19 march 2011 lpo programme notes

THE THOMAS BEECHAM GROUP CONCERT

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALLSaturday 19 March 2011 | 7.30pm

VLADIMIR JUROWSKIconductor

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF violin

JULIAN ANDERSONThe Crazed Moon (13’)

BEETHOVENViolin Concerto in D major (42’)

INTERVAL

TCHAIKOVSKYSymphony No. 4 in F minor (44’)

PROGRAMME £3

CONTENTS

2 List of Players3 Orchestra History4 Leader5 Vladimir Jurowski6 Christian Tetzlaff7 Thomas Beecham Group8 Programme Notes12 Southbank Centre13 Supporters14 Recordings15 Administration16 Future Concerts

The timings shown are not preciseand are given only as a guide.

Principal Conductor VLADIMIR JUROWSKIPrincipal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINLeader PIETER SCHOEMANComposer in Residence JULIAN ANDERSONPatron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KGChief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM†

† supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINSPieter Schoeman* LeaderVesselin Gellev Sub-LeaderChair supported byJohn and Angela Kessler

Katerina MitchellKatalin VarnagyCatherine CraigThomas EisnerTina GruenbergMartin HöhmannChair supported byRichard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey LynnRobert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangRebecca ShorrockAlain Petitclerc

SECOND VIOLINSClare Duckworth PrincipalChair supported by Richard and Victoria Sharp

Jeongmin KimJoseph MaherKate BirchallChair supported by David and Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaAshley StevensDean WilliamsonSioni WilliamsHeather BadkeAlison StrangeStephen StewartMila Mustakova

VIOLASAlexander Zemtsov* PrincipalChair supported by The Tsukanov Family

Robert DuncanJanis LielbardisKatharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniEmmanuella Reiter-BootimanLaura VallejoDaniel CornfordIsabel PereiraMichelle BruilSarah Malcolm

CELLOSKristina Blaumane PrincipalSusanne Beer Co-PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueJonathan AylingChair supported by Caroline,Jamie and Zander Sharp

Santiago Sabino Carvalho+

Gregory WalmsleySue SutherleySusanna RiddellTom Roff

DOUBLE BASSESKevin Rundell* PrincipalTim Gibbs Co-PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonRichard LewisKenneth KnussenTom WalleyJoe Melvin

FLUTESSue Thomas* PrincipalEilidh Gillespie

PICCOLOStewart McIlwham* Principal

ALTO FLUTEEilidh Gillespie

OBOESIan Hardwick PrincipalAngela Tennick

COR ANGLAISSue Bohling PrincipalChair supported byJulian and Gill Simmonds

CLARINETSRobert Hill* PrincipalNicholas CarpenterKatie Lockhart

BASS CLARINETKatie Lockhart

BASSOONSJohn Price PrincipalGareth Newman*

CONTRA BASSOONSimon Estell Principal

HORNSJohn Ryan PrincipalAbel Pereira Guest PrincialMartin HobbsMarcus BatesGareth Mollison

TRUMPETSPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*Chair supported byGeoff and Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal

TROMBONESMark Templeton* PrincipalDavid Whitehouse

BASS TROMBONELyndon Meredith Principal

TUBALee Tsarmaklis Principal

TIMPANISimon Carrington* Principal

PERCUSSIONRachel Gledhill PrincipalAndrew Barclay* Co-PrincipalChair supported byAndrew Davenport

Keith Millar

ASSISTANT CONDUCTORThomas Blunt

* Holds a professorialappointment in London

+ Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

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London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3


Patrick Harrison

Seventy-eight years after Sir Thomas Beecham foundedthe London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognisedtoday as one of the finest orchestras on the internationalstage. Following Beecham’s influential founding tenurethe Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passedfrom one illustrious musician to another, amongst themSir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, KlausTennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive traditioncontinued in September 2007 when Vladimir Jurowskibecame the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and, in afurther exciting move, the Orchestra appointed YannickNézet-Séguin its new Principal Guest Conductor fromSeptember 2008.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performingat Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it openedin 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It playsthere around 40 times each season with many of theworld’s most sought after conductors and soloists.Concert highlights in 2010/11 include an exploration ofMahler’s symphonies and complete song cycles duringthe composer’s anniversary season; the premières ofworks by Matteo D’Amico, Magnus Lindberg and BrettDean; a rare opportunity to hear Rossini’s opera Aurelianoin Palmira in collaboration with long term partner OperaRara; and works by the Orchestra’s new Composer inResidence, Julian Anderson.

