3 feb 2010 prog notes - lpo

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALLWednesday 3 February 2010 | 7.30 pm

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS

OSMO VÄNSKÄconductor

HELENA JUNTUNENsoprano

SIBELIUSLuonnotar (10’)

SIBELIUSSymphony 4 in A minor (32’)

INTERVAL

SIBELIUSSymphony 5 in E flat (31’)

PROGRAMME £3

CONTENTS2 List of Players3 Orchestra History4 Leader5 Osmo Vänskä6 Helena Juntunen7 Programme Notes12 Recordings13 Supporters14 BBC Radio 3 /

Southbank Centre15 Administration16 Future Concerts

The timings shown are notprecise and are given only asa guide.

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

† supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

This concert is being recordedby BBC Radio 3 for broadcaston Monday 15 February 2010.

48982 LPO 3 February 10.qxd:48982 LPO 3 February 10 27/1/10 07:29

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINSPieter Schoeman* LeaderJulia RumleyChair supported byMrs StevenWard

Benjamin RoskamsKatalin VarnagyCatherine CraigThomas EisnerTina GruenbergMartin HöhmannChair supported byRichard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey LynnRobert PoolFlorence SchoemanSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangRebecca ShorrockAlain PetitclercPeter Nall

SECOND VIOLINSClare Duckworth PrincipalChair supported byRichard and Victoria Sharp

Jeongmin KimJoseph MaherKate BirchallChair supported by Davidand Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaAshley StevensAndrew ThurgoodDeanWilliamsonSioni WilliamsPeter GrahamMila MustakovaSheila Law

VIOLASAlexander Zemtsov* PrincipalFionaWinningRobert DuncanAnthony ByrneChair supported byJohn and Angela Kessler

Susanne MartensBenedetto PollaniEmmanuella ReiterDaniel CornfordIsabel PereiraMiranda DavisSarah MalcolmKarin Norlen

CELLOSKristina Blaumane PrincipalChair supported bySimon Yates and Kevin Roon

Susanne Beer Co-PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueSue SutherleySusanna RiddellPavlos CarvalhoTae-Mi SongTom RoffHelen Rathbone

DOUBLE BASSESKevin Rundell* PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonRichard LewisDavid JohnsonRoger LinleyHelen RowlandsCatherine Ricketts

FLUTESLaura Lucas Guest PrincipalEilidh Gillespie

PICCOLOStewart McIlwham* Principal

OBOESIan Hardwick PrincipalAngela Tennick

CLARINETSNicholas Carpenter PrincipalEmily Sutcliffe

BASS CLARINETPaul Richards Principal

BASSOONSGareth Newman* PrincipalSimon Estell

HORNSJohn Ryan PrincipalMartin HobbsBrendan ThomasGareth MollisonNicolas Wolmark

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

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal

TROMBONESMark Templeton* PrincipalDavid Whitehouse

BASS TROMBONELyndon Meredith Principal

TIMPANISimon Carrington* PrincipalAntoine Bedewi

PERCUSSIONKeith Millar Principal

HARPSRachel Masters* PrincipalHelen Sharp

* Holds a professorialappointment in London

Chair SupportersThe London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are notpresent at this concert:

Caroline, Jamie and Zander SharpJulian and Gill Simmonds


London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3


Seventy-seven 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 illustriousmusician to another, amongst themSir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, KlausTennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive traditioncontinued in September 2007whenVladimir Jurowskibecame the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor, and in afurther excitingmove, 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 withmany of theworld’s most sought after conductors and soloists.Concert highlights in 2009/10 include Between TwoWorlds – an exploration of themusic and times ofAlfred Schnittke; a Sibelius symphony cycle withOsmoVänskä in January/February 2010; aperformance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah conducted byKurt Masur and dedicated to the 20th Anniversary ofthe Fall of the BerlinWall; and newworks byRautavaara, Philip Glass, Ravi Shankar and theOrchestra’s Composer in Residence, Mark-Anthony

Turnage. Imaginative programming and a commitmentto newmusic are at the heart of the Orchestra’s activity,with regular commissions and world premièreperformances.

