16 february 2013 lpo programme notes

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI*Principal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINLeader pIETER SChOEMANComposer in Residence JULIAN ANDERSONPatron hRh ThE DUKE OF KENT KG

Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOThY WALKER AM

pROGRAMME £3

CONTENTS

2 Welcome3 Tonight’s works in context 4 About the Orchestra5 Leader6 On stage tonight 7 Yannick Nézet-Séguin8 Leila Josefowicz 9 Programme notes13 Next concerts14 Birthday Appeal update15 Supporters16 LPO administration The timings shown are not precise and

are given only as a guide.

* supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation and one anonymous donor

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

SOUThBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL hALLSaturday 16 February 2013 | 7.30pm

YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINconductor

LEILA JOSEFOWICZviolin

RAVELMother Goose – ballet (28’)

pROKOFIEVViolin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19 (22’)

Interval

STRAVINSKYThe Rite of Spring (32’)

Thomas Beecham Group Concert

Generously supported by Dunard Fund

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome

WELCOME TO SOUThBANK CENTRE

We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries please ask any member of staff for assistance.

Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO! Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Concrete and Feng Sushi, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone 020 7960 4250, or email [email protected] We look forward to seeing you again soon.

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

phOTOGRAphY is not allowed in the auditorium.

LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium if there is a suitable break in the performance.

RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium without the prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended.

MOBILES, pAGERS AND WATChES should be switched off before the performance begins.

The Rest Is Noise is a year-long festival that digs deep into 20th-century history to reveal the influences on art in general and classical music in particular. Inspired by Alex Ross’s book The Rest Is Noise, we use film, debate, talks and a vast range of concerts to reveal the fascinating stories behind the century’s wonderful and often controversial music.

We have brought together the world’s finest orchestras and soloists to perform many of the most significant works of the 20th century. We reveal why these pieces were written and how they transformed the musical language of the modern world.

Over the year, The Rest Is Noise focuses on 12 different parts. The music is set in context with talks from a fascinating team of historians, scientists, philosophers, political theorists and musical experts as well as films, online content and other special programmes.

If you’re new to 20th-century music, then this is your time to start exploring with us as your tour guide. There has never been a festival like this. Jude KellyArtistic Director, Southbank Centre

Southbank Centre’s The Rest Is Noise, inspired by Alex Ross’s book The Rest Is Noise

Presented by Southbank Centrein partnership with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.southbankcentre.co.uk/therestisnoise

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

Tonight’s works in context

1901 Death of Queen Victoria

1886 First sales of Coca-Cola in the USA, originally marketed as a patent medicinal remedy

1876 Prototype telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell

1882 Igor Stravinsky born in Oranienbaum, Russia

1870

1880

1900

1890

1910

1920

1930

1918 End of World War I

1922 Creation of the Soviet Union (USSR)

1914 Outbreak of World War I

1929 Wall Street Crash

1937 Death of Ravel in Paris

1880 Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov published

1923 Premiere of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in Paris

1875 Maurice Ravel born in Ciboure, France

1940

1936 Death of King George V

1932 London Philharmonic Orchestra founded by Sir Thomas Beecham

1897 Marconi awarded a patent for radio communication

1940

1971 Death of Stravinsky in New York

1939 Outbreak of World War II in Europe

1945 End of World War II

1906 Kellogg’s began selling Corn Flakes

1896 Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity. First modern Olympic games held in Athens

1950

1960

1970

1953 Death of Prokofiev in Moscow. Death of Joseph Stalin

1912 Premiere of Ravel’s ballet Mother Goose in Paris

1913 Premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring in Paris

1891 Sergei Prokofiev born in Sontsovka, Russia (now part of Ukraine)

1969 Neil Armstrong became the first man on the Moon. Stonewall riots in New York

1963 Assassination of John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas

1955 Vietnam War began

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

1949 Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four published


The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most adventurous and forward-looking orchestras. As well as giving classical concerts, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, has its own record label, and reaches thousands of Londoners every year through activities for schools and local communities.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and since then its Principal Conductors have included Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Pritchard, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. The current Principal Conductor is Vladimir Jurowski, appointed in 2007, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin is Principal Guest Conductor.

