2015/16 Season Guide

London Symphony Orchestra

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The Times on the LSO in concert at the Barbican

London’s Symphony Orchestra lso.co.uk

LSO Season 2015/16 Concert Guide

From the concert hall …

2014/15 to 2015/16 The LSO continues its pioneering concert series in London at the Barbican and around the world.

SIR SIMON RATTLE

Remembering World War I November 2014 was a poignant moment for people across Britain as the poppies at the Tower of London became a symbol for nations remembering those whose lives were so changed by the outbreak of World War I. The LSO is the only London orchestra still in existence today that was in existence then, being ten years old in 1914; we therefore mark centenary moments until 2018, a century after the war ended. Sally Beamish’s Equal Voices launched our four-year tribute with a work for full orchestra and chorus based on Sir Andrew Motion’s intense poetry that uses extracts from the memoirs of soldiers who fought. Our commemorations this season mark the Battle of the Somme, featuring works by English composers with World War I connections and Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, written for pianist Paul Wittgenstein who lost his right arm in battle.

SALLY BEAMISH & SIR ANDREW MOTION

Opera in concert with Sir Simon Rattle January 2015 saw two landmark performances by Sir Simon Rattle with the LSO, including a work he champions – Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri – which has paved the way for an exciting annual opera focus for the LSO’s Music Director designate in the next three years. In January 2016, Sir Simon unites with visionary director Peter Sellars for two semi-staged performances of Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande. The two have crafted momentous and truly memorable performances over the years – including Pelléas previously at the BBC Proms, in Berlin and elsewhere – and this collaboration with the Barbican will be a highlight of the LSO’s 2015/16 season.

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ANTONIO PAPPANO

An unrivalled family of artists The LSO is fortunate not only to be made up of the finest orchestral musicians – many of whom are solo artists in their own right – but to also work regularly with a renowned group of visiting international artists whose affection and respect for the LSO is completely mutual.

This season Valery Gergiev explores pivotal ballet scores close to his heart, Bernard Haitink returns alongside pianists Murray Perahia and Imogen Cooper, Sir John Eliot Gardiner continues his exploration of Mendelssohn’s orchestral works, Daniel Harding celebrates his 20th anniversary working with the LSO, John Adams and Thomas Adès conduct their own works, and there will be new programmes from Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Antonio Pappano and Sir Mark Elder.

BERNARD HAITINK

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

On Tour – Australia, United States, Japan and beyond

LSO IN SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

The LSO visited the four corners of the world in the 2014/15 season, including its first visit to Australia in 30 years with Principal Conductor Valery Gergiev and pianist Denis Matsuev. Also, in celebration of LSO Principal Guest Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas’ 70th birthday, the Orchestra embarked on an extensive tour of the United States, alongside visits to many European cities and more. This season will see the Orchestra tour to Japan, with return visits to residencies in New York and Paris, among extensive concerts across Europe.

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… to your home LSO PLAY: DISCOVER THE ORCHESTRA Explore the Orchestra from the inside and view the conductor as LSO players do whilst learning more about the music of Berlioz and Ravel.

CONDUCTOR STRINGS

CAMERA ANGLE WOODWIND

BRASS

PERCUSSION

Violins

Flutes

Horns

Timpani

Violas

Piccolo

Trumpets

Percussion

Cellos

Oboes

Trombones

Harps

Double Basses

Cor Anglais

Bass Trombone

Piano

Clarinets

Tuba

E-flat Clarinet Bassoons

MOVING MUSIC THANK YOU

Hundreds of people have donated to our Moving Music fundraising campaign over the past three years. We are deeply grateful for their generous support, which will enable us to share the LSO’s music in high definition digital formats with millions of people across the world for years to come.

Thank you to all our supporters for helping to secure the brightest possible future for the LSO.

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BRINGING ORCHESTRAL MUSIC TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE THROUGH DIGITAL INNOVATION

THE DIGITAL ORCHESTRA LSO PLAY On 1 October 2013 the LSO launched an innovative online platform which enables the viewer to get inside the orchestra. Using high definition footage of LSO concerts recorded at the Barbican, users can choose from a variety of camera angles across the stage, seeing what it’s like to follow a conductor or zoom in on what a single section is playing, and dig deep into finding out more about the orchestra’s instruments and make-up. LSO Play won a Webby Award and a Lovie Award in 2014 for its unique take on exploring the orchestra, and is generously supported by Reignwood Group.

DIGITAL THEATRE

11,475,807

692,885

YouTube Views

Social Network Likes

Watch interviews, concert excerpts, season overviews, talks, and much more

Say Hello! on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus

People across the globe can now access the full LSO concert experience in their living rooms on digitaltheatre.com. All performances are in HD and are available through some SmartTVs, through the Digital Theatre app on the Apple App Store, and through the Digital Theatre website.

LSO LIVE LSO Live has reached over a hundred releases in its fifteen-year history and many of them are available across multiple platforms including SACD, Mastered for iTunes, in ultra high-quality formats through specialist Bowers & Wilkins’ Society of Sound, on online MP3 stores such as Amazon, and on streaming services such as Spotify. You can also explore the whole catalogue on the LSO Live App for iPad.

LSO Live lsolive.lso.co.uk LSO Play play.lso.co.uk Digital Theatre lso.co.uk/digitaltheatre Mastered for iTunes lso.co.uk/masteredforitunes Bowers & Wilkins Society of Sound lso.co.uk/societyofsound Figures correct at time of going to press in June 2015

1m

554,873

LSO Live

Visits to LSO Play

Over one million downloads annually and over a hundred albums of Live classical music in high definition sound

Dive into the orchestra and choose your seat

11,000 App Downloads

20

Hours

iPad

To watch on TV

Explore the entire LSO Live catalogue, read sleeve notes, and read interviews with conductors

Recent concerts available online and on SmartTV (Digital Theatre) or to watch via MezzoHD in Europe

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London’s Symphony Orchestra Since 1904

2015/16 LISTINGS Main Season Concert in the Barbican Hall | Please note, Sunday evening concerts start at 7pm throughout the 2015/16 season

OCTOBER 2015

Thu 15 Oct 2015 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

Sun 4 Oct 2015 10.30am–4.30pm, LSO St Luke’s

Baroque chamber ensemble Florilegium celebrates the life of concert-promoter extraordinaire Thomas Britton in works by Handel, Pepusch, Banister and others.

LSO COMMUNITY SINGING DAY

A TASTE OF AMERICA David Lawrence conductor Ghislaine Morgan vocal coach Includes choral works by some of America’s greatest composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and George Gershwin, accompanied by piano.

Thu 8 Oct 2015 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

CHOPIN, LISZT & BARTÓK I Bartók Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs Chopin Nocturne in E-flat major; Nocturne in B major Liszt Mephisto Waltz No 1; Petrarch Sonnet No 104; Hexaméron Ingolf Wunder piano IMOGEN COOPER (23 SEP)

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

LONDON RESOUNDING I

Ashley Solomon director Florilegium Sun 18 Oct 2015 7pm Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin (complete ballet) Stravinsky Chant du rossignol Bartók Concerto for Orchestra Valery Gergiev conductor Thu 22 Oct 2015 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

LONDON RESOUNDING II Cramer Piano Sonata in E-flat major Op 43 No 3 Clementi Piano Sonata in D major Op 25 No 6 Field Piano Sonata in E-flat major Op 1 No 1 Haydn Piano Sonata in E-flat major Hob XVI/52 Ronald Brautigam fortepiano

SEPTEMBER 2015

Thu 29 Oct 2015 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

CHOPIN, LISZT & BARTÓK II

Tue 15 Sep 2015 7.30pm

Bartók Romanian Folk Dances Chopin Three Waltzes; Scherzo No 2 in B-flat minor Liszt Six Consolations; Concert paraphrase on Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’

Mozart Piano Concerto No 24 Bruckner Symphony No 7 Bernard Haitink conductor Murray Perahia piano

Alice Sara Ott piano

Sun 20 Sep 2015 7pm

Thu 29 Oct 2015 7.30pm

Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 Mahler Symphony No 4

Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte Ravel Mother Goose – Ballet John Adams Scheherazade.2 (UK premiere)

Bernard Haitink conductor Murray Perahia piano Anna Lucia Richter soprano

John Adams conductor Leila Josefowicz violin YEFIM BRONFMAN (9 & 11 OCT)

Wed 23 Sep 2015 7.30pm Purcell arr Stucky Funeral Music for Queen Mary Beethoven Piano Concerto No 1 Brahms Symphony No 1 Bernard Haitink conductor Imogen Cooper piano

6pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Instrumental and chamber works by John Adams

Fri 9 Oct 2015 7.30pm Bartók Dance Suite Bartók Piano Concerto No 2 Stravinsky The Firebird (original ballet)

Fri 30 Oct 2015 6.30pm, LSO St Luke’s

Valery Gergiev conductor Yefim Bronfman piano

Steve Reich Clapping Music; Music for Pieces of Wood; Sextet

Sun 11 Oct 2015 10am–5.30pm, Barbican and LSO St Luke’s

Join the LSO Percussion Ensemble for a 45-minute rush hour concert featuring marimbas, vibraphone, bass drums, crotales, tam-tam, piano, synth and more.

LSO DISCOVERY DAY

LSO RUSH HOUR CONCERT

LSO PERCUSSION: STEVE REICH

STRAVINSKY AND DANCE Witness the LSO rehearse scores by Stravinsky in the morning, followed by chamber music and discussion in the afternoon.

Sun 11 Oct 2015 7pm Stravinsky Symphony in C major Bartók Piano Concerto No 3 Stravinsky The Rite of Spring Valery Gergiev conductor Yefim Bronfman piano MURRAY PERAHIA (15 & 20 SEP)

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2015/16 LISTINGS ~ LSO.CO.UK

LEILA JOSEFOWICZ (29 OCT)

NOVEMBER 2015

Thu 26 Nov 2015 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

Thu 5 Nov 2015 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

Liszt Vallée d’Obermann; Gnomenreigen * Chopin Three Nocturnes Op 9; Two Nocturnes Op 27 † Bartók Piano duet *†

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

CHOPIN, LISZT & BARTÓK IV

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

CHOPIN, LISZT & BARTÓK III

Maria João Pires†, Ashot Khachatourian* piano

Chopin Ballade No 1 in G minor; Fantasie in F minor Bartók Suite Liszt Après une lecture du Dante

In partnership with Maria João Pires’ Partitura Project supported by Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Belgium

Ashley Wass piano

Thu 26 Nov 2015 7.30pm

LSO BRASS ENSEMBLE

Fri 6 Nov 2015 7.30pm

Original music and specially arranged works for ten-piece brass, including a new commission by former LSO Soundhub composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson.

Bernstein Prelude, Fugue and Riffs Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto (world premiere) Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements Bernstein Chichester Psalms James Gaffigan conductor Nicola Benedetti violin London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director

SOILE ISOKOSKI (12 NOV)

Sat 14 Nov 2015 11am–4.30pm, LSO St Luke’s LSO CHORAL SINGING DAY

THE SEASONS

Haydn The Seasons accompanied by piano Simon Halsey conductor Thu 19 Nov 2015 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

LONDON RESOUNDING IV Haydn Trio in G major Hob XV/15 Clementi Sonata in C major Op 21 No 1 (‘La chasse’) J C Bach Sonata in C minor Op 17 No 2 Graf Grand Sonata in G major NICOLA BENEDETTI (6 NOV)

Sun 8 Nov 2015 2.30pm

Musica ad Rhenum

MARIA JOÃO PIRES (26 NOV, 6 & 16 DEC)

Thu 19 Nov 2015 7.30pm

LSO DISCOVERY

Janácˇek Jenu˚fa – Suite Ravel Piano Concerto in G major Dvorˇák Symphony No 9 (‘From the New World’)

Ben Gernon conductor Paul Rissmann presenter LSO Discovery Choirs

Manfred Honeck conductor Hélène Grimaud piano

FAMILY CONCERT: WONDERLAND

Daniel Harding conductor Maria João Pires piano

Thu 12 Nov 2015 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

Sun 13 Dec 2015 7pm

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

LONDON RESOUNDING III

LONDON SYMPHONY CHORUS

A CHORAL CHRISTMAS

A celebration of the life of Tobias Hume, redoubtable 17th-century soldier and viol-player, who died in 1645 in the Charterhouse in Smithfield.

Simon Halsey conductor London Symphony Chorus LSO Community Choir LSO Discovery Choirs

Fretwork

Join Simon Halsey and all of the LSO’s singing ensembles in this festive choral celebration of Christmas.

Thu 12 Nov 2015 7.30pm Beethoven Symphony No 5 Strauss Death and Transfiguration Strauss Closing Scene from ‘Capriccio’

Wed 16 Dec 2015 7.30pm Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3 Bruckner Symphony No 9 (four movement version)

Nikolaj Znaider conductor Soile Isokoski soprano

Sun 6 Dec 2015 7pm Chopin Piano Concerto No 1 Bruckner Symphony No 4

LSO commission generously supported by Queen Mary University of London

6pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Songs by Strauss

DECEMBER 2015

HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD (19 NOV)

Daniel Harding conductor Maria João Pires piano Supported by LSO Friends

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2015/16 LISTINGS Sun 24 Jan 2016 10am–5.30pm, Barbican and LSO St Luke’s

JANUARY 2016

LSO DISCOVERY DAY

AFTER ROMANTICISM

Sun 3 Jan 2016 7pm

Join conductor François-Xavier Roth in a morning Barbican rehearsal, followed by an afternoon at LSO St Luke’s exploring the post-Romantic idea of the hero, with chamber music and talks.

NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN Tchaikovsky Overture: Hamlet Korngold Violin Concerto Prokofiev Symphony No 5

Sun 24 Jan 2016 7pm

Nicholas Collon conductor Tai Murray violin National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

Webern Im Sommerwind Berg Violin Concerto Strauss Ein Heldenleben

Thu 7 Jan 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

François-Xavier Roth conductor Renaud Capuçon violin

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Berg songs and chamber music

SHAKESPEARE 400 I

Schumann Excerpts from ‘Novelletten’ Korngold Much Ado About Nothing – Suite Beethoven Piano Trio in D major (‘Ghost’) Gould Piano Trio Sat 9 & Sun 10 Jan 2016 7pm Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande (semi-staged performance) Sir Simon Rattle conductor Peter Sellars director Magdalena Kožená Mélisande Christian Gerhaher Pelléas Gerald Finley Golaud Bernarda Fink Genevieve Franz-Josef Selig Arkel London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Produced by the LSO and Barbican Part of LSO 2015/16 Season and Barbican Presents Multi-buy and group discounts do not apply to these concerts

ALISA WEILERSTEIN (17 JAN)

Sun 17 Jan 2016 7pm Tchaikovsky Overture: The Tempest Elgar Cello Concerto Dvorˇák Symphony No 7 Pablo Heras-Casado conductor Alisa Weilerstein cello 5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Chamber music by Dvorˇák

Thu 28 Jan 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s Thu 21 Jan 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

Wed 13 Jan 2016 7.30pm Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin Dutilleux L’arbre des songes Delage Four Hindu Poems Dutilleux Métaboles Ravel Daphnis and Chloe – Suite No 2 Sir Simon Rattle conductor Leonidas Kavakos violin Susan Gritton soprano

SHAKESPEARE 400 III

Arne Where the Bee sucks; When daisies pied Haydn She never told her love Schubert An Silvia; Ständchen Wolf Bottom’s dream Vaughan Williams Orpheus with his lute Quilter Fear no more the heat of the sun; Under the Greenwood tree Warlock Take, O take, those lips away Tippett Three songs for Ariel Dring The Cuckoo; Take, O take, those lips away; It was a lover and his lass James Gilchrist tenor Anna Tilbrook piano Thu 21 Jan 2016 7.30pm Wagner Prelude to Act I from ‘Parsifal’ Berg Seven Early Songs Mahler Symphony No 5

LEONIDAS KAVAKOS (13 JAN)

Thu 14 Jan 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

Sat 23 Jan 2016 11am–4.30pm, LSO St Luke’s

17th-century songs by Morley, Robert Jones, Banister and Purcell to texts by or inspired by Shakespeare, plus music by various composers for The Tempest.

