RCM Symphony Orchestra 31 January

PAYARE CONDUCTS STRAUSS Thursday 31 January 2019, 7.30pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall Rafael Payare conductor RCM symphony Orchestra 2019 Rod Williams Memorial Concert

PAYARE CONDUCTS STRAUSS Thursday 31 January 2019, 7.30pm | Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall 2019 Rod Williams Memorial Concert Rafael Payare conductor RCM symphony Orchestra

Skryabin (1871–1915)

Poema ėkstaza op 54

20’

Ein Heldenleben op 40

47’

INTERVAL

R Strauss (1864–1949)

This evening, the Royal College of Music welcomes Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare to conduct symphonic poems by Skryabin and Strauss. The concert opens with Skryabin’s Poem of Ecstasy, sometimes referred to as his Symphony no 4, written between 1905–08. During this time Skryabin became interested in philosophy and Theosophy. He began to jot down his inspiration in notebooks including a poem, The Poem of Ecstasy, which became the aesthetic basis for the work.

Strauss composed Ein Heldenleben in 1898, at the age of 34. The piece contains many references to earlier works, including Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote, and Tod und Verklärung. He gave it the title Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), but unlike his earlier tone poems that used literary works as models, Strauss declared, ‘There is no need for a program; it is enough to know there is a hero fighting his enemies.’

Skryabin Poema ėkstaza op 54 Having married the young pianist Vera Isakovich in 1897, Russian composer Alexander Skryabin left Moscow to travel to Europe and beyond for a series of recitals in 1903. In 1904, shortly after relocating to Switzerland, Skryabin decided to separate from his wife in order to pursue a relationship with young admirer Tatyana Schloezer, a devotee of cult philosophy. Schloezer’s influence inspired the composer to delve more deeply into the occult. By 1900, Skryabin’s large scale works already showed signs of occult influence. Poema ėkstaza, also Skryabin’s Fourth Symphony, was composed between 1905 and 1908.

During this time, the composer was heavily influenced by the Theosophical Society. Theosophy, a synthesis of Eastern religion and mysticism, developed by occultist Helena Blavatsky, was popular among Russian intelligentsia, and its esoteric teachings manifest in Poema ėkstaza.

The work exists in both verse and music. Skryabin wrote a 369-line poem whilst composing the work. Five hundred copies of the poem, which mused on esoteric ideas like ‘rays of celestial suns’, ‘spirits caressing’ and ‘divine play’, were printed and distributed. Later, Skryabin would insist that the music stood independent from his text. The work can be divided into three main parts: first, the soul in the orgy of love; second, the realisation of a fantastic dream, and third, the glory of one’s own heart. Although composed separately, these three parts were eventually combined into a single movement work, similar to a tone poem.

The task of conducting Skryabin’s complex score was accepted by Modest Altschuler, who conducted the work’s premiere in New York in December 1908.

The Russian premiere, originally scheduled for February 1908, was cancelled due to inadequate rehearsal time. When the work finally premiered in Russia in 1909, reactions to Poema ėkstaza were diverse. Composers, like Prokofiev, were astounded by the work’s expressive power and unique harmonic language.

However, all did not share this viewpoint. When Skryabin asked the opinion of his former teacher, composer Sergei Taneyev, Taneyev replied, ‘I felt as if I had been beaten by sticks’. Most interestingly, Skryabin’s music experienced a revival in 1960s America, particularly due to its transcendent character. American writer Henry Miller famously remarked that listening to Skryabin’s Poema ėkstaza was ‘like a bath of ice, cocaine and rainbows’. In this work of extreme emotional intensity, Skryabin uses the sonorities of the large orchestra to great effect. In the opening specifically, various motives, each attributed to different instruments and emotional states or conditions, are introduced before being woven together in intricate ways.

R Strauss Ein Heldenleben op 40 During his time in Meiningen, Richard Strauss met German composer and violinist Alexander Ritter. Ritter had a profound effect on Strauss as he encouraged the composer to ‘abandon the conservative style’ of his youth, introducing him to the writings of Wagner and Schopenhauer, and also the symphonic poems of composer Franz Liszt. When Strauss accepted the position of third conductor at the Munich Opera in 1886, Ritter also relocated to the city to take up a position in the viola section of the Munich Court Orchestra. Ritter’s influence resulted in the first tone poem showcasing Strauss’s orchestral brevity Don Juan (1888). Following the work’s premiere in 1889 Strauss was instantly recognised as a prominent figure in German musical life. It was the tone poem that would assure Strauss’ fame in the last years of the 19th-century.