In addition to its London season, the Orchestra hasflourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, andperforms regularly around the UK. It is unique incombining these concert activities with esteemed operaperformances each summer at Glyndebourne FestivalOpera where it has been the Resident SymphonyOrchestra 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 it made the first ever visit to China byaWestern orchestra. Touring continues to form asignificant part of the Orchestra's schedule and issupported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner of

© Richard Cannon

‘… the standard of execution by the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Choirof the Moscow Conservatory, magnificentlycorralled by Jurowski, was exemplary.’ANDREW CLARK, FINANCIAL TIMES, 19 NOVEMBER 2009




the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2009/10include visits to Germany, Australia, France, China, theCanaries and the USA.

Having long been embraced by the recording,broadcasting and film industries, the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domesticand international television and radio. It also worksextensively with the Hollywood and UK film industries,recording soundtracks for blockbuster motion picturesincluding the Oscar-winning score for The Lord of theRings trilogy and scores for Lawrence of Arabia, TheMission, Philadelphia and East is East.

The Orchestra also enjoys strong relationships with themajor record labels and in 2005 began reaching out tonew global audiences through the release of live, studioand archive recordings on its own CD label. Recentadditions to the catalogue have included acclaimedreleases of early Britten works conducted by VladimirJurowski; Mahler’s Symphony 6 under the baton of KlausTennstedt; Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1 and 6 conductedby Vladimir Jurowski; Sir Thomas Beecham recordings ofMozart, Delius and Rimsky-Korsakov from the 1930s; aCD of John Ireland’s works taken from his 70th BirthdayConcert in 1949; and Dvor̆ák’s Requiem conducted byNeeme Järvi. The Orchestra’s own-label releases areavailable to download by work or individual track from itswebsite: www.lpo.org.uk/shop.

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 helpmaintain 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 aremany ways to experience and stay in touchwith the Orchestra’s activities: visit www.lpo.org.uk,subscribe to our podcast series and join us on Facebook.

In 2002, PieterSchoeman joined theLondon PhilharmonicOrchestra as Co-Leader. In 2008 he was appointed Leader.

Born in South Africa, hemade his solo debut with theCape Town Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten. Hestudied with Jack deWet in South Africa, winningnumerous competitions, including the 1984World YouthConcerto Competition in America. In 1987 he was offeredthe Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study withEdouard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talentwas spotted by Pinchas Zukermanwho recommendedthat hemove to NewYork to study with Sylvia Rosenberg.In 1994 he became her teaching assistant at IndianaUniversity, 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 QueenElizabeth Hall in London. As a chambermusician heregularly performs at London’s prestigiousWigmore Hall.As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, hehas performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concerto andBenjamin Britten’s Double Concerto, which was recordedfor the Orchestra’s own record label. Most recently healso played concertos with theWiener Concertverein andOrchestre Philharmonique de Nice.

In 1995 Pieter Schoeman became Co-Leader of theOrchestre Philharmonique de Nice. During his tenurethere he performed frequently as Guest Leader with thesymphony orchestras of Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon,Baltimore and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.A frequent guest of the BBC Symphony Orchestra inLondon, Pieter Schoeman returned in October 2006 tolead that orchestra on a three week tour of Seoul, Beijing,Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Pieter Schoeman has recorded numerous violin soloswith the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos,Opera Rara, Naxos, the BBC and for American film andtelevision. He led the Orchestra in its soundtrackrecordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He teaches atTrinity College of Music.

PIETERSCHOEMANLEADER



OSMO VÄNSKÄCONDUCTOR

Praised for his intense and dynamic performances,Osmo Vänskä is recognised for compellinginterpretations of the standard, contemporary andNordic repertoires, as well as for the close rapport heestablishes with the musicians he leads.

In 2003, Vänskä became the tenth Music Director of theMinnesota Orchestra and has since drawnextraordinary reviews for concerts both at home andabroad, including appearances at Carnegie Hall andLincoln Center New York, major European tours, and avisit in 2009 to venues such as the Cologne and BerlinPhilharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Vienna Musikvereinand the Barbican in London. His Minnesota Orchestracontract has been renewed until 2015.

Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra have recentlycompleted a five-year, five-disc project to record thecomplete Beethoven symphonies on the BIS label. Thecollection has amassed rave reviews and their recordingof Beethoven’s Symphony 9 received a 2008 Grammynomination for ‘Best Orchestral Performance’. Last yearVänskä embarked on a series of new recordings,including all five Beethoven piano concertos withpianist Yevgeny Sudbin; a disc of Bruckner’s Symphony 4;and live recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concertos 1, 2and 3 and Concert Fantasiawith pianist Stephen Hough.