The Orchestra is Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has performed since it opened in 1951, giving around 40 concerts there each season. 2012/13 highlights include three concerts with Vladimir Jurowski based around

the theme of War and Peace in collaboration with the Russian National Orchestra; Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, also conducted by Jurowski; 20th-century American works with Marin Alsop; Haydn and Strauss with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and the UK premiere of Carl Vine’s Second Piano Concerto with pianist Piers Lane under Vassily Sinaisky. Throughout 2013 the Orchestra will collaborate with Southbank Centre on The Rest Is Noise festival, based on Alex Ross’s book of the same name and charting the 20th century’s key musical works and historical events.

The Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Every summer, the Orchestra leaves London for four months and takes up its annual residency accompanying the famous Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing concerts to sell-out audiences worldwide. Tours in the 2012/13 season include visits to Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, the USA and Austria.

London Philharmonic Orchestra

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The LPO were on exceptional form, and the performance had a real edge-of-your-seat excitement. The Guardian

(29 September 2012, Royal Festival Hall: Rachmaninoff, Shchedrin, Denisov & Miaskovsky)

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5 London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded many blockbuster scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, East is East, Hugo, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now nearly 70 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 with Vladimir Jurowski; Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 with Klaus Tennstedt; a disc of orchestral works by Mark-Anthony Turnage; and the world premiere of the late Ravi Shankar’s First Symphony conducted by David Murphy.

In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra maintains an energetic programme of activities for young people and local communities. Highlights include the Deutsche Bank BrightSparks Series; the Leverhulme Young Composers project; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Over recent years, developments in technology and social networks have enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download from iTunes and, as well as a YouTube channel, news blog, iPhone app and regular podcasts, the Orchestra has a lively presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Find out more and get involved!

lpo.org.uk

facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

twitter.com/LpOrchestra

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Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the LPO in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra.

He studied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winning numerous competitions including the 1984 World Youth Concerto Competition in the US. In 1987 he was offered the Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study with Eduard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman, who recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. In 1994 he became her teaching assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Pieter has performed worldwide as a soloist and recitalist in such famous halls as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s Rachmaninov Hall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chamber musician he regularly performs at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall.

As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pieter has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concerto with Boris Garlitsky, Brahms’s Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, and Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the Orchestra’s own record label to great critical acclaim. He has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film and television, and led the Orchestra in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Pieter is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

Pieter Schoemanleader


On stage tonight

First ViolinsPieter Schoeman* LeaderVesselin Gellev Sub-Leader

Chair supported by John & Angela Kessler

Ilyoung ChaeChair supported by Moya Greene

Katalin VarnagyChair supported by Sonja Drexler

Catherine CraigThomas EisnerTina GruenbergGeoffrey LynnRobert PoolSarah StreatfeildRebecca Shorrock Alina PetrenkoGalina TanneyPeter NallMadeleine EastonCaroline Sharp

Second ViolinsPhilippe Honore

Guest PrincipalJeongmin KimJoseph MaherKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Fiona HighamAshley StevensNancy ElanEmma WraggGavin DaviesHarry KerrImogen WilliamsonSioni Williams Alison Strange Peter Graham

ViolasJoel Hunter

Guest PrincipalRobert DuncanGregory AronovichKatharine Leek

Benedetto Pollani Laura VallejoSusanne MartensNaomi HoltDaniel CornfordAlistair ScahillIsabel PereiraSarah Malcolm

CellosKristina Blaumane

Principal Francis BucknallLaura DonoghueJonathan Ayling

Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Gregory WalmsleySantiago Carvalho†Sue SutherleySusanna RiddellTom RoffHelen Rathbone

Double BassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalTim Gibbs Co-PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonRichard LewisKenneth KnussenHelen RowlandsTom Walley

FlutesSamuel Coles

Guest PrincipalIan MullinFrank Nolan

piccolosStewart McIlwham*

PrincipalFrank Nolan

Alto FluteSue Thomas

Chair supported by the Sharp Family

OboesIan Hardwick PrincipalAngela TennickHelen BarkerJohn Roberts

Cor AnglaisSue Bohling Principal

Chair supported by Julian & Gill Simmonds

John Roberts

ClarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalEmily MeredithDuncan Gould

Bass ClarinetsPaul Richards PrincipalDuncan Gould

E-flat ClarinetNicholas Carpenter*

Principal

BassoonsDaniel Jemison

Guest PrincipalGareth Newman*Stuart RussellClaire Webster

ContrabassoonsSimon Estell PrincipalClaire Webster

hornsDavid Pyatt PrincipalJohn Ryan* PrincipalMartin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth MollisonStephen NichollsPeter BlakeDuncan FullerAnthony Chidell

