18 april 2012 lpo programme notes

Principal Conductor 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 Welcome 3 List of players4 About the Orchestra5 Osmo Vänskä 6 Colin Currie7 Programme notes12 Next concerts13 Supporters14 Recordings15 Orchestra news16 LPO administration The timings shown are not precise

and are given only as a guide.

* supported by the Tsukanov Family † supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

SOUThBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL hALLWednesday 18 April 2012 | 7.30pm

OSMO VÄNSKÄ conductor

COLIN CURRIE percussion

SChUMANNOverture, Genoveva (9’)

KALEVI AhOSieidi: Concerto for Solo Percussion and Orchestra(world première) (35’)

Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Luosto Classic Festival and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Interval

BRAhMS Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (45’)

Free pre-concert discussion 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival hall

Colin Currie explores Kalevi Aho’s Sieidi: Concerto for Solo Percussion and Orchestra

This concert is being broadcast live by the BBC in Radio 3 Live In Concert.

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.

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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.

Are you hard of hearing or do you use a hearing aid? Did you know Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room all have free-of-charge equipment available to help you get the most out of the music you may be missing?

Visit the relevant cloakroom up to one hour before the performance to collect the equipment and learn how to use it effectively.

Hearevery note

WELCOME

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

First ViolinsGeorgy Valtchev

Guest LeaderVesselin Gellev Sub-Leader

Chair supported by John &

Angela Kessler

Soran LeeKatalin VarnagyTina GruenbergMartin Höhmann

Chair supported by Richard

Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey LynnRobert PoolSarah StreatfeildRebecca ShorrockAlain PetitclercPeter NallGalina TanneyJoanne ChenCaroline FrenkelSarah Buchan

Second ViolinsPhilippe Honore

Guest PrincipalJeongmin KimJoseph MaherFiona HighamAndrew ThurgoodKate Birchall

Chair supported by David

& Victoria Graham Fuller

Nynke HijlkemaAshley StevensNancy ElanMarie-Anne MairesseDean WilliamsonSioni WilliamsAlison StrangeStephen Stewart

ViolasIda Bryhn Guest PrincipalFrederik BoitsRobert DuncanGregory AronovichKatharine LeekBenedetto PollaniLaura VallejoSusanne MartensEmmanuella Reiter-

BootimanMichelle BruilAlistair ScahillDaniel Cornford

CellosKristina Blaumane PrincipalSusanne Beer Co-PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueJonathan Ayling

Chair supported by Caroline,

Jamie & Zander Sharp

Gregory WalmsleySantiago Carvalho†Susanna RiddellHelen RathboneDavid Bucknall

Double BassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonRichard LewisJeremy WattKenneth KnussenHelen RowlandsCatherine Ricketts

FlutesJaime Martín* PrincipalSue Thomas

piccoloStewart McIlwham*

Principal

OboesIan Hardwick PrincipalAngela Tennick

Cor AnglaisSue Bohling Principal

Chair supported by Julian

& Gill Simmonds

ClarinetsRobert Hill* Principal Emily Meredith

Bass ClarinetPaul Richards Principal

Alto SaxophoneMartin Robertson

BassoonsLola Descours

Guest PrincipalGareth Newman*

Contra-bassoonSimon Estell Principal

hornsJohn RyanDavid Pyatt Guest PrincipalMartin HobbsDuncan FullerGareth Mollison

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff

& Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal

TrombonesDavid Whitehouse PrincipalRobert Workman

Bass TromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

TimpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

percussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew

Davenport

Simon Carrington* Keith Millar

* Holds a professorial appointment in London † Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

LONDON phILhARMONIC ORChESTRA

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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 performing classical concerts, the Orchestra also records film and computer 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 has been headed by many of the great names in the conducting world, including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. The current Principal Conductor is Russian Vladimir Jurowski, appointed in 2007, with French-Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin as Principal Guest Conductor.

The Orchestra is based at Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre, where it has performed since it opened in 1951 and been Resident Orchestra since 1992. It gives around 40 concerts there each season with many of the world’s top conductors and soloists. Concert highlights in 2011/12 have included a three-week festival celebrating the music of Prokofiev, concerts with artists including Sir Mark Elder, Marin Alsop, Renée Fleming, Stephen Hough and Joshua Bell, and several premières of works by living composers including the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson. In addition to its London concerts, 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 in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first-ever visit to China by a Western orchestra. Touring remains a big part of the Orchestra’s life: tours in the 2011/12 season include visits to Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the US, Spain, China, Russia, Oman, Brazil and France.