Vänskä was Music Director of the Lahti SymphonyOrchestra from 1988, and now holds the position ofConductor Laureate. He transformed the regionalensemble into one of Finland’s flagship orchestras.Their partnership has received widespread attentionthrough its collection of innovative Sibelius recordingson the BIS label and its international performances inLondon, Birmingham, Vienna and New York.

As a guest conductor in America, Vänskä has appearedwith the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony,Cleveland, National Symphony, New York Philharmonic,Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras. InEurope, he has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, BBCSymphony, Czech Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic,London Philharmonic and Royal ConcertgebouwOrchestras as well as the Gewandhaus OrchesterLeipzig and the Orchestre de Paris.

Osmo Vänskä began his music career as a clarinettist.He held the co-principal chair of the HelsinkiPhilharmonic from 1977-82 and the principal chair ofthe Turku Philharmonic from 1971-76. Followingconducting studies under Jorma Panula at Finland’sSibelius Academy, he was awarded first prize at the1982 Besançon International Young Conductors’Competition. Three years later he began his tenure withthe Lahti Symphony as Principal Guest Conductor, whilealso serving as Music Director of the Iceland SymphonyOrchestra and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. In addition,Vänskä served as Chief Conductor of the BBC ScottishSymphony Orchestra from 1997-2002.

In recent years, Vänskä has enjoyed a return toperforming on the clarinet. He has often playedchamber music with members of the MinnesotaOrchestra and has performed as a clarinettist at NapaValley’s Music in the Vineyards Festival and the MostlyMozart Festival in New York.

Vänskä has recorded extensively on the BIS label. Hisnumerous Sibelius recordings with the Lahti SymphonyOrchestra have amassed numerous awards, including a1996 Gramophone Award and Cannes Classical Awardfor the original version of the Symphony 5. His first-evercomplete recording of The Tempest won the 1993 PrixAcadémie Charles Cros, and his original version of theSibelius Violin Concerto with Leonidas Kavakos won the1991 Gramophone Awards for ‘Record of the Year’ and‘Best Concerto Recording’.

Vänskä was awarded an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Glasgow in recognition of his tenure asChief Conductor of the BBC Scottish SymphonyOrchestra, and was also honoured with a RoyalPhilharmonic Society Award for his outstandingcontribution to classical music.



HELENA JUNTUNENSOPRANO

One of the most successful young Finnish artists oftoday, soprano Helena Juntunen opened the 2007/08season as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in Geneva andHelsinki, as The Countess in Le nozze di Figaro in Niceand as Mimi in La bohème in her role debut in Helsinki.She also returned to the Minnesota Orchestra forBeethoven’s Symphony 9. Engagements this season andbeyond include her return to Malaga for Strauss’s FourLast Songs and Mahler’s Symphony 4, the title role inVeli-Matti Puumala’s opera Anna Liisa at the HelsinkiFestival, her debut in Gothenburg as Mimi, her roledebut as Marie/Marietta in Die tote Stadt in Nancy, andher debuts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam inSibelius’s The Tempest and with L’EnsembleIntercontemporain of Paris.

During the 2006/07 season she sang the role of Paminaat the Theater an der Wien and in Luxembourg, and therole of Jenny inMahagonny in Nancy and Luxembourg,as well as making her debut at the London Promsperforming Sibelius tone poems, and singing Mahler’sSymphony 2 in subscription concerts with theMinnesota Orchestra. She enjoyed a busy 2005/06season with Pamina at La Théâtre de la Monnaie inBrussels, followed by the same role in Nancy, Zdenka inArabella in Helsinki, Marie inWozzeck in Nice andPamina for the Aix-en-Provence Festival and the WienerFestwochen. In the same season she made her SalzburgFestival debut in Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, sangBarber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 in Malaga in Spain,and made her Minnesota Orchestra debut inBeethoven’s Symphony 9.