In addition to its London season and a series of concertsat Wigmore Hall, the Orchestra has flourishing

residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performsregularly around the UK. It is unique in combining theseconcert activities with esteemed opera performanceseach summer at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where ithas been the Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs toenthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 itbecame the first British orchestra to appear in SovietRussia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by aWestern orchestra. Touring continues to form asignificant part of the Orchestra’s schedule and issupported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner ofthe London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2010/11include visits to Finland, Germany, South Korea, Spain,France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Having long been embraced by the recording,broadcasting and film industries, the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domesticand international television and radio. It also works withthe Hollywood and UK film industries, recordingsoundtracks for blockbuster motion pictures includingthe Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogyand scores for Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission,Philadelphia and East is East.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra made its firstrecordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after itsfirst public performance. It has recorded and broadcast

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In 2002, Pieter Schoemanjoined the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestraas Co-Leader. He was appointed Leader in 2008.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut with theCape Town Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten. Hestudied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winningnumerous competitions, including the 1984 World YouthConcerto Competition in America. In 1987 he was offeredthe Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study withEduard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talentwas spotted by Pinchas Zukerman who recommendedthat he move to New York to study with SylviaRosenberg. In 1994 he became her teaching assistant atIndiana University, Bloomington.

Pieter Schoeman has performed as a soloist and recitalistthroughout the world in such famous halls as theConcertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s RachmaninovHall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek inBerlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and SouthbankCentre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chambermusician he regularly performs at London’s prestigiousWigmore Hall. As a soloist with the London PhilharmonicOrchestra, he has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concertowith Boris Garlitsky and Benjamin Britten’s DoubleConcerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recordedand released on the Orchestra’s own record label to greatcritical acclaim. Last October he performed the BrahmsDouble Concerto with Kristina Blaumane.

In 1995 Pieter Schoeman became Co-Leader of theOrchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he hasperformed frequently as Guest Leader with thesymphony orchestras of Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon andBaltimore as well as the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Thisseason he has been invited to lead the RotterdamPhilharmonic Orchestra on several occasions.

Pieter Schoeman has recorded numerous violin soloswith the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos,Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American filmand television. He led the Orchestra in its soundtrackrecordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

He teaches at Trinity College of Music in London.


PIETERSCHOEMANLEADER

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regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its ownrecord label. The recordings on its own label are takenmainly from live concerts given with distinguishedconductors over the years including the Orchestra’sPrincipal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, throughHaitink, Solti and Tennstedt, to Masur and Jurowski.

Recent additions to the catalogue have includedacclaimed releases of Christmas choral music conductedby Vladimir Jurowski, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, Verdi’s Requiemconducted by Jesús López-Cobos, Holst’s The Planetsconducted by Vladimir Jurowski and Elgar’s SymphonyNo. 1 and Sea Pictureswith Vernon Handley and JanetBaker. The Orchestra’s own-label CDs are also widelyavailable to download. Visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop for thelatest releases.

The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners throughits rich programme of community and school-basedactivity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, whichincludes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, itsFoyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme foroutstanding young instrumentalists, and regular familyand schools concerts.

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

There are many ways to experience and stay in touchwith the Orchestra’s activities: visit www.lpo.org.uk,subscribe to our podcast series, download our iPhoneapplication and join us on Facebook and Twitter.

‘ … a simply tremendous performance ofMahler’s 3rd Symphony … Jurowski and hisplayers plunged us into a winter ofdiscontent so profoundly expectant thateven the inveterate coughers were silenced.’EDWARD SECKERSON, THE INDEPENDENT, 23 SEPTEMBER 2010

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VLADIMIR JUROWSKICONDUCTOR

Born in Moscow, the son of conductor Mikhail Jurowski,Vladimir Jurowski completed the first part of hismusical studies at the Music College of the MoscowConservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family toGermany where he continued his studies in Dresdenand Berlin, studying conducting with Rolf Reuter andvocal coaching with Semion Skigin. In 1995 he made hisinternational debut at the Wexford Festival, where heconducted Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night. The same yearsaw his brilliant debut at the Royal Opera House CoventGarden in Nabucco. In 1996 he joined the ensemble ofKomische Oper Berlin, becoming First Kapellmeister in1997 and continuing to work at the Komische Oper on apermanent basis until 2001.