You may well have heard the London Philharmonic Orchestra on film soundtrack recordings: it has recorded many blockbuster scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, Philadelphia, East is East and Hugo. The Orchestra also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 60 releases on the label, which are available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Dvořák’s Symphonic Variations and Symphony No. 8 conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras; Holst’s The Planets conducted by Vladimir Jurowski; Shostakovich Piano Concertos with Martin Helmchen under Vladimir Jurowski; and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The Orchestra was also recently honoured with the commission to record all 205 of the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics Team Welcome Ceremonies and Medal Ceremonies.

To help maintain its high standards and diverse workload, the Orchestra is committed to the welfare of its musicians and in December 2007 received the Association of British Orchestras/Musicians Benevolent Fund Healthy Orchestra Bronze Charter Mark.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra maintains an energetic programme of activities for young people and local communities. Highlights include the ever-popular family and schools concerts, fusion ensemble The Band, the Leverhulme Young Composers project and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training scheme for outstanding young players. Over the last few 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

LONDON phILhARMONIC ORChESTRA


OSMO VÄNSKÄCONDUCTOR

Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia orchestras. In Europe he has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw and Czech Philharmonic orchestras. He has also developed close relationships with other international ensembles including the London Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and Cleveland orchestras; the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York; and the Orchestre de Paris. Future engagements include concerts with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony orchestras.

Vänskä began his musical career as a clarinettist. He held the Principal chair of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra from 1971–76 and the Co-Principal chair of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 1977–82. Following conducting studies at Finland’s Sibelius Academy, Vänskä was awarded First Prize in the 1982 Besançon International Young Conductors’ Competition. Three years later he began his tenure with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra as Principal Guest Conductor, while also serving as Music Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. In addition, Vänskä served as Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from 1997–2002.

In recent years, Vänskä has enjoyed a return to performing on the clarinet. He made his Twin Cities clarinet performance début at the Sommerfest in 2005 and has played chamber music with members of the Minnesota Orchestra, at the Mostly Mozart festivals and in Finland.

The many honours and distinctions awarded to Osmo Vänskä include an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow, and a Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Minnesota’s School of Music in 2008. He was also honoured with a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for his outstanding contribution to classical music. Vänskä was named Musical America’s Conductor of the Year in 2005 and was honoured by Columbia University with the 2010 Ditson Conductor’s Award for the advancement of American music.

Praised for his intense and dynamic performances, Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä is recognised for his compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires, as well as the close

rapport he establishes with the musicians he leads.

In 2003, Vänskä became Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra and has since drawn extraordinary reviews for concerts both in the US and abroad. Together they have an annual series at New York’s Carnegie Hall and tour regularly both in the US and Europe – including an exceptional pair of concerts at the 2010 BBC Proms. His contract with the Minnesota Orchestra has been extended until 2015.

Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra’s recordings of the complete Beethoven symphonies on the BIS label have amassed rave reviews, while their recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 received a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Performance. Their most recent release is the first disc in a complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano concertos with pianist Yevgeny Sudbin. For the Hyperion label they have recently recorded Tchaikovsky’s complete piano concertos with pianist Stephen Hough. Future projects include the complete Sibelius symphonies. In 2008 Vänskä recorded Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 3 and Bax’s Tintagel with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on the Orchestra’s own label.

Vänskä was Music Director of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra from 1988 and now holds the position of Conductor Laureate. During two decades at the helm, Vänskä transformed the regional ensemble into one of Finland’s flagship orchestras. Their partnership received widespread attention through its complete collection of multi-award winning Sibelius recordings and its international performances.

Internationally in demand as a guest conductor, Osmo Vänskä has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Boston Symphony, Chicago

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The soloist of choice for composers from Reich to Rautavaara, Colin Currie has been the driving force behind new percussion repertoire for more than a decade. Acclaimed for his virtuosity and musical integrity, Currie is

a solo and chamber artist at the peak of his powers. Championing new music at the highest level, Currie is soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, Philadelphia and Philharmonia orchestras.