In 2004/05 Helena Juntunen made her debut in therole of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at the FinnishNational Opera, followed by her debut at Brussels’

Théâtre de la Monnaie as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte aswell as a return to the Savonlinna Festival for the role ofLiu in Turandot. The 2003/04 season was one of debutsfor Miss Juntunen, beginning with her Italian debut atthe Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa as Madama Cortese inIl viaggio a Reims, followed by her Antwerp debut asZdenka in Arabella, and her Dresden Staatsoper debutas Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. In October 2003 she madeher New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s WeilRecital Hall in a programme of Lieder and song inGerman, French, Finnish, Swedish and Italian. She alsomade her American stage debut as Marguerite in Faustwith the Connecticut Grand Opera. Earlier in the sameseason she appeared with the National Orchestra ofBelgium in Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5,among other works under the baton of Mikko Franckand took the the role of Liu in a new production ofPuccini's Turandot at the Savonlinna Festival.

At the 2002 Savonlinna Festival in Finland, HelenaJuntunen generated great critical acclaim in her debutas Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust. She has appeared atthe Finnish National Opera since the 1999-2000 season,most recently as Zdenka in Strauss’s Arabella andMadame Cortese in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims. She hasalso worked as a soloist with internationally renownedconductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-PekkaSaraste, Mikko Franck and Osmo Vänskä. Her repertoirealso encompasses the roles of Gilda in Rigoletto, Adinain L'elisir d’amore, both Mimi and Musetta in Labohème, Siebel in Gounod’s Faust, and MissWordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring, which she hasperformed in theatres throughout Finland.

Miss Juntunen’s discography to date includes the role ofHilda in Rautavaara’s Aleksis Kivi and Irene in The Houseof the Sun by the same composer. She has also recordeda solo CD of Finnish Songs by Leevi Madetoja, all ofwhich have been released by the Ondine label.

The recipient of numerous awards and prizes, HelenaJuntunen was awarded First Prize in the LappeenrantaSinging Competition 2002, the Tampere Opera GrandPrix in 2001 and the Timo Mustakallio SingingCompetition in 2000. She is an alumna of the SibeliusAcademy, and studied Lieder with ElisabethSchwarzkopf, Hartmut Holl, Mitsuko Shirai and IlmoRanta.



PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD

Tonight we get a snapshot of Sibelius from the period1909-1915 – a turbulent time for theman and hisbeloved Finland, but a period of rich creativity.

No two of Sibelius’s symphonic neighbours pose asstriking a contrast as the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies.The former conveys a bleakness and desolation that wasquite without precedent at the time of its firstperformance in 1911. If you leave at the interval, yourevening of music will have ended on one of themostunsettling symphonic conclusions in history: eightdisorientatedmezzo forte chords, neither triumphant nordefeated, determined nor resigned. The Fifth Symphony

also concludes with stand-alone orchestral chords, buthere themood couldn’t bemore different: inspired bynature, Sibelius crafted one of themost uplifting andbold symphonic full-stops in history.

In the remarkable music that precedes these differentendings, both symphonies could bid admirably for theaccolade of Sibelius’s finest. Both expose the composer’sunmatched ability to capture Finland’s national ideals,landscape and climate inmusic. Both display theircomposer’s hard-hitting, enchanting and stylisticallyunique orchestral craft. In Luonnotar, meanwhile, weglimpse not only Sibelius’s storytelling credentials butalso his ability to gift the Finnish language withmusic oftouching respect and clarity.

MIRACULOUS LOGIC:THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS

No conductor today has done more than OsmoVänskä to challenge and enrich our understanding ofthe great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Not only ishe a truly exceptional interpreter of the composer’smusic but he has also brought to light vastquantities of unknown or little known Sibelius music.

In a series of four concerts Vänskä takes us throughthe entire chain of Sibelius symphonies, pausing onthe way to explore some lesser known gems such asThe Wood Nymph and the Cantique and Devotion forcello and orchestra, as well as allowing us to hear thegreat orchestral tone poem Tapiola and theintoxicating vocal tone poem Luonnotar.

This evening Helena Juntunen joins us for Luonnotarand we hear two contrasting Sibelius symphonies –Nos 4 and 5.

‘Youmention interconnections between themesand other suchmatters, all of which are quitesubconscious onmy part. Only afterwards can onediscern this or that relationship but for themostpart one is merely the vessel. That miraculous logic(let us call it God) which governs a work of art, thatis the important thing.’JEAN SIBELIUS TO HIS FRIEND AXEL CARPELAN

Jean Sibelius1865-1957



PROGRAMME NOTES

Olipa impi, ilman tyttö,Kave Luonnotar korea,Ouostui elämätään,Aina yksin ollessansa,Avaroilla autioilla.Laskeusi lainehille,Aalto impeä ajeli,Vuotta seitsemän sataaVieri impi veen emona,Uipi luotehet, etelät,Uipi kaikki ilman rannat.Tuli suuri tuulen puuska,Meren kuohuille kohotti.”Voi, poloinen, päiviäni.Parempi olisi ollutIlman impenä elää.

