tickets priced from half a crown to twelve shillings, and there was only one way to buy them – join a queue and hand over the money in person.

Fast forward 80 years and things have changed beyond all recognition. Following decades of selling tickets over the phone through its in-house box office, the London Philharmonic Orchestra unveiled its first website in 1999, and sold its first tickets online in 2005. When it launched its own record label the same year, the first CDs were available to browse and buy via the online shop.

The last few years have seen things accelerate at a pace that could never have been imagined back in Thomas Beecham’s day: Alison Atkinson was appointed as the LPO’s first Digital Projects Manager in 2007 and has overseen a constant stream of

innovations ensuring the Orchestra stays at the forefront of today’s digital world. These have included regular podcasts and video interviews with artists; concerts made available online to ‘listen again’; and a thriving social media presence with over 85,000 Twitter followers all over the world.

This season has brought another milestone with the launch of a brand new website for the Orchestra, completely redesigned and brought up to date with a host of useful new functions. For customers, perhaps the most welcome of these is the ability for online bookers to choose their own seats at Royal Festival Hall – so whether you’re a front-row thrillseeker, a long-legged aisle-dweller or a quick-exit train sprinter, you can be sure of having your pick of all the seats available. Also available are free downloadable programme notes for every concert; an archive of past performances; reviews of every concert collated in one place; at least six concerts each season made available to listen to online free of charge; and dedicated resource areas for players and supporters of the Orchestra. More Visit the new website at lpo.org.uk – 07 –

The site works equally well on tablets and smartphones

Following an extensive tender process, the new site was developed by Glasgow-based company Alienation Digital. LPO Digital Projects Manager Alison Atkinson explains: ‘One of the key features of the new site is its integration with our live box office system and the Southbank Centre box office, meaning customers can choose their own seats from the full range available. We’re also delighted with the responsive design – there’s been a huge explosion in the range of screen sizes used by customers, and we’ve been able to build a single site that works well on all kinds of device. And from our point of view, the new flexible content management system means we can constantly stay one step ahead, tweaking the structure to help our audiences get the most of the site. It’s really exciting to finally have a website to take the Orchestra into its ninth decade and beyond.’

tune in – spRing / summer 2014 –

2013/14 season

gÓrecki world premiere For over 80 years, the London Philharmonic Orchestra has been committed to commissioning new works by contemporary composers. This spring sees the long-awaited, posthumous premiere of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 4.

W

hen the quiet and intensely private Polish composer Henryk Górecki wrote his Third Symphony (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) in 1976, no-one would have predicted that 16 years later a new recording (on the Nonesuch Label, with soprano Dawn Upshaw) would transform it into a worldwide hit, selling over a million copies and topping the classical charts in both the UK and the USA, as well as reaching number six in the mainstream UK album chart.

Following the huge success of the Third Symphony in the 1990s, Henryk Górecki wrote few new works. He died in November 2010 after a long illness, leaving a number of scores virtually complete but unperformed. His long-awaited follow-up to the Third Symphony had been due to be premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra on 17 April 2010, and at the time of his death was left complete in short score, with detailed annotations of orchestration and dynamics.

Now, four years later, the orchestral score has been realised from the short score by Górecki’s son Mikolaj, also a composer, following his father’s instructions and employing an extensive knowledge of his orchestral works and instrumentation. The Symphony will at last be premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall on 12 April 2014, conducted by Andrey Boreyko. Performances by co-commissioners the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the ZaterdagMatinee series at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam will follow in the 2015/16 season.

Subtitled ‘Tansman Episodes’, the Fourth Symphony reflects the composer’s musical

journey, while paying homage to his fellow Polish composer Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986). As Górecki scholar Adrian Thomas notes, ‘although it appears not to quote from Tansman’s music, the Symphony does make use of a musical theme based on his name. This purely instrumental work relates closely to the chamber music that Górecki wrote in the 1980s and 90s, with its reflective intimacy and extrovert dance impulses.’ The work also features prominent obbligato roles for piano and organ. The programme on 12 April will include Tansman’s own homage to an older composer: his Stèle in memoriam Igor Stravinsky, and Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto played by Lithuanian violinist Julian Rachlin.