Wagner TubasJohn Ryan*Martin Hobbs

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-PrincipalDaniel NewellDavid Hilton

piccolo TrumpetNicholas Betts

Bass TrumpetDavid Whitehouse

TrombonesMark Templeton* PrincipalDavid WhitehouseAndrew Connington

Bass TromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

TubasLee Tsarmaklis* PrincipalDavid Kendall

TimpaniSimon Carrington*

PrincipalAdam Clifford

percussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith Millar Jeremy CornesEddy Hackett

harpRachel Masters* Principal

CelesteCatherine Edwards

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

† Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco


Yannick Nézet-Séguinconductor

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Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra since the start of the 2012/13 season, and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic

Orchestra since 2008, Yannick Nézet-Séguin has also been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal) since 2000, and has conducted all the major ensembles in his native Canada.

His European debut in 2004 swiftly led to invitationsto many ensembles such as the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic (in Salzburg, Lucerne and Vienna), the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2009 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, returning the following year with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Summer 2012 saw concerts with the Orchestre Métropolitain in Canada; The Philadelphia Orchestra in Vail and Saratoga in the USA; and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at Mostly Mozart, New York.

A notable opera conductor, Nézet-Séguin made hisdebut at the Salzburg Festival in 2008 with a newproduction of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, returning tothe city for the 2010 Mozartwoche and Don Giovanniat the 2010 and 2011 summer festivals. For theMetropolitan Opera he has conducted Carmen, DonCarlo and Faust, and will return each season. He made his debut at the Teatro alla Scala in 2011 with Roméo et Juliette and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden last year with Rusalka. With the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra he has conducted The Makropulos Case, Turandot and Don Carlo; and in 2011 began a Mozart opera series for the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.

Alongside Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s acclaimed Philadelphia Orchestra inaugural concerts and Carnegie Hall debut with Verdi’s Requiem, the 2012/13 season includes the partnership’s first recording for Deutsche Grammophon;

two separate tours to Japan and the Far East with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; a German tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; and the complete Schumann symphonies and concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, recorded live last November for DGG from Cité de la Musique in Paris.

Following highly successful DVD releases of Roméo et Juliette (Salzburg Festival, 2008) and Carmen (Metropolitan Opera, 2010) for its Yellow Label, in July 2012 Deutsche Grammophon announced a major long-term collaboration with Nézet-Séguin. Their plans include symphonic releases with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Philadelphia orchestras and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and live recordings of Mozart’s seven mature operas from Baden-Baden. The first, Don Giovanni (Mahler Chamber Orchestra) was released last year to outstanding reviews. The series continues with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and Così fan tutte is scheduled for release later this year. Nézet-Séguin’s Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra discography also includes recordings of Strauss (Ein Heldenleben/Four Last Songs) and Berlioz (Symphonie fantastique/La mort de Cléopâtre) for BIS Records; and three EMI/Virgin releases, including an Edison Award-winning album of Ravel’s orchestral works. He has recorded Brahms’s German Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on its own label (LPO-0045) and, with the Orchestre Métropolitain, enjoys a fruitful recording relationship with the Canadian label ATMA Classique.

A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied piano, conducting, composition and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatoire de musique du Québec, and choral conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. He continued his studies with renowned conductors including Carlo Maria Giulini. His honours include a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s highly coveted National Arts Centre Award and the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded by the Quebec government. In 2011, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Quebec in Montreal and in 2012 was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada.


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Leila Josefowiczviolin

Violinist Leila Josefowicz has won the hearts of audiences around the world with her honest, fresh approach to repertoire and her dynamic virtuosity. Since her Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 16 she has

appeared with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and conductors. A close collaborator with today’s leading composers, Josefowicz is a strong advocate of new music – a characteristic reflected in her diverse programmes and enthusiasm for performing new works. She has also been awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, joining prominent scientists, writers and musicians who have made unique contributions to contemporary life.