Since 1997 Vladimir Jurowski has been a guest at someof the world’s leading musical institutions including theRoyal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro La Fenice diVenezia, Opéra Bastille de Paris, Théâtre de la MonnaieBruxelles, Maggio Musicale Festival Florence, RossiniOpera Festival Pesaro, Edinburgh Festival, SemperoperDresden and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (where heserved as Principal Guest Conductor between 2000 and2003). In 1999 he made his debut at the MetropolitanOpera New York with Rigoletto.

In January 2001 Vladimir Jurowski took up the positionof Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera and in2003 was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming theOrchestra’s Principal Conductor in September 2007. Healso holds the title of Principal Artist of the Orchestra ofthe Age of Enlightenment, and from 2005 to 2009served as Principal Guest Conductor of the RussianNational Orchestra with whom he will continue to workin the years ahead.

Vladimir Jurowski is a regular guest with many of theworld’s leading orchestras including the BerlinPhilharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw,Bavarian Radio Symphony, Dresden Staatskapelle, LosAngeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras aswell as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Highlights ofthe 2010/11 season and beyond include his debuts withthe Vienna Philharmonic, Cleveland, San FranciscoSymphony and Mahler Chamber Orchestras, and returnvisits to the Chicago Symphony, Chamber Orchestra ofEurope, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, StPetersburg Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras.

His operatic engagements have included Jenůfa, TheQueen of Spades and Hänsel und Gretel at theMetropolitan Opera, Parsifal and Wozzeck at WelshNational Opera, War and Peace at the Opéra National deParis, Eugene Onegin at La Scala Milan, as well as DieZauberflöte, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff,Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Rake’s Progress andPeter Eötvös’ Love and Other Demons at GlyndebourneOpera. Future engagements include new productions ofDie Meistersinger and The Cunning Little Vixen atGlyndebourne, Die Frau ohne Schatten at theMetropolitan Opera, Russlan and Ludmila at the BolshoiTheatre, and Iolanta at the Dresden Semperoper.

Jurowski’s discography includes the first ever recordingof Giya Kancheli’s cantata Exil for ECM (1994), L’Étoile duNord by Meyerbeer for Naxos-Marco Polo (1996), andWerther for BMG (1999) as well as live recordings ofworks by Rachmaninov, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Britten,Brahms and Shostakovich on the London PhilharmonicOrchestra’s own label, and Prokofiev’s Betrothal in aMonastery on Glyndebourne Opera’s own label. He alsorecords for PentaTone with the Russian NationalOrchestra, with releases to date including Tchaikovsky’sSuite No. 3 and Stravinsky’s Divertimento from Le Baiserde la fée, Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos 1 and 6,Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and Tchaikovsky’s HamletIncidental Music. Glyndebourne have released DVDrecordings of his performances of La Cenerentola, GianniSchicchi, Die Fledermaus and Rachmaninov’s The MiserlyKnight, and other recent DVD releases include Hänselund Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera New York, andhis first concert as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’sPrincipal Conductor featuring works by Wagner, Bergand Mahler (released by Medici Arts).

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CHRISTIAN TETZLAFFVIOLIN

Equally at home in the classical and romantic repertoireas in contemporary music, Christian Tetzlaff setsstandards with his interpretations of the violinconcertos of Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky as wellas Berg, Ligeti and Shostakovich. He is particularlyrenowned for his incomparable performances of theBach Solo Sonatas and Partitas.

In the 2010/11 season Christian curates a series ofprojects as a Carnegie Hall ‘Perspectives’ artist, includingthe world première of Harrison Birtwistle’s ViolinConcerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra andJames Levine, a play-conduct project with the Orchestraof St Luke’s, violin duos with Antje Weithaas, concerts aspart of the Tetzlaff Quartet and performances with theEnsemble ACJW and Sir Simon Rattle. He will also give amasterclass presented by the Weill Music Institute foryoung violinists and pianists. In Europe he performswith the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra andAndris Nelsons, Philharmonia Orchestra with Esa-PekkaSalonen and NDR Sinfonieorchester with John Storgards.He continues to be a regular guest soloist withorchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre deParis and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

Christian performs at major festivals including those inEdinburgh and Lucerne, and at the BBC Proms, inaddition to summer festivals throughout the US. He alsogives recitals with chamber partners Leif Ove Andsnes,Alexander Lonquich and Lars Vogt, as well as his ownTetzlaff Quartet.