Before the concert there are two free events: at 5pm The Band, the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s creative ensemble for 15–19 year-olds, will perform their own new music dedicated to the memory of Górecki, and at 6.15pm renowned Górecki expert and biographer Adrian Thomas will introduce the Fourth Symphony. Both events are open to all.

This is the first of two world premieres the London Philharmonic Orchestra is looking forward to this spring. On 15 January 2014, the Orchestra and soloist Lawrence Power will give the premiere of a new Viola Concerto by James MacMillan, performed alongside Mahler’s Symphony No. 6. At 6.15pm, James MacMillan will take to the stage to introduce the Concerto in a free pre-concert discussion.

Following the world premiere, the Orchestra and Lawrence Power will take the Viola Concerto on tour to Spain for a concert in Madrid on 19 January.

Henryk Górecki, whose Symphony No. 4 will be premiered posthumously by the LPO on 12 April 2014

Górecki’s Symphony No. 4 is commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Southbank Centre London, with generous support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Polish Cultural Institute in London; The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association: Gustavo Dudamel, Music Director; and the ZaterdagMatinee, Dutch radio’s classical music concert series in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Full concert listings and booking information on page 13 – 08 –

tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

LPO news

recordings in the studio

T

latest releases on the lpo label

he London Philharmonic Orchestra released its first own-label CD in 2005. Since then, the label has grown to over 75 releases, which are distributed and sold worldwide, and consistently acclaimed in the international press.

We’ve several exciting new titles lined up for 2014: February marks Vladimir Jurowski’s long-awaited second disc of Brahms's Symphonies, Nos. 3 & 4 (LPO-0075), completing his Brahms symphonic survey. The previous disc, of Nos. 1 & 2, was released in 2010 and received great critical acclaim including BBC Music magazine’s ‘Disc of the Month’ and was chosen as the recommended version of Symphony No. 2 by BBC Radio 3’s ‘Building a Library’.

Recent releases on the label have received rave reviews in the press, notably Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (LPO-0073, October 2013) conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with soloists Sarah Connolly and Toby Spence. This performance, recorded live in concert at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in February 2011, was Editor’s Choice in November 2013’s Classical Music magazine, who gave it five stars, praising the ‘glorious playing from the LPO ... a very special disc indeed’. It was also BBC Radio 3’s Disc of the Week in November 2013 and an Editor’s Choice in the December 2013 issue of Gramophone magazine.

Also critically acclaimed was our disc of three new works by the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence Julian Anderson (LPO-0074, November 2013) conducted by Vladimir Jurowski and Ryan Wigglesworth, including the Sky Arts Award-winning premiere performance of The Discovery of Heaven recorded in March 2012.

In March we will release Orff’s Carmina Burana, recorded at Royal Festival Hall live on 6 April 2013 with conductor Hans Graf and the London Philharmonic Choir, featuring soloists Sarah Tynan, Andrew Kennedy and Rodion Pogossov (LPO-0076).

All LPO Label releases are available on CD from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Box Office (020 7840 4242), all good CD outlets, and the Royal Festival Hall shop, as well as to download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify and others. browse all recordings and buy online lpo.org.uk/shop

As well as its concert recordings on the LPO Label, the Orchestra is also in demand for studio recordings.

One recent project was a disc of Prokofiev and Stravinsky violin concertos with soloist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and conductor Vladimir Jurowski on the Naïve label, released in October 2013 (pictured above). The CD received five stars from The Times, who wrote: ‘Jurowski and the LPO bring bite to the orchestral component, with each instrumental line clear and glinting. The performance is irresistible, from first to last; so is her brief, playful extra, a self-devised cadenza tossed off, all fingers flying, with the LPO’s leader, Pieter Schoeman.’