Violin concertos have been written especially for Leila Josefowicz by Colin Matthews, Steven Mackey and Esa-Pekka Salonen, while Luca Francesconi and John Adams have recently been commissioned to write new pieces for her. The Salonen Concerto was first performed by Josefowicz with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by the composer, before subsequent performances throughout Europe and North America. Josefowicz gave the premiere of Matthews’s Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra before performing the piece with the Orchestre National de Lyon and the BBC Symphony and Finnish Radio Symphony orchestras.

During the 2012/13 season Leila Josefowicz will appear with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Gothenburg Symphony, Danish National Symphony and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic orchestras. In January 2013 she performed Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Violin Concerto with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and James Gaffigan, and in May she will join Susanna Mälkki for Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland as part of the ZaterdagMatinee series. Josefowicz will also appear this season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and Minnesota orchestras.

Recent appearances in North America include performances with the Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Toronto symphony orchestras, and The Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom Josefowicz was Artist in Residence in the 2011/12 season. Elsewhere, she has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Münchner Philharmoniker, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Josefowicz has released several recordings, notably for the Deutsche Grammophon, Philips/Universal and Warner Classics labels. She has recorded the works of John Adams: most recently The Dharma at Big Sur with the Los Angeles Philharmonic – her second release for DG Concerts on iTunes – and the title track on the Grammy-nominated Road Movies album for Nonesuch. Her latest recording, released by Deutsche Grammophon in autumn 2012, features Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.


Programme notes

All three of tonight’s works were composed in the same decade – the 1910s – and all were premiered in that most artistically volatile and opinionated of cities, Paris. When Erik Satie heard Ravel’s exquisite ballet based on music originally written for two of his friend’s children, he praised it for its ‘grandeur within simplicity’; Prokofiev’s delicate First Violin Concerto was so different from what was expected of the

thrillingly dissonant enfant terrible that it couldn’t get a performance for six years; and Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring made its epoch-making entrance at one of the most celebratedly ‘scandalous’ premieres of all time. A hundred years later this iconic work may not shock quite as it did then, but it has lost none of its sense of earth-shattering modernity.

Speedread

‘Ravel was my favourite [among my father’s friends] because he used to tell me marvellous stories. I would sit on his knee and indefatigably he would begin “Once upon a time”’. Mimie Godebski’s adult recollections revealing lifelong bachelor Ravel’s unerring affinity with children and childish things relate directly to the conception of the suite Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose’). In the summer of 1908 the composer had presented the nine-year-old Mimie and her younger brother Jean with a tiny but exquisite ‘Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant’ (Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty) for piano duet. His intention was that they would play it, but it proved too difficult, and when the death of his father took the composer back to Paris that autumn any intended further work was temporarily halted; it was not until the spring of 1910 – the same time that he was working on the ballet Daphnis et Chloé – that Ravel completed it as a five-movement suite on subjects borrowed from old fairytales by the Comtesse d’Aulnoy, Marie Leprince de Beaumont and Charles Perrault (whose collection Contes de ma mère l’Oye provided the title). He still harboured hopes that the Godebski children would give the first public performance, but although they played

it to him in private, the premiere was eventually given in Paris by two other child pianists, Jeanne Leleu and Geneviève Durony.

Ravel produced his customary orchestration in 1911, but then, in answer to a commission from a Parisian theatre, followed it up with the expanded ballet score (nearly twice the length of the suite) that we hear tonight. The scenario featured the famous Beauty pricking her finger, dreaming fairytale stories as she sleeps and finally being awoken at dawn by Prince Charming, and was presumably grafted on afterwards since it entailed not only the addition of linking passages, an atmospheric ‘Prélude’ and a ‘Danse du Rouet’ (Spinning-Wheel Dance) but also a slight reordering of the original movements. These themselves remain intact, however, their naive charm and sensitivity somehow only heightened by the deft sophistication of Ravel’s orchestration. After the ‘Pavane’ comes the Satie-esque ‘Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête’ (Dialogues of Beauty and the Beast), with Beauty represented by a clarinet, the Beast by a contrabassoon and their moment of reconciliation by a harp glissando

piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Simon Trpčeski piano

1 Allegro ma non tanto2 Intermezzo: Adagio –3 Finale: Alla breve

MauriceRavel

1875–1937

Mother Goose – ballet

Prélude – Danse du Rouet et Scène – Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant – Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête – Petit Poucet – Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes – Le jardin féerique


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

and glistening violin harmonics. ‘Petit Poucet’ depicts a diminutive character (his English equivalent would be Hop o’ my Thumb) laying a trail of breadcrumbs through the woods, only to see his waymarkers eaten by birds; the trail can be heard meandering its way through the music on the strings, and the birds are unmistakable. ‘Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes’ (Little ugly one, Empress of the Pagodas) conjures its oriental

flavour through the use of the pentatonic scale – like Debussy and others, Ravel had been influenced by hearing a Javanese gamelan at the Paris Exhibition of 1889 – and the score ends with ‘Le jardin féerique’ (The fairy garden), depicting Prince Charming’s arrival in the ballet, but in its original guise surely a burst of radiant nostalgia for childhood.