Contrary to Strauss’ earlier tone poems which were based on literary works or folklore, the composer turned to his own imagination for his tone poem Ein Heldenleben (1898), writing a heroic work in E-flat major, echoing Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. Critics have overemphasised Strauss’ artistic egotism, modelling the Hero in Ein Heldenleben on himself. However, when looking beyond the supposed superficiality of the work, two fundamental concepts namely the ‘Nietzschean struggle between the individual and self-doubt’, and the ‘profundity of domestic love’, point to the work’s complexity. Initially tilted Held und Weld (Hero and World), Ein Heldenleben is autobiographical. At the time of the work’s composition, Strauss was First Kappellmeister in Munich, living down the disappointment of his first opera, Guntram (1894), yet also relishing in the delights of marriage, having wed German operatic soprano Paulina de Ahna in 1894, and welcoming a son in 1897. Written in six continuous movements, musical borrowings from Strauss’ earlier works underwrite this work’s autobiographical nature, presenting a summation of his own life and works until 1898.

The opening presents lush Romantic string textures, aptly suited for a heroic epic.

The third section entitled The Hero’s Companion is clearly modeled after Strauss’s wife and muse, known for her eccentricity, Strauss most aptly captures the various complexities of Paulina, represented here by the solo violin, by using specific character indications in the score. The Hero at Battle sees the introduction of brass and heavy percussion. This ‘Battle’ however is allegorical – ‘the battlefield is of the spirit, of inner conflict’. The penultimate section, The Hero’s Works of Peace, contains at least 30 quotations from earlier tone poems, lieder and Guntram (1894). © Melissa Gerber

Rafael Payare Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare is one of the most sought after young conductors and works regularly with the world's leading orchestras. In September 2014, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra in Northern Ireland and made his BBC Proms debut with them in 2016. In 2017 the Orchestra named him Music Director in recognition of the huge impact he has made on the Orchestra and the community of Northern Ireland. In February 2018, Payare was announced as the next Music Director of San Diego Symphony for the 2019–20 season.

In 2015, he made his acclaimed debut with the Vienna Philharmonic conducting at the Vienna Musikverein and at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris. As a guest conductor, he has worked with many leading ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, amongst others. Highlights of the 2018–19 season include return visits to the Philharmonia Orchestra at London’s Southbank, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Bamberger Symphoniker, Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at London’s Barbican Centre. He will also debut with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony. He enjoys a special relationship with the Sinfonietta Cracovia who recently named Payare as their Honorary Conductor. Soloists with whom he has enjoyed collaborations include Daniil Trifonov, Frank Peter Zimmerman, Piotr Anderszewski and Dorothea Röschmann, amongst others.

As an opera conductor, he has conducted Madame Butterfly and La Boheme at the Royal Swedish Opera. He will make his debut at Glyndebourne Festival this year conducting Barbiere and will conduct a new production of La Traviata at Malmo Opera. In July 2012, he was invited by the late Lorin Maazel, to conduct at his Castleton Festival and in July 2015 he was appointed Principal Conductor.

Born in 1980 and a graduate of the celebrated El Sistema in Venezuela, Payare began his formal conducting studies in 2004 with José Antonio Abreu. He has conducted all the major orchestras in Venezuela, including the Simón Bolívar Orchestra. Having also served as Principal Horn of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, he took part in many prestigious tours and recordings with conductors including Giuseppe Sinopoli, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle and Lorin Maazel.

In May 2012, Payare was awarded first prize at the Malko International Conducting Competition.

RCM Symphony Orchestra The Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra plays with conductors and musicians of the highest international stature, and is frequently invited to perform in prestigious venues across London and beyond. The orchestra also performs regularly at its home in South Kensington, and its concerts are broadcast live to an international audience via the RCM website. Equally at home in classical, romantic and contemporary repertoire, the RCM Symphony Orchestra enjoys close relationships with some of the world’s most celebrated conductors, including Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Jurowski, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Jac van Steen. Their willingness to return is evidence of the consistently high standards of playing that the RCM orchestral musicians achieve.