Christian Tetzlaff has recorded for the Virgin/EMI,Hänssler, Decca, Pentatone and Arte Nova labels. Hisextensive discography includes the violin concertos ofDvořák, Mozart, Lalo, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. He hasalso recorded Sibelius’s complete works for violin andorchestra, Bartók’s sonatas for violin and piano with LeifOve Andsnes, and the three Brahms Violin Sonatas withLars Vogt. His latest disc features Bach’s complete SoloSonatas and Partitas for Hänssler. This year three CDreleases are planned: Szymanowski’s Violin Concertowith the Vienna Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez onthe Deutsche Grammophon label, Piano Trios bySchumann with Leif Ove Andsnes and Tanja Tetzlaff onVirgin/EMI and the first CD with the Tetzlaff Quartet ofworks by Sibelius and Schönberg on CAvi. Christian’srecordings have received numerous prizes and awards,including the Diapason d’Or, the Edison prize, theMidem Classical Award and the ECHO Klassik prize,together with several nominations for Grammy Awards.In 2005 Musical America named him ‘Instrumentalist ofthe Year’.

Born in Hamburg in 1966, Christian Tetzlaff studied atthe Lübeck Conservatory with Uwe-Martin Haiberg andin Cincinnati with Walter Levin. He now lives nearFrankfurt.

Christian Tetzlaff plays a violin by the German violinmaker Peter Greiner.

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An Instrumental Role: The Thomas Beecham Group

Tonight’s performance has been designated the Thomas Beecham Group Concert in recognition of thegenerous support provided to the London Philharmonic Orchestra by individuals with a passion formusic. Exactly fifty years since his death, Beecham’s dedication and spirit of musical adventure live onin the commitment of these vital donors to the Orchestra’s work. Many have chosen to associate theirmajor annual gift with the chair of a specific musician, and after tonight’s concert will join theirsupported player and the evening’s artists for a celebratory dinner and a talk from Beecham’s son, whois with us at the Royal Festival Hall tonight.

Our donors are vital members of the Orchestra’s family, and at a time of state retrenchment theirgenerosity is ever more important in helping us to perform to the highest standards both on and offthe concert platform, in London, at Glyndebourne, and on tour around the world. In return for theirsupport they enjoy unparalleled access to the musicians and a wide range of benefits, including theopportunity to arrange private recitals and see the Orchestra perform abroad.

For further information about the Thomas Beecham Group and to find out how you can play aprincipal role in the life of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, please contact Nick Jackman,Development Director, on 020 7840 4211.

‘Our enjoyment of concerts is enhanced through pre-concert and interval receptions with fellow musiclovers and members of the Orchestra. Post-concert dinners with soloists and conductors, intimatechamber concerts, invitations to other cultural activities and visits to Glyndebourne all make being partof the Thomas Beecham Group so special.’ GARF AND GILL COLLINS

We are grateful to the following donors for their generous major gifts:

Below (left to right): Vesselin Gellev (Sub-Leader), Sue Bohling (Principal Cor Anglais) and Andrew Barclay (Co-PrincipalPercussion) are amongst the players whose chairs are supported by members of the Thomas Beecham Group.

Garf & Gill Collins Andrew DavenportDavid & Victoria Graham FullerRichard Karl GoeltzJohn & Angela KesslerMr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg Mann

Mr & Mrs Richard & Victoria SharpCaroline, Jamie & Zander SharpJulian & Gill SimmondsEric TomsettThe Tsukanov FamilyGuy & Utti Whittaker

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Julian Anderson, although in his first season as theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra’s Composer inResidence, is no stranger to the Orchestra: he was itsComposer in Focus in 2002/03, he wrote Alleluia for it toperform at the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall in2007, and for some years he has been a member of theLondon Philharmonic Choir. Born in London, Andersonstudied composition with John Lambert at the RoyalCollege of Music, with Alexander Goehr at CambridgeUniversity, and in Paris with Tristan Murail. He has beenComposer in Residence with Sinfonia 21, Composer inAssociation with the City of Birmingham SymphonyOrchestra, and a Daniel Lewis Young Composer Fellowwith the Cleveland Orchestra; and from 2002 until thisseason he has been artistic director of the PhilharmoniaOrchestra’s early-evening ‘Music of Today’ series.Meanwhile, he has taught at the Royal College, atHarvard University, and since 2007 at the GuildhallSchool of Music and Drama. Anderson’s music belongsuncompromisingly to the modernist mainstream, but ithas always succeeded in making a direct connection

with audiences because of his imaginative handling ofcolour, his clear delineation of mood, and his use ofsimple melodic material, often derived from differentfolk traditions. He is currently engaged in tackling a newchallenge, an opera for English National Opera based onthe Oedipus trilogy.