LSO CHORAL SINGING DAY

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2015/16 LISTINGS ~ LSO.CO.UK

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

SHAKESPEARE 400 IV

Kodály An Ode for Music Giles Swayne Three Shakespeare Songs Wood Full fathom five; It was a lover and his lass Jaakko Mäntyjärvi Four Shakespeare Songs Cecilia McDowall When time is broke (world premiere) Paul Mealor Let Fall the Windows of Mine Eyes Vaughan Williams Three Shakespeare Songs David Hill director BBC Singers Sun 31 Jan 2016 7pm Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Respighi Roman Trilogy (Fountains of Rome – Pines of Rome – Roman Festivals) Sir Antonio Pappano conductor Alice Sara Ott piano

François-Xavier Roth conductor Camilla Tilling soprano

SHAKESPEARE 400 II

Iestyn Davies counter-tenor Elizabeth Kenny lute

RENAUD CAPUÇON (24 JAN)

THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS Elgar The Dream of Gerontius accompanied by piano Simon Halsey conductor

ALICE SARA OTT (31 JAN)

FEBRUARY 2016

Thu 25 Feb 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

MARCH 2016

Wed 3 Feb 2016 7.30pm

Schubert String Quartet in C major D956

Sun 6 Mar 2016 11am–4.30pm, LSO St Luke’s

LSO STRING ENSEMBLE

Danjulo Ishizaka cello Pavel Haas Quartet

LSO CHORAL SINGING DAY

Elgar Introduction and Allegro Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis Britten Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge Roman Simovic director LSO String Ensemble Thu 4 Feb 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

PAVEL HAAS RESIDENCY I Smetana String Quartet No 2 in D minor; String Quartet No 1 in E minor (‘From my life’)

PAVEL HAAS RESIDENCY IV

BEETHOVEN’S CHORAL SYMPHONY Beethoven Symphony No 9 (‘Choral’) accompanied by piano

Thu 25 Feb 2016 7.30pm

Simon Halsey conductor

Smetana Richard III Liszt Piano Concerto No 2 Tchaikovsky Overture: Romeo and Juliet Strauss Macbeth Gianandrea Noseda conductor Simon Trpcˇeski piano

Wed 9 Mar 2016 10am–6pm, LSO St Luke’s LSO FUTURES / GUILDHALL

GETTING IT RIGHT? NEW MUSIC AND DANCE CONFERENCE Julian Anderson curator This one-day conference, the third in a series of Guildhall ResearchWorks/LSO Getting it right? conferences, brings together leading figures and emerging artists from the worlds of new music and dance to explore the dynamic relationship between the two disciplines.

Pavel Haas Quartet Sun 7 Feb 2016 2.30pm LSO DISCOVERY

FAMILY CONCERT

Wed 9 Mar 2016 7.30pm LSO COMPOSER FOCUS

Thu 11 Feb 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

THOMAS ADÈS

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

Shostakovich String Quartet No 10 in A-flat major; Piano Quintet in G minor

Thomas Adès Polaris Brahms Violin Concerto Thomas Adès Brahms Thomas Adès Tevot

Denis Kozhukin piano Pavel Haas Quartet

Thomas Adès conductor Anne-Sophie Mutter violin

PAVEL HAAS RESIDENCY II

SIMON TRPCˇESKI (25 FEB)

Sun 28 Feb 2016 10am–5pm, Barbican and LSO St Luke’s LSO DISCOVERY DAY

BERLIOZ AND SHAKESPEARE A morning watching Gianandrea Noseda guiding the LSO through Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet suite at the Barbican, with afternoon chamber music and more at LSO St Luke’s.

ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER (9 MAR)

Sun 28 Feb 2016 7pm

Fri 11 Mar 2016 10am–1pm & 2–6pm, LSO St Luke’s

SIR JOHN ELIOT GARDINER (16 FEB)

Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 2 Berlioz Romeo and Juliet – Suite

LSO FUTURES

Gianandrea Noseda conductor Janine Jansen violin

François-Xavier Roth conductor

5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Songs based on Shakespeare texts

Tue 16 Feb 2016 7.30pm

PANUFNIK COMPOSERS WORKSHOP Featuring new works for orchestra by Patrick Giguere, Bethan Morgan-Williams, Deborah Pritchard, Daniel Lewis Fardon, Daniel Moreira and Ewan Campbell.

The Panufnik Composers Scheme is supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust

Mendelssohn Symphony No 1 Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Sun 13 Mar 2016 4pm, LSO St Luke’s

Sir John Eliot Gardiner conductor Monteverdi Choir

AFTERNOON CONCERT

LSO FUTURES

Darren Bloom Dr Glaser’s Experiment (world premiere, LSO commission) Thomas Adès Chamber Symphony Schoenberg Chamber Symphony No 1

Thu 18 Feb 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

François-Xavier Roth conductor LSO Chamber Orchestra

PAVEL HAAS RESIDENCY III Prokofiev String Quartet No 1 in B minor Bartók String Quartet No 5 Pavel Haas Quartet

JANINE JANSEN (28 FEB)

LSO commission generously supported by the PRS for Music Foundation and The Britten-Pears Foundation.

Only LSO Futures multibuy discount applies to this concert

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2015/16 LISTINGS

APRIL 2016 Sun 3 Apr 2016 7pm Nielsen Overture: Masquerade Sibelius Symphony No 3 Anders Hillborg Exquisite Corpse Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Sun 13 Mar 2016 7pm, Barbican

Thu 21 Apr 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Chamber music by Nielsen

ELGAR UP CLOSE II

Sibelius En Saga Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 2 Nielsen Symphony No 4 (‘The Inextinguishable’) Alan Gilbert conductor Daniil Trifonov piano

LSO FUTURES

EVENING CONCERT Ligeti Atmosphères Elizabeth Ogonek Sleep & Unremembrance (world premiere, Panufnik commission) Berio Sinfonia

Sir Simon Rattle conductor Monika Eder soprano John Mark Ainsley tenor Florian Boesch baritone London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director

Alan Gilbert conductor Joshua Bell violin

Thu 7 Apr 2016 7.30pm ELIZABETH OGONEK (13 MAR)

Sun 17 Apr 2016 7pm Haydn The Seasons (sung in German)

Supported by LSO Patrons

François-Xavier Roth conductor Synergy Vocals The Panufnik Composers Scheme is supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust Only LSO Futures multibuy discount applies to this concert

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

Elgar Introduction and Allegro Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis Britten Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge Roman Simovic director LSO String Ensemble Sun 24 Apr 2016 7pm Elgar The Dream of Gerontius Sir Mark Elder conductor Alice Coote mezzo-soprano Allan Clayton tenor Gerald Finley bass London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director 5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists A recital of English songs

Wed 16 Mar 2016 7.30pm

Thu 28 Apr 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

LSO COMPOSER FOCUS

THOMAS ADÈS

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

Thomas Adès Asyla Sibelius Violin Concerto Franck Symphony in D minor

Stravinsky Three Pieces for String Quartet Elgar Piano Quintet in A minor

ELGAR UP CLOSE III

Huw Watkins piano Elias Quartet

Thomas Adès conductor Christian Tetzlaff violin

Thu 28 Apr 2016 7.30pm

Sun 20 Mar 2016 7pm Schumann Scenes from Goethe’s ‘Faust’ Daniel Harding conductor Christian Gerhaher Faust Christiane Karg Gretchen Christianne Stotijn Noth Alastair Miles Mephistopheles Andrew Staples Ariel London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Choir of Eltham College

ELGAR UP CLOSE I

Butterworth A Shropshire Lad Vaughan Williams A Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No 3) * Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand Debussy La mer

Elgar Violin Sonata Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending for violin and piano Elgar Sospiri

Sir Mark Elder conductor Elizabeth Watts soprano * Cédric Tiberghien piano

FRANÇOIS-XAVIER ROTH (21 & 24 JAN, 11 & 13 MAR)

Thu 14 Apr 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

Jennifer Pike violin Peter Limonov piano Thu 14 Apr 2016 7.30pm Messiaen Couleurs de la cité céleste Bruckner Symphony No 8 Sir Simon Rattle conductor Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano Sun 17 Apr 2016 10am–5.30pm, Barbican and LSO St Luke’s LSO DISCOVERY DAY

THE SEASONS

CHRISTIANE KARG (20 MAR)

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2015/16 LISTINGS ~ LSO.CO.UK

One of Haydn’s best-loved choral works is rehearsed in the morning with Sir Simon Rattle, the LSO and the London Symphony Chorus, followed by an afternoon’s exploration of the seasons in art and music.

CÉDRIC TIBERGHIEN (28 APR)

MAY 2016

Fri 10 Jun 2016 7.30pm

Thu 5 May 2016 1pm, LSO St Luke’s

Sibelius Three Pieces (‘Kyllikki’); The Birch; The Spruce; The Forest Lake; Song in the Forest; Spring Vision Beethoven Piano Sonata No 18 in E-flat major (‘The Hunt’) Debussy La soirée dans Grenade from ‘Estampes’; Three Études: ‘Pour les arpèges composés’ – ‘ Pour les huit doigts’ – ‘Pour les octaves’; Étude in A-flat major from ‘Trois nouvelles études’ Chopin Impromptu in A-flat major; Nocturne in F Major; Ballad No 4 in F minor

LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT

LEIF OVE ANDSNES RECITAL

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERT

ELGAR UP CLOSE IV

Purcell Three Fantasias Elgar String Quartet in E minor Elias String Quartet

ANTONIO PAPPANO (19 & 29 MAY)

Thu 19 May 2016 7.30pm

Sun 12 Jun 2016 2.30pm

Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 1 Mahler Symphony No 6 Sir Antonio Pappano conductor Viktoria Mullova violin

Beethoven Violin Concerto Elgar Symphony No 2 Sir Antonio Pappano conductor Nikolaj Znaider violin

ELIAS STRING QUARTET (5 MAY)

Thu 12 May 2016 7.30pm LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT

LEIF OVE ANDSNES

ANNUAL LSO DISCOVERY SHOWCASE

Peter Maxwell Davies The Hogboon (world premiere of a new children’s opera, LSO commission) Berlioz Symphonie fantastique (LSO and Guildhall musicians side by side) Sir Simon Rattle conductor Guildhall School musicians LSO Discovery Choirs London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director

JUNE 2016

LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT

Daniel Harding conductor Leif Ove Andsnes piano

LSO DISCOVERY

Sun 26 Jun 2016 7pm

5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Piano sonatas by Beethoven

Mozart Piano Concerto No 20 Bruckner Symphony No 3

FAMILY CONCERT

Witness the electrifying results when an orchestra founded at the beginning of the 20th century meets young musicians born at the beginning of the 21st.

Sun 29 May 2016 7pm

LEIF OVE ANDSNES

LSO DISCOVERY

Thu 16 Jun 2016 7.30pm

6pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Chamber music by Shostakovich

Sun 8 May 2016 7pm

Leif Ove Andsnes piano

Sun 5 Jun 2016 7pm Mahler Symphony No 2 (‘Resurrection’) Daniel Harding conductor Miah Persson soprano Anna Larsson alto London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director

Thu 30 Jun 2016 7.30pm Ives The Unanswered Question Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 Rachmaninov Symphony No 2

5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Songs by Mahler and Wolf

Sir Simon Rattle conductor Krystian Zimerman piano

Schumann Piano Concerto Beethoven Symphony No 9 (‘Choral’) Michael Tilson Thomas conductor Leif Ove Andsnes piano Christine Rice mezzo-soprano Toby Spence tenor Neal Davies baritone London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Supported by Baker & McKenzie LLP

Sat 14 May 2016 10.30am–4.30pm, LSO St Luke’s LSO COMMUNITY SINGING DAY

JAZZAMATAZZ!

David Lawrence conductor A day of singing great vocal jazz arrangements of songs like Blue Skies, It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing, Just the way you look tonight and others.

You’ll be joined in the afternoon by a jazz trio who will lift your spirits even further. The day will culminate in an informal performance.

LISA BATIASHVILI (9 JUN)

Thu 9 Jun 2016 7.30pm Dvorˇák Overture: Othello Bartók Violin Concerto No 1 Dvorˇák Symphony No 8 Daniel Harding conductor Lisa Batiashvili violin 6pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Featuring Dvorˇák’s Wind Serenade

KRYSTIAN ZIMERMAN (30 JUN)

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Jonathan Lipton United States

David Ballesteros Spain

Ginette Decuyper Belgium

Belinda McFarlane Australia

Antoine Bedewi Australia

London’s Symphony Orchestra Made up of players from across the globe

Eve-Marie Caravassilis France

Laurent Quenelle France

Carmine Lauri Malta Iwona Muszynska Poland JĂśrg Hammann Germany

Naoko Keatley Australia

Sarah Quinn Ireland

Colin Renwick Australia

Jani Pensola Finland Julia O’Riordan Ireland

Julian Gil Rodriguez Colombia Sylvain Vasseur France

German Clavijo Argentina

Gergiev: Man of the theatre 16

GERGIEV: MAN OF THE THEATRE ~ LSO.CO.UK

THE THEATRE IS IN VALERY GERGIEV’S BLOOD

‘Everyone in the hall was instantly transported to the Russian fair.’ writes LSO Principal Flute Gareth Davies on Valery Gergiev

Fri 9 Oct 2015 7.30pm Bartók Dance Suite Bartók Piano Concerto No 2 Stravinsky The Firebird (original ballet) Valery Gergiev conductor Yefim Bronfman piano Sun 11 Oct 2015 7pm Stravinsky Symphony in C major Bartók Piano Concerto No 3 Stravinsky The Rite of Spring Valery Gergiev conductor Yefim Bronfman piano Sun 18 Oct 2015 7pm Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin Stravinsky Chant du rossignol Bartók Concerto for Orchestra Valery Gergiev conductor Sun 11 Oct 2015 10am–5.30pm, Barbican and LSO St Luke’s LSO DISCOVERY DAY

STRAVINSKY AND DANCE Witness the LSO rehearse scores

by Stravinsky in the morning, followed by chamber music and discussion in the afternoon.

At the Mariinsky, like a true man of the theatre, Valery Gergiev controls all of the strings, juggling orchestra, singers, dancers, directors and even overseeing the construction of a new hall, Mariinsky II. But it’s not just that, after all his relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra doesn’t rely on the visual aspects of opera or ballet – or does it?

LSO Principal Flute Gareth Davies explains …

Plenty has been written about Gergiev’s often unconventional style of conducting. Barely a concert review goes by without mention of the toothpick, fluttering fingers or his seemingly impossible to decipher gestures. It seems that despite the lack of dancers and lavish sets, the visual aspect of Gergiev’s style is often centre stage. I remember the very first time we played Stravinsky’s Petrushka. The piece begins in the hustle and bustle of the fair – the strings and clarinets whizz around, the flutes shriek like Whitecross Street market traders. Valery practically ran through the violins, and in one roundhouse punch of a gesture, shook the Leader’s hand, bowed and whipped around bringing his right hand crashing in for the downbeat. The house lights were still up. I wasn’t ready, but somehow managed to make it just in time. Audience chatter was suddenly silenced, the players were already on the edge of their seats, everyone in the hall was instantly transported to the Russian fair. It was breathless, it was exciting – it was theatre.

Performances of The Rite of Spring are so commonplace these days that critics often complain that they have become sanitised, they are too perfect, they no longer sound like a struggle. However, one only has to see the look of violence in Gergiev’s eyes when he casts the upbeat at the start of the ‘Dance of the Young Girls’ to understand why his performance sounds like it does; the jerks and stabs of his shoulders punctuate the texture with offbeat accents. He said to me once in an interview that there are times when he is deliberately unclear to the players in his gestures; he likes to create tension and a sense of reinvention – certainly I don’t recall ever giving the same performance twice with him in charge. I think what he does is not only create a theatrical atmosphere of anticipation, danger and unpredictability for the audience, but also crucially and uniquely, for the Orchestra.

Gareth Davies has been LSO Principal Flute since 2000. Alongside playing with the LSO, Gareth writes regularly for BBC Music Magazine, Classic FM and his own blog, has written a book on a century of LSO touring – The Show Must Go On – and is a professor of flute at the Royal College of Music.

GERGIEV ON LSO LIVE Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Awarded Disc of the Year and Best Orchestra Recording

by BBC Music Magazine in 2011, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet is considered to be one of the most exceptional realisations of Shakespeare in music.

Buy online at lsolive.lso.co.uk

Main Season Concert

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BERNARD HAITINK CONDUCTING THE LSO IN JAPAN

Bernard Haitink JAPAN WITH HAITINK

OTHER CONCERTS ON TOUR

Mon 28 Sep to Mon 5 Oct 2015

Sun 27 Sep to Sun 4 Oct 2015

Mozart Piano Concerto No 24 Mahler Symphony No 4 Bruckner Symphony No 7 Purcell arr Stucky Funeral Music for Queen Mary Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 Brahms Symphony No 1

FINAL SYMPHONY II

Bernard Haitink conductor 28 Sep Suntory Hall, Tokyo 30 Sep Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, Tokyo 1 Oct NHK Hall, Tokyo 3 Oct Concert Hall, Kyoto 5 Oct Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo

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BERNARD HAITINK ~ LSO.CO.UK

Alongside concerts with Haitink during the LSO tour of Japan, the Orchestra also gives audiences an opportunity to hear music recorded for the Final Fantasy video games and from the Final Symphony album.