Sergeiprokofiev

1891–1953

Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19

Leila Josefowicz violin

1 Andantino2 Scherzo: Vivacissimo3 Moderato – Andante

When Prokofiev completed the first of his two violin concertos in 1917 – an especially busy year for him which also saw work on the Third Piano Concerto, the Third and Fourth piano sonatas, the opera The Love for Three Oranges and the ‘Classical’ Symphony among other works – he was largely known to the public as an iconoclastic composer of the near-brutalist stamp, as displayed in the Scythian Suite and some of his earlier piano pieces. The Concerto, however, which had begun life two years earlier as a less ambitious ‘concertino’, showed a very different side of the 26-year-old composer, one that is well recognised today but at the time was virtually unknown to the world. For this is a work of exquisite, at times haunting, lyricism.

So contrary was the work to what was expected, indeed, that it took six years for Prokofiev to get it performed, and even when it was finally premiered, in Paris under the baton of Serge Koussevitsky in 1923, no established soloist could be found to take it on, so it had to be played by the leader of the orchestra. This seems all the

more extraordinary considering the long and drowsily meditative tune with which the first movement opens, surely a gift to any violinist. A second theme, initiated by the cellos, is more angular, and the central development section of the movement edges the music further towards the grotesque. But after a brief chordal solo – perhaps the nearest the violin comes to a cadenza in this Concerto – and a gentle waft of string tremolandi, the magically rescored recapitulation of the first theme takes the music to a new level of diaphanous beauty.

The middle movement is a Scherzo, fast and witty, and cast in a finale-like rondo form in which three statements of a freely running main theme are separated by more sluggish episodes, both of whose attempts to rein in the forward momentum are politely but firmly pushed aside. The Concerto ends with another predominantly lyrical movement, though one with an ebb and flow so skilfully managed that it is with perfect naturalness that the first movement’s main theme slides in at the end to round things off.

Programme notes


IgorStravinsky

1882–1971

The Rite of Spring

part 1: Adoration of the Earth Introduction – The Augurs of Spring (Dances of the young girls) – Ritual of abduction – Spring rounds – Ritual of the rival tribes – Procession of the Sage – The Sage – Dance of the Earth

part 2: The SacrificeIntroduction – Mystic circles of the young girls – Glorification of the chosen one – Evocation of the ancestors – Ritual action of the ancestors – Sacrificial dance (The chosen one)

Stravinsky’s original title for The Rite of Spring was ‘The Great Sacrifice’, and the idea for it, he said, came from a dream he had while completing the score for The Firebird in 1910: ‘I saw a solemn pagan rite: sage elders, seated in a circle, watched a young girl dance herself to death. They were sacrificing her to propitiate the god of spring.’ That, aided by the section titles which appear above, is perhaps all one needs to know about the scenario for the ballet that resulted from this inspiration, but naturally such subject matter had a profound influence on the identity and character of the work that would go on to become the 20th century’s most iconic concert piece. For no-one could mistake that in The Rite atavistic violence and life-force – summoned by a composer whose fondest memory of his homeland was ‘the violent Russian spring that seemed to begin in an hour and was like the whole earth cracking’ – co-exist with elemental strength.

Having imagined the piece, Stravinsky was encouraged to realise it by Sergey Diaghilev, the charismatic impresario whose Ballets Russes company had given the composer his first chance with The Firebird. Their next collaboration was actually Petrushka, but in the summer of 1911 Stravinsky began work on The Rite, devising in collaboration with the designer Nikolay Roerich a scenario and even some concepts for costumes and sets. Work continued throughout the following year, and the score was finally completed on 8 March 1913. Roerich was an ethnographist, and presumably his input

helped Stravinsky focus the work on Slavic folklore; the composer later stated that the high bassoon melody of the opening was based on a Lithuanian folksong, but it seems that many other thematic elements in the work also had their origins in Slavic melodies, albeit well disguised.