Currie’s ‘athletic percussionism, compulsive showmanship and deep musicality’ (The Guardian) have inspired composers from around the globe, and forthcoming commissions include new works written for Currie by Steve Reich, James MacMillan and Louis Andriessen. From his earliest years Currie forged a pioneering path in creating new music for percussion. He was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award in 2000 for his inspirational role in contemporary music-making, and recent projects include premières by composers such as Simon Holt, Kurt Schwertsik, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Jennifer Higdon, Alexander Goehr, and most recently Elliott Carter, whose double concerto Conversations Currie premièred with Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2011, conducted by Oliver Knussen.

Currie is Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre from the 2011/12 season onwards, a role that allows him to develop new relationships with artists and ensembles across a variety of art forms, as well as take part in collaborative and educational projects. In addition to tonight’s world première of Kalevi Aho’s Sieidi, other world première performances this season include with the New York Philharmonic under David Robertson in the extended version of Elliott Carter’s double concerto, Two Controversies and a Conversation; Sally Beamish’s percussion concerto Dance Variations with the Swedish and Scottish chamber orchestras; Askell Masson’s Percussion Concerto with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra; and a new work by Joseph

COLIN CURRIEpERCUSSION

Pereira with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel.

Other concerto engagements this season include Currie’s debut in Madrid with the RTVÉ Symphony Orchestra, and HK Gruber’s Rough Music at the NYYD Festival in Tallinn, conducted by the composer. In America, Currie performs Rautavaara’s percussion concerto Incantations with the Houston Symphony under John Storgårds, returns to the Utah Symphony with Thierry Fischer, and joins Marin Alsop to perform Higdon’s Percussion Concerto with the Baltimore Symphony in a subscription week followed by a tour of the USA’s West Coast. Further to his highly successful début performance in 2010, Currie also returns to the Grand Teton Festival in 2012 to perform MacMillan’s Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, conducted by James Gaffigan.

Currie’s dynamic percussion ensemble The Colin Currie Group continues to receive critical acclaim for its performances of Steve Reich’s iconic work Drumming. Following sell-out performances throughout the UK including at London’s Southbank Centre, Sound Festival Aberdeen, Bristol’s Colston Hall, Birmingham Town Hall and the 2011 Cheltenham Festival, in 2012 the group makes its international début with performances in Japan and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw’s Robeco series. Other recital projects include a duo recital programme with trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger featuring new commissions by Lukas Ligeti, Christian Muthspiel and Tobias Broström, which premièred in Hannover and the Far East in 2011.

Currie’s recording of Rautavaara’s Incantations with the Helsinki Philharmonic under John Storgårds was released in February 2012 (Ondine). 2012 also sees the release of a new recording of MacMillan’s Veni, Veni, Emmanuel with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic and James MacMillan on Challenge Classics. Previous CD releases by Currie include Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto conducted by Marin Alsop with the London Philharmonic Orchestra – a disc which won a 2010 Grammy Award – and Currie’s recital disc Borrowed Time, which features music by British composer Dave Maric and is available on the Onyx label.


pROGRAMME NOTES

Voices of nature can be heard in all three works in this concert. Schumann’s Genoveva overture is steeped in the atmosphere of the German forests and their ancient folk legends: mysterious shadows cut through by bright, rousing horn-calls. A noble horn-call also marks the turning point in the finale of Brahms’s First Symphony, dispelling darkness and leading to a great tune embodying hope. Brahms sent this horn theme to his confidante Clara Schumann, inscribed with the words, ‘High on the mountain, deep in the valley, I send you a thousand greetings.’

Mountains and forests surround the Finnish resort of Luosto, whose festival (with the LPO and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra) jointly commissioned Kalevi Aho to write his percussion concerto, Sieidi. ‘Sieidi’ is a word used by the nomadic Sámi people of Finland to denote a sacred spot, a site of shamanistic incantation and worship – Luosto Fell was almost certainly one of these. Sieidi uses percussion instruments from African shamanistic peoples to create a sense of primal religious ceremony, an invocation of the elemental power of nature.