Eckehard Stier conductor Mischa Cheung piano 27 Sep Osaka 4 Oct Yokohama For more information on the LSO’s worldwide tours, see page 54

AT THE BARBICAN Tue 15 Sep 2015 7.30pm Mozart Piano Concerto No 24 Bruckner Symphony No 7 Bernard Haitink conductor Murray Perahia piano Sun 20 Sep 2015 7pm Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 Mahler Symphony No 4 Bernard Haitink conductor Murray Perahia piano Anna Lucia Richter soprano Wed 23 Sep 2015 7.30pm

AT HOME & ABROAD

Purcell arr Stucky Funeral Music for Queen Mary Beethoven Piano Concerto No 1 Brahms Symphony No 1

Whenever the LSO and conductor Bernard Haitink

Bernard Haitink conductor Imogen Cooper piano

come together for a performance, the result is always a true musical partnership.

DAVID JACKSON (LSO PERCUSSION)

SARAH QUINN (LSO VIOLIN)

Main Season Concert

Haitink is revered by audiences and critics worldwide, the recipient of thunderous ovations and rapturous plaudits, but this mesmerising chemistry is cherished perhaps most of all by the Orchestra itself. In the words of LSO Percussionist David Jackson, ‘there’s a palpable fizz in the air’ whenever Haitink takes to the rostrum for the first rehearsal.

For Sarah Quinn, LSO Sub-Principal Second Violin, who first worked with the conductor in 1995 as a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, Haitink was as inspiring 20 years ago as he is today. ‘He’s the sort of man who doesn’t say a huge amount, but what he does makes a tremendous impact,’ she explains. ‘You always felt like you had time and space to play everything, no matter how difficult it was … It was as if he could make time stand still and everything was possible.’

David, meanwhile, cites the humility and ‘quiet authority’ that Haitink exercises each time he stands on the podium.

‘When he comes onto the stage, he says very little to the Orchestra, usually starts off with a very subtle joke … and you just feel safe. He’s very much a conductor who invites you to play.’ Sarah agrees: ‘He walks onto the platform and it’s like a switch. He has complete control and complete authority over what he’s doing at all times’.

Over the last two decades, the relationship between the Orchestra and conductor has grown steadily stronger, with David praising the feeling of mutual respect, ‘something that’s earned over a long period of time’, that permeates each performance. ‘He seems to have a huge affection for the LSO and we love working with him,’ confirms Sarah. This propensity for forming musical partnerships extends to soloists too – Maria João Pires, Mitsuko Uchida and Emanuel Ax, to name just a handful of recent collaborators. For David, this is at the heart of Haitink’s approach to music-making: ‘He surrounds himself with friends and has a good time – he just enjoys it’.

In 2015/16, it’s the great pianist Murray Perahia who teams up with Haitink, opening the LSO’s season together with one of Mozart’s most striking piano concertos.

The core of the symphonic repertoire – Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler – is explored in the three opening concerts, before Haitink leads the LSO on a tour of Japan.

Remembering the Orchestra’s last tour to East Asia with Haitink in 2013, David recalls, ‘I’ve never seen him smile so much. It was such a lovely trip. He said, ‘This is going to be the last time I go to the Far East with a big orchestra’, but lo and behold, we get back to London and the reports come back that he’s had such a good time that he’d quite like to do it again – which we are this year!

When that kind of information filters back to the players, that speaks volumes of how much he enjoys working with us, and how we love working with him.’

Fiona Dinsdale, LSO Marketing Manager The LSO is grateful to Moore Group for its generous support of concerts in Japan this year. The Orchestra’s concerts around the world offer further valuable opportunities for tour partnerships.

Contact development@lso.co.uk for more information.

HAITINK ON LSO LIVE Bruckner Symphonies Nos 4 & 9 ‘It’s absolutely sensational … a really mature reading, by a very mature and a highly experienced and a completely relaxed conductor’ BBC Radio 3 CD Review Audiophile Audition (US) Pizzicato (Luxembourg) ‘This performance from last year with the London Symphony Orchestra on stupendous form seems to mark a pitch of understanding and communication which it wouldn’t be possible to surpass.’

BBC Music Magazine

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PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE ~ LSO.CO.UK

Opera in concert PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE Sir Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars, who have worked together for over three decades, bring their joint dramatic chemistry to the Barbican. George Hall introduces Debussy’s only completed opera.

When two artists that are as sought after as Rattle and Sellars join forces, there can be no doubt as to the combined creative genius that player and public alike are about to witness.

Their landmark staged performances around the world – including the Bach St Matthew and St John Passions and previous productions of Debussy’s dramatic Pelléas et Mélisande in the mid-1990s – have reached ‘legendary’ status as described by New York critic Alex Ross.

In January 2016, the pair once again re-visit Debussy’s masterpiece at the Barbican along with the combined forces of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and a star-studded cast of soloists.

THE WORK Debussy completed only one opera, but it was quickly recognised as a masterpiece and indeed one of the great 20th-century works in the form.

He took a long time, however, both to discover the right subject and to compose the piece.

Between 1890–93 Debussy worked on his first substantial attempt at an opera to a libretto on the Spanish medieval warlord El Cid, but he lost interest in its plot and grand operatic manner, eventually abandoning it. By this time he had discovered the plays of Maurice Maeterlinck, though before that he had a clear idea of the kind of opera he would rather: ‘The ideal would be two associated dreams. No time, no place.

No big scene. Music in opera is far too predominant.

My idea is of a short libretto with mobile scenes.

No discussion or arguments between characters whom I see at the mercy of life or destiny.’

It is almost as if Debussy imagined Pelléas et Mélisande before he actually encountered it.

He read Maeterlinck’s Pelléas around 1892 and years later acknowledged, ‘The drama of Pelléas … contains far more humanity than those so-called ‘real-life documents’ [and] suits my intentions admirably … there is an evocative language whose sensitivity could be extended into music and into the orchestral backcloth’. Maeterlinck agreed to Debussy making a musical setting. It was complete by 1895, but the Opéra-Comique in Paris took three years to accept it. Its eventual premiere in 1902 proved to be a landmark in French music.

Pelléas is one of the most original and influential operas of its period. Its atmosphere is distinctive and indeed unique, a self-enclosed world where the characters often say one thing when they mean quite another. This sense of ambiguity is highlighted by Debussy’s complex and subtle harmony and his delicate use of orchestral colour throughout. Ironically, Maeterlinck’s play has largely disappeared from view – as if Debussy, in providing its precise musical equivalent, had left no need for it to continue to be performed. While we may regret that Debussy’s later operatic projects failed to reach completion, the one masterpiece we have has proved to be one of opera’s greatest achievements.

THE STORY The tale is set in the mythical land of Allemonde and begins as Prince Golaud, a widower and the grandson of the king, discovers a young woman weeping in the forest while he is out hunting. Although her identity and story remain shrouded in mystery, she reveals that her name is Mélisande and agrees to accompany Golaud away from the forest.

Word is soon received that Mélisande and Golaud have been married and the couple arrive at the castle, where they encounter Golaud’s half-brother, Pelléas. Golaud is angered when Mélisande loses her wedding ring in a well, and he sends her and Pelléas out to find it.

His bitterness grows as he begins to suspect that the couple, who are visibly drawn to each other, are falling in love. Golaud encourages his son, Yniold, to spy on them, while warning Pelléas that Mélisande is expecting a child.

As Pelléas decides to leave the castle, Golaud’s jealousy descends into violence: he questions Mélisande, accusing her of infidelity, then seizes her by the hair and throws her to the floor. She goes to meet Pelléas for the final time and the couple declare their love for each other.

However, Golaud has been spying on them.

The story ends in tragedy, with the deaths of both Pelléas, killed by his half-brother, and Mélisande, who gives birth prematurely and dies maintaining her innocence.

George Hall writes widely on classical music, including for The Guardian, BBC Music Magazine and Opera.

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CONDUCTING WITH THE LSO Sir Simon Rattle, who appears with the LSO seven times this season, talks about what it’s like working with visionary director Peter Sellars, and to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra.

Perfect Partners

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SIR SIMON RATTLE ~ LSO.CO.UK

Peter Sellars is someone I’ve known all my life and is an astonishing force of nature: incredibly bright, extraordinarily eloquent, quite maddeningly certain of everything of which he’s certain. Our first big project wasn’t until my mid-30s when we first

as Debussy wanted, not in this block with the woodwinds all together but with them spread around the strings – will be a different feeling and we’ll have to get used to the sounds coming from other places and blending in other ways.

did Pelléas et Mélisande. On the first day, Peter arrived off a plane, met an entire company of people who told him their names – he didn’t write them down but remembered them – and he could still remember them three years later. He then did a two-hour talk on Pelléas without any notes and then rehearsed the first scene from full score, on which he had written nothing. And that’s Peter!

The amount of knowledge and the amount of musical understanding staggered all of us immediately.

Peter and I have worked on various projects over the years, the most moving being the recent two Bach Passions. Peter has a way of creating an atmosphere where everybody gives away parts of themselves that they thought were hidden or private, and he creates an atmosphere where egos are left outside the door – just simply working on ‘what does the music mean’. I remember at one point – an aria which is about death and loss – I couldn’t get what I needed from the players. Peter just wandered up to them quietly: ‘these notes – you’re giving me a healthy heartbeat. I don’t want a healthy heartbeat, I want a heartbeat that’s nearly extinct and that could stop at any moment’, and immediately the players brought something else to it. It was a total collaboration in every possible way and we decided that this is something we simply needed to do year after year. So, the LSO and I have three projects coming up with Peter, starting with us revisiting Pelléas et Mélisande.

I don’t think the LSO will quite know what’s hit them in Pelléas because Peter will be involved with everything and they will find themselves doing things that they never imagined they would – or at least in an atmosphere that they’ve never had – these wonderful open musicians will love it!

There’s such a mystery in Pelléas. The idea that the singers can be wandering through the orchestra – and that we will try to seat the orchestra

It will be fascinating.

The LSO is an extraordinary thing and I’ve been listening to it all my life. I remember it as being a rather unpredictable orchestra. We tend to forget, now that it’s such an incredibly civilised and open orchestra, how much it’s changed, but it was always very good. Because of its history

Sat 9 & Sun 10 Jan 2016 7pm Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande (semi-staged performance) Sir Simon Rattle conductor Peter Sellars director Magdalena Kožená Mélisande Christian Gerhaher Pelléas Gerald Finley Golaud Bernarda Fink Genevieve Franz-Josef Selig Arkel London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Produced by the LSO and Barbican Part of LSO 2015/16 Season and Barbican Presents Multi-buy and group discounts do not apply to these concerts

Wed 13 Jan 2016 7.30pm

it has always had a bit of the ‘pirate ship’ about it, always going for broke. The point is that you have to go for it! What’s so interesting is that it’s reinvented itself yet I don’t think it’s lost all of that, it’s an orchestra that can do just about anything.

There’s an extraordinary quality of freshness, which is very unusual, with an amazing ability to just turn on the moment – working with an improvisatory conductor such as Valery Gergiev has only made that more so. So you feel that the LSO can go anywhere with you. And you do feel they’re a family. They look after each other.

Sir Simon Rattle has been Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002, and prior to that was Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for 18 years. He was awarded the Order of Merit by Her Majesty the Queen in 2014 for his commitment to music and the arts. From September 2017 he will be Music Director of the LSO.

Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin Dutilleux L’arbre des songes Delage Four Hindu Poems Dutilleux Métaboles Ravel Daphnis and Chloe – Suite No 2 Sir Simon Rattle conductor Leonidas Kavakos violin Susan Gritton soprano

Thu 14 Apr 2016 7.30pm Messiaen Couleurs de la cité céleste Bruckner Symphony No 8 Sir Simon Rattle conductor Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano

Sun 17 Apr 2016 10am–5.30pm, Barbican and LSO St Luke’s LSO DISCOVERY DAY

THE SEASONS

One of Haydn’s best-loved choral works is rehearsed in the morning with Sir Simon Rattle, the LSO and the London Symphony Chorus, followed by an afternoon’s exploration of the seasons in art and music.

Sun 17 Apr 2016 7pm Haydn The Seasons (sung in German) Sir Simon Rattle conductor Monika Eder soprano John Mark Ainsley tenor Florian Boesch baritone London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Sun 26 Jun 2016 7pm Peter Maxwell Davies The Hogboon (world premiere, LSO commission) Berlioz Symphonie fantastique (LSO and Guildhall musicians side by side) Sir Simon Rattle conductor London Symphony Chorus LSO Discovery Choirs Guildhall School musicians Thu 30 Jun 2016 7.30pm Ives The Unanswered Question Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 Sir Simon Rattle conductor Krystian Zimerman piano

Main Season Concert

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FOUR CENTURIES OF INSPIRING THE ARTS In his preface to the first publication of William Shakespeare’s First Folio in 1623, poet Ben Jonson made a prediction on the enduring legacy of Shakespeare’s works, proclaiming them as ‘… not of an age, but for all time’.

This turned out to be an accurate prediction – in our time William Shakespeare has elevated in popularity and reputation, becoming a monumental figure in British literature. His dramatic writing is considered to be amongst the greatest ever conceived in the English language, and his works are continually performed, studied, re-interpreted and adapted the world over.

His iconic comedies, romances and tragedies manage to distil the very essence of the human condition – from the dizzying heights of passion, to the lowliest depths of despair – into profoundly lyrical and eloquent language.

Shakespeare’s words have provided inspiration for generations of artists in every conceivable medium reaching far beyond its literary roots. From theatre and film to painting, sculpture and music, his influence has affected all facets of modern culture. This enduring appeal can be put down to the universal nature of the subject matters that Shakespeare confronts – love, loss, power, ambition and greed are all timeless, and instantly accessible to anyone.

This unique quality makes his stories inherently relatable and incredibly adaptable; they hold just as much relevance now as they did 400 years ago, transposing seamlessly from period settings to modern-day adaptations.

In music, Shakespeare’s influence has been profound, inspiring many great composers to write their finest works. Hector Berlioz, a particularly ardent and committed admirer of Shakespeare, once described his influence as ‘a sublime thunderclap, illuminating the most distant depths. I recognised true grandeur, true beauty, and dramatic truth’. In the world of opera Shakespeare’s plays have proven particularly important, inspiring the creation of well over 400 separate works. It is easy to see why – the vividly drawn characters, lyrical, pulse-driven language and bold, dramatic narrative trajectories translate perfectly from the theatre to the opera-house.

In a special series of concerts marking the quatercentenary of Shakespeare’s death in April 1616, the LSO will explore some of the greatest music inspired by his words. The series opens with Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Gianandrea Noseda will conduct two separate programmes; the first features Tchaikovsky’s iconic Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture alongside Strauss’ Macbeth and Smetana’s Richard III. The season comes to a climactic close with Berlioz’s monumental Romeo and Juliet Suite.

Plus, throughout January 2016 our series of BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts at LSO St Luke’s focuses on great chamber works inspired

by Shakespeare, with ensembles including the Gould Piano Trio and the BBC Singers.

Benjamin Picard, LSO Marketing Co-ordinator

Shakespeare 400 is a cultural initiative across London in 2016. To celebrate, cultural institutions based in and around Greater London have come together in partnership with the London Shakespeare Centre at King’s College London.

From January to September a special season of connected performances, broadcasts, exhibitions and educational outreach events will underline London’s pivotal role in the performance and public understanding of the works of Shakespeare.

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SHAKESPEARE 400 ~ LSO.CO.UK

BARBICAN CONCERTS

GIANANDREA NOSEDA AND SIR JOHN ELIOT GARDINER PRESENT …

Shakespeare 400

Tue 16 Feb 2016 7.30pm

SHAKESPEARE 400 Mendelssohn Symphony No 1 Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream Sir John Eliot Gardiner conductor Monteverdi Choir

Thu 25 Feb 2016 7.30pm

SHAKESPEARE 400 Smetana Richard III Liszt Piano Concerto No 2 Tchaikovsky Overture: Romeo and Juliet Strauss Macbeth Gianandrea Noseda conductor Simon Trpcˇeski piano Sun 28 Feb 2016 7pm

SHAKESPEARE 400 Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 2 Berlioz Romeo and Juliet – Suite Gianandrea Noseda conductor Janine Jansen violin

GIANANDREA NOSEDA ON THE LITERARY MASTER ‘Shakespeare is one of history’s greatest story tellers.