At the end of August the Orchestra was back at Abbey Road Studios to record Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez and Fantasía para un gentilhombre with guitarist Miloš Karadaglić and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, which will be released by Deutsche Grammophon/ Mercury Classics later this spring.

Earlier in 2013 the Orchestra recorded the first part of a set of discs comprising Tchaikovsky’s complete orchestral works with Japanese conductor Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi for the Exton label, with more sessions to come in January. They also recorded the First Symphony by American composer Peter Boyer in June (out in February on Naxos), and in July recorded the Elgar and Walton Cello Concertos with Chinese cellist Li-Wei Qin, conducted by Zhang Yi.

lpo cd subscriptions

glyndebourne on cd & dvD

more information

Stuck for a birthday gift? How about an LPO Label CD subscription? For £79.99 (12 months) or £44.99 (6 months), we will send every new CD released on the LPO Label (one per month), directly to your door. In months with no new release, we will send a specially selected CD from the LPO Label back catalogue.

Concert and CD gift vouchers are also available, as well as LPO Friends and Contemporaries gift memberships.

glyndebourne.com/shop

find out more

This spring, Glyndebourne will release DVDs of the 2013 productions of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, both featuring the LPO. The recent Ravel double-bill of L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges with the Orchestra, filmed in 2012, was chosen as DVD of the Month in November 2013’s edition of Gramophone magazine.

All Glyndebourne CDs and DVDs are available to browse in the online shop.

lpo.org.uk/gifts

lpo.org.uk/recordings – 09 –

tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

across the uk

live and local Following last year’s sell-out JTI ‘Live and Local’ concerts, supported by JTI, this spring the Orchestra will perform in Stoke-on-Trent and Leicester.

F

ollowing a successful tour of the On the programme is Rodrigo’s sensual North and North West of England last Concierto de Aranjuez, inspired by the summer, we’re heading up to picturesque gardens of the Palace of Leicester and Stoke-on-Trent Aranjuez outside Madrid. Miloš in April. received rave reviews for his The two concerts form part performance of this piece with Karadaglić is a guitarist of our continuing ‘Live and us in Blackburn and Bradford of superior musical and Local’ concert series in May 2013, so we’re technical gifts, who allows supported by long-term excited to be performing it partner JTI, taking the his personality to sing with him once again. He ethos of the JTI Friday said: ‘I am always very through the music with Series at Royal Festival Hall excited to share the stage taste and intelligence. on tour around the UK. with my friends at the LPO. Gramophone Joining us once again is I can’t wait to bring some of dynamic classical guitarist the world’s most beautiful Miloš Karadaglić, along with music to life in front of audiences Principal Conductor and Artistic in Leicester and Stoke-on-Trent.

Advisor Vladimir Jurowski.

Vladimir Jurowski is a truly inspirational artist lpo.org.uk – 10 –

Tickets £15 De Montfort Hall, Leicester demontforthall.co.uk | 0116 233 3111 Booking fee £3 per transaction

Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent musicmaniauk.com | 01782 206000 (Music Mania store) Booking fee £2.50 per ticket

Miloš Karadaglić © Margaret Malandruccolo / DG

Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić, who will appear with the Orchestra in Leicester and Stoke-on-Trent in April 2014

and I’m immensely looking forward to our collaboration.’

The concerts will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s tragic Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique), which we released on the LPO Label under Vladimir Jurowski to great critical acclaim in 2009. This great symphony was written by a distraught Tchaikovsky, who filled it with honesty and passion – and committed suicide nine days after its first performance.

On a rather lighter note, the concerts will open with Mozart’s joyous Symphony No. 32.

On Thursday 24 April ‘Live and Local’ takes us to Leicester’s De Montfort Hall, a centuryold hall with a great orchestral tradition including a residency by the Philharmonia Orchestra. Anton Flint, De Montfort Hall general manager, said: ‘We are very much looking forward to hosting the London Philharmonic Orchestra in April.’ Our concert at Stoke-on -Trent’s Victoria Hall on Tuesday 29 April is part of the Stoke-on-Trent Festival, which showcases world-class orchestras and artists from around the world including the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras and pianists including Stephen Hough and Benjamin Grosvenor.