Air’s young daughter was a virgin,Fairest daughter of creation.Long did she abide a virgin,Dwelling ever more so lonelyIn those far-extending deserts.After this the maid descendingSank upon the tossing billows,Seven long centuries together.Then she swam, the Water-MotherSouthward swam and swam to north-west.Swam around in all directions.Then a sudden mighty tempestThrew her up on the foamy waves.‘Oh how wretched is my fortuneBetter were it I had tarried,Virgin in the airy regions.

As Finland bristled under Russian rule in the late 19thand early 20th centuries, she searched for a true identityto which she could cleave. Creatively, the move toFinnish independence can trace its roots back as early as1829, when the writer Elias Lonnrot collated andtranscribed the Kalevala – a collection of folk storiespassed down by the indigenous people of the area forcenturies.

The impact of the Kalevala’s publication was huge andlong term. It soon seeped into every Finn’s consciousness,and remains a core part of Finnish education today.Sibelius found a wealth of material in the work; dozensof his pieces – including the orchestral depictions ofLemminkäinen and the broad landscape of his cantataKullervo – are directly inspired by it. In July 1913,following a commission from Britain’s Three ChoirsFestival, Sibelius acted on his longstanding ambition towrite a symphonic poem based on the Kalevala’screation myth of Luonnotar, ‘the daughter of the air’.

Luonnotar is said to have formed the heavens, the starsand the moon by cracking a duck’s egg – the sung texttells the story directly. Sibelius referred to the music hewrote as being ‘in my own very personal style, for which

I received very little recognition outside my circle offriends’. But it was well received in Gloucester Cathedralon 10 September 1913. The soprano dedicatee AinoAckte said of the song in advance of that performancethat ‘the compass and emphasis of the syllables as wellas the tone range of the words themselves were sonatural that I had the feeling I was merely reciting.’Sibelius had a rare ability to synthesize his nationallanguage with music, highlighted even more so when,as tonight, the exponent is a singer of classic Finnishtone.

Chronologically, Luonnotar came between the twosymphonies to be heard tonight. In the song you cansense the sparing means of the Fourth Symphony,building to a single climax as in that work’s thirdmovement. But there’s also a fascinating exploitation oftempo – particularly in depicting flight – which will befurther explored in the Fifth Symphony. Sibelius usesslight alterations in speed across the same thematicmaterial (in this case his distinct, gracefully butdeterminedly journeying music) to depict the descent ofthe duck onto Luonnotar’s protruding limb (cued in thetext), comparable with the ascent of the FifthSymphony’s swans.

LUONNOTAR, OP. 70

HELENA JUNTUNEN soprano



PROGRAMME NOTES

The Fourth Symphony is Sibelius’s most challenging anddisturbing creation. For some, it’s a masterpiece. For themusicians of the Vienna Philharmonic, it was a nemesis:they gave up rehearsing the work’s stark, troubled andsilence-stalked opening pages in 1912 and still haven’treturned to it. One critic in Finland referred to thesymphony as Barkbröd – a period of famine in thecountry which forced its people to eat the bark fromtrees to survive.

Even after he’d become the darling of Finland and a truevoice for independence, Sibelius retained hisweaknesses – namely alcohol, cigars, raucous socialisingand poor financial management. In 1908 he hadundergone several operations to remove an incipienttumour in his throat. The events and resulting enforcedabstinence from alcohol and tobacco constituted ‘afrightening warning from above’ for Sibelius. It hadpractical side effects, too: as he set to work on the

SYMPHONY 4 IN A MINOR, OP. 63

Tempo di moderato, quasi adagio | Allegro molto vivace | Il tempo largo | Allegro

Oi, Ukko, ylijumala!Käy tänne kutsuttaissa.”Tuli sotka, suora lintu,Lenti kaikki ilman rannat,Lenti luotehet, etelät,Ei löyä pesän soia.”Ei, ei, ei.Teenkö tuulehen tupani,Aalloillen asuinsiani,Tuuli kaatavi,Aalto viepi asuinsiani.”Niin silloin veen emonen,Nosti polvea lainehesta.Siihen sorsa laativi pesänsä,Alkoi hautoa.Impi tuntevi tulistuvaksi.Järkytti jäsenehensä.Pesä vierähti vetehen,Katkieli kappaleiksi.Muuttuivat munat kaunoisiksi:Munasen yläinen puoliYläiseksi taivahaksi,Yläpuoli valkeaista,Kuuksi kumottamahan,Mi kirjavaista,Tähiksi taivaalle,Ne tähiksi taivaalle.