He produced masterpieces in which human emotions and contradictions are depicted with merciless precision and direct emotional involvement.

The power and drama of his stories couldn’t be more engaging for composers who try to express these emotions through their music. That’s why for example Macbeth’s obsession with power, the impossible love of Romeo and Juliet and the madness of Richard III have inspired composers over the centuries and nurtured their imagination. As performers, our responsibility is to create the same sense of wonder in our audience when they hear these works, as the master storyteller does when we read them.’

5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Songs based on Shakespeare texts

LSO ST LUKE’S EVENTS Every Thursday from 7 Jan 2016 to 28 Jan 2016 1pm BBC RADIO 3

SHAKESPEARE 400 LUNCHTIME CONCERTS 7 Jan Gould Piano Trio 14 Jan Iestyn Davies (baritone) and Elizabeth Kenny (lute) 21 Jan James Gilchrist (tenor) and Anna Tilbrook (piano) 28 Jan BBC Singers Sun 28 Feb 2016 10am–5pm, Barbican and LSO St Luke’s LSO DISCOVERY DAY

BERLIOZ AND SHAKESPEARE

Gianandrea Noseda conducts Smetana’s Richard III and Strauss’ Macbeth on Thursday 25 February 2016; and Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet – Suite on Sunday 28 February 2016

A morning watching Gianandrea Noseda guiding the LSO through Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet Suite at the Barbican, with afternoon chamber music and a talk at LSO St Luke’s.

NOSEDA ON LSO LIVE Britten War Requiem

Fri 26 Feb 2016 12.30–1.15pm, LSO St Luke’s

Financial Times Rondo (Germany) (3 max) Point de Vue (France) Best International Album of the Year 2012 Musical Toronto (Canada) CD of the Week Sunday Times

Main Season Concert

FREE FRIDAY LUNCHTIME CONCERT

SHAKESPEARE 400 SPECIAL Rachel Leach presenter

Music and words to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

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2010

2009

2006

20 years with the LSO ‘Daniel Harding is very much a thinking conductor. He takes a considered view of a piece and he doesn’t do routine, both of which are all to the good.’

Martin Kettle, The Guardian on Daniel Harding

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DANIEL HARDING ~ LSO.CO.UK

Sun 6 Dec 2015 7pm Chopin Piano Concerto No 1 Bruckner Symphony No 4 Daniel Harding conductor Maria João Pires piano Wed 16 Dec 2015 7.30pm Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3 Bruckner Symphony No 9 (four movement version) Daniel Harding conductor Maria João Pires piano Supported by LSO Friends

Sun 20 Mar 2016 7pm Schumann Scenes from Goethe’s ‘Faust’ Daniel Harding conductor Christian Gerhaher Faust Christiane Karg Gretchen Christianne Stotijn Noth Alastair Miles Mephistopheles Andrew Staples Ariel London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Sun 8 May 2016 7pm 2014

DANIEL HARDING This season, LSO Principal Guest Conductor Daniel Harding celebrates his twentieth anniversary of working with the Orchestra.

Daniel Harding first stepped out to conduct the LSO on 29 March 1995. He was 19 and charged with a single piece slipped into the middle of a Mahler concert with Michael Tilson Thomas – the intricate Éclat by Pierre Boulez.

Within a year he was on his own, and far from easing himself into it his first full programme featured a pair of contemporary scores mixed with modern masters Britten and Bartók, the first of many musical challenges faced fearlessly throughout his career.

Ten years, two tours and 18 performances later he joined Michael Tilson Thomas again, but this time to become LSO Principal Guest Conductor in 2006.

Mozart Piano Concerto No 20 Bruckner Symphony No 3 Daniel Harding conductor Leif Ove Andsnes piano

In the years since, Harding has taken the Orchestra through everything from 15th-century Jean-Philippe Rameau to 21st-century Wolfgang Rihm, and much beyond. He no longer has to prove the breadth of his talent, and this season sees him focus on core works from the symphonic repertoire.

He begins in December with Bruckner, the Fourth and the Ninth Symphonies, before the Third follows later in May. And how do you prepare an audience for the solemn expanse of these monumental works? With a display of dazzling technique from two of the world’s leading pianists, Maria João Pires and Leif Ove Andsnes, who will play concertos by Chopin, Beethoven and Mozart to set these programmes in motion.

Harding held a full audience rapt and silent for over a minute as the final sounds of Mahler Symphony No 9 expired into the back of the Barbican Hall in October 2014.

In June 2016 he returns to Mahler again with the Second Symphony (‘The Resurrection’) for the second of two concerts with the London Symphony Chorus.

Though he performs Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust in March 2016, Harding doesn’t need to sell his soul to the devil to get what he wants – he has twenty years of experience here to draw on instead.

So as this creative partnership enters its third decade, we invite you to join us and hear Daniel Harding continue to grow with the LSO in 2015/16.

Sun 5 Jun 2016 7pm Mahler Symphony No 2 (‘Resurrection’) Daniel Harding conductor Miah Persson soprano Anna Larsson alto London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director 5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Songs by Mahler and Wolf Thu 9 Jun 2016 7.30pm Dvorˇák Overture: Othello Bartók Violin Concerto No 1 Dvorˇák Symphony No 8 Daniel Harding conductor Lisa Batiashvili violin 6pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Featuring Dvorˇák’s Wind Serenade

DANIEL HARDING ON LSO LIVE Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Speranza and From the Wreckage Daniel Harding premiered From the Wreckage in a Mark-Anthony Turnage series devoted Speranza From the Wreckage to Turnage in 2013.

Alongside the work, trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger performed Speranza, a work written for him by Turnage in 2005.

London Symphony Orchestra LSO Live

Daniel Harding

Håkan Hardenberger London Symphony Orchestra

Mark Parker, LSO Marketing Co-ordinator 2012

Main Season Concert

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LEIF OVE ANDSNES LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes returns for his second featured series with the LSO since his debut nearly two decades ago.

In 2001, the Norwegian pianist, then aged 30, joined the Orchestra and Michael Tilson Thomas for a successful series of concertos, recitals and pre-concert talks. Andsnes’ relationship with the Orchestra goes back further, to his debut in 1997, when he performed Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto under Tadaaki Otaka. He has made steady returns to the Orchestra with Sir John Eliot Gardiner (in 2006) and Sir Antonio Pappano (2009 and 2010), securing his place as a loyal LSO collaborator.

What is it that keeps drawing the LSO and Andsnes back together, almost 20 years on from their first encounter?

The answer may lie in The New Yorker’s assertion that Andsnes is ‘one of the few who possess power and personality in equal measure’.

The LSO is fortunate to perform with outstanding soloists as a matter of course but it is only when the quality of music-making is matched by an equally strong human bond that a long-term relationship can flourish.

‘I have no choice but to make music. I love music so much, it is so much a part of me, that I just have to do it. I am driven by music from the inside, and need the connection with it. And I want to share it with others.’

Andsnes has gone on record eschewing the cult of celebrity musicians and inflated pay, noting that some of his happiest moments have been at festivals such as Risør (which he co-founded in 1991 and was Artistic Director of until 2010) where ‘we can only pay very small fees [but] all participants return happily every time … the atmosphere is intimate and personal – for example, we all come together for meals’.

The pianist’s most recent demonstration of putting the music first is his Beethoven Journey which he started in 2012. This was Andsnes’ personal challenge to play-conduct and record all Beethoven’s five piano concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, in all corners of the globe.

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‘I have no choice but to make music.

I love music so much, it is so much a part of me, that I just have to do it.’

Leif Ove Andsnes

LSO Artist Portrait It has amounted to over 60 concerts across more than ten countries. Andsnes returns to Beethoven in his recital (10 June), with the Piano Sonata in E-flat.

Andsnes has also taken a lead role in the accompanying education project, Feel the Music, which takes Beethoven’s deafness as its jumping off point and invites children with hearing disabilities to experience music using all of the senses.

On his commitment to bringing access to music ever wider, he comments: ‘One can no longer take for granted that people sing in church, in a choir, or with their children, or that music is an integral part of everyone’s life in some form. It’s a shame when music is relegated to background noise trickling from speakers …

LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT: LEIF OVE ANDSNES ~ LSO.CO.UK

meaningful connection with music is something that has to be learned.’

Andsnes is generally deeply thoughtful about the next generation of musicians, regularly engaging with community and outreach activities, and in this sense he is an excellent fit for the LSO, especially as LSO Discovery celebrated its 25th birthday in 2015.

Devoted to music itself whilst revelling in its capacity to forge meaningful relationships, and develop the minds of people of all ages; it seems Leif Ove Andsnes and the LSO have a lot in common.

Fabienne Morris, LSO Communications Manager

Sun 8 May 2016 7pm LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT

LEIF OVE ANDSNES Mozart Piano Concerto No 20 Bruckner Symphony No 3 Daniel Harding conductor Leif Ove Andsnes piano

Thu 12 May 2016 7.30pm LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT

LEIF OVE ANDSNES Schumann Piano Concerto Beethoven Symphony No 9 (‘Choral’) Michael Tilson Thomas conductor Leif Ove Andsnes piano Christine Rice mezzo-soprano Tony Spence tenor Neal Davies baritone London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Supported by Baker & McKenzie LLP

Fri 10 Jun 2016 7.30pm LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT

LEIF OVE ANDSNES Sibelius Three Pieces (‘Kyllikki’); The Birch; The Spruce The Forest Lake; Song in the Forest; Spring Vision Beethoven Piano Sonata No 18 in E-flat major (‘The Hunt’) Debussy La soirée dans Grenade; Three Études: ‘Pour les arpèges composés’ – ‘Pour les huit doigts’ – ‘Pour les octaves’; Étude in A-flat major Chopin Impromptu in A-flat major; Nocturne in F Major Ballad No 4 in F minor Leif Ove Andsnes piano Sat 28 May 2016 7pm, Milton Court

LSO CONCERTS ON MEZZO

BARBICAN PRESENTS

European broadcaster Mezzo films LSO concerts live at the Barbican and relays them to the Continent.

Brahms Piano Quartet No 1 in G major Piano Quartet No 2 in A major Piano Quartet No 3 in C minor

Bringing the London Symphony Orchestra’s music to as wide an audience as possible is at the heart of the partnership, and for both Mezzo and the LSO it’s as much about providing an experience as close to that of being in a concert hall as possible. Mezzo work with the best European producers and directors in their field.

Over the past four seasons, Mezzo has broadcast concerts of Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Stravinsky,

LEIF OVE ANDSNES & FRIENDS – BRAHMS QUARTETS

Leif Ove Andsnes piano Christian Tetzlaff violin Tabea Zimmerman viola Clemens Hagen cello Produced by Barbican, not part of the LSO Season Visit barbican.org.uk for details

Main Season Concert

Szymanowski and Brahms with Valery Gergiev, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Simon Rattle and Michael Tilson Thomas with pianist Yuja Wang.

In 2016, they will broadcast Leif Ove Andsnes’ performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto, alongside other concerts throughout the year.

On satellite and on cable in central Europe Visit mezzo.tv/en for details

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LSO Futures SPIRIT OF TODAY: NEW COMPOSERS

LSO FUTURES Wed 9 Mar 2016 10am–6pm, LSO St Luke’s

Sun 13 Mar 2016 4pm, LSO St Luke’s

LSO FUTURES / GUILDHALL

LSO FUTURES

A conference in collaboration with Guildhall ResearchWorks

Darren Bloom Dr Glaser’s Experiment (world premiere, LSO commission) Thomas Adès Chamber Symphony Schoenberg Chamber Symphony

GETTING IT RIGHT? NEW MUSIC AND DANCE

Julian Anderson curator This one-day conference, the third in a series of Guildhall ResearchWorks/ LSO Getting it right? conferences, brings together leading figures and emerging artists from the worlds of new music and dance to explore the dynamic relationship between the two disciplines.

AFTERNOON CONCERT

François-Xavier Roth conductor LSO Chamber Orchestra LSO commission generously supported by the PRS for Music Foundation and the Britten Pears Foundation

Sun 13 Mar 2016 7pm, Barbican LSO FUTURES

Fri 11 Mar 2016 10am–1pm & 2–6pm, LSO St Luke’s LSO FUTURES

PANUFNIK COMPOSERS WORKSHOP François-Xavier Roth conductor London Symphony Orchestra Featuring new works for orchestra by Patrick Giguere, Bethan Morgan-Williams, Deborah Pritchard, Daniel Lewis Fardon, Daniel Moreira and Ewan Campbell.

The Panufnik Composers Scheme is supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust

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LSO FUTURES ~ LSO.CO.UK

EVENING CONCERT Ligeti Atmosphères Elizabeth Ogonek Sleep & Unremembrance (world premiere, Panufnik commission) Berio Sinfonia François-Xavier Roth conductor Synergy Vocals The Panufnik Composers Scheme is supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust

In March, framed by a Composer Focus with Thomas Adès (see overleaf), the LSO Futures series throws open the door to music of 2016.

You can hear music almost as it is being written, get involved in discussion of new music and dance, and enjoy commissions from newly established composers beside extraordinary inventive masterpieces of the 20th century.

On Wednesday 9 March composers and choreographers discuss the challenges and excitements of collaboration. How do composers write for dance and how do choreographers and dancers work with music?

Composer Julian Anderson curates this fascinating cross-artform conference.

The LSO Discovery Panufnik Composers Scheme enables emerging composers to experiment and write for full orchestra, guided by eminent composer Colin Matthews. Visit the public workshops on Friday 11 March to witness the dialogue between charismatic LSO Futures conductor François-Xavier Roth, LSO musicians and the composers as eight specially composed pieces are performed and put under the microscope.

François-Xavier Roth conducts two gripping concerts on Sunday 13 March, both featuring experiments with symphonic form. The afternoon at LSO St Luke’s includes Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No 1, a single movement landmark of early 20th-century Western music.

Thomas Adès’ Chamber Symphony, also in one movement, began as a concerto for basset-horn: jazz and tango emerge, with instruments including an accordion and two percussionists.

FRANÇOIS-XAVIER ROTH

Darren Bloom, alumnus of the LSO Soundhub composers programme, has been inspired by Dr Donald Glaser, who won the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the bubble chamber used in subatomic particle physics. Filled with superheated transparent liquid the bubble chamber detected electrically charged particles moving through it. In this immersive piece, sound will travel around the ensemble encircling the audience, while new animations by Ignatz Johnson Higham subtly interpret the music.

The Barbican evening concert showcases the full LSO in a new commission by Elizabeth Ogonek.

A former Panufnik Composer, she is known for her vivid and energetic writing and is a newly appointed Mead Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ligeti’s Atmosphères evokes a sense of timelessness through its dense clouds of sound.

Finally the Orchestra is joined by Synergy Vocals to perform Berio’s spectacular and multi-faceted Sinfonia which harnesses the scale and drive of a traditional symphony, contemporary musical techniques, and voices ancient and new, to speak to the modern world.

Judith Ackrill, Head of LSO Discovery The LSO thanks those who generously support new commissions by leading and emerging composers. There are more opportunities this year to become involved and support the next generation of talented young musicians. Contact development@lso.co.uk for more information.

LSO composition schemes are generously supported by The Helen Hamlyn Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Hinrichsen Foundation and Susie Thomson.

Main Season Concert

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Since 2005 … LSO Discovery has commissioned 167 composers

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42 LSO Discovery commissions performed by the LSO in Barbican concerts

DARREN BLOOM Described in The Times as ‘almost mystical … a genuine frisson’, Darren Bloom’s music is noted for its combination of ‘evocative harmony’ and ‘raw power’. His works have been performed across Europe and the US by many of today’s leading performers.

Darren studied with Edwin Roxburgh, Brian Elias and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and is starting an AHRC funded PhD at the University of Cambridge supervised by Richard Causton.

ELIZABETH OGONEK Elizabeth Ogonek is a composer who strives to create music that is dramatic and colourful. Often inspired by text, her work explores the transference of poetic imagery to music. She completed her doctoral studies in July 2015 at the Guildhall School where she studied with Julian Anderson. In the 2015/16 season she is Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

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Thomas Adès SPIRIT OF TODAY: COMPOSER FOCUS In 2015/16 the LSO welcomes back Thomas Adès, one of Britain’s most innovative composers and conductors.

magnetic pull Adès perceives between notes.

Brahms for baritone and orchestra is an ‘anti-homage’ to the composer – it focuses on Brahms’ distinctive compositional compulsions, often taking them to extreme and sometimes absurd logical conclusions.