Speedread

Like many German romantics, Schumann was strongly drawn to the idea of national opera. The great pioneering example here was Weber’s Der Freischütz (‘The Free-Shooter’, 1817–21), which combined old German legend, magic and a triumphant redemptive love story with music steeped in ‘folkish’ elements: the hunting and dance songs of the people, and the mysterious, elemental qualities of the great German forests.

Many tried to follow Weber’s example, but until the advent of Wagner, few were successful. Schumann, alas, wasn’t one of them. But although his only opera, Genoveva (1847–9) is still generally counted as a failure dramatically, opinions of the music have risen in recent years. Still, the opera’s crowning glory remains its overture – which, like Schumann’s magnificent Manfred overture (also written in 1849), captures the essence of

the leading character, as well as hinting at some of the main events in the drama. It can be heard as a concise, atmospheric tone poem, complete in itself.

The story of Genoveva, wife of the warrior Siegfried, was first written down in the Middle Ages. While Siegfried is away from home, his rival Golo attempts to seduce Genoveva, and when she rejects him he denounces her as unfaithful. Genoveva is condemned to death, only to be saved at the last moment when Golo’s deception is uncovered. Schumann’s overture begins with a stirring slow introduction, depicting both the anguish and the beauty of wronged Genoveva. The following Allegro provides plenty of romantic storm and stress, but also picturesque touches – notably some virile horn-calls (Siegfried himself?). Eventually the dark minor key turns to bright, increasingly hopeful major as Genoveva’s vindication grows ever more certain.

RobertSChUMANN

1810–56

OVERTURE, GENOVEVA


pROGRAMME NOTES

KaleviAhO

Born 1949

SIEIDI: CONCERTO FOR SOLO pERCUSSION AND ORChESTRA (world première)

COLIN CURRIE percussion

In May 2009, percussion virtuoso Colin Currie was the soloist with the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the orchestra of Helsinki’s neighbouring city of Espoo, in the concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel by James MacMillan. During his visit Colin said he would like to meet me, and when we met, he told me the reason why – he wanted me to compose him a percussion concerto. I promised to do so, and it later became a joint commission from three institutions: the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Luosto Classic Festival and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

The fact that the Luosto venue differed significantly from the concert halls in London and Gothenburg posed an additional challenge in planning the work. The Luosto performance would be an open-air concert with natural acoustics on the slopes of Luosto Fell in Finnish Lapland, far from any big towns. I therefore had to make special allowance for these acoustic conditions when composing the Concerto. And because I knew that my Symphony No. 12 (2002–03), likewise composed for this festival and its outdoor acoustics, would also be performed at Luosto in the same concert, the percussion concerto also had to be compatible with this ‘Luosto Symphony’.

Normally in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and is in front of the orchestra throughout. The instruments are in a row at the front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tamtam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time. The Concerto begins with a djembe solo, which is followed after a bridge passage by the darabuka. The soloist then proceeds from the hand-beaten instruments to membranophones played with drumsticks: the five tom-toms and the snare drum. These are followed

by the wooden percussion: the five-octave marimba, the woodblocks and the temple blocks. Finally the soloist arrives at the metal percussion: the vibraphone and tamtam on the left-hand side at the front of the platform. A tamtam cadenza marks a turning point; from then onwards the soloist works back across the platform in the reverse order, ending with the djembe with which he began. This way the listener can also keep a visual track of the Concerto’s progress.

The orchestra also includes three other percussionists drumming different instruments like the soloist. One plays behind the orchestra, and the other two are in the centre of the hall, facing each other on either side. In this way I have also tried to create spatial musical effects.

The title of the Concerto, Sieidi, is Sámi – a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell. The mighty Luosto Fell commanding the Luosto region may possibly have been one such ‘sieidi’ among the ancient Sámi inhabitants. The djembe and darabuka drumming at the beginning and end is by nature shamanistic, and the listener could well imagine it taking place at the foot of precisely one such ‘sieidi’.

The Concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections, both fast and slow, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another – djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique, and from that of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone. © Kalevi Aho 2012 (English translation by Susan Sinisalo)


Few great concert works have taken longer to mature than Brahms’s First Symphony. Ideas probably began to take shape in Brahms’s mind around 1855, when he was 22. But five years later, Brahms’s confidante and ‘ideal’ love Clara Schumann – virtuoso pianist and widow of the composer Robert Schumann – was still urging him not to give up the struggle: ‘Such a sky of storm may yet lead to a symphony.’ Two years after that, in the summer of 1862, Clara received a surprise parcel containing the Symphony’s first movement – or at least an early version of it. ‘It begins somewhat severely’, she wrote to a friend, ‘but I have got used to it. The movement is full of beauties; the themes are treated with a mastery that grows more and more individual.’

Fourteen more years were to pass before Brahms was able to show Clara a completed score – and even then there were more revisions to follow. The problem was at least partly that Brahms had set himself such dauntingly high standards: his goal was to produce something worthy to set beside the greatest of all symphonists, Ludwig van Beethoven. ‘I shall never write a symphony’, Brahms told the conductor Hermann Levi in 1870. ‘You’ve no idea what it feels like with such a giant marching behind you.’ But his friends carried on a campaign of sustained encouragement, and the success of Brahms’s first orchestral masterpiece, Variations on a Theme of Haydn, in 1874 seems to have rekindled his ambition. By 1876 the First Symphony as we know it was finally ready. It was performed all over Europe, with increasing success. Soon, critics were calling it ‘Beethoven’s Tenth’ – but even that ringing

compliment made Brahms doubt himself all over again. Had he emerged from the giant’s shadow or not? When someone unwisely pointed out the ‘extraordinary’ similarity between the main theme of Brahms’s finale and the ‘Ode to Joy’ theme in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Brahms snapped back: ‘Yes, and still more extraordinary that any fool can hear it!’

It isn’t hard to hear echoes of Beethoven in the first movement’s surging momentum and grim, almost obsessive rhythmic determination. When Brahms first conceived this movement he was still struggling to come to terms with the final mental breakdown and suicide of his great friend and mentor Robert Schumann, Clara’s husband – another composer who worshipped Beethoven and strove to match up to his great example. But it’s also possible that the slow introduction – almost certainly added after the main Allegro was complete – contains a tribute to another of Brahms’s gods, Johann Sebastian Bach. The opening’s low throbbing bass notes could be an echo of the opening chorus of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. As Clara Schumann observed on receiving the 1862 version of this movement, the flow of ideas is remarkably sustained, and the climatic buildup to the return of the first Allegro theme is superbly, thrillingly engineered. Beethovenian perhaps, but what Brahms does at the end is completely original. The tempo drops and the pulsating bass notes of the introduction return, quietly this time. The end is neither thunderous triumph nor black tragedy; C minor turbulence gradually yields to ambiguous C major calm.

Programme note continues overleaf

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

SYMphONY NO. 1 IN C MINOR, Op. 68

Un poco sostenuto – AllegroAndante sostenutoUn poco allegretto e graziosoAdagio – Allegro non troppo, ma con brio

JohannesBRAhMS

1833–97


pROGRAMME NOTES

Heroic struggle is forgotten in the two central movements. In the Andante sostenuto it is melody that carries the argument, reaching its apotheosis in a ravishing violin solo in the final moments. The opening theme of the Un poco allegretto e grazioso is all relaxed charm – a far cry from the cosmic dance energy of the typical Beethovenian scherzo. More energetic music follows, but as a whole the effect is to heighten our expectations of the finale, which now has to be an effective counterweight to the first movement, confronting and finally resolving its tragic tensions. The opening brings an immediate darkening, after which the music seems to be groping in the shadows for something definitive – the outline of a fully-fledged theme, perhaps. A sudden timpani fortissimo dispels the gloom: to warm harmonies on trombones (their

first appearance in the Symphony) a noble horn theme sounds through shimmering strings. This was the theme Brahms noted in a letter to Clara Schumann in 1868, adding the words, ‘High on the mountain, deep in the valley, I send you a thousand greetings.’ The vision fades, then a confident, forward striding tune begins the Allegro non troppo ma con brio – Brahms’s reply to Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ theme. There are reminders of the first movement’s heroic struggle, but this time the ending is unambiguous, with a forcefully affirmative brass hymn tune heralding a victorious final dash to the finishing post.