The members of the RCM Symphony Orchestra are some of the world’s very best young instrumentalists. They have chosen to study at the RCM because of its unrivalled blend of superlative teaching, extensive performance opportunities, and close connections with the orchestral profession. In addition to the many professors who are active professional instrumentalists, the RCM participates in side-by-side and other experience schemes with, amongst others, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of English National Opera, the Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. This enables students to experience professional conditions and achieve professional standards before they graduate. The RCM’s long tradition of high-quality orchestral training has launched the careers of many distinguished orchestral players over several decades.

Founded in 1882, the RCM moved to its present site on Prince Consort Road in 1894. Illustrious alumni include Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Dame Joan Sutherland, Sir Thomas Allen, Sir Colin Davis, John Wilson, Alina Ibragimova, Gerald Finley and Dame Sarah Connolly. In addition to its 800 full time students, the College engages dynamically with a wider and more diverse community of children and adults through a dedicated range of creative activities delivered by RCM Sparks’ education and participation projects, RCM Junior Department programme and the Creative Careers Centre. A further development is the growing schedule of live-streamed concerts and masterclasses which can be viewed on www.rcm.ac.uk.

The RCM would like to thank the following orchestral coaches: Timothy Lines (tutti orchestra & tutti strings) Hugh Seenan (brass) Gaby Lester (violin & tutti strings) David Hockings (percussion) Robert Turner (viola) Sue Blair (harp) Tim Gill (cello) Stephen Fitzpatrick (harp) Nicholas Bayley (bass) Howard Williams (tutti woodwind, Simon Channing (woodwind) brass, percussion & harp)

Violin I David Lopez Bethan Allmand Zachary Spontak Clara Garde Maren Bosma Ella Ronson Richard Thomas Liam Keneally Emma Arizza Hannah Renton Ugo Clement Quyang Chen Aleem Kandour Dominique Bespalov Christopher Cohen Arda Karakaya Violin II Maja Horvat Iona Allan Sophie Williams Charlotte Schnurr Eliza Scott Daniel Jung Jorinde Gray Elif Cansever Xiaoqing Xu Alvin Chan Ezgi Sarikcioglu Mathilde Marsal Yingxuan Li Sherry Shen Viola Duncan Commin Ethan Rouse Ana Dunne Sequi Tiffany Cheng Morven Graham Georgie Davis Jose Freitas Charles Whittaker Tuoyu Li Sofia Silva Sousa Lisa Bucknell Anastasia Sofina

Cello Tamaki Sugimoto Erlend Vestby Kieran Carter Jaclyn Rosenfeld Wallis Power Ariane Zandi Ruth Hallows Cristina Cooper Yun Bae Elize Sera Robbie Stanley-Smith Bass Philip Nelson Lucia Polo Moreno Declan Birchall Daniel Tancredi Peter Farthing Jon Mendiguchia Danny Cleave Mark Lipski Flute Amy Gillen Imogen Royce Sarah Parkes-Bowen Sirius Chau (pic) Oboe Russell Coates Alec Harmon Joel Wilson Madison Hallworth (cor) Clarinet Anna Webster Jonathan Leeds Lauren Brown (E flat) Lewis Graham (bass) Bassoon Rebecca Koopmans Peter Bolton Ashby Mayes Alanna Macfarlane (contra)

Horn Diego Incertis Sanchez Diana Sheach Joel Ashford Jack Pilcher May Flora Bain Ollie De Carteret Ollie Johnson Remi Faggiani Lawrence Plant Trumpet Adam Wood Nick Walker Antoine Sarkar Joe Skypala Duncan Hughes Henry Thomas Christopher Bowman Elliot Phelps Natalie Mellers Offstage trumpet Adam Wood Christopher Bowman Duncan Hughes Trombone Robert Moseley Nicolas Kent Alex Kelly (bass) David Griffiths Euphonium Gemma Riley Tuba Grady Hassan

Timpani Andre Soares Camacho Percussion Max Heaton Cindy Cheng Dan Floyd Heledd Gwynant Connor Lyster Johan Smith Alex Taylor Harp Bethan Griffiths Henriette Poos Celeste Alis An Organ Graham Thorpe Assistant Conductor (offstage) Christopher McMullen-Laird

Personnel correct at the time of going to print.

Italics denote section principals.

MORE MUSIC INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF MUSIC Our More Music development is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our campus.

New state-of-the-art facilities at the heart of our building will complement our existing spaces and heritage.