Freely adapted from the Kalevala I, 111–242

Ukko, thou of Gods the highestHasten here for thou art needed.’Then a beauteous teal came flyingFlew around in all directions,Southward flew and flew to north-west,Searching for a spot to rest in.‘No! No! No!Should I make the wind my dwelling.Then the windsWill overturn it,Or the waves will sweep it from me.’Then the Mother of the WatersFrom the waves her knee uplifted;Gentle there the teal alightingSo she might her nest establishThen the maiden felt a burningAnd her limbs convulsive shaking,Rolled the eggs into the waterAnd to splinters they were broken,And to fragments they were shattered.From the egg’s upper fragmentRose the lofty arch of heaven,From the white the upper fragmentRose the moon that shines so brightly;All that in the egg was mottledNow became the stars in heaven.Now became the stars in heaven.

English translation:William Forsell Kirby (1907)


PROGRAMME NOTES

In the early 1910s, Sibelius could add to his ownpersonal financial and health problems those of Finlanditself. Russia was attempting to strengthen its grip onthe province, suspending the parliament andattempting to drive out the Finnish language. As Europeslipped towards the First World War, Finland, alignedwith Russia, faced not only mass slaughter but also the

annihilation of its timber-exporting industry. It’s a markof his humanity and nationalism that Sibelius was sodepressed and terrified at this prospect. ‘In a deep mireagain, but already I begin to see dimly the mountainthat I shall ascend’, he wrote as the outbreak of warapproached, ‘God opens His door for a moment and Hisorchestra plays the Fifth Symphony.’

SYMPHONY 5 IN E FLAT, OP. 82

Tempo di moderato – Allegro moderato | Andante mosso, quasi allegretto | Allegro molto – Un pochettinolargamente


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

Fourth Symphony in May 1909, Sibelius was informedthat his debts now amounted to a colossal 100,000Finnish marks.

The symphony effectively combines its composer’sinternal feelings of pain and anguish with the physicalterrain of a remote area of Karelia – the district ofeastern Finland in which the Kalevala tradition tookroot. Before starting work on the piece, Sibelius hadmade a visit to the bleak outpost of Koli with hisbrother-in-law. Its remoteness and snow-coveredcolourlessness are instantly recognisable in musicwhich seems sketched rather than painted. Alsosignificant is the distinct light of this area of Finland: inearly autumn, when Sibelius visited, the glowing, 22-hour light of summer makes way for the unsure, cooland similarly all-day darkness of winter.

Excerpts from Sibelius’s diary make disturbing readingagainst the music of the Fourth Symphony; thecomposer appears near mental collapse just as hismusic does close to tonal meltdown as it struggles tomaintain a hold on the home key of A minor. But whilethe work’s stark textures and periods of hesitance canfeel disorientating against the busy journeying of theThird and Fifth Symphonies, there is plenty of Sibelius’s

‘miraculous logic’ at work in the way the piece developsits material. The eerie ‘tritone’ interval that opens thesymphony (a C, D and F sharp growled on low strings) isa constant reference point, while other material isdeveloped extensively from small, fragmentary means.

The opening movement is the most desolate of the fourand perhaps the most affecting. It seems to searchhesitantly for light, which is occasionally forthcoming ina series of rich but strangely chilling shafts of brass.Like the finale, the second movement appears toinitiate a thaw, but its gaiety turns only to wringinginner turmoil as a brass salvo from the first movementre-appears, darkly transformed. The movement ishalted by three abrupt timpani strokes.

The soft, ambivalent nature of those timpani strokes isa chilling, disorientating tool. But the manner in whichSibelius ends his symphony is even more so: a handfulof lonelymezzo forte chords. Tchaikovsky and Brucknercreated something of a trend for ending symphonies ona pianissimo rather than the traditional forteBeethovenian full-stop, but never had a multi-movement piece wound up so suddenly on anexhausted middle ground like this.