Schumann and Brahms programme notes © Stephen Johnson

Doremus Deutsche Bank London Philarmonic Orchestra 301258 247x175mm Proof 04 11-01-2012

This advertisement has been approved and/or communicated by Deutsche Bank AG. This advertisement does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to enter into any transaction. The services described in this advertisement are provided by Deutsche Bank AG or by its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in accordance with appropriate local legislation and regulation. Deutsche Bank AG is authorized under German Banking Law (competent authority: BaFin – Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) and authorized and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Services Authority. Details about the extent of Deutsche Bank AG’s authorization and regulation by the Financial Services Authority are available on request. Investments are subject to investment risk, including market fluctuations, regulatory change, counterparty risk, possible delays in repayment and loss of income and principal invested. The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you might not get back the amount originally invested at any point in time. © Copyright Deutsche Bank 2012.

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Passion for Music

Free tickets for schools from Deutsche Bank

As one of the flagship projects in its extensive Corporate Citizenship programme, Deutsche Bank has been supporting the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s BrightSparks schools’ concerts since 2001. Through the Deutsche Bank Free Tickets Scheme, its generous funding ensures that children and their teachers have the opportunity to experience a live performance by the Orchestra at no cost. Across the year, the series of seven concerts at Royal Festival Hall reaches approximately 15,000 children. This year the series has been extended to include concerts for GCSE music students for the first time, reaching out to even more young people. For a large proportion of pupils, these events are the first time they will have visited a concert hall to hear a live orchestra, giving them an intense and inspiring experience.

In addition to its support of music education, Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Citizenship programme spans a range of themes aimed at addressing disadvantage, promoting social mobility and supporting emerging artists. Globally, hundreds of thousands of people each year participate in education programmes supported by Deutsche Bank.

At this evening’s concert we are delighted to welcome young people from across London as part of the Deutsche Bank Free Tickets Scheme.

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This advertisement has been approved and/or communicated by Deutsche Bank AG. This advertisement does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to enter into any transaction. The services described in this advertisement are provided by Deutsche Bank AG or by its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in accordance with appropriate local legislation and regulation. Deutsche Bank AG is authorized under German Banking Law (competent authority: BaFin – Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) and authorized and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Services Authority. Details about the extent of Deutsche Bank AG’s authorization and regulation by the Financial Services Authority are available on request. Investments are subject to investment risk, including market fluctuations, regulatory change, counterparty risk, possible delays in repayment and loss of income and principal invested. The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you might not get back the amount originally invested at any point in time. © Copyright Deutsche Bank 2012.

Deutsche Bank db.com

Deutsche Bank is committed to providing young people with access to the arts. Our free tickets scheme allows over 15,000 young people each year to attend a tailored performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, building musical understanding and appreciation.

Passion for Music


NExT CONCERTS AT ROYAL FESTIVAL hALL

Saturday 28 April 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival hall

Messiaen Les Offrandes oubliéesBeethoven Piano Concerto No. 1*Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4

Yan pascal Tortelier conductorhong xu piano

* Supported by Dunard Fund

Free pre-concert performance 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival hallThomas Blunt conducts the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral apprentices in UK premières of Luke Bedford’s By the Screen in the Sun at the Hill on the Gold and David Bruce’s Steampunk.

The Foyle Future Firsts Programme is generously funded by The Foyle Foundation with additional support from the Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation, the Idlewild Trust, the Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust, the Seary Charitable Trust and the Musicians Benevolent Fund.

Wednesday 2 May 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival hall

Janáček Suite, The Cunning Little VixenDvořák Piano Concerto*Suk Symphonic Poem, Ripening

Vladimir Jurowski conductorMartin helmchen pianoLondon philharmonic Choir

* Supported by Dunard Fund

Free pre-concert discussion 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival hallProfessor Geoffrey Chew explores three giants of the Czech repertoire.

Sunday 13 May 2012 | 12.00pm Royal Festival hall

FUNharmonics Family Concert The Cunning Little Vixen

Vladimir Jurowski conductor hannah Conway presenter

The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Conductor, Vladimir Jurowski, brings the Orchestra’s FUNharmonics Family Concert season to a glorious end with a concert including Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen Suite – the narration has been created especially for the occasion by Hannah Conway.

See page 15 for more details.

Booking detailsTickets £9–£39 | premium seats £65

London philharmonic Orchestra Box Office 020 7840 4242 Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (no transaction fee)

Southbank Centre Box Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pmsouthbankcentre.co.uk (transaction fees apply)

Yan Pascal Tortelier and Hong Xu 2012/13 season now on sale!