On hearing Adès’ music, one is always struck by its ability to occupy two seemingly disparate worlds, sounding at once completely new, yet possessing a sense of familiarity. On one hand his compositional voice is the ne plus ultra of modernity, complex and entirely distinctive: chiming batteries of resonant percussion, stratospheric virtuoso filigree, hypnotic cycling rhythms and prismic, geometrical harmonies are all typical Adèsian features.

Beneath the fantastical surface-level activity though, there is always a distinct sense that we are already acquainted with the sounds we are hearing, whether it is a brief snatch of a Brahms symphony, a distorted tango rhythm or simply a basic sequence of intervals. In Adès’ hands these simple musical materials become masses of potential that project outwards into elusive, abstract structures with an almost magnetic momentum.

Adès’ ability to seamlessly elide the new and the familiar is encapsulated perfectly in the concise, yet sonically expansive four movement orchestral work Asyla. Right from the ritualistic tolling of the opening bars the composer breaks new ground – tuned cowbells and a quarter-tone piano instantly transport the listener to a sparse, alien musical landscape. Suddenly though we are bought back to earth. Horns, in unison, intone a remarkably conventional sounding, almost Mahlerian theme possessing a sense of classical majesty and restraint. This dynamic continues over the course of Asyla’s four movements. Movement two takes the central movement of Franck’s Symphony in D minor as its starting point, reducing the music to a skeletal outline. Movement three ‘Ecstasio’ evokes the hypnotic, throbbing techno rhythms of a London nightclub, whilst the final movement provides a typical Adèsian aerial-view summation, intertwining the music of the previous three movements.

In other works Adès explores similarly captivating ideas. Polaris, the so-called ‘voyage for orchestra’, is inspired by the magnetic pole-star used by seafarers for navigation. Its repetitive, meditative cycles possess an almost minimalist clarity, and explore the inherent

Finally there is Tevot, a towering work of symphonic magnitude compressed into a continuous 25-minute span.

Tevot guides the listener on a turbulent musical journey contrasting moments of extreme chaos and density with sudden stasis and calm. The work comes to rest on what is in essence a simple A-major chord, no different to one you might find in a symphony by Mozart or Haydn.

But this simple chord is approached in such a way that it is made to resonate and glimmer with an unprecedented clarity and power, all the richer and more vivid for the monolithic symphonic journey Adès has led us through.

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SPIRIT OF TODAY ~ LSO.CO.UK

Benjamin Picard, LSO Marketing Co-ordinator

THOMAS ADÈS COMPOSER FOCUS Wed 9 Mar 2016 7.30pm LSO COMPOSER FOCUS

THOMAS ADÈS

Thomas Adès Polaris Brahms Violin Concerto Thomas Adès Brahms Thomas Adès Tevot Thomas Adès conductor Anne-Sophie Mutter violin Wed 16 Mar 2016 7.30pm LSO COMPOSER FOCUS

THOMAS ADÈS

Thomas Adès Asyla Sibelius Violin Concerto Franck Symphony in D minor Thomas Adès conductor Christian Tetzlaff violin

SPIRIT OF TODAY: SEASON PREMIERES Thu 29 Oct 2015 7.30pm Ravel Pavane pour une infante defunte Ravel Mother Goose – Ballet John Adams Scheherazade.2 (UK premiere) John Adams conductor Leila Josefowicz violin 6pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists Instrumental and chamber works

by John Adams Fri 6 Nov 2015 7.30pm Bernstein Prelude, Fugue and Riffs Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto (world premiere) Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements Bernstein Chichester Psalms James Gaffigan conductor Nicola Benedetti violin London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director

‘Adès makes you hear things with which you thought you were familiar as if they were completely new.’

Tom Service, The Guardian

Main Season Concert

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LSO Sing RELEASE YOUR MIND THROUGH SONG

LSO Community Choir

LSO Discovery Choirs

110

65 Juniors

370 SINGERS BRAIN. HEART. LUNGS. Singing releases endorphins and oxytocin whilst offering a cognitive brain workout, it promotes healthy hearts with energising aerobic exercise and it develops the lungs with synchronised breathing.

LSO SING INVOLVES 370 REGULAR SINGERS. Combined, they sing for over 300 hours every season, not including rehearsals with the LSO and concerts.

David Lawrence and Lucy Griffiths, conductors of the LSO Community and Discovery Choirs, rehearse every Monday at LSO St Luke’s …

Fotini Vergotis joined the LSO Community Choir in 2002 and has since also become a Community Ambassador for the LSO …

There’s a lot of soul in our choirs and a lot of energy.

What makes the LSO’s community and children’s choirs special is that you have to live or work locally to be in them. It really challenges people’s preconceptions about music being elitist because this is all about embracing everyone, whoever you are, whatever your standard. We specifically encourage people to come and sing, not read music. This is about bringing people to us.

Our singers are participants in the LSO, through belonging and being a part of the LSO family. And this is a family of musicians with very high expectations. Next year will be LSO Sing is generously supported by Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement. extraordinary. We both know that it’s the quality of the LSO Discovery Choirs are generously repertoire a choir sings that drives the standards up, and supported by the Slaughter and May we are preparing our choirs for the Barbican stage and Charitable Trust and the Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement.

Sir Simon Rattle. It doesn’t get any better than that!

LSO SING ~ LSO.CO.UK

150

45 Seniors

Not only is music one of the fundamental ways we bond with each other, it literally shapes our brains.

Dr Oliver Sacks, author of Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

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London Symphony Chorus

It’s very friendly and not intimidating, and the repertoire is enticing, from folk to classical and everything in between. I feel at home here. It’s an important fixture in my week and has offered amazing singing experiences.

Singing is catching and therapeutic for many of us.

I find it challenging, fulfilling and it’s enjoyable. The LSO Community Choir plays a pivotal role in the community around here and is a wonderful addition to people’s lives: we sing for elderly people at the day centre and in our local church at Christmas. Being an LSO Community Ambassador too, I like to spread the word. I’m passionate about LSO St Luke’s and have recruited new singers from my Citizen’s Advice Bureau, my tennis club, my neighbours and people on Whitecross Street.

It has connected me to my community.

LSO SING AT THE BARBICAN

CELEBRATING SINGING FOR EVERYONE An introduction to the LSO’s singing projects and their major contribution to the work of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Fri 6 Nov 2015 7.30pm Bernstein Prelude, Fugue and Riffs Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto (world premiere) Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements Bernstein Chichester Psalms James Gaffigan conductor Nicola Benedetti violin London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Sun 13 Dec 2015 7pm LONDON SYMPHONY CHORUS

A CHORAL CHRISTMAS Simon Halsey conductor London Symphony Chorus LSO Community Choir LSO Discovery Choirs Join Simon Halsey and all three of the LSO’s singing ensembles in this festive choral celebration of Christmas.

Sun 20 Mar 2016 7pm Schumann Scenes from Goethe’s ‘Faust’

LSO Sing is the London Symphony Orchestra’s singing programme led by visionary Choral Director Simon Halsey. He leads a team of five conductors and three accompanists putting four choirs through their paces, whilst behind the scenes a full-time Choral Projects Manager and the 14 committed volunteers of the London Symphony Chorus Council are the energetic organisers for 370 singers rehearsing every week.

LSO Sing links naturally with what the London Symphony Orchestra itself is doing, and is one of the strongest ways the Orchestra can make connections with the people living on our doorstep. It gives singers their very first access to the LSO from the age of seven, and for some includes a life-time of singing up to the age of 90. There are two age ranges in the LSO Discovery Choir for children from the City, Hackney and Islington; the adult LSO Community Choir is specifically for our neighbours living in EC1, while the large London Symphony Chorus is for experienced choral singers from all over London and the home counties.

All the choirs perform on stage with the LSO at the Barbican, and with important musicians from Hugh Masakela to Bobby McFerrin to Bernard Haitink, creating high musical expectations and once-in-a-lifetime memories.

Once a year all the singers squeeze on to the stage for a Christmas Choral Celebration in which the audience joins in with traditional carols, raising the roof of the Barbican this year with trumpet, harp and drum (13 December 2015).

At the end of this season the LSO Discovery Choirs will perform a new opera commissioned for them by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (26 June 2016).

This year the London Symphony Chorus celebrates its 50th anniversary season in style performing five major choral works, ranging from Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms to Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, culminating in a trip to New York to sing the Verdi Requiem under Gianandrea Noseda in October 2016.

And if you want to join in yourself, there are five Singing Days for all levels.

You could be singing in a choir of 300 at LSO St Luke’s getting first-hand experience and tips from the LSO Sing Choral team yourself. Imagine that!

Daniel Harding conductor Christian Gerhaher Faust Christiane Karg Gretchen Christianne Stotijn Noth Alastair Miles Mephistopheles Andrew Staples Ariel London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Choir of Eltham College

Sun 24 Apr 2016 7pm Elgar The Dream of Gerontius Sir Mark Elder conductor Alice Coote mezzo-soprano Allan Clayton tenor Gerald Finley bass London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director 5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists English songs recital Thu 12 May 2016 7.30pm LSO ARTIST PORTRAIT

LEIF OVE ANDSNES Schumann Piano Concerto Beethoven Symphony No 9 (‘Choral’) Michael Tilson Thomas conductor Leif Ove Andsnes piano London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director Supported by Baker & McKenzie LLP

Sun 26 Jun 2016 7pm

Sir Simon Rattle conductor Guildhall School musicians LSO Discovery Choirs London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director

LSO SING AT LSO ST LUKE’S CHORAL SINGING DAYS

COMMUNITY SINGING DAYS

Sat 14 Nov 2015 11am–4.30pm

Sun 4 Oct 2015 10.30am–4.30pm

THE SEASONS

A TASTE OF AMERICA

Haydn The Seasons accompanied by piano

David Lawrence conductor Ghislaine Morgan vocal coach

Simon Halsey conductor

Includes vocal works by some of America’s greatest composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

Sat 23 Jan 2016 11am–4.30pm

THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS Elgar The Dream of Gerontius accompanied by piano Simon Halsey conductor Sun 6 Mar 2016 11am–4.30pm

ADD YOUR VOICE LSO Sing goes to the heart of communities. For supporting companies, it can build teamwork, enhance communications and develop leadership.

LSO Sing helps transform lives and delivers inspirational experiences for partners.

To find out more about supporting LSO Sing, contact development@lso.co.uk.

BEETHOVEN’S CHORAL SYMPHONY

Main Season Concert

Sir Simon Rattle conductor Monika Eder soprano John Mark Ainsley tenor Florian Boesch baritone London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director

Peter Maxwell Davies The Hogboon (world premiere) Berlioz Symphonie fantastique

Karen Cardy, LSO Marketing Director and LSO St Luke’s Centre Director

lso.co.uk/lsosing

Sun 17 Apr 2016 7pm Haydn The Seasons (sung in German)

Beethoven Symphony No 9 (‘Choral’) accompanied by piano Simon Halsey conductor

Sat 14 May 2016 10.30am–4.30pm

JAZZAMATAZZ! David Lawrence conductor A day of singing great vocal jazz arrangements of songs like Blue Skies, It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing and others. You’ll be joined in the afternoon by a jazz trio who will lift your spirits even further. The day will culminate in an informal performance.

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LSC at 50 CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF THE LONDON SYMPHONY CHORUS

1976

INDEPENDENCE DAY

The London Symphony Chorus was formed in 1966 to complement the work of the London Symphony Orchestra, though the LSC also partners other major orchestras and has worked internationally. The Chorus tours extensively throughout Europe and has visited North America, Israel, Australia and South East Asia.

There are many CDs featuring the Chorus both on LSO Live and many other labels. Recent LSO concert highlights have included Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri, Verdi’s Rigoletto, the world premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Tenth Symphony, and Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust

The Chorus split from the LSO and, to this day, it remains a separate organisation run by a voluntary Council of singing members. Richard Hickox was appointed its Chorus Director and later recalled: ‘When I first heard the Chorus the sound had an almost animal quality and I set about refining it.

One of my other key tasks was to find work for the Chorus. Independence allowed us to work with many other orchestras both from the UK and abroad, including the orchestras of the BBC, Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic,

and Romeo and Juliet.

Here, long-standing members of the Chorus provide a brief insight into 50 years of memorable choral music-making.

Philharmonia and Vienna Philharmonic.’

Richard Hickox’s reign lasted from 1976–91 and in that time the Chorus performed in 366 concerts, 89 recordings, and learnt 176 choral works, an achievement unmatched by any other of its chorus directors.

1966

BEGINNINGS

In February 1966 the London Symphony Chorus was formed by LSO General Manager Ernest Fleischmann and Guildhall School Professor of Music John Alldis.

John Marks, current LSC tenor, remembers: ‘In the beginning there was an upper age of 30 for women and 40 for men. Concert dress was black mini-skirts for the ladies and dinner jackets for the men! Some of the early members have become famous in their fields of music: Alan Opie, Peter Skellern and Brian Wright.’

The Chorus quickly established a good reputation. During its first year it took part in major concerts and recordings conducted by Sir Colin Davis, István Kertész, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa and Sir Georg Solti.

1968

THE EARLY YEARS

Bass Peter Avis remembers an early case of choral role-playing with André Previn: ‘At one rehearsal, Previn took us through the music for our famous carol concert with Julie Andrews.

He himself had composed some of the arrangements, and one of them particularly amused us. It was Joy to the World and was set for men’s voices only. Arthur Oldham, Chorus Director at the time, told us that we ought to sing it as if we were Canadian Mounties, with our arms linked together. When we had sung it through, Previn exclaimed, ‘Did I really write that?’.’

André Previn was Principal Conductor of the LSO from 1968–79, and is a Vice-President of the LSC. His classic choral recordings with the LSC include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Britten’s ‘Spring’ Symphony and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.

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LONDON SYMPHONY CHORUS ~ LSO.CO.UK

1983

TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

International touring became a regular part of the LSC schedule. Tenor Peter Sedgewick enjoyed an early visit behind the Iron Curtain with the USSR State Symphony: ‘When we arrived in Moscow I was taken aside by one of our allocated Russian guides and told that the Chorus must stay together as a group at all times. I replied this was beyond my powers to achieve! There was a lot of rehearsal, partly because the USSR State Symphony Orchestra was playing Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast for the first time. I gave my Belshazzar score to a Russian enthusiast in the audience who was desperate for a copy.’

The LSC has toured extensively, visiting Europe, North America, Australia, Israel and South East Asia among other places.

2006

1989

BERNSTEIN

Leonard Bernstein was a regular with the LSO at the Barbican and was its President from 1987–90.

Alto Dee Home took part in a memorable performance and recording of his musical Candide: ‘How privileged we were to record Candide and attend rehearsals where changes were still being made to the score. We witnessed the arguments between Lennie and Adolph Green who had difficulty singing the words at the maestro’s speeds. Bernstein was in poor health and wouldn’t stop smoking, even on the Barbican stage.’

LSC 40TH ANNIVERSARY

In 2006 the LSC celebrated 40 years of singing with the LSO, and Sir Colin Davis wrote to them: ‘Choral pieces are the highlight of what we do with the LSO, and we have such wonderful memories. Our first collaboration back in 1966 was Berlioz’s The Trojans, and our recent work too has been wonderful. I’m very grateful.

Over the years I think I may have upset some of your chorus directors and even some of you, but I think you forgive me!’

2006 was a year of exceptional activity for the LSC, during which it toured the US, Italy, France and Germany, and performed throughout the UK with many distinguished conductors. The occasion was also marked by specially commissioned works.

Over the past 50 seasons the Chorus has worked with 158 living composers, and continues to sing music by the top rank of international choral composers, the latest being Eric Whitacre and David Lang.

1997

THE PRINCESS OF WALES

From 1988–96, the LSC was honoured to have Diana, Princess of Wales, as its Patron. Members of the Chorus were invited to attend her funeral at Westminster Abbey in September 1997. Tenor David Leonard recalls of her: ‘Her private visits to rehearsals were always happy and relaxed occasions when every member of the Chorus who wanted to had a chance to meet her. The Verdi Requiem was one of her favourite pieces, and an excerpt from it was sung at her funeral.’

Six days after the funeral the LSC performed the Verdi Requiem at the BBC Proms with the LSO. The performance was scheduled to be conducted

by Sir Georg Solti, but he died a few days after the Princess, so it was conducted by Sir Colin Davis, and given as a memorial to both of them.

2012

SIR COLIN’S FINAL CONCERTS

Sir Colin Davis conducted for over forty years from 1968–2012, and his final concerts with the LSO at St Paul’s Cathedral will linger long in the memory.

Current chairman and alto Lydia Frankenburg says: ‘For this extraordinary performance of Berlioz’s Requiem it seemed that every timpanist in London had been recruited. Sir Colin measured the acoustic with skill and precision, clearing the famous St Paul’s echo between each phrase. During the break some young singers gathered around him for photographs. Sir Colin’s eyes twinkled with delight.’