We’ll also be visiting Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester in September with another exciting ‘Live and Local’ tour, so keep your eyes peeled for the announcement of the dates and repertoire.

Thanks to the generous support of our Principal Partner JTI, all tickets are priced at just £15.

tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

london philharmonic orchestra annual appeal

tickets please!

D

o you remember the first time you saw a symphony orchestra live on stage? Now you can help us to offer 2,500 children the chance to see an orchestra for the first time.

Every year the London Philharmonic Orchestra performs live to over 16,000 London school children in a series of specially designed daytime concerts that link to what they are learning at school. The LPO is the only orchestra in the UK to offer specific and tailored orchestral concerts for all ages – from primary school children aged five, through to 18-year-old A-level students. Six out of ten children attending the concerts will be experiencing an orchestra for the very first time.

For the younger children the concerts are all about exploring the orchestra – how loudly

to enable 2,500 children from the most and softly can the musicians play? What does disadvantaged schools to attend these the conductor do? How low does the tuba go? concerts free of charge, and we need your At GCSE and A-level we go deeper, help to make this happen. delving into music theory and For a donation of just £9 you history, performing and could help us bring a child to one analysing the pieces being My students would be of our schools’ concerts. If you studied to help the unlikely to attend a live concert would like to donate more, students achieve with their family, and most you could enable a group of better results in their would be unable to afford the children or a whole class to exams. cost. Live music must always be attend. Every donation of Tickets for these an integral part of music any size from our supportive concerts cost £9. The education, as should learning to audience will help us to fill majority of schools are be a good audience. our concert hall with new asked to pay a nominal Primary school teacher young audience members, and amount towards these allow more children to enjoy their costs. However, for the first orchestral experience. most disadvantaged schools in south London this amount find out more and donate online lpo.org.uk/ticketsplease remains a barrier to attending. We want

 Please detach and return this form to London Philharmonic Orchestra, Freepost WC4442, London SE1 7BR. Alternatively please call Katherine Hattersley on 020 7840 4212 to donate over the phone, or visit lpo.org.uk/ticketsplease

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£54 will enable a group of six friends to attend

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tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –

lpo partners

the secrets of steinway can adjust the tone using the pedals, dampers, and weight and depth of touch. The golden rule is always improving the piano: every instrument has a ceiling, and I will never make changes that risk spoiling an instrument.

What about prepared pianos, where objects are attached to the strings and mechanics to create different sounds – that must be a challenge?

They are difficult; modifications can permanently damage the instrument. Young pianos sound best, but they cost over £120,000 and doing things like inserting coins or screws into the strings might cause so much harm that the whole instrument needs to be re-strung. So we keep some older pianos at Steinway for these works. The key is dialogue between the composer, the artist and Steinway about what’s needed and what’s possible.

S

teinway & Sons is a Preferred Partner of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orchestra’s 2013/14 season features eight Steinway Artists. In May 2014 Ulrich Gerhartz, Director of Concert and Artists Services at Steinway, will be speaking to supporters of the LPO about the preparation of pianos for concert performance. Our Development Assistant Rebecca Fogg went behind the scenes with him at his workshop at Steinway Hall to learn a little more...

Could you explain what your job involves?

I am responsible for the selection, maintenance and preparation of all our concert instruments at Steinway London, in many of the main UK venues, and in a number of halls overseas. In this role I’m very much a link between Steinway manufacturing, the venues and promoters, and the artists. I work with a team of highly skilled concert tuners, providing them with pianos of the highest quality, and the necessary technical backup.

How did you get into this business?

I was looking to learn a craft before studying architecture and industrial design, and with a lot of luck ended up as a piano-maker apprentice in the Steinway factory in my hometown of Hamburg. I transferred from the factory to Steinway London in 1990, and

to this day feel very lucky to have a career with Steinway.

What makes a Steinway piano so special?