Anderson wrote The Crazed Moon in 1997, in responseto a BBC commission for the BBC National Orchestra ofWales and its then conductor Tadaaki Otaka. The title isthat of a poem by one of the most moon-struck ofpoets, W.B. Yeats, from a collection published in 1933; itbegins with a memorable image:

Crazed through much child-bearingThe moon is staggering in the sky

In Anderson’s mind, these lines became linked with abeautiful lunar eclipse that he observed in March 1996.But the lunar imagery is overlaid by the fact that thework is also an elegy for a composer friend, GraemeSmith, who had died suddenly in September 1995 atthe age of 24.

PROGRAMME NOTES

THE CRAZED MOON

A POWERFUL ELEGY, A LYRICAL CONCERTO AND ADRAMATIC SYMPHONY

Tonight’s programme opens with a work by the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra’s current Composer in ResidenceJulian Anderson, The Crazed Moon. It is an elegy for acomposer friend, Graeme Smith, whose initials,translated into musical notation as G and E flat,permeate the work’s distant fanfares, keening melodies,powerful climaxes and sombre chorales. Similarly all-pervasive is the drum-tap figure which opensBeethoven’s Violin Concerto and recurs throughout thefirst movement – including the cadenza which the

composer wrote for his little-known adaptation of thepiece as a piano concerto, and which Christian Tetzlaffhas arranged for the violin. But, despite the drum-taps,the predominant qualities of the work are lyricism, as inthe profoundly still slow movement, and virtuosity, as inthe sparkling rondo finale. Last comes Tchaikovsky’sfamous Fourth Symphony, which begins like Anderson’spiece with a solemn fanfare. Here it symbolises thethreat of Fate, which hangs over the dramatic firstmovement, recedes in the song-like slow movement andthe ingenious collage-like scherzo, and returns in thecourse of the finale, only to be swept away by thecheerful rejoicing of a folk festival.

JulianANDERSON

Born 1967

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PROGRAMME NOTES

This tragic occurrence dictated the nature of much ofthe piece: predominantly slow, with tolling bells, heavychords, keening melodic lines, and climaxes not only ofmourning but also of protest. But two things make itsexpressive course over its 13-minute durationunpredictable. One is the overall plan of the work, whichlike a film sequence cuts between different elementsdeveloping independently of one another. The other isthe incorporation as a recurring musical idea of GraemeSmith’s initials, G.S., which in German note-names spellG and E flat (Es). These two notes make a bright majorthird, which whenever it is used, harmonically ormelodically, stands out in the darker, atonal context, topoignant effect.

The piece begins with fanfares for three offstagetrumpets, growing out of the ‘G.S.’ motif but endingwith a piercing dissonance. The rest of the orchestraenters in an episode marked Lento funebre (‘slow andfunereal’), which gradually builds up from a single linein the lowest register to full and complex textures, butdies away suddenly. The major third of ‘G.S.’ returnsinsistently to begin a passage of lamenting melodies onhigh woodwind and solo violins, which again graduallyincreases in density, to reach an Agitato molto (‘veryagitated’) climax.

The next section, marked Molto cantabile e sempre lirico(‘very song-like and always lyrical’), is identified by thecomposer as the ‘central plateau’ of the piece. It is basedon a sustained melody, beginning with E flat and G oncemore, which is treated in heterophony, in other wordsplayed in different rhythmic variants at once – afavourite technique of the composer, arising from hisinterest in folk traditions. As the melody continues tounfold in ever-proliferating textures, it is punctuated byincisive alarm-calls on high woodwind, trumpets andbells. Finally, the melody accelerates and solidifies into asingle line, leading to a big chord over which the alarm-calls sound even more forcefully – a point whichAnderson identifies as the moment of lunar eclipse.

Calm is restored in a sequence of chorale-like chordprogressions for strings, sometimes reinforced by thewind, against a background of bells and gongs tolling‘G.S.’; this culminates in a double skein of wind andstring chorales in dense harmonies. Then, as theharmonic progression of the Lento funebre episode nearthe start is resumed and brought to a resolution, theoffstage trumpet fanfares of the very opening return –though the last sound is an E natural dying away in thedouble-basses.