Browse the full season at www. lpo.org.uk/newseason or call 020 7840 4208 for a brochure.

Highlights include appearances by Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder, Christoph Eschenbach, Christian Tetzlaff, Lawrence Power, Kurt Masur, Osmo Vänskä, Lars Vogt and Sarah Connolly. There are also opportunities to hear new talent including cellist Sol Gabetta, conductor Ryan Wigglesworth, pianist Javier Perianes and violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

The Orchestra is devoting all its 2013 concerts to Southbank Centre’s year-long festival inspired by Alex Ross’s book The Rest Is Noise, charting seminal works of the 20th century from Elgar to Kurt Weill.

Subscription discounts are available when you book three or more concerts.


Thomas Beecham GroupThe Tsukanov Family Anonymous

The Sharp FamilyJulian & Gill Simmonds

Garf & Gill CollinsAndrew DavenportDavid & Victoria Graham FullerRichard Karl GoeltzJohn & Angela KesslerMr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg MannCaroline, Jamie & Zander SharpEric Tomsett

Mrs Sonja Drexler Guy & Utti Whittaker

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

Commander Vincent EvansMr & Mrs Jeffrey HerrmannPeter MacDonald EggersMr & Mrs David MalpasAndrew T MillsMr 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 VaizeyHoward & Sheelagh WatsonMr Laurie Watt Mr Anthony Yolland BenefactorsMrs A BeareDr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRSMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr David DennisMr David EdgecombeMr Richard FernyhoughKen Follett

Pauline & Peter HallidayMichael & Christine HenryMr Ivan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldMr R K JehaMr Gerald LevinSheila Ashley LewisWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFMr Frank LimPaul & Brigitta LockMr Brian MarshJohn Montgomery Mr & Mrs Andrew NeillEdmund PirouetMr Peter TausigMrs Kazue TurnerMr D WhitelockBill Yoe hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd hon. Life MembersKenneth Goode Pehr G GyllenhammarEdmund Pirouet Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

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:

Angus Allnatt Charitable FoundationThe Boltini TrustBritten-Pears FoundationThe Candide Charitable TrustThe Coutts Charitable TrustThe Delius TrustDiaphonique, Franco-British fund for

contemporary musicDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable TrustThe Eranda FoundationThe Fenton Arts TrustThe Foyle Foundation J Paul Getty Junior Charitable TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable TrustHattori Foundation for Music and the ArtsCapital Radio’s Help a London ChildThe Hobson CharityThe Kirby Laing Foundation The Idlewild TrustThe Leverhulme TrustLord and Lady Lurgan TrustMaurice Marks Charitable TrustMarsh Christian TrustThe Mercers’ Company

Corporate Members

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

Bronze:Appleyard & Trew LLPBerkeley LawCharles RussellLazardLeventis Overseas Corporate DonorLombard Street Research In-kind SponsorsGoogle IncHeinekenLindt & Sprüngli LtdSela / Tilley’s SweetsVilla Maria Trusts and FoundationsAddleshaw Goddard Charitable Trust Arts and BusinessAllianz Cultural Foundation

Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet TrustPaul Morgan Charitable TrustThe Diana and Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustMaxwell Morrison Charitable TrustMusicians Benevolent FundNewcomen Collett Foundation The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust The Serge Prokofiev FoundationSerge Rachmaninoff FoundationThe Reed Foundation The Rothschild Foundation The Seary Charitable TrustThe Samuel Sebba Charitable TrustThe David Solomons Charitable TrustThe Steel Charitable TrustThe Stansfield TrustThe Bernard Sunley Charitable FoundationThe Swan TrustJohn Thaw FoundationThe Thistle TrustThe Underwood Trust Kurt Weill Foundation for MusicGarfield Weston FoundationYouth Musicand others who wish to remain anonymous


New recordings on the London philharmonic Orchestra label

RAVI ShANKAR: SYMphONYCD released May 2012: available to download exclusively through iTunes during April 2012

ChRISTOph ESChENBACh CONDUCTS BEEThOVEN’S missa solemnis April 2012

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Coming soon ...