160 years’ experience of making pianos for the concert stage and luxury market ensures the very best possible materials and construction.

We also have the feedback from our artists, which is our most effective quality control!

What exactly is a ‘Steinway Artist’?

Being a Steinway Artist is rather like being in a club. We like to think of Steinway as a ‘home from home’ for artists abroad, providing hospitality, rehearsal spaces and knowledge of venues. The only criteria are that they need to be a professional pianist and own a Steinway piano – no money changes hands and it is the artists who approach Steinway, not the other way round. They provide a testimonial, and use Steinways as their preferred pianos. However, no matter the artist, Steinway always provides the best possible piano and level of care.

Is there variation in how artists like their pianos prepared?

Actually, the preparation varies more with the repertoire and the venue than with the artist.

I might suggest different instruments for different pieces, or for example tune the treble notes sharper for a larger hall. Some artists do have preferences though, and we lpo.org.uk – 12 –

Where is the most unusual venue you’ve worked?

My work involves lots of travelling, but the 10th anniversary of the Verbier Festival in Switzerland in 2003 really stands out. It was Steinway’s 150th anniversary and we provided eight grand pianos for some of the greatest pianists including Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin and Lang Lang. I was chosen as I knew all the artists, and was working in a tent in the Alps at an altitude of 2000m.

Another highlight was the Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia in 2010. Simon Trpčeski was performing with the Russian National Orchestra and I arrived late in the day. It was an open-air venue and a plastic tent was constructed around the piano, with only artificial light. I worked through the night and ended up having fish soup and beer for breakfast at 9am!

You’ve worked at Steinway for 27 years – what makes it special for you?

This is not a nine-to-five job: I’m always on call and my colleagues are my friends, but what unites us is the quality of our pianos.

Members of the Orchestra can learn more in a private talk by Ulrich Gerhartz at London’s Steinway Hall on 30 May 2014.

For more information, or to join one of our membership schemes, please contact Sarah Fletcher on 020 7840 4225.

Ulrich Gerhartz © Erica Worth

Ulrich Gerhartz in his workshop at Steinway Hall in London

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London philharmonic orchestra

concert listings southbank centre Unless otherwise stated, standard prices £9–£39 Premium seats £65 London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 Mon–Fri 10am–5pm lpo.org.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone Southbank Centre Ticket Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9am–8pm southbankcentre.co.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone No transaction fee for bookings made in person

Wednesday 29 January 2014 | 7.30pm Kodály Dances of Galánta Grieg Piano Concerto Dvořák Symphony No. 7 Andrés Orozco-Estrada conductor Rudolf Buchbinder piano Friday 14 February 2014 | 7.30pm Valentine's Day Concert Dvořák Carnival Overture Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 Wagner Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet (Fantasy Overture) Stuart Stratford conductor Sa Chen piano

JTI Friday Series is supported by

Wednesday 26 February 2014 | 7.30pm Brahms Double Concerto for violin and cello Bruckner Symphony No. 2 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Julia Fischer violin Daniel Müller-Schott cello Saturday 1 March 2014 | 7.30pm Julian Anderson Alleluia Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (Choral) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Emma Bell soprano Anna Stéphany mezzo soprano John Daszak tenor Gerald Finley baritone London Philharmonic Choir Please note there will be no interval during this performance.

Sunday 16 February 2014 | 12.00pm FUNharmonics Family Concert: Yikes, Spikes!

Wednesday 15 January 2014 | 7.30pm James MacMillan Viola Concerto (world premiere) Mahler Symphony No. 6 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Lawrence Power viola Free pre-concert event 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall James MacMillan discusses his new Viola Concerto.

Friday 17 January 2014 | 7.30pm Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 Beethoven Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Yulianna Avdeeva piano Wednesday 22 January 2014 | 7.30pm J S Bach Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV 104 Hartmann Concerto funebre Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Leonidas Kavakos violin

Featuring Roald Dahl’s The Porcupine, with brand new music from the quill of Benjamin Wallfisch.