Beethoven wrote his only surviving Violin Concerto (anearly one in C major is now mostly lost) towards the endof 1806, for a concert given in Vienna on 23 Decemberby his violinist friend Franz Clement. The manuscriptshows many signs of haste – in fact it has beendescribed as ‘a mass of crossings out and rewriting’;and this seems to bear out the statement byBeethoven’s pupil Czerny that the work was written very

rapidly and completed ‘scarcely two days’ before theperformance. In keeping with what seem (according tocontemporary accounts) to have been the qualities ofClement’s playing, the Concerto is more lyrical thandramatic in nature, and the solo episodes are lightlyscored so that they do not require great power, but thesolo part does make considerable technical demands,especially in the upper register.

VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, OP. 61

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF violin

Allegro ma non troppo | Larghetto – | Rondo: [Allegro]

cadenzas by Beethoven, arranged by Christian Tetzlaff

Ludwig vanBEETHOVEN

1770-1827

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PROGRAMME NOTES

The Violin Concerto is laid out on the same plan asBeethoven’s other later concertos, the Triple Concertoand the last two for piano: that is, with an extremelyspacious first movement balanced by the remainingtwo, a slow movement leading without a break into arondo finale. The opening drum-tap figure – anextremely unusual start for a classical concerto –permeates the first movement, sometimes reinforcingthe stability of the prevailing key, sometimes disruptingit. It is nearly always played quietly, and its first and onlyfortissimo statement marks a point of specialsignificance, the start of the recapitulation. Therecapitulation also ends fortissimo, at the usual pausefor a cadenza; but, less usually, the soloist continueswith the orchestra after the cadenza, playing the serenesecond subject complete and unadorned for the firsttime.

The tranquillity of this moment is regained in theLarghetto, a set of variations which also incorporatestowards the end a second theme and a variant of that.This is the still centre of the work – literally still,because, although the principal theme takes onecharacteristic turn away from the home key and back toit, the basic tonality of G major prevails throughout themovement. The dreamlike atmosphere is enhanced bythe subdued scoring, for clarinets, bassoons, horns, andstrings with the violins muted.

Only at the end does a sudden string fortissimo, withthe violin mutes now off, announce a change of moodand a transition – effected by another cadenza – to thefinale. This is a Rondo with three subsidiary episodes:the second sharing a lyrical G minor melody betweenthe soloist and the bassoon in its expressive tenorregister; the last leading, by way of a cadenza, not to afinal reprise of the main theme but straight to a coda.The dancing main theme of the movement isintroduced each time by the soloist first at the bottomof the violin’s range, quiet but firm, on the G string, andthen high above the stave, sweetly sung, on the E string– a pair of contrasting statements which together seemto encapsulate the very nature of the violin.

Beethoven never wrote cadenzas for his Violin Concerto,leaving soloists to devise or improvise their own, as wasthe custom of the time. But in 1809 he did write acomplete set for his little-known transcription of thework for piano and orchestra. This set includes aremarkable cadenza for the first movement, on anexpansive scale and at one point breaking into a marchaccompanied by the drum-tap figure on the timpani –an unprecedented intervention into what wastraditionally the preserve of the soloist. In tonight’sperformance, Christian Tetzlaff will play theseBeethoven cadenzas, in his own adaptation for violin.

INTERVAL 20 minutes

An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.

Hearevery noteHard of hearing? Visit the cloakroom for equipment to improve your concert experience.

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PROGRAMME NOTES

Tchaikovsky wrote most of this Symphony in 1877: theyear of his greatest emotional crisis, unresolved andintensified by his impossible marriage, and culminatingin a suicide attempt; but also the year in whichNadezhda von Meck, the wealthy widow with whom hecorresponded prolifically and intimately for thirteenyears, first settled on him enough money to enable himto live and work in comfort. It was to her, though inprint only as ‘my best friend’, that he dedicated theSymphony; and it was also to her that he wrote, early in1878, outlining the programme behind the work. Thisletter (translated in full in David Brown’s biography ofthe composer) was of course written after the event,and in a postscript Tchaikovsky described his attempt tointerpret his music in words as ‘confused andinadequate’. But all the same it is of value in indicatingsomething of his ideas and intentions, and in particularhis conception of the Symphony – under the influence,surely, of Bizet’s Carmen, which he had seen in Parisearly in 1876 – as dominated by the idea of Fate, that‘force which prevents the impulse to happiness fromachieving its goal’ and ‘hangs above your head like thesword of Damocles, and unwaveringly, constantlypoisons the soul’.