Yet it is the startling modernism of The Rite that dominates our experience of the piece, even a hundred years after it appeared. The work may have been inspired by the renewal of nature, but the result was a renewal of musical language as well, and just as it conveys a sense of man’s helplessness in the face of terrifying natural forces (as signified by his feeble appeasing rituals), so there is a sense that a new and potentially untameable musical power is being unleashed. One certainly senses that in the ear-flattening ‘Dance of the Earth’ that ends Part 1, but it has a technical analogue in the famous ‘crush’ chord – a dissonant superimposition of an F-flat major triad and a dominant seventh on E-flat – that appears in irregular stamping rhythm about three minutes into the piece. The focal point of the opening sections, it was the first part of The Rite to be written, Stravinsky’s sonic response to his original vision, but however spontaneously it may have come into being the melodic as well as harmonic implications of its unique identity are played out at length in the course of the piece, as if at first congealed and then exploded into motion by the dance of adolescent girls it accompanies.


Programme notes

It is a new approach to rhythm that dominates the work above all, however. Released from its traditional subservience to harmony and form, its pounding energy here makes it not just a motivating force but a structural one as well. The constantly changing, asymmetric metre of the final ‘Sacrificial Dance’ may seem almost randomly unpredictable, but it is actually achieved by near-systematic variation of its basic patterns. As in nature, what appears at first chaotic and arbitrary in The Rite of Spring is in fact highly structured. The Rite’s riotous premiere at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées on 29 May 1913 is the stuff of modern legend. Disquiet at the music was superheated by outrage at Nijinsky’s ‘primitive’ choreography, and rival factions among the audience were soon insulting one another so volubly that even Stravinsky’s giant score could no longer be heard. Less well-known is that subsequent performances within that same season were rather

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CHRISTIAN BLACKSHAWTuesday 26 February

KARIM SAIDSunday 3 March andSunday 9 June

MITSUKO UCHIDAWednesday 6 March

STEPHEN KOVACEVICHTuesday 19 March

KIRILL GERSTEINThursday 4 April

YUNDIThursday 18 April

ANGELA HEWITTTuesday 7 May

DENIS KOZHUKHINSunday 12 MayPart of The Rest Is Noise

PIOTR ANDERSZEWSKIThursday 23 May

STEVEN OSBORNEWednesday 29 MayPart of The Rest Is Noise

ELISABETH LEONSKAJAWednesday 5 June

more peaceful, and that within a year a concert presentation of The Rite could be received with ‘unprecedented exultation’. Yet if any piece in music history deserved to make a big noise on its arrival, this is the one.

Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp


Wednesday 20 February 2013 | 7.30pm

Anon Spirituals – a cappellaDvořák Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)Milhaud La Création du mondeVarèse Amériques

Marin Alsop conductorLondon Adventist Chorale

Free pre-concert performance 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival hallFoyle Future Firsts and conductor Andrew Gourlay present Les mariés de la Tour Eiffel by Les Six (orch. Constant) – a rare revival of the score to Cocteau’s nonsensical ballet.

Friday 22 February 2013 | 7.30pm JTI Friday Series

Ives Three Places in New EnglandGershwin Rhapsody in BlueCopland Piano ConcertoJoplin (arr. Schuller) Treemonisha Suite

Marin Alsop conductorGarrick Ohlsson piano

Free pre-concert performance 5.00–5.30pm | Royal Festival hall The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s ensemble for 15–19 year olds, The Band, presents a new work inspired by Ives’s Three Places in New England. Free pre-concert discussion 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival hall Pianist Garrick Ohlsson shares his views on performing works by Gershwin and Copland.

Saturday 2 March 2013 | 7.30pm

Weill The Threepenny Opera (sung in German with English surtitles)

Vladimir Jurowski conductorMark padmore MacheathSir John Tomlinson J J PeachumDame Felicity palmer Mrs PeachumAllison Bell Polly PeachumNicholas Folwell Tiger BrownGabriela Iştoc Lucy BrownMeow Meow JennyMax hopp narratorTed huffman directorLondon philharmonic Choir

There will be no interval in this performance.