David Angus conductor Chris Jarvis presenter

Friday 7 March 2014 | 7.30pm Dvořák Scherzo capriccioso Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Mahler Blumine Shostakovich Symphony No. 1

Tickets £10–£18 adults, £5–£9 children

Ilyich Rivas conductor Simon Trpčeski piano

Wednesday 19 February 2014 | 7.30pm Balakirev Islamey (Oriental Fantasy) Khachaturian Piano Concerto Kalinnikov Symphony No. 1

Friday 14 March 2014 | 7.30pm Mendelssohn Violin Concerto Bruckner Symphony No. 3 (1889 Nowak edition)

Osmo Vänskä conductor Marc-André Hamelin piano

Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor Benjamin Beilman violin

Free pre-concert event 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall David Nice discusses the evening’s programme.

Friday 21 February 2014 | 7.30pm Berlioz Overture, Le Corsaire Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Elgar Symphony No. 2 Vasily Petrenko conductor Kirill Gerstein piano

Generously supported by the Sharp Family.

Free pre-concert event 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall Musicians from the LPO join students from London Music Masters’ innovative music education programme, the Bridge Project, for a musical celebration. Tonight’s soloist, violinist Benjamin Beilman, works regularly with the students as an Award Holder with LMM, acting as an inspirational role model.

See londonmusicmasters.org for more details.

Wednesday 19 March 2014 | 7.30pm Mozart Symphony No. 38 (Prague) R Strauss Burleske J S Bach Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 R Strauss Death and Transfiguration David Zinman conductor Emanuel Ax piano

lpo.org.uk – 13 –

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London philharmonic orchestra

concert listings contd.

Wednesday 26 March 2014 | 7.30pm Poulenc Organ Concerto Berlioz Les nuits d’été Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 (Organ)

Wednesday 16 April 2014 | 7.30pm Zimmermann Photoptosis Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 Brahms Symphony No. 4

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Anna Caterina Antonacci soprano James O’Donnell organ

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Mitsuko Uchida piano

Supported by Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique français.

Friday 28 March 2014 | 7.30pm Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 Mahler Symphony No. 9

Free pre-concert event | 6.00–6.45pm The Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall Animate Orchestra, a young person’s orchestra for the 21st century, is a partnership between the LPO, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance and local music services. Tonight’s performance of music written by the group is the culmination of their recent course.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Nicholas Angelich piano Wednesday 9 April 2014 | 7.30pm Schumann Violin Concerto Bruckner Symphony No. 8 (Haas edition)

Friday 25 April 2014 | 7.30pm Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Festival Overture Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)

Jukka-Pekka Saraste conductor Renaud Capuçon violin

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Miloš Karadaglić guitar

Saturday 12 April 2014 | 7.30pm Tansman Stèle in memoriam Igor Stravinsky Stravinsky Violin Concerto Górecki Symphony No. 4 (world premiere)

Saturday 26 April 2014 | 7.30pm Marko Nikodijevic La lugubre gondola Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)

Andrey Boreyko conductor Julian Rachlin violin

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Leif Ove Andsnes piano

Górecki’s Symphony No. 4 is commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Southbank Centre, London, with generous support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Polish Cultural Institute in London; The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association: Gustavo Dudamel, Music Director; and the ZaterdagMatinee, Dutch radio’s classical music concert series in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Free pre-concert events 5.00–5.30pm | Royal Festival Hall The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s creative ensemble for 15–19 year-olds, The Band, premieres new music written by the group and dedicated to the memory of Górecki.

6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall Renowned Górecki expert Professor Adrian Thomas discusses the world premiere of Symphony No. 4.

Sunday 11 May 2014 | 12.00pm FUNharmonics Family Concert: Noses With Roald Dahl’s The Ant-Eater, a musical feast by Benjamin Wallfisch.

Stuart Stratford conductor Chris Jarvis presenter Tickets £10–£18 adults, £5–£9 children Monday 9 June 2014 | 7.30pm Queen Elizabeth Hall Debut Sounds Julian Anderson Book of Hours Plus world premieres of music by Leverhulme Young Composers Eugene Birman, Patrick Brennan, Arne Gieshoff and Edmund Hunt.