Sir Colin had also conducted Berlioz’s Requiem for the LSO’s very first concert in St Paul’s Cathedral as part of the City of London Festival in 1964.

2012

HALCYON DAYS WITH HALSEY

A new joint Choral Director of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Director of the London Symphony Chorus is appointed. Simon Halsey confesses to harbouring a soft spot for the LSC: ‘It’s a group that I hold dear as they were encouraging to me as a student assistant to Richard Hickox in the early 1980s. To return as their Director and take a new post created to bring choral work into the heart of the LSO and the LSO Discovery programme was a dream come true.’

LSO Sing is the Orchestra’s singing programme devised by Simon Halsey to encourage everyone in the City of London to sing. This year he was awarded The Queen’s Medal for Music, for services to choral singing.

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Elgar, Elder & England LSO IN WARTIME: A MUSICAL COMMEMORATION Sir Mark Elder has been a lifelong champion of English music, with a special affinity reserved for Elgar. His season with the LSO this year includes a performance of one of Elgar’s most enduring works, the monumental oratorio The Dream of Gerontius.

Elgar’s oratorio The Dream of Gerontius can be considered a pivotal work in a number of ways.

For the composer it marked an important milestone in his career, reinforcing the previous success of his first major breakthrough, the Enigma Variations.

Despite a disastrously under-prepared first performance at the 1900 Birmingham Festival, Gerontius was generally very well received by critics, many of whom recognised the genius and potential of Elgar’s score beyond its imperfect realisation.

Importantly, the work was greatly admired by a number of German critics, marking the important first step towards the acceptance of English repertoire in mainland Europe, and the beginnings of an international voice for English composers.

For the British choral tradition, Gerontius proved to be a significant new contribution. For many years the tradition centred around a handful of imported choral masterworks: Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s The Creation and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Elgar’s Gerontius was the first truly British piece to be accepted into the repertoire, marking the start of a new era for English music-making. Elgar is now considered to be the first of a distinguished line of British composers to contribute to this tradition, a line that includes Vaughan Williams, Britten, Tavener and Tippett, and that continues through to the composers of today.

In his own words, Sir Mark Elder has been ‘living with’ Elgar’s Gerontius his entire life, first encountering the piece as a set work during his early musical studies. Indeed, it would not be

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ELGAR, ELDER & ENGLAND ~ LSO.CO.UK

hyperbole to say that Elder has ‘lived’ British music his entire career – more than any other conductor of his generation he has done his utmost to champion English music of the early 20th century, in both the concert hall and on record.

A lifelong affinity with Elgar’s music, coupled with substantial operatic experience with the English National Opera and at Bayreuth, has given Sir Mark an instinctive understanding of the intricacies of Elgar’s oratorios. His interpretations of Gerontius benefit from a spontaneous sense of pacing and drama, a keen ear for long-term narrative, and an ability to pay homage to the works’ undeniably Wagnerian roots whilst retaining the distinctive English ‘accent’ of the music.

The Dream of Gerontius is performed by the LSO and Sir Mark Elder in 2016 as part of a wider celebration of British music of the early 20th century, and the commemoration of World War I. Highlights include performances of Butterworth’s stirring Shropshire Lad and Vaughan Williams’ evocative A Pastoral Symphony, an LSO String Ensemble concert featuring the works of Elgar, Britten and Vaughan Williams, a series of BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts at LSO St Luke’s called Elgar up Close exploring the composer’s chamber works, and Between Earth and Sky, a series of free Friday lunchtime concerts exploring music inspired by the English countryside before and after World War I. Benjamin Picard, LSO Marketing Co-ordinator

BARBICAN CONCERTS Wed 3 Feb 2016 7.30pm

LSO STRING ENSEMBLE Elgar Introduction and Allegro Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis Britten Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge Roman Simovic director LSO String Ensemble Sun 24 Apr 2016 7pm Elgar The Dream of Gerontius Sir Mark Elder conductor Alice Coote mezzo-soprano Allan Clayton tenor Gerald Finley bass London Symphony Chorus Simon Halsey chorus director 5.30pm LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists A recital of English songs Thu 28 Apr 2016 7.30pm Butterworth A Shropshire Lad Vaughan Williams A Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No 3) * Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand Debussy La mer Sir Mark Elder conductor Elizabeth Watts soprano * Cedric Tiberghien piano

LSO ST LUKE’S LUNCHTIME EVENTS Every Thu from 14 Apr 2016 to 5 May 2016 1pm

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERTS Four concerts focusing on some of Elgar’s best loved chamber works.

14 Apr Jennifer Pike (violin) and Peter Limonov (piano) 21 Apr LSO String Ensemble 28 Apr Elias String Quartet with Huw Watkins (piano) 5 May Elias String Quartet Fri 13 May; 3, 24 Jun; 1 Jul 2016 12.30–1.15pm FREE FRIDAY LUNCHTIME CONCERTS

BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY

‘Performing The Kingdom with the LSO in 2011 was a great joy. I look forward to The Dream of Gerontius with great anticipation.’

Music inspired by the English countryside before and during World War I.

Sir Mark Elder

Main Season Concert 39

World War I THE LSO IN WORLD WAR I: A MOMENT IN TIME In August 1914 the face of the nation was changed forever as a generation of young men went off to fight in World War I – over one million from the UK alone did not return.

No family was unaffected and no profession was exempt from losing vast swathes of men to military service, and the London Symphony Orchestra was no exception. In 1914 the LSO had just reached its tenth birthday.

Over the next four years the Orchestra underwent one of its toughest periods, during which its survival was seriously in doubt.

But culture will always find a way: new works were created in response to the horror; new ways of working were adopted to cope with the shortage of available musicians; and the LSO emerged from the war with a determination to carry on where they nearly had to leave off.

4 AUGUST 1914 War breaks out. The LSO is on tour in Bray in Ireland at the time.

7 AUGUST 1914 The Board receives a letter signed by a significant number of Members, asking them to consider the position of Principal Horn Adolf Borsdorf, a German. The Board agrees to demote him down the ranks.

SEPTEMBER 1914 Trumpeters Sydney Moxon (see right) and Ernest Hall join the Army. The Board commends the ‘patriotic action’ of Sydney and Ernest, passing a resolution that ‘Members who have joined the army for the duration of the War shall be exempt from paying deputies’ fees and their positions kept open’.

7 DECEMBER 1914 The LSO performs the world premiere of Elgar’s Carillon, written in aid of war charities assisting Belgian refugees.

19 TO 24 APRIL 1915 The first Three Bs (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms) Festival is held at the Queen’s Hall, a bold move in a time when anti-German feeling was on the rise.

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LSO IN WORLD WAR I ~ LSO.CO.UK

MID-OCTOBER 2015 The first signs of financial trouble appear when news is received that there has been a huge decline in sales of subscriptions for the 1915/16 season. The Board applies to the bank for an overdraft.

20 OCTOBER 1915 ‘In view of the pressure brought about by Members in consequence of the exigencies of the war’, a letter is sent to Adolf Borsdorf officially requesting his resignation from the LSO. JANUARY 1916 Conscription was introduced, meaning all men between 18 and 41 were obliged to join up. At least 18 men from the LSO joined up within a year.

25 FEBRUARY 1916 An Extraordinary General Meeting is convened to discuss the motion, ‘Owing to the losses sustained by the company … this meeting is of the opinion that the own-promoted series of Symphony Concerts should be curtailed’. Sir Thomas Beecham agrees to accept financial responsibility for the remaining concerts that season as a gift to the Orchestra.

8 TO 13 MAY 1916 The LSO takes part in Festival Gerontius, conceived by Dame Clara Butt in aid of the Red Cross. Six performances of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius were conducted by the composer – a remarkable achievement at a time when large-scale music-making had largely ceased.

27 SEPTEMBER 1916 The Pall Mall Gazette launches an attack on the LSO for the over-representation of German music in their concerts – ‘nothing less than a German Festival’ – and demands their cancellation.

The Board, incensed, explores the option of suing for malicious libel.

27 JULY 1917 Minutes (below) from the AGM record the names of 33 Members absent on active service, as well as officially recording the death of trumpeter Sydney Moxon.

26 SEPTEMBER 1917 An Extraordinary General Meeting is called. ‘It was unanimously resolved that no further symphony concerts be given until the termination of the war’.

A scheme for subsidising a new season of concerts had failed.

3 DECEMBER 1917 Two musicians who had played with the pre-war LSO, horn player George Bennett and violinist Harold Grimson, are killed in action during the Battle of Cambrai.

27 OCTOBER 1919 The opening concert of the first post-war own-promoted season takes place under Albert Coates, who offered to conduct without fee to help the Orchestra to regain a stable financial position.

The concert included the world premiere of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, conducted by the composer with the solo cello part performed

by Felix Salmond.

Jo Johnson, LSO Senior Marketing Manager (Digital)

THE LSO IN WORLD WAR I: PLAYER PROFILES

MEMBERS AT WAR During the recruitment drive for Kitchener’s Army in the latter half of 1915 and 1916 alone the LSO lost nearly 20% of its Members to active service.

The below list contains the names of those whose recruitment during those years we have managed to trace. In total around half of the LSO’s Members served during the four years of the war.

GEORGE BENNETT was born in Birmingham on 27 August 1886.

He joined the LSO as a horn player for the Orchestra’s first tour to the United States in March 1912 and signed on in to the army in September 1915. He arrived in France on 21 May 1916, and took part in various battles, including The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Bazentin, The Battle of Delville Wood, The Battle of Guillemont, and Operations on the Ancre.

Lieutenant Bennett was killed on 3 December 1917 by a shell whilst

Arthur Maney cello

ARMY SERVICE CORPS, NOV 1915

George Bennett horn ARTISTS RIFLES, DEC 1915

Reginald Garnet viola

LONDON REGIMENT, DEC 1915

Charles Woodhouse violin ARMY SERVICE CORPS, DEC 1915

Sidney Freedman violin

KING’S OWN YORKSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY, DEC 1915

leaving a dugout during a German counter-attack. His remains were never found, so he is remembered on the Cambrai Memorial at Louverval, France.

Charles Blackford cello

ARMY SERVICE CORPS, DEC 1915

Frederick Hawkins violin

ROYAL HORSE AND FIELD ARTILLERY, DEC 1915

W H Reed Leader

GRENADIER GUARDS, JAN 1916

Edgar Wilby violin SYDNEY HARVEY MOXON was born in Soho on 2 May 1878.

He joined the LSO as a trumpeter in February 1907 and signed on in to the army in September 1914.

A Sergeant Bugler in the London Regiment, 15th (County of London) Battalion (Prince of Wales’ Own Civil Service Rifles) he arrived in France in March 1915, where they held ground in the Ypres Salient.

Sydney died there on 25 October 1916, the only LSO member to die in service. He was killed by a German mine whilst helping a wounded colleague to safety. He is buried at Woods Cemetery, West Flanders.

ROYAL MARINE AIR SERVICE, JAN 1916

Edward Augarde clarinet

HONOURABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY, MAR 1916

Horace Ralph violin

ARTISTS RIFLES, MAR 1916

Robert Murchie flute

CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, MAY 1916

Harry Jackson horn

ROYAL ENGINEERS RAILWAY TROOPS, JUN 1916

Alexander Penn horn

SOUTH WALES BORDERERS, JUL 1916

Ernest Yonge viola

ROYAL FLYING CORPS, JUL 1916

Robert Carrodus violin

WEST RIDING REGIMENT, OCT 1916

Roy Robertson violin SCOTS GUARDS, OCT 1916

Charles Crabb cello

MIDDLESEX REGIMENT, DEC 1916

If you recognise any of the above names or know of any ancestors who were LSO past players or were involved with the Orchestra during World War I, we would love to hear from you.

Contact LSO archivist Libby Rice by email libby.rice@lso.co.uk or by phone 020 7588 1116

FULL CONCERT LISTINGS PAGES 8 TO 13 ~ BOOKING DETAILS PAGE 55

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‘Amazing … a really special afternoon out and definitely a great way to introduce classical music to children.’

Mumsnet user on an LSO Family Concert

Family Arts RECOMMENDED

BY CLASSIC FM Classic FM is the nation’s classical station, broadcasting to 5.6 million listeners every week.

It is the only UK radio station dedicated to playing classical music 24 hours a day, and works with orchestras around the UK to support live music.

The LSO is Classic FM’s Orchestra in the City of London and we share the station’s commitment to bringing classical music to the widest possible audience, through ground-breaking new initiatives and partnerships.

For over twelve years the LSO has been proud of this association with Classic FM, which this season sees the station supporting the LSO’s family-friendly concerts and activities.

Tune in 100–102 FM, classicfm.com, Sky 0106, Virgin 922, Freeview 731 and Digital Radio

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FAMILIES ~ LSO.CO.UK

FAMILY FRIENDLY LSO CONCERTS AT THE BARBICAN Sun 8 Nov 2015 2.30pm LSO DISCOVERY

FAMILY CONCERT: WONDERLAND

6,000 family members enjoy

music-making with the LSO every year

Ben Gernon conductor Paul Rissmann presenter LSO Discovery Choirs

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Over events for families through the City Family Arts network every year

Sun 7 Feb 2016 2.30pm LSO DISCOVERY

FAMILY CONCERT Sun 12 Jun 2016 2.30pm

FAMILY ACTIVITIES FOR EVERYONE ACROSS THE CITY

LSO DISCOVERY

FAMILY CONCERT Thu 16 Jun 2016 7.30pm

The LSO’s education and outreach programme, LSO Discovery, turned 25 in 2015. For the last quarter of a century the Orchestra has made it a central part of its mission to include members of the public in its music-making and foster a greater love and understanding of classical music.

While events for children have long existed at the LSO, it’s only in recent years that the Orchestra has consciously sought to address the needs of different generations within the family unit and encourage meaningful intergenerational engagement with music. It’s no small task to find an activity which simultaneously pleases a toddler, their Dad and his 75-year-old mother, but we believe that the effect of discovering music alongside relatives is particularly powerful. Talents exhibited by children are more likely come to fruition in a family which respects music-making. Shared musical experiences as a family can ignite passion and love for music for all the generations and enable it to continue at home, away from the concert hall.

And parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and godparents can appreciate and re-discover music and new interests by experiencing it through their children’s eyes.

The LSO’s Family Concerts, running for some 20 years, are well-known and popular with multiple generations. Now, buoyed by the nationwide Family Arts Campaign, we’re widening the net to encourage families to try appropriate LSO evening concerts, Free Friday Lunchtime Concerts and BBC Radio 3 recitals taking place in the school holidays; these events are perfect for older children who have outgrown the Family Concerts or may be learning an instrument themselves. For the last few years we’ve created family-friendly give-aways such as badges and stickers for our annual springtime concert in Trafalgar Square (BMW LSO Main Season Concert

Open Air Classics) and each summer we encourage families based near LSO St Luke’s to bring a picnic and enjoy our al fresco cross-genre series, Inside Out. Provision for babies and toddlers exists in Musical Storytelling concerts, Shake, Rattle and Roll weekly workshops, and in children’s centres and nurseries in the community.

This season we’re inviting families with children aged twelve or over to try our LSO Community Singing Days – a spin-off from LSO Choral Singing Days, these opportunities to sing with the LSO’s professional choral team are geared specifically for those with little musical experience, or who don’t read music. During October we’re proud to take part in the national Family Arts Festival and present an Alice in Wonderland Family Open Day at LSO St Luke’s and a Reveal Ravel pre-concert creative session ahead of an LSO concert conducted by John Adams, amongst other events.

Every event the LSO promotes to families is either free or under £10, delivering on our promise of accessibility. Most include a presenter, whose job it is to guide all ages through the music. For those families who want to continue exploring the Orchestra in their own time, LSO Play is an award-winning online resource which imaginatively allows users to feel what it’s like to play in an orchestra.

Moving families up the agenda at the LSO has also meant coming together with local arts partners to share best practice and promote each other’s events. The City Family Arts Network, an alliance between the LSO, Barbican, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Museum of London, Guildhall School and City Library Services, now produces regular print designed to help parents streamline their research.

The calendar displays at a glance the wealth of family activity on offer in the Barbican area from mum and baby film screenings to half-term hands-on workshops at the museum.

Fabienne Morris, LSO Communications Manager For more information on family-friendly events, including age guidance, visit lso.co.uk/families

LSO DISCOVERY

ANNUAL SHOWCASE Witness the electrifying results when an orchestra founded at the beginning of the 20th century meets young musicians born at the beginning of the 21st.