This notion is embodied in the stern fanfares of theintroduction to the first movement – after which themain theme of the ensuing Moderato con anima (‘withsoul’) depicts the resulting ‘cheerless and hopelessfeeling’ which ‘grows yet stronger and more burning’,and the second-subject group represents a retreat fromreality into a world of day-dreams. This dream world, setin the correspondingly distant keys of A flat minor and B major, is, as John Warrack has pointed out, ‘that of theballet’: the dance measure implied by the sub-headingin movimento di valse in Tchaikovsky’s tempo markingcomes increasingly to the fore, though always in the

form of a waltz in phrases of three bars, written as 9/8.The ‘Fate’ theme recurs three times in the mountingexcitement of the development section, and then againafter the much altered and truncated recapitulation(which is in D minor and F major) and in the muchfaster coda. ‘Thus’, in Tchaikovsky’s words, ‘all life is anunbroken alternation of hard reality with swiftly passingdreams and visions of happiness.’

The two middle movements are more straightforward inform and expression. The description in modo dicanzona in the heading of the B flat minor slowmovement indicates a song-like style, exemplified in theoboe’s first long melody, and also the ‘song form’ ofA–B–A – though this is complicated by the fact thatthere are two alternating principal ideas in the outersections, the second beginning as an inversion of thefirst. Tchaikovsky said that this movement suggested‘that melancholy feeling which comes in the eveningwhen, weary from your labour, you are sitting alone’,reflecting on a host of distant memories: ‘happymoments, when the young blood boiled, and life wassatisfying ... painful moments, irreparable losses’.

The Scherzo, the composer went on, ‘expresses nodefinite feeling’, but ‘is made up of capriciousarabesques, ... fleeting images’, including ‘a picture ofdrunken peasants and a street song’, and later‘somewhere in the distance, a military procession’. Butthis unusual movement – in 2/4 metre, rather than thetriple time then still expected of a scherzo – seemschiefly concerned with what Tchaikovsky called in anearlier letter ‘a new instrumental effect of which I havegreat hopes’. The strings play pizzicato throughout themovement: the scherzo sections are for them alone. Thetrio is in two sections, the first for woodwind and thesecond for the brass and timpani. And in a tailpiece to

SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN F MINOR, OP. 36

Andante sostenuto – Moderato con anima | Andantino in modo di canzona | Scherzo (Pizzicato ostinato): Allegro | Finale: Allegro con fuoco

Pyotr IlyichTCHAIKOVSKY

1840-1893

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the trio, and again in a coda to the whole movement,the three elements, and their different tempi andthematic ideas, are ingeniously combined.

The finale has been analysed by different writers interms of variation and sonata forms, but it is most likelyto be perceived as a kind of rondo, in which statementsof the brilliant opening flourish in F major – joined laterby a march-like idea in the same key – alternate with asubsidiary theme in various minor keys. This subsidiarytheme, a Russian folk song called ‘In the fields therestood a birch tree’, also forms the basis for two

developmental episodes. The second of theseculminates in the return of the ‘Fate’ theme from thefirst movement – after which the two major-key themesreturn in reverse order to launch a triumphant coda.Tchaikovsky’s programme here speaks of finding joyamidst the merry-making of the people, who ‘have notnoticed that you are solitary and sad’. ‘Rejoice in others’rejoicing’, he wrote to Madame von Meck, but really tohimself. ‘To live is still possible!’

Programme notes by Anthony Burton © 2011

PROGRAMME NOTES

WELCOMETO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

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FoundationThe Swan TrustJohn Thaw FoundationThe Underwood TrustGarfield Weston FoundationYouth Music

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RECORDINGS ON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. CDs may alsobe purchased from all good retail outlets or through the London Philharmonic Orchestra: telephone 0207840 4242 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) or visit the website www.lpo.org.uk

LPO-0009 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony

‘... it is a wonderfully vivid recording of an exceptionally vibrant, immaculatelyplayed performance ... a superb disc.’THE GUARDIAN, 2 JUNE 2006

LPO-0026 Klaus Tennstedt conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Choral)as part of Volume 3 of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 75thAnniversary Box Sets. Soloists Lucia Popp, Ann Murray, Anthony RolfeJohnson and René Pape join the London Philharmonic Choir for thisperformance.