Clement Power conductor Foyle Future Firsts Members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Tickets £9

lpo.org.uk – 14 –

around the uk Saturday 11 January 2014 | 7.30pm Dorking Halls, Surrey Box Office: 01306 881717 www.dorkinghalls.co.uk Verdi Ballet Music (Ballabili) from Macbeth Dvořák Violin Concerto Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 (Winter Daydreams) Damian Iorio conductor Philippe Quint violin Sunday 12 January 2014 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Box Office: 01323 412000 www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk Programme as Dorking, 11 January Saturday 22 February 2014 | 7.30pm Brighton Dome Box Office: 01273 709709 www.brightondome.org Berlioz Overture, Le Corsaire Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Brahms Symphony No. 2 Vasily Petrenko conductor Kirill Gerstein piano Sunday 23 February 2014 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Box Office: 01323 412000 www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk Programme as Brighton, 22 February Saturday 8 March 2014 | 7.30pm Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea Box Office: 01702 351135 www.southendtheatres.org.uk Dvořák Scherzo capriccioso Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Mahler Blumine Shostakovich Symphony No. 1 Ilyich Rivas conductor Simon Trpčeski piano Sunday 9 March 2014 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Box Office: 01323 412000 www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk Programme as Southend-on-Sea, 8 March

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Saturday 15 March 2014 Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Box Office: 0115 989 5555 www.trch.co.uk A Night in the West End Matthew Hopkins conductor Kelly Ellis soprano Nottingham Trent University Choir Saturday 22 March 2014 | 7.30pm Brighton Dome Box Office: 01273 709709 www.brightondome.org Wagner Siegfried Idyll Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 Joseph Swensen conductor Liza Ferschtman violin Thursday 24 April 2014 | 7.30pm De Montfort Hall, Leicester Box Office: 0116 233 3111 www.demontforthall.co.uk Mozart Symphony No. 32 Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Miloš Karadaglić guitar All tickets £15 Supported by JTI

Sunday 27 April 2014 | 3.00pm Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Box Office: 01323 412000 www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin Beethoven Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral) Timothy Redmond conductor Matthew Trusler violin Tuesday 29 April 2014 | 7.30pm Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent Tickets via Music Mania store: 01782 206000 musicmaniauk.com Programme as Leicester, 24 April

INTERNATIONAL CONCERTS Saturday 18 January 2014 | 10.30pm Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid www.auditorionacional.mcu.es Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 Beethoven Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Yulianna Avdeeva piano Sunday 19 January 2014 | 7.30pm Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid www.auditorionacional.mcu.es James MacMillan Viola Concerto (Spanish premiere) Mahler Symphony No. 6 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Lawrence Power viola Friday 7–Thursday 13 February 2014 | 7.30pm Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City Four performances: see www.bam.org for dates Britten Billy Budd Sir Mark Elder conductor Glyndebourne Festival Opera & Chorus Sunday 2 March 2014 | 5.00pm Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris www.theatrechampselysees.fr Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (Choral) Vladimir Jurowski conductor Emma Bell soprano Anna Stéphany mezzo soprano John Daszak tenor Gerald Finley baritone London Philharmonic Choir Saturday 29 March 2014 | 8.00pm Konzerthaus, Dortmund www.konzerthaus-dortmund.de Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 Mahler Symphony No. 9 Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor Nicholas Angelich piano

All tickets £15 Supported by JTI

lpo.org.uk – 15 –

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LPO people

backstage flying, sailing, surfing, knitting ... you name it!

The hardest part of the job is the long hours, weeks and sometimes months: it’s not unusual for me to leave home at 8am and get back after midnight. The most consecutive days I’ve worked is 85, towards the end of which the audience still expects – and deserves – the same standard of performance.

When did you begin playing the trumpet?

Are you from a musical family?