Sun 26 Jun 2016 7pm Peter Maxwell Davies The Hogboon (world premiere of a new children’s opera, LSO commisson) Berlioz Symphonie fantastique Sir Simon Rattle conductor LSO Discovery Choirs | London Symphony Chorus Guildhall School musicians

OTHER FAMILY ACTIVITIES Fri 9 Oct 2015; 5 Feb; 10 Jun 2016 12.30–1.15pm, LSO St Luke’s

STORYTELLING FOR UNDER-5s Interactive concerts for mini music-makers!

9 Oct supported by The Rothschild Charities Committee

Sun 25 Oct 2015, LSO St Luke’s

ALICE IN WONDERLAND OPEN DAY A themed open day as part of Family Arts Festival.

FREE FRIDAY LUNCHTIME CONCERTS AT LSO ST LUKE’S Fri 4 Sep; 2, 16 Oct; 13 Nov 2015 12.30–1.15pm

RHYTHM AND DANCE Music inspired by the rhythms and melodies of traditional song and dance from Europe and Russia.

Fri 29 Jan; 12 Feb; 4 Mar 2016 12.30–1.15pm

TEXTURE AND LIGHT How composers reflected the French Impressionist art movement.

Fri 26 Feb 2016 12.30–1.15pm

SHAKESPEARE 400 SPECIAL Music and words to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

Fri 13 May; 3, 24 Jun; 1 Jul 2016 12.30–1.15pm

BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY Music inspired by the English countryside before and during World War I.

FULL CONCERT LISTINGS PAGES 8 TO 13 ~ BOOKING DETAILS PAGE 55

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BBC Radio 3 & the LSO BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERTS 2015/16 BBC Radio 3’s partnership with LSO St Luke’s has been going for 13 years now, and what a pleasure it is to mount concerts in such an inspiring venue. It’s not just us who think that, by the way: time and again the performers we have welcomed over the years have said so too.

This season we have divided our 20 concerts into five themed series.

Chopin, Liszt and Bartók feature in the LSO’s autumn concerts in the Barbican Hall, so we’ve decided to reflect that by making this trio of great pianist-composers the subject of four far-reaching recitals (given by five pianists!). Interleaved with those is a series inspired by music in London in the 17th and 18th centuries, from Tobias Hume to Purcell, Handel to Haydn, J C Bach to Clementi; it’s the first time we’ve programmed an early music series at LSO St Luke’s, and we are confident that it will be an ideal match for the building’s unique architectural sense of the old mixed with the new.

After Christmas we join in the LSO’s Shakespeare 400 celebrations with four Bard-related concerts featuring the BBC Singers, the Gould Piano Trio, and two of this country’s finest song recitalists in Iestyn Davies and James Gilchrist.

February brings a much-anticipated return by the outstanding, multi-awardwinning ensemble that is the Pavel Haas Quartet, whose previous residency here in 2010 was a real high-point in the history of these concerts. And we finish in April with Elgar Up Close – three concerts exploring the composer’s major chamber works, plus a rare visit from the LSO String Ensemble.

With their matchless combination of light, space and immaculate acoustics, the BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts at LSO St Luke’s have always had a special atmosphere – I hope you will want to join us.

Emma Bloxham BBC Radio 3 Editor of Live Music 44

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERTS ~ LSO.CO.UK

‘I regularly travel down from Oxford for this wonderful concert series.’

CHOPIN, LISZT & BARTÓK Thu 8 & 29 Oct; 5 & 26 Nov 2015 LSO St Luke’s Features music by piano giants, and stars pianists Maria João Pires, Ashot Khachatourian, Alice Sara Ott, Ingolf Wunder and Ashley Wass.

Christiane Morris, BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert attender

LONDON RESOUNDING Thu 15 & 22 Oct; 12 & 19 Nov 2015 LSO St Luke’s

DISCOVER CLASSICAL MUSIC IN BBC RADIO 3 DIMENSIONS

Celebrating the wealth of chamber music in the capital composed between 1600 and 1800.

SHAKESPEARE 400 Thu 7, 14, 21 & 28 Jan 2016 LSO St Luke’s

BBC Radio 3 invests in high-quality, distinctive classical music and cultural programming, presented by experts.

2016 marks the quatercentenary of the death of one of Britain’s greatest playwrights. Join us as we mark this occasion with four special programmes inspired by the literary master alongside celebratory concerts at the Barbican.

The station is the biggest commissioner of classical music in the UK and broadcasts over 600 full concerts a year; over half are live. The long-standing relationship with the LSO plays a vital role in delivering audiences world-class classical music experiences, whether that’s through live broadcasts from the Barbican (at least six with the LSO each season) or recorded lunchtime concerts at LSO St Luke’s. BBC Radio 3 is the only radio station to broadcast live classical music concerts every day of the week, alongside 90 full-length operas a year and over 25 original drama commissions alongside regular jazz, world, arts and ideas programming.

PAVEL HAAS QUARTET Thu 4, 11, 18 & 25 Feb 2016 LSO St Luke’s The multi-award winning Czech quartet returns with guests to LSO St Luke’s for a residency.

ELGAR UP CLOSE Tune in 91–93 FM, Sky 0103, Freeview 703, Virgin 903 and Digital Radio bbc.co.uk/radio3

2,000,000 BBC Radio 3’s weekly reach

5 hours 30 minutes Weekly average listening time

Thu 14, 21, 28 Apr; 5 May 2016 LSO St Luke’s Four concerts of chamber and string orchestra works to complement the LSO’s spring Elgar concerts.

FULL CONCERT LISTINGS PAGES 8 TO 13 ~ BOOKING DETAILS PAGE 55

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The cultural hub in the City

WHITECROSS STREET LEADING TO LSO ST LUKE’S The new Barbican cinema building has transformed the Whitecross Street corner of Beech Street, including the welcoming and attractive Cinema Café and Côte Restaurant. Along Whitecross Street there are lunchtime food stalls encompassing every type of cuisine and street food, all the way up to the LSO St Luke’s crossing on Old Street.

There you will find 90 public events each year, including LSO Discovery masterclasses and workshops, BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts and a diverse evening concert programme.

THE ORCHESTRA’S HOME The LSO is proud to be the Resident Orchestra at the Barbican, the Orchestra’s home since the Centre opened 33 years ago.

The area around the Barbican is fast changing and attracting cutting-edge and exciting organisations, from the tech start-ups of the Silicon Roundabout on Old Street to the creative professionals of Clerkenwell and the businesses of the City.

The LSO is working with the City of London and our artistic partners nearby to develop the area into a world-class arts and learning hub. With fresh venues such as the Barbican’s new cinemas on Beech Street, and the Guildhall School’s Milton Court, alongside LSO St Luke’s and the Museum of London, the cultural destinations on offer in the area are unrivalled.

And with Crossrail set to arrive in 2018, we will witness a further significant boost to the development of the Barbican area as a major cultural hub.

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THE CITY’S CULTURAL HUB ~ LSO.CO.UK

FAMILY ARTS FESTIVAL The London Symphony Orchestra has joined forces with the Museum of London, Barbican Children’s Library, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Guildhall School and Barbican in order to improve what’s on offer for families in the City and to take part in the annual UK Family Arts Festival. Supported by Arts Council England, the Festival unites music, theatre, circus, dance and visual arts, enabling generations of families across the country to get involved.

THE BARBICAN Joint artistic highlights at the Barbican in 2015/16 includes innovation and collaboration across the Centre.

Examples of this include a semi-staged performance of Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Melisande in the Barbican Hall, further igniting the artistic partnership between Sir Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars; and the world’s first ‘mindfulness opera’ featuring music by Rolf Hind at LSO St Luke’s.

Performances are spread across a number of venues, including the Barbican Hall, Milton Court, LSO St Luke’s and the Barbican Theatre and cinemas, and are completed by a range of learning programmes and digital opportunities that take audiences closer to the music.

GUILDHALL SCHOOL In autumn 2013, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Guildhall School launched Orchestral Artistry, an exciting new postgraduate specialism for instrumentalists seeking a career in orchestral playing. Part of the Guildhall Artists Masters programme, this highly distinctive and groundbreaking course enables students to work alongside the LSO and its roster of visiting artists in a context akin to a professional environment. The aim is to produce fully rounded, excellent professional musicians who have assimilated the ‘LSO characteristics’ of craft, brilliance, speed, curiosity and flexibility. Guildhall students also have the opportunity to perform in LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists – recitals that preceed LSO evening concerts at the Barbican – and in an annual concert conducted by Sir Simon Rattle playing side-by-side with LSO musicians, this season’s being Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique on 26 June.

HUB HIGHLIGHTS ROLF HIND Fri 25 to Sun 27 Sep 2015, LSO St Luke’s Lost in Thought: A Mindfulness Opera receives its world premiere

FAMILY ARTS FESTIVAL Fri 9 Oct to Sun 1 Nov 2015

MILTON COURT The Guildhall School’s Milton Court includes a state-of-the-art concert hall and two theatres alongside rehearsal rooms and studio spaces.

In addition to the School’s own programme of public events, the Barbican programmes 40 classical and contemporary music concerts in the venue each season, including regular performances from two Barbican associate ensembles – the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia – plus concerts in the ECHO Rising Stars series.

PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE Sat 9 & Sun 10 Jan 2016 A Barbican/LSO co-promotion directed and conducted by a tour-de-force team in opera in concert – Sir Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars.

BENJAMIN AT THE BARBICAN A celebration of British composer George Benjamin: Sat 18 Mar 2016 Dream of the Song (UK premiere) Sun 19 Mar 2016, LSO St Luke’s Lunchtime recital with George Sun 19 Mar 2016 Written on Skin

SHAKESPEARE 400 Spring 2016 26 partner organisations from across London join in a year-long celebration of the English playwright.

For details of more contemporary music, early music, recitals with international artists and visiting international orchestras at the Barbican visit barbican.org.uk

FOOD & DRINK For information on restaurants in the Barbican visit barbican.org.uk/food

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TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS The enlightened support from charitable trusts and foundations, statutory funders and community partners enables LSO Discovery to reach more than 60,000 people in diverse neighbourhoods each year.

The LSO is at the forefront of community engagement.

In tandem with our Trust and Foundation partners we are able to encourage all ages and abilities to engage with and participate in transformative music programmes.

The Helen Hamlyn Trust is delighted to support the important and highly original Panufnik Scheme for emerging composers.

Lady Hamlyn, The Helen Hamlyn Trust, supporter of the Panufnik Composers Scheme

Securing the future together PATRONS & FRIENDS With a love of great music, our Patrons and Friends share each new step in the LSO’s history.

We bring our supporters closer to the music through special invitations and events, connecting them with the Orchestra and its celebrated family of artists. Patrons and Friends enjoy rewarding friendships and unique insights, forming a thriving community at the centre of the LSO.

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SUPPORT US ~ LSO.CO.UK

A concert by the LSO is a remarkably emotional experience. You come away feeling exhilarated, astounded, humbled but never indifferent.

As a Patron, the reward of knowing one has contributed to such an orchestra is palpable.

Susie Thomson, LSO Patron

Now more than ever, our supporters play an integral role in the LSO’s work and success. Together we share a mutual commitment to bring the joy of music to millions.

As we look ahead to an exciting future, the LSO invites you to join our family of supporters. There has never been a better time to be involved.

THANK YOU Our supporters share their passions with the LSO and enrich our culture through their thoughtful generosity.

Thanks to them, the Orchestra’s work extends from the Barbican concerts into local communities and classrooms, and wider afield through international tours and pioneering digital platforms and recordings.

We thank and celebrate our supporters for the critical difference they make. Their confidence in the LSO underpins everything we do and helps us to secure the brightest possible future.

We are proud to contribute to the diverse cultural landscape of this extraordinary city.

Dr Ian Robertson HonDSc, Member of the Board of Management BMW AG, LSO Principal Partner

CORPORATE PARTNERS Sponsorship of the LSO makes a measurable difference to business success.

Sponsors enjoy memorable experiences for guests and valuable links with the LSO’s award-winning community programmes. The LSO is a truly global orchestra, connecting its partners in key international locations with a range of initiatives. Alignment with the LSO is one of the most effective investments a company can make.

YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLE To learn more about ways to support and share the work of the LSO, please contact: lso.co.uk/supportus 020 7588 1116 development@lso.co.uk

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Discovering side-by-side Sitting side-by-side with an orchestral musician on stage is one of the most immersive and memorable experiences the LSO can offer; an experience that inspires young musicians from complete beginners to post graduate students working towards becoming professionals.

LSO STRING EXPERIENCE SCHEME Now in its 23rd year, the LSO String Experience Scheme is one of the most established programmes of its kind, linking 15 string playing students selected from the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School and Trinity Laban College to the LSO every year. Taking part in full orchestral rehearsals and occasional Barbican concerts, participants audition as though they were professional ‘extra’ players and are treated as such with the benefit of receiving fees.

LSO violinist Sarah Quinn explains …

‘If you’re lucky enough to get a place on the String Experience Scheme it involves coming and working with the Orchestra, sitting next to a member. When I auditioned for the scheme I didn’t really know what to expect, and once I was on it, I performed three concerts with the Orchestra with fantastic conductors which was an amazing experience. A year later, I auditioned and got a permanent position. That was 15 years ago and now I help run the Scheme. We try to look after students as well as I was looked after by everybody – I find that an incredibly rewarding thing to do. We currently have 15 members in the string section who have come up through the String Experience Scheme.’

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LSO DISCOVERY ~ LSO.CO.UK

LSO ON TRACK AND MIXED-ABILITY PROJECTS The Orchestra has led the way in commissioning arrangements of often virtuosic repertoire which can be played by a mixed ability ensemble supported by LSO musicians, and sound remarkably like a professional orchestra.

LSO On Track started in the three-year run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and taking the games’ ethic of ‘Inspiring a Generation’ the Orchestra developed a programme engaging young musicians from across the ten East London Olympic Boroughs of varying experience from beginners to exceptionally talented players, and from all backgrounds and ages. The programme reached a summit when many of these young performers appeared in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, performing Elgar’s Nimrod side-by-side with LSO Members. The legacy has extended far beyond that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the Orchestra has been able to continue this programme in partnership with East London Music Hubs, with LSO On Track Young Musicians performing in the Barbican, at LSO St Luke’s, and as part of the Orchestra’s annual concert in Trafalgar Square – BMW LSO Open Air Classics. And what’s more, the Orchestra now take this way of working on tour so that young players as far away as Australia and Japan have the opportunity to play side-by-side with the London Symphony Orchestra.

What can be more inspiring than that?

THE GUILDHALL SCHOOL AND LSO ORCHESTRAL ARTISTRY SPECIALISM The gap between leaving music college and becoming a professional musician can be a dauntingly big leap, and often one that only experience, extra knowledge and entrepreneurial skill can bridge.

The Orchestral Artistry specialism is part of the Guildhall Artist Masters programme. It offers a highly-distinctive and ground-breaking course of study for instrumentalists seeking a career in orchestral playing.

Students are mentored by LSO musicians, play side-by-side with them in rehearsal and performance, take part in masterclasses, work on the aspects of orchestral music not normally seen by an audience and learn essential self-management and promotional skills. gsmd.ac.uk/orchestralartistry

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FREE FRIDAY LUNCHTIME CONCERTS

I think these concerts are really brilliant. The music is fantastic and the venue is superb, and for the first time my six-year-old son can hear live classical music.

If you know someone who has never been to a concert before, or is just a beginner in exploring the world of concert-going, then Free Friday Lunchtime Concerts are for them.

They offer a chance to hear a short informal recital by LSO or postgraduate Guildhall School musicians and learn more about what’s behind the music. There’s an introduction and enlightening exploration by regular presenter Rachel Leach and also the opportunity to ask questions. On occasion there’s no need even to step into the venue – people around the world can witness some of these concerts broadcast live on YouTube.

Pauline Johnson, Free Friday Lunchtime Concert Attender

Join in with LSO Discovery at LSO St Luke’s Many of the 60,000 participants that LSO Discovery engage with every year have come through the doors at LSO St Luke’s and are members of the public who want to get involved with music-making.

The LSO Discovery projects listed across these pages would not be possible without the following generous support: for the LSO String Experience Scheme – Help Musicians UK, The Lefever Award, The Polonsky Foundation; LSO On Track – Clore Duffield Foundation, Hedley Foundation, Candide Charitable Trust, Marsh Corporation, The Saddlers’ Company, Youth Music, The Ernest Cook Trust, Sound Connections; Friday Lunchtime Concerts – The Rothschild Charties Committee; LSO Sing – Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement; LSO Discovery Choirs – Slaughter and May, Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement; and for LSO composition schemes – The Helen Hamlyn Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Hinrichsen Foundation and Susie Thomson.