Our plans include:     

two new performance spaces additional practice rooms for students a new Royal College of Music Museum a new café/ restaurant and courtyard area with improved access a new organ

Over the next few months, some instruments and equipment may be visible on the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall stage and access routes around the College may vary. Wayfinding signage will be regularly updated to reflect changes. We ask for your patience and understanding as we transform our campus.

To find out more or to help us realise our vision please visit www.rcm.ac.uk/moremusic If you have any questions please contact moremusic@rcm.ac.uk

2019 Rod Williams Memorial Concert Peter Mills established the Mills Williams Award upon the death of his life-long partner, Rod Williams, in 1995, with the aim of supporting music and young musicians. To date, the award has endowed 23 Mills Williams Junior Fellows, and continues to fund an annual concert at the Royal College of Music. In addition, scholarships have been given to students at the Purcell School. Sadly, Peter died in September 2006 after a long battle against cancer. Happily, the Mills Williams Foundation lives on, with the objective of supporting music and young musicians under the guidance of his chosen trustees.

Rod Williams and Peter Mills Mills Williams Junior Fellows 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09

Paul Robinson, voice Alexander Taylor, piano Sarah Thurlow, clarinet Damian Thantrey, voice Alexandra Wood, violin Rachel Nicholls, voice Alba Ventura, piano Elizabeth Cooney, violin Ruth Palmer, violin Gabriella Swallow, cello Anna Cashell, violin Luis Parés, piano Erik Dippenaar, harpsichord

2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Konstantin Lapshin, piano Jianing Kong, piano Frédérique Legrand, cello Yulia Deakin, piano Maksim Štšura, piano Soh-Yon Kim, violin Magdalena Loth-Hill, violin Andrew Yiangou, piano Jonathan Radford, saxophone Ana Teresa de Braga e Alves, viola

Rod Williams (1939−1994) Purely because he was the son of a serving Army Officer on a foreign posting, Rodney Peter Williams was born in Singapore in November 1939. It was unfortunate timing. Not long thereafter his mother and the two tiny boys made their escape to Australia, and Rod’s father became a Japanese prisoner of war for four years. Eventually the family was reunited, and much of Rod’s education took place at Steyning, where he showed athletic promise. He followed his father into the Royal Engineers and once again to the Far East, where he was engaged in map-making.

Deciding that army life was not for him, he bought himself out, but continued for a while along the photogrammetry road with Fairey Aviation. Then came a career change: he embarked on accountancy and joined Unilever.

Rod Williams and I met in 1964 and quickly found that we had much in common, particularly our tastes in music, both tending to favour ancient and baroque, and late 19th and 20th-century English music − Vaughan Williams, Butterworth and Britten being particularly well-represented in our record collections.

In 1975, Rod was diagnosed with a cancer of the lymph glands, and there commenced a lengthy chemotherapy battle which he won and achieved full remission. This had the remarkable effect of making him more ambitious. He was a gentleman of courage and great good humour. In 1980, inspired by watching the London Marathon on TV, he became first a jogger, then a runner and, astoundingly, a marathon runner in London in April of 1986, and again in New York in the same year. He ran his last marathon the following year. As time relentlessly removed family ties, Rod and I decided to make reciprocal wills dedicated to the encouragement of musical excellence. This was all too timely, as in 1992 there were signs that all was not well, and Rod died in January 1994.

About a year later I approached the Royal College of Music, and thus the Mills Williams Junior Fellowship was established.

Peter Mills,1996 The Royal College of Music is extremely grateful to the Mills Williams Foundation for its continued support.

THOMAS ZEHETMAIR CONDUCTS MOZART AND DVOŘÁK Friday 22 March 2019, 7.30pm, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall Thomas Zehetmair conductor RCM Symphony Orchestra Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in E flat K297b Simon Holt An icicle of moon Dvořák Symphony no 8 in G major op 88 Austrian violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair skilfully directs the RCM Symphony Orchestra in this varied evening concert.

Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante opens the programme, treating us to rich textures, delectable harmonies and dazzling solo writing.

RCM composition professor Simon Holt follows with a work dedicated to the 80th birthday of fellow composer Harrison Birtwhistle. An icicle of moon is an evocative piece scored for a small orchestra which takes its name from a line in the Garcia Lorca poem, Romance Somnámbulo.

Finally, Dvořak’s masterful Symphony no 8 closes the programme and promises to delight with its charming Czech melodies and unexpected Slavonic waltz movement.

Tickets: £10, £15 RCM Box Office 020 7591 4314 | www.rcm.ac.uk/events