Browse and order online at lpo.org.uk/shop, or call the Box Office on 020 7840 4242

BERNARD hAITINK CONDUCTS RAVEL’S daphnis et chloÉ

LpO–0059 | £9.99 ‘Finely honed, played with sensitivity and virtuosity ... a compelling realisation of a great score.’ Classicalsource.com, 6 February 2012

NEEME JÄRVI CONDUCTS DVOŘÁK’S staBat mateRMay 2012

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ORChESTRA NEWS

Soundforms launch performance

The Orchestra recently took part in the launch of a new type of outdoor stage called Soundforms, designed and built in Great Britain specifically for open-air concerts worldwide. According to its designers, the new stage delivers ‘the on-stage acoustics of a world-class concert hall outside’ – and without the need for electric amplifiers. The launch of the shell, on 6 March in London’s Docklands, featured performances by violinists Nicola Benedetti and Charlie Siem accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

FUNharmonics Family Concert The Cunning Little Vixen Sunday 13 May 2012 | 12.00pm | Royal Festival hall

Vladimir Jurowski conductor hannah Conway presenter

Meet Sharp-Ears, the cunning little vixen at the centre of our story, and frolic in the Czech forest along with Frog, Dragonfly, Mosquito, Cricket and the London Philharmonic Orchestra!

With the help of Hannah Conway, we’ll take a closer look at how different sections of the orchestra are used to tell the story of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, as well as in pieces by Stravinsky, Lyadov and Mussorgsky.

You’ll hear Sharp-Ears and her cubs having a great time chasing chickens, and there’s more poultry in our performance as we play extracts from Stravinsky’s Renard and Mussorgsky’s ‘Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks’ from his popular work Pictures at an Exhibition.

Tickets £5–18 London philharmonic Orchestra Box Office 020 7840 4242 Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (no transaction fee)

The Floating Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra will be forming one of the ten music herald barges in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June 2012. The Orchestra, conducted by David Parry, will perform a Last Night of the Proms-style selection of British music, which will also be recorded for a CD to be released on the LPO Label.

In late February we held a trial run event aboard ‘The Symphony’ with an orchestra formed of the LPO’s Foyle Future Firsts, young professionals and students from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, conducted by Ben Gernon.

Watch a video of the event at http://youtu.be/nomdgEdVFs8

ADMINISTRATION


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

Board of Directors

Martin Höhmann ChairStewart McIlwham Vice-ChairSue BohlingLord Currie*Jonathan Dawson*Gareth NewmanGeorge PenistonSir Bernard Rix*Kevin RundellSir Philip Thomas*Timothy Walker AM†*Non-Executive Directors

The London philharmonic Trust

Victoria Sharp ChairDesmond Cecil CMGJonathan Harris CBE FRICSDr Catherine C. HøgelMartin HöhmannAngela KesslerClive Marks OBE FCAJulian SimmondsNatasha TsukanovaTimothy Walker AM†Laurence Watt Manon Williams

American Friends of the London philharmonic Orchestra, Inc.

We are very grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for its support of the Orchestra’s activities in the USA.

professional Services

Charles RussellSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

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 GibsonConcerts Director

Ruth SansomArtistic Administrator

Graham WoodConcerts, Recordings andGlyndebourne Manager

Alison JonesConcerts Co-ordinator

Jenny ChadwickTours and Engagements Manager

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

Michael PattisonStage Manager

Julia BoonAssistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Ken Graham TruckingInstrument Transportation(Tel: 01737 373305)

Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Harriet MesherCharitable Giving Manager

Melissa Van EmdenEvents Manager

Laura LuckhurstCorporate Relations and Events Officer

Elisenda AyatsDevelopment and Finance Officer

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Ellie DragonettiMarketing Manager

Rachel FryerPublications Manager

Helen BoddyMarketing Co-ordinator

Samantha KendallBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

John BarnettIntern

Valerie Barber Press Consultant (Tel: 020 7586 8560)

Archives

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian PoleRecordings Archive

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.

Photographs of Schumann and Brahms courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

Photograph of Kalevi Aho © Maarit Kytöharju/Fimic. Front cover photograph © Benjamin Ealovega.

Printed by Cantate. †Supported by Macquarie Group

18 april 2012 lpo programme notes

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