Like many British orchestral brass players, I grew up in a Salvation Army family. I started playing the cornet in the Gillingham Salvation Army Brass Band when I was seven, switching to trumpet when I was 10. Later I joined the Kent County Youth Orchestra and the European Community Youth Orchestra, and studied music at Bristol University.

What have been the most memorable concerts in your 20 years with the LPO? My very first LPO concert will always stick in my mind – Wagner under Klaus Tennstedt.

I vividly remember the Orchestra’s amazing respect for and rapport with Tennstedt.

Although by that stage he could only talk in a hoarse whisper, he had no need for any more as the Orchestra hung on his every word in silence. I also remember hearing then-Principal Horn Nick Busch at close quarters for the first time in Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll. His incredible sound was quite different from anything I’d heard before, especially from where I was sitting, right next to him.

You’ve been involved in many of the Orchestra’s Education and Community projects. What have you enjoyed about it?

Over the years I’ve taken part in ConcertLink and PlayerLink workshops in schools, and the Renga ensemble, working with musicians from other musical genres like Indian and jazz. I learnt a lot about modes, rhythm and basic improvisation, which was totally new to me.

One project that sticks out was recreating Miles Davis’s ‘Birth of the Cool’ record in concert, which provided a real stylistic challenge and really opened my eyes to what a great musician Davis was. I’ve also been involved in the Crisis Skylight project with homeless people, and with The Band, for young people in South London aged 15–19.

I also teach at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and spent 16 years teaching at the Royal College of Music alongside my orchestral playing career.

More than anything, I remember how inspiring I found contact with professional musicians when I was a youngster, and I aim to play my part in this chain.

– paul beniston – Paul has been Principal Trumpet of the Orchestra since 1994. We get to know him, and find out about his life both on and off stage.

What’s the atmosphere in the LPO brass section like?

We work hard and play hard! We all set the highest standards for ourselves, and the supportive team ethic is phenomenal. To give an example, when we’re on tour abroad, the whole brass section often dines together after a concert, which is probably more unusual than it sounds. On tour, ‘Bus 3’ is a legend all of its own, worthy of an article in its own right!

What are the best and worst things about life as a professional musician?

The best and most defining thing about the LPO is spending our summers at Glyndebourne. Although we all thrive on the buzz of the concert stage, it’s a real pleasure to spend time in such wonderful surroundings, enjoying a bit more time and space than normal, while still being involved in first-rate performances. It’s a chance for everyone to develop their pastimes: croquet, table tennis, golf, fishing, walking, running, cycling, kite

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

– 16 –

How do you relax when you’re not working?

Fishing (mainly sea) is an obsession. The unfortunate incident when my boat was run over and sank 21 miles out from Newhaven in 2001 made the front page of The Times on account of us making it back to Glyndebourne just in time for The Marriage of Figaro that evening! Also on my boat (‘High Seas’ – get it?!) were then-Leader Duncan Riddell and his son, and Principal Trumpet Laurie Evans and his daughter. Despite everything that happened we managed to get to the Stage Door at 5.15pm, exactly the time the performance was scheduled to begin. Five minutes later the Overture started! I’m also an avid football fan, supporting my local team, Gillingham.

Probably the greatest touring day ever was when a team from the LPO played the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on the Seoul World Cup Stadium practice pitch, complete with Korean Football Association referees. We filled a coach with jet-lagged players, supporters and our very own ‘Barmy Army’ band, had a fantastic time and managed to edge a close game 3–2 – a proud moment indeed! I also run to keep fit (and to offset another of my passions, gastronomy!) and have twice completed the London Marathon.

What might you have done for a career if you hadn’t become a professional musician?

When I was at school I had ambitions to be a pilot. Later I did 10 hours or so of light aircraft flying lessons, stopping short of bankrupting myself by qualifying for a licence, so I got that out of my system! Even as a mid-teenager my plan was to play the trumpet for 20 years and then become a charter fishing skipper for the next 20. Without wishing to give too much away, it looks like I’ve ‘missed the boat’ with that scheme! meet our players lpo.org.uk/about/musician-biographies