PROGRAMME NOTES

Despite Sibelius’s depression, the prevailing mood ofthe new symphony would represent a distinct thawingfrom the cold darkness of the Fourth. Sibelius wasplanning it in his mind: themes were to involve theonset of spring, and the spirit of the composer’s countryhome at Järvenpää. Then, on the 12th April 1914, thesymphony’s genesis was rubber-stamped. Sibeliuswitnessed a sight which would affect him deeply andalmost write the Fifth Symphony’s main theme for him.It was a flock of sixteen swans, soaring slowly upwardsfrom the Järvenpää lake for their migration.

Sibelius was profoundly moved by the sighting. ‘One ofmy greatest experiences’, he wrote in his diary, ‘the FifthSymphony’s final theme – legato in the trumpets.’ Thesemi-programmatic nature implied by the swansprompted Sibelius to abandon sonata form for the firsttime in his symphonic oeuvre, though the feeling ofdevelopment towards a thematic goal is triumphantlyretained. There were originally four movements at thetime of the first performance in Helsinki on 8 December1915, Sibelius later telescoping his first movement andscherzo into the eventual opening movement.

The symphony opens with a glowing theme on hornsand woodwind followed by typically Sibelian woodwindactivity in thirds. After the entry of the strings the musicgains momentum and folds outwards, two halves of theorchestra falling over themselves in contrary motiontowards the proclamation of a major-fourth by thetrumpet. After the violins have worked furiously

stepping through a series of adjacent notes (anotherSibelius hallmark) the opening motif soon appearsagain, returning in another form as the symphony isinjected with optimism by an upward-pining theme inthe trumpets. As it goes on to incorporate themes fromSibelius’s original scherzo, the movement gathers pacefor a spirited conclusion.

Sibelius’s Andante is based on a five-note rhythm whichalmost becomes the basis for a set of variations. Incontrast, the final movement begins with frightened,scurrying strings. Soon enough one detects a spaciousidea growing from the bottom of the orchestral texture:it begins with the spelling out in the double basses of afifth, augmenting as the bottom note drops twice,stepping back up in the manner of an ostinato; here arethe Järvenpää swans. As it’s taken up by the horns, thetheme gains the pace and grandeur of flight, like thegraceful rise and fall of a feathered wing. Then themusic suddenly shifts key: Sibelius’s pedal-notedisappears like the falling away of a runway, and theswans – magically, gloriously – take flight. After moreintricate woodwind writing, the swans can be seen inthe distance, returning as if to bid Sibelius a finalfarewell. Again, they soar inspiringly upwards, cuttingthrough a tangling orchestral texture as if to break freefrom their creator’s earthly concerns, before six resignedand valedictory orchestral jabs bid them a final earthlyfarewell.

Programme notes by Andrew Mellor © 2010


Miraculous Logic: The Music of Jean Sibelius

Final Concert | Fri 5 February 2010 | 7.30pmSouthbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

SIBELIUSTapiola; Cantique and Devotion for celloand orchestra; Symphony 6; Symphony 7OSMO VÄNSKÄ conductorKRISTINA BLAUMANE cello

For booking details see page 16.


RECORDINGSON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. Theymay also be purchased from all good retail outlets or through the London PhilharmonicOrchestra: telephone 020 7840 4242 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) or visit the website www.lpo.org.uk

LPO-0005 Paavo Berglund conducts Sibelius’s Symphonies 2 in Dand 7 in C

‘Both here and in the Seventh Symphony’s magnificent single-movement span, Berglund judges the music’s shifts of pace withunerring sureness, and really makes the big moments happen.’MALCOLM HAYES, CLASSIC FM, DECEMBER 2005

LPO-0006 The Founding Years: Thomas Beecham conducts Mozart,Chabrier, Sibelius and Handel

‘The LPO’s first issues include this disc of recordings from the 1930s,when the orchestra and its founder, Thomas Beecham, were makinghistory. The excerpts from Sibelius’s Tempestmusic, never issuedbefore, are a fascinating rarity… The studio versions of Mozart’sHaffner Symphony and Chabrier’s España are scintillating examplesof the playing that transformed the British orchestral scene.’THE SUNDAY TIMES, 9 OCTOBER 2005

LPO-0036 Osmo Vänskä conducts Rachmaninov’s Symphony 3 andBax’s Tintagel

‘Vänskä’s account of the Third Symphony is a marvel of measured,uninflated eloquence.’PAUL DRIVER, THE SUNDAY TIMES, 23 NOVEMBER 2008




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and others who wish to remainanonymous.