Free pre- and post-concert performances 6.00–6.45pm and 9.45–10.15pm The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival hallFoyle Future Firsts and conductor Gerry Cornelius present Weill’s Mahagonny Songspiel – two chances to hear Weill and Brecht’s first collaboration.

Saturday 6 April 2013 | 7.30pm

Stravinsky Symphony of PsalmsOrff Carmina Burana

hans Graf conductorSally Matthews sopranoAndrew Kennedy tenorRodion pogossov baritoneLondon philharmonic ChoirTrinity Boys Choir

Free pre-concert discussion 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival hall Hans Graf looks at Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and the lasting appeal of Carmina Burana.

Next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Booking details

London philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm | lpo.org.uk

Southbank Centre Ticket Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pm | southbankcentre.co.uk


London philharmonic OrchestraBirthday Appeal update

Two double bass stools

Three tom-toms

Carmina Burana music hire for 6 April 2013

Illustrations for our FUNharmonics family concerts

Recording a concert for live stream

Thank you so much to all of our audience members who have given us a birthday present for our 80th. Thanks to you, the Appeal has already raised over £10,000 and the double bass stools and tom-toms are on their way!

However, we still need your help with obtaining the other presents on our wish list, such as our children’s concert illustrations, choir scores for Carmina Burana, or you can give us a gift to spend on whatever we need the most. Please visit www.lpo.org.uk/birthday and help celebrate our 80th by donating to our present wish list. All presents, big or small, are greatly received by the Orchestra and, while you’re there, why not leave us a birthday message or memory from the last 80 years?

Get involved and visit www.lpo.org.uk/birthday for more information. Alternatively get in touch via [email protected] or call 020 7840 4212.

‘Thank you LPO for providing such joy to me, my friends and all the audiences over the last 80 years. Have a great birthday!’ ‘Many thanks for the concerts over the years. My father was a double bass player but in those days never had a stool!’ ‘A very happy birthday. I have enjoyed many years with the LPO. The performances have been first class. I am also celebrating my 80th year in 2013!’

With special thanks to the following people who have given

over £250 to our Birthday Appeal:

Mr Aldwinckle, Mrs A Beare, Mr G Bitar, Mr C Blakey,

Mr G A Collens, Mrs Sonja Drexler, John and Angela Kessler,

Mr R P Harsant, Mr Frank Lim, Mr R McCann, Professor D Kelly,

Mrs G Pole, The Sharp Family, Christopher Williams


We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group patrons, principal Benefactors and Benefactors:

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged:

Corporate Members

Silver: AREVA UKBritish American Business Destination Québec – UKHermes Fund Managers Pritchard Englefield

Bronze: Lisa Bolgar Smith and Felix

Appelbe of Ambrose AppelbeAppleyard & Trew LLPBerkeley LawCharles RussellLazardLeventis Overseas Corporate DonorLombard Street Research preferred partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Villa Maria

In-kind SponsorsGoogle IncSela / Tilley’s Sweets

Trusts and FoundationsBBC Performing Arts Fund The Boltini TrustSir William Boreman’s FoundationThe Boshier-Hinton FoundationBritten-Pears FoundationThe Candide TrustThe Coutts Charitable TrustDiaphonique, Franco-British fund for

contemporary musicDunard FundEmbassy of Spain, Office for Cultural

and Scientific AffairsThe Equitable Charitable TrustFidelio Charitable TrustThe Foyle FoundationJ Paul Getty Junior Charitable TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable TrustCapital Radio’s Help a London ChildThe Hobson CharityThe Kirby Laing Foundation

The Idlewild TrustThe Leverhulme TrustMarsh Christian TrustAdam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet TrustPaul Morgan Charitable TrustThe Diana and Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustMaxwell Morrison Charitable TrustMusicians Benevolent FundNewcomen Collett FoundationThe Austin & Hope Pilkington TrustSerge Rachmaninoff FoundationThe Rothschild FoundationThe Samuel Sebba Charitable TrustThe Bernard Sunley Charitable

FoundationJohn Thaw FoundationThe Tillett TrustThe Underwood TrustSir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary

SettlementKurt Weill Foundation for MusicGarfield Weston Foundation and others who wish to remain

anonymous

Thomas Beecham GroupThe Tsukanov Family Foundation Anonymous

The Sharp FamilyJulian & Gill Simmonds

Garf & Gill CollinsAndrew Davenport Mrs Sonja DrexlerDavid & Victoria Graham FullerMoya GreeneJohn & Angela KesslerMr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg MannCaroline, Jamie & Zander SharpEric Tomsett