‘ The other jewel is Tennstedt’s Beethoven: Ninth Symphony, crackling withnervous energy from the start and showcasing the LPO’s intuitive relationshipwith its late lamented German chief.’ ANDREW CLARK, FINANCIAL TIMES, 27 OCTOBER 2007

This volume features four CDs by the Orchestra’s most recent PrincipalConductors: Klaus Tennstedt (Beethoven Symphony No. 9), Franz Welser-Möst (Strauss, Mozart, Schubert and Bruckner), Kurt Masur (ShostakovichSymphonies Nos 1 and 5) and Vladimir Jurowski (Shostakovich SymphonyNo. 14).

LPO-0039 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos 1 and 6

‘Both are exceptional performances, superbly recorded with a breathtakingrange of dynamics … In both works, the playing of the LPO is world class.’ANDREW CLEMENTS, THE GUARDIAN, 4 SEPTEMBER 2009

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ADMINISTRATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Martin HöhmannChairmanStewart McIlwhamVice-ChairmanSue BohlingSimon CarringtonLord Currie*Jonathan Dawson*Anne McAneneyGeorge PenistonSir Bernard Rix*Kevin RundellSir Philip Thomas*Sir John Tooley*The Rt Hon. Lord Wakeham DL*Timothy Walker AM †*Non-Executive Directors

THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC TRUST

Pehr Gyllenhammar ChairmanDesmond Cecil CMGRichard Karl GoeltzJonathan Harris CBE FRICSDr Catherine C. HøgelMartin HöhmannAngela KesslerClive Marks OBE FCAVictoria SharpJulian SimmondsTimothy Walker AM †Laurence Watt

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THELONDON PHILHARMONICORCHESTRA, INC.

We are very grateful to theBoard of the American Friendsof the London PhilharmonicOrchestra for its support ofthe Orchestra’s activities inthe USA.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

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GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

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www.lpo.org.ukVisit the website for fulldetails of LondonPhilharmonic Orchestraactivities.

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Photographs of Beethovenand Tchaikovsky courtesy ofthe Royal College of Music,London. Photograph of JulianAnderson by Maurice Foxall.

Photograph on the front cover by Karen Robinson.

Programmes printed by Cantate.

†Supported by Macquarie Group

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FUTURE CONCERTSAT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

Wednesday 23 March 2011 | 7.30pm

Brett Dean Komarov’s Fall (London première)John Adams Dr Atomic SymphonyHolst The Planets

Marin Alsop conductorLondon Philharmonic Choir

Saturday 26 March 2011 | 7.30pm

Elgar The Dream of Gerontius

Edward Gardner conductorChristine Rice mezzo sopranoPaul Groves tenorAlastair Miles bassLondon Philharmonic ChoirChoir of Clare College, Cambridge

6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert EventRoyal Festival HallEdward Gardner talks about Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.

Saturday 16 April 2011 | 7.30pm

Liszt Nocturnal Procession and Mephisto Waltz No. 1Dvořák Cello ConcertoTchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian)

Vladimir Jurowski conductorAlban Gerhardt cello

MAHLER ANNIVERSARYWednesday 20 April 2011 | 7.30pm

Mahler Suite from the Orchestral Works of JS BachShostakovich Violin Concerto No. 2Webern Five Movements, Op. 5Beethoven String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 (arrangedfor string orchestra by Mahler)

Vladimir Jurowski conductorJanine Jansen violin

6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert EventRoyal Festival HallSurrey University music lecturer Jeremy Barhamdiscusses ‘Pasts and Futures: Mahler the arrangerrethinks history’.

Barlines – FREE Post-Concert EventLevel 2 Foyer at Royal Festival HallAn informal discussion with Vladimir Jurowski followingthe evening’s performance.

Wednesday 4 May 2011 | 7.30pm

Wagner Overture, Die MeistersingerR Strauss Four Last SongsTchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

Vladimir Jurowski conductorChristine Brewer soprano

TO BOOKTickets £9-£38 | Premium seats £55

London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office020 7840 4242 | www.lpo.org.ukMon-Fri 10am-5pm; no booking fee

Southbank Centre Ticket Office | 0844 847 9920www.southbankcentre.co.uk/lpoDaily, 9am-8pm. £2.75 telephone / £1.75 online bookingfees; no fee for Southbank Centre members

Marin Alsop andEdward Gardner

Christine Rice andAlastair Miles

Vladimir Jurowskiand ChristineBrewer

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19 march 2011 lpo programme notes

Documents

london chevalier

beethovenviolin concerto

duke of kent kgchief

principalanne mcaneney

d major

f minor

macquarie groupconcert