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BenefactorsMrs A BeareDr & Mrs Alan CarringtonCBE FRSMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr David EdgecombeMr Richard FernyhoughKen Follett

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

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



Orchestral concerts are a vital part of BBCRadio 3’s output and I’m delighted that thestation will continue its long associationwith the London Philharmonic Orchestraby bringing performances from this seasonto the widest possible audience, includingthose listening at home, on air and online.

Roger WrightController, BBC Radio 3

Tonight’s concert will be broadcast inPerformance on 3 on Monday 15 Februaryat 7pm, and is available online for 7 daysafter broadcast at bbc.co.uk/radio3

WELCOMETO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

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

Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shopsand restaurants include: MDC music and movies, Foyles,EAT, Giraffe, Strada, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, LasIguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffé Vergnano 1882,Skylon and Feng Sushi, as well as cafes, restaurants andshops inside the Royal Festival Hall, Queen ElizabethHall and Hayward Gallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visitplease contact our Head of Customer Relations atSouthbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX,by email at [email protected] or phone020 7960 4250.

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 ifthere is a suitable break in the performance

RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium withoutthe prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centrereserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipmentand hold it in safekeeping until the performance has ended

MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switchedoff before the performance begins



ADMINISTRATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

THE LONDONPHILHARMONIC TRUST

Pehr GyllenhammarChairmanDesmond Cecil CMGSir George Christie CHRichard Karl GoeltzJonathan Harris CBE FRICSDr Catherine C. HøgelMartin HöhmannAngela KesslerClive Marks OBE FCAVictoria SharpJulian SimmondsTimothy Walker AM †Laurence WattSimon Yates

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

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Photograph of Sibeliuscourtesy of the Royal Collegeof Music, London.

Photograph on the front coverby Benjamin Ealovega.

Programmes printed byCantate.

†Supported by Macquarie Group



FUTURE CONCERTSAT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

MIRACULOUS LOGIC: THE MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUSJTI Friday Series | Friday 5 February 2010 | 7.30pm

Sibelius TapiolaSibelius Cantique and Devotion for cello and orchestraSibelius Symphony 6Sibelius Symphony 7

Osmo Vänskä conductorKristina Blaumane cello

Wednesday 10 February 2010 | 7.30pm

Ravel Suite 2, Daphnis et ChloéRavel Valses nobles et sentimentalesPoulenc Concerto for Two PianosDebussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un fauneDebussy La Mer

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductorMelvyn Tan pianoRonald Brautigam piano

FREE Pre-Concert Event6.15pm | Royal Festival HallYannick Nézet-Séguin introduces the evening’sprogramme.

Saturday 13 February 2010 | 7.30pm

Ravel Pavane pour une Infante défunteRavel Le Tombeau de CouperinDebussy NocturnesFauré PavanePoulenc Stabat Mater

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductorLisa Milne sopranoLondon Philharmonic Choir

Wednesday 17 February 2010 | 7.30pm

Tchaikovsky Fantasy Overture, Romeo and JulietProkofiev Piano Concerto 1Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (excerpts)

Vladimir Jurowski conductorAlexander Toradze piano

Saturday 20 February 2010 | 7.30pm

Janác̆ek Taras BulbaJanác̆ek Eternal GospelSuk Symphony 2 (Asrael)

Vladimir Jurowski conductorSofia Fomina sopranoMichael König tenorLondon Philharmonic Choir

Barlines | FREE Post-Concert EventClore Ballroom Floor, Royal Festival Hall FoyerAn informal discussion with Vladimir Jurowski followingthe evening’s performance.

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. £2.50 telephone / £1.45 online bookingfees; no fee for Southbank Centre members

Osmo Vänskä andKristina Blaumane

Vladimir Jurowskiand AlexanderToradze

Melvyn Tan andRonald Brautigam


3 feb 2010 prog notes - lpo

Documents

gill simmonds48982 lpo

recordedby bbc radio

following chair supporters

leaderjulia rumleychair

bysimon yates

duke of kent kgchief

principalanne mcaneney

principalhelen sharp