Guy & Utti Whittaker Manon Williams

principal BenefactorsMark & Elizabeth AdamsJane AttiasLady Jane BerrillDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookMr Charles Dumas

David EllenCommander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel GoldsteinMr & Mrs Jeffrey HerrmannPeter MacDonald EggersMr & Mrs David MalpasMr Maxwell MorrisonMr Michael PosenMr & Mrs Thierry SciardMr John Soderquist & Mr Costas MichaelidesMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina Vaizey Howard & Sheelagh WatsonMr Anthony Yolland

BenefactorsMrs A BeareDr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRSMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr David DennisMr David EdgecombeMr Richard FernyhoughKen FollettMichael & Christine Henry

Ivan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldMr R K JehaMr Gerald LevinSheila Ashley LewisWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFMr Frank LimPaul & Brigitta LockMr Brian Marsh Andrew T MillsJohn Montgomery Mr & Mrs Andrew NeillEdmund Pirouet Professor John StuddMr Peter TausigMrs Kazue Turner Mr Laurie WattDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoe

hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd

hon. Life MembersKenneth Goode Pehr G GyllenhammarEdmund Pirouet Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE


Administration

Board of Directors

Victoria Sharp ChairmanStewart McIlwham* PresidentGareth Newman*

Vice-PresidentDesmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. HøgelMartin Höhmann* Angela Kessler George Peniston* Sir Bernard RixKevin Rundell* Julian SimmondsMark Templeton*Sir Philip ThomasNatasha TsukanovaTimothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Dr Manon Williams

* Player-Director

Advisory Council

Victoria Sharp Chairman Richard Brass Sir Alan Collins Jonathan Dawson Christopher Fraser OBEClive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwhamLord Sharman of Redlynch OBETimothy Walker AM

American Friends of the London philharmonic Orchestra, Inc.

Margot Astrachan ChairmanDavid E. R. Dangoor

Vice Chair/TreasurerKyung-Wha ChungPeter M. Felix CBE Alexandra JupinDr. Felisa B. KaplanWilliam A. KerrJill Fine MainelliKristina McPhee Dr. Joseph MulvehillHarvey M. Spear, Esq.Danny Lopez

Honorary ChairmanNoel Kilkenny

Honorary DirectorVictoria Sharp

Honorary Director

Richard Gee, Esq Of CounselRobert Kuchner, CPA

General Administration

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Alison AtkinsonDigital Projects Manager

Finance

David BurkeGeneral Manager andFinance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager Concert Management

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director (maternity leave)

Ruth SansomArtistic Administrator / Acting Head of Concerts Department

Graham WoodConcerts and Recordings Manager

Barbara Palczynski Glyndebourne and Projects Administrator

Jenny Chadwick Tours and Engagements Manager

Alison JonesConcerts Co-ordinator

Jo OrrPA to the Chief Executive / Concerts Assistant

Matthew FreemanRecordings Consultant Education & Community

Patrick BaileyEducation and Community Director

Alexandra ClarkeEducation Manager

Caz ValeCommunity and Young Talent Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Orchestra personnel

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah ThomasLibrarian (maternity leave)

Sarah HolmesLibrarian (maternity cover)

Michael PattisonStage Manager

Julia BoonAssistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Ken Graham TruckingInstrument Transportation Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Helen Searl Corporate Relations Manager

Katherine HattersleyCharitable Giving Manager

Melissa Van EmdenEvents Manager

Laura LuckhurstCorporate Relations and Events Officer

Sarah FletcherDevelopment and Finance Officer Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Mia RobertsMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager

Samantha KendallBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Co-ordinator

Isobel KingIntern

Albion Media Public Relations (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

Archives

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian PoleRecordings Archive professional Services

Charles RussellSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

London philharmonic Orchestra89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Fax: 020 7840 4201Box Office: 020 7840 4242lpo.org.uk

The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045.

Photograph of Ravel courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Photograph of Prokofiev © Archive Pics/Alamy.

Front cover photograph © Patrick Harrison.

Printed by Cantate.

FSC_57678 LPO 14 January 2011 15/09/2011 12:30 Page 1

16 february 2013 lpo programme notes

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