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LSO DISCOVERY ~ LSO.CO.UK

LSO DISCOVERY DAYS For those keen to learn more, the LSO provides in-depth explorations of composers and key works at LSO Discovery Days. Divided between the Barbican, where attenders immerse themselves in an LSO rehearsal, and LSO St Luke’s, where discussion, talks, chamber music, film screenings and more take place, what better way to deepen your concert experience and understanding of some of classical music’s most inspiring repertoire.

I’m truly grateful for the experience I’ve had through the LSO Panufnik scheme because I recognise how rare an opportunity it is for a young composer to write for one of the world’s greatest orchestras.

I feel very fortunate!

Elizabeth Ogonek, LSO Panufnik Composer Scheme Alumna

PANUFNIK COMPOSER WORKSHOPS How do you compose a piece of music for 96 musicians? What are the subtle technicalities of balance, timbre and passing phrases and emphasis around the orchestra? How do you form deeper colour and resonances?

What makes music work on a page, and what makes music work in reality? The fascinating process that goes on behind an orchestral piece gets uncovered and brought to the fore in Panufnik Composers Workshops.

Six composers every year get the chance to develop a work with the London Symphony Orchestra and to have the benefit of hundreds of years of combined professional experience gathered in one room to give advice and to try out ideas. Witness them lift the lid on the works of tomorrow.

LSO SINGING DAYS Whether you’re a seasoned choral singer or just starting out, there’s an option for everyone here and Singing Days to suit all tastes.

LSO Community Singing Days are just as much fun for beginners as they are for singers who have been poring over vocal scores for years.

They are focussed on wide-ranging repertoire from spirituals and jazz, to some of the most famous choruses by composers such as Handel and Verdi. And LSO Choral Singing Days, designed with experienced singers in mind (who may or may not also be taking part in a local amateur choir or chorus), take works being performed by the Orchestra and London Symphony Chorus and unpack them with diligent care led by LSO Choral Director Simon Halsey, accompanied by piano. All LSO Singing Days end with a performance that family members can come and watch.

Singing together in a choir can bring people together, and it is something that anybody can do.

You don’t need to play an instrument, it doesn’t have prior requirements.

Katy Barnato LSO Singing Day Participant

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LSO TOURS IN SEASON 2015/16 Tue 1 to Sun 13 Dec 2015 EUROPE

DANIEL HARDING Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3 Brahms Variation on a Theme of Haydn Bruckner Symphony No 4; Symphony No 9 Chopin Piano Concerto No 1 Schumann Overture: Manfred Daniel Harding conductor Maria João Pires, Emanuel Ax piano 1 Dec Auditorium G Agnelli, Turin 2 Dec Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine, Udine 10 Dec Konzerthaus, Dortmund 11 Dec Philharmonic Hall, Cologne 12 Dec Graf Zeppelin Haus, Friedrichshafen 13 Dec Festspeilhaus, Baden Baden Wed 10 & Thu 11 Feb 2016 GERMANY

SIR JOHN ELIOT GARDINER Tue 8 to Wed 9 Sep 2015

Mon 12 to Sun 25 Oct 2015

ROMANIA

EUROPE / US EAST COAST

Brahms Double Concerto Enescu Suite No 2 for Orchestra Grieg Piano Concerto Mahler Symphony No 5 Stravinsky The Firebird (original ballet)

Bartók Dance Suite; Piano Concerto No 2; Piano Concerto No 3; Concerto for Orchestra; The Miraculous Mandarin (complete ballet) Stravinsky The Firebird (original ballet); Symphony in C major; Chant du rossignol; The Rite of Spring

MARIN / CAPUÇON BROTHERS / VOGT

Ion Marin conductor Lars Vogt piano Renaud Capuçon violin Gautier Capuçon cello 8 & 9 Sep Sala Palatului, Bucharest Sun 27 & Sun 4 Oct 2015 JAPAN

FINAL SYMPHONY II Featuring scores from the Final Fantasy series Eckehard Stier conductor Mischa Cheung piano 27 Sep Osaka Festival Hall, Osaka 4 Oct Minato Mirai Hall, Yokohama Mon 28 Sep to Mon 5 Oct 2015 JAPAN

GERGIEV’S BARTÓK & STRAVINSKY

Valery Gergiev conductor Yefim Bronfman piano 12 & 13 Oct Konzerthaus, Vienna 14 Oct Philharmonie, Luxembourg 16 & 17 Oct Philharmonie de Paris 23 & 25 Oct Lincoln Center, New York 24 Oct Prudential Hall, Newark Sun 15 Nov 2015 SWITZERLAND

MARTINU˚ FESTIVAL Brahms Overture: Academic Festival Martinu˚ Symphony No 2; Symphony No 5 Tomáš Hanus conductor 15 Nov Musiksaal Stadtcasino, Basel

BERNARD HAITINK

Sun 22 Nov 2015

Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 Brahms Symphony No 1 Bruckner Symphony No 7 Mahler Symphony No 4 Mozart Piano Concerto No 24 Purcell arr Stucky Funeral Music for Queen Mary

FRANCE

Bernard Haitink conductor Anna Lucia Richter soprano Murray Perahia piano

Alexandre Desplat conductor

28 Sep Suntory Hall, Tokyo 30 Sep Symphony Hall, Kawasaki 1 Oct NHK Hall, Tokyo 3 Oct Concert Hall, Kyoto 5 Oct Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo Supported by Moore Group

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LSO TOURS ~ LSO.CO.UK

THE FILM MUSIC OF ALEXANDRE DESPLAT Featuring film scores composed by Alexandre Desplat including Twilight – New Moon, The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The King’s Speech and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 22 Nov Philharmonie de Paris

Mendelssohn Symphony No 1; A Midsummer Night’s Dream Sir John Eliot Gardiner conductor 10 Feb Alte Oper, Frankfurt 11 Feb Stadthalle, Hannover Mon 11 & Tue 12 Apr 2016 EUROPE

SIR SIMON RATTLE Messiaen Couleurs de la cité céleste Bruckner Symphony No 8 Sir Simon Rattle conductor Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano 11 Apr Philharmonie, Luxembourg 12 Apr Philharmonie de Paris Wed 25 to Fri 27 May 2016 EUROPE

SIR ANTONIO PAPPANO Beethoven Violin Concerto Elgar Symphony No 2 Sir Antonio Pappano conductor Nikolaj Znaider violin 25 May Wrocław 26 May Lithuanian National Opera & Ballet Theatre, Vilnius 27 May Riga Wed 24 to Sun 28 Aug 2016 SUMMER FESTIVALS

GIANANDREA NOSEDA Shostakovich Symphony No 5 24 Aug Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana 25 Aug Josef Resch Hall, Villach 26 Aug Schloss Grafenegg, Grafenegg Festival 28 Aug Menuhin Festival, Gstaad

TICKETS, INFORMATION & BOOKING

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BOX OFFICE lso.co.uk | 020 7638 8891 or in person at the Barbican

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BARBICAN CENTRE Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS LSO ST LUKE’S UBS and LSO Music Education Centre 161 Old Street, EC1V 9NG

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The Barbican is in the heart of the City of London with LSO St Luke’s just a short walk away.

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BARBICAN CONCERT TICKETS £10 £16 £22 £29 £40 + booking fee per transaction of £3 online or £4 by phone

LSO DISCOVERY DAYS Full day tickets £20 (£15 concessions) £14 afternoon only (from 2.30pm) + fees as LSO Singing Days

A Choral Christmas (Sun 13 Dec) National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (Sun 3 Jan) Leif Ove Andsnes Recital (Fri 10 Jun) Rattle/LSO Discovery (Sun 26 Jun) £10 £16 £22 £29 + fees as above

BBC RADIO 3 LUNCHTIME CONCERTS £12 (£10 concessions) + fees as LSO Singing Days

LSO Brass Ensemble (Thu 26 Nov) LSO String Ensemble (Wed 3 Feb) LSO Discovery Showcase (Thu 16 Jun) £10 £16 £22 + fees as above Multibuy Discounts Book 3+ concerts save 15% Book 5+ concerts save 20%, plus 20% on any later bookings (initial 5+ booking must be made by 31 Jul 2015) SPECIAL BARBICAN CONCERTS Pelléas et Mélisande (Sat 9 & Sun 10 Jan) £25 £35 £55 £75 + fees as above Multibuy, group and under-18s discounts do not apply

LSO Futures (Sun 13 Mar 7pm) £10 £16 £22 + fees as above Multibuy discount – book with afternoon concert and save 25% (see right)

LSO DISCOVERY FAMILY CONCERTS £5 under-18s, £10 adults + fees as above Suitable for families with 7- to 12-year-olds

LSO SINGING DAYS Full day tickets £20 Includes music hire (£15 concessions) + booking fee per transaction of £0.60 online or £0.70 by phone

Multibuy discount – book any four concerts for £9 each

SPECIAL LSO ST LUKE’S EVENTS Family Open Day: Alice in Wonderland (Sun 25 Oct) £5 children, £7 adults + fees as LSO Singing Days Suitable for families with 8- to 11-year-olds

LSO Percussion: Steve Reich (Fri 30 Oct) £12 (£10 concessions) + fees as LSO Singing Days New Music & Dance Conference (Wed 9 Mar) Full day tickets £20 (£15 concessions) + fees as LSO Singing Days LSO Futures (Sun 13 Mar 4pm) £10 £16 £22 + fees as LSO Singing Days Multibuy discount – book with evening concert and save 25% (see left)

UNDER-18s & STUDENTS OVER 18 All concerts £5 for under-18s Student discounts available on selected concerts via Student Pulse – visit lso.co.uk/students GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE Receive a 20% discount Call 020 7382 7211 (10am–5pm Mon-Fri) or visit lso.co.uk/groups DISABLED VISITORS Join the Barbican Access Membership scheme to inform us of your access requirements. Members may be eligible for reductions on tickets, limited in number and subject to availability. Full details are available online at barbican.org.uk/access and at the Box Office.

Underground/Train stations The Barbican is closest to Moorgate and Barbican, with Liverpool Street, Bank and Farringdon nearby.

For LSO St Luke’s use Old Street.

Bus routes 4, 56, 153 Barbican; 21, 43, 76, 141, 214 Moorgate/City Road; 55, 243 Old Street.

Parking The Barbican’s on-site car parks, also convenient for LSO St Luke’s, cost £8 from 5pm on weekdays and £8 per day at weekends (both £7.50 if pre-booked).

EXTRAS BARBICAN.ORG.UK RELAXING WITH FOOD, DRINK AND FRIENDS For the 2015/16 season there are three new restaurants at the Barbican, giving you a great choice of places to eat, drink, meet and catch up ahead of, or after, a concert. Visit barbican.org.uk/food BARBICAN BARS APP Enjoy a queue-free drink at the interval by pre-ordering before you even reach the Hall with the free Barbican Bars app. Book your drinks right up to the start of the performance – once you’ve placed your order, you’ll receive confirmation and your drinks will be ready for you to collect at the interval, leaving you free to enjoy the evening and relax with your friends. Available for Android and iOS at barbican.org.uk/apps KEEPING YOU UP-TO-DATE We’ll send you an email a day before your selected concert with the latest travel details and links to other useful information.

Tickets can be exchanged for another LSO concert or credit vouchers valid for six months, provided that you return them to the Box Office at least 24 hours before the performance (two weeks for group bookings). Administration fee applies.

Calls may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance or training purposes. All discounts are subject to availability and may not be combined.

Information correct at time of going to print. The LSO reserves the right to change artists or programmes if necessary. Refunds will only be given in the event of a concert being cancelled.

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You can get this guide in large print, audio and electronic formats.

Contact 020 7588 1116 or email access@lso.co.uk

THE MEMBERS AND ADMINISTRATION STAFF OF THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, 2015 Judith Ackrill, David Alberman, Sarah Anstead, Edward Appleyard, Mariann Babecz, David Ballesteros, Angela Barnes, Anne Basley, Anna Bastow, Antoine Bedewi, Isabel Bedford, Regina Beukes, Jessica Blackstone, Alastair Blayden, Richard Blayden, Jemma Bogan, Joost Bosdijk, Noel Bradshaw, Dudley Bright, Nigel Broadbent, Jennifer Brown, Stephen Buck, Nathan Budden, Eve-Marie Caravassilis, Karen Cardy, Chris Cashman, Natalie Chivers, German Clavijo, Charlotte Clemson, Philip Cobb, Stuart Connery, Gareth Davies, Tim Davy, Ginette Decuyper, Fiona Dinsdale, Claire Duckworth, Andra East, Lander Echevarria, Christopher Edis, Alexander Edmundson, Daniel Gardner, Matthew Gardner, Jeremy Garside, Hanna Ghariani, Matthew Gibson, Julian Gil Rodriguez, Rebecca Gilliver, Dan Gobey, Alan Goode, Iryna Goode, Thomas Goodman, Rachel Gough, Helen Greer, Gerald Gregory, Emma Grimsey, Gillianne Haddow, Jörg Hammann, Alix Harper, Patrick Harrild, Robert Harston, Yasmin Hemmings, Felicity Hindle, Elspeth Holmes, Timothy Hugh, Frankie Hutchinson, Rinat Ibragimov, Helen Innes, Lorenzo Iosco, David Jackson, Alex Jakeman, Daniel Jemison, Jo Johnson, Malcolm Johnston, Guy Jones, Hilary Jones, Samantha Jones, Timothy Jones, Naoko Keatley, Bethan Kershaw, Maxine Kwok-Adams, Patrick Laurence, Carmine Lauri, Wallis Leahy, Becky Lees, Bryn Lewis, Dvora Lewis, Jonathan Lipton, Miriam Loeben, Minat Lyons, Steve Mace, Lennox Mackenzie, Sue Mallet, James Malpus, Andrew Marriner, Claire Mattison, James Maynard, Zak McClelland, Carina McCourt, Kathryn McDowell, Belinda McFarlane, Joe Melvin, William Melvin, David Millinger, Paul Milner, Chi-Yu Mo, Peter Moore, Vicky Moran, Dominic Morgan, Fabienne Morris, Kenny Morrison, Iwona Muszynska, Amy Nelson, Daniel Newell, Lydia Nickalls, Gordan Nikolitch, Philip Nolte, Thomas Norris, David Nunn, Gráinne O’Hogan, Julia O’Riordan, Tim Oldershaw, Claire Parfitt, Colin Paris, Mark Parker, Ellen Parkes, Christine Pendrill, Jani Pensola, Neil Percy, Benjamin Picard, Elizabeth Pigram, Andrew Pollock, Esther Poole, Laurent Quenelle, Daniele Quilleri, Sarah Quinn, Steve Ramsden, Harriet Rayfield, Colin Renwick, Ian Rhodes, Libby Rice, Chris Richards, Liana Richards, Joe Richomme, Paul Robson, Chris Rogers, Thomas Rozwadowski, Gerald Ruddock, Mario de Sa, Diana Salthouse, Nicholas Selman, Louise Shackelton, Rikesh Shah, Abbey Shaw, Paul Silverthorne, Roman Simovic, Andrew Softley, Sean Suthagaran, Nigel Thomas, Alison Thompson, Ella Thomsen, Amanda Truelove, James Turner, Robert Turner, Miya Väisänen, Edward Vanderspar, Sylvain Vasseur, Adam Walker, Heather Wallington, Sam Walton, Rhys Watkins, Jonathan Welch, Sarah Whitaker, Jane Williams, Sharon Williams, Tim Wong, David Worswick and Nicholas Worters.

The LSO is funded by Arts Council England in partnership with the City of London Corporation, which also provides the Orchestra’s permanent home at the Barbican.

LSO is a Registered Charity in England No 232391 London Symphony Orchestra Barbican, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS lso.co.uk

Feature photography Ranald Mackechnie Pelléas et Mélisande Illustration Aaron Groves Other photographs Chris Aadland, Dario Acosta, Marco Borggreve, Felix Broede, Chris Christodoulou, Gautier Deblonde, Benjamin Ealovega, Igor Emmerich, Henry Fair, Simon Fowler, Maurice Foxall, Steven Haberland, Mat Henneck, Harald Hoffmann, Tristram Kenton, Kevin Leighton, Musacchio / Ianniello, Alexander Newton, Jim Rakete, Bill Robinson, Keith Saunders, Matt Stuart, Hannah J Taylor, Gerardo Antonio Sánchez Torres, Mausiko Tsusuki, Heikki Tuuli, Prudence Upton, Alberto Venzago, Ruth Walz

Print Tradewinds | Concept Kerry White (PIN Creative) Editor Edward Appleyard