London Philharmonic Orchestra 23 October 2015 Concert Programme

Concert programme2015/16 London Seasonlpo.org.uk

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI*Principal Guest Conductor ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADALeader PIETER SCHOEMAN†Composer in Residence MAGNUS LINDBERGPatron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KG

Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM

Contents

2 Welcome3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra5 Leader: Vesselin Gellev 6 Thierry Fischer7 Benjamin Grosvenor James Sherlock8 Programme notes12 LPO NOISE13 Riots, Rebels and Revolutionaries LPO concerts14 Sound Futures donors15 Supporters16 LPO administration

The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

* supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation † supported by Neil Westreich

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

JTI Friday SeriesSouthbank Centre’s Royal Festival HallFriday 23 October 2015 | 7.30pm

Bizet Symphony in C (28’)

Ravel Piano Concerto in G major (21’)

Interval

Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 (Organ) (34’)

Thierry Fischer conductor

Benjamin Grosvenor pianoJames Sherlock organ Free pre-concert event

6.00pm–6.45pm Royal Festival Hall

Children from London Music Masters' immersive music education programme perform side by side with LPO musicians in the premiere of an innovative new work by composer Gavin Higgins.

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome

Welcome to Southbank Centre

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

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Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery are closed for essential refurbishment work until 2017.

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.

London Philharmonic Orchestra2015/16 season

Welcome to Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Thierry Fischer. Tonight's concert is part of our series of concerts featuring a range of works that promise to 'take you to another time and place', and we are undoubtedly across the Channel in France today. Ravel considered Saint-Saëns a genius and tonight we hear the former's jazz-inspired Piano Concerto performed by the brilliant young pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, while James Sherlock takes the helm at the organ to shake the Royal Festival Hall rafters in Saint-Saëns's 'Organ' Symphony. The next two concerts in the series take us to Mexico (6 November) and France again (11 November). Follow the link below for more information: lpo.org.uk/events/music-to-transport.html You can find out more about French music in Patrick Bailey's short video here:lpo.uk/PBFrench

'Implacable Doom'We are now well into our 2015/16 season and the Orchestra and its Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Vladimir Jurowski, have received some wonderful reviews for the first three concerts. 'Jurowski does implacable doom very well,' wrote Ivan Hewett in The Telegraph, referring to a performance on 26 September adding 'and I’ve rarely heard the storm that begins Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini seem so relentless and unstoppable'. David Truslove of Bachtrack also left the concert hall a happy critic: 'the London Philharmonic Orchestra seemed to be playing as if their lives depended on it'. The concert on 3 October (Knussen, Sibelius and Scriabin) moved Colin Anderson of Classical Source to write 'the performance was superb, played magnificently and conducted with sympathy and surety'. All reviews of concerts can be found on the website – be sure to see if you agree with the critics' verdict of tonight's performance!lpo.org.uk/explore/reviews/

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage tonight

First ViolinsVesselin Gellev LeaderIlyoung Chae

Chair supported by an anonymous donor

Katalin VarnagyChair supported by Sonja Drexler

Martin HöhmannChair supported by The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust

Geoffrey LynnChair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert PoolYang ZhangTina GruenbergGrace LeeRebecca ShorrockGalina TanneyCaroline FrenkelCaroline SharpAmanda SmithMiranda AllenMinn Majoe

Second ViolinsDania Alzapiedi

Guest PrincipalKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanLorenzo Gentili-TedeschiFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaJoseph MaherMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensTania MazzettiSioni WilliamsHarry KerrAlison StrangeElizabeth Baldey

ViolasCyrille Mercier PrincipalRobert DuncanGregory AronovichKatharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniNaomi HoltDaniel CornfordRichard CooksonMartin WrayEmma SheppardFay Sweet

CellosKristina Blaumane

PrincipalChair supported by Bianca and Stuart Roden

Pei-Jee Ng Co-PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueDavid LaleGregory WalmsleySue Sutherley Susanna RiddellTom RoffPhilip Taylor

Double BassesTim Gibbs PrincipalGeorge PenistonLaurence LovelleKenneth KnussenSebastian PennarCharlotte KerbegianJeremy WattBen Wolstenholme

FlutesSue Thomas* Principal

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Hannah GraysonStewart McIlwham

PiccoloStewart McIlwham*

PrincipalChair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

OboesIan Hardwick* PrincipalAlice Munday

Cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

ClarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalCharys Green

Bass ClarinetPaul Richards Principal

E-flat ClarinetCharys Green

BassoonsJarek Augustyniak

Guest PrincipalGareth Newman

ContrabassoonSimon Estell Principal

HornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* PrincipalChair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth Mollison

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal

TrombonesMark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

Bass TromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

TimpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

PercussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith MillarJames Bower

HarpRachel Masters* Principal

PianoJanet SimpsonDawn Hardwick

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Chair Supporters The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Neil Westreich; Eric Tomsett; The Viney Family; Jon Claydon


London Philharmonic Orchestra

Recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-looking ensembles. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, releases CDs on its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and community groups.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is currently the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, appointed in 2007. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence.

The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives over 30 concerts each season. Throughout 2014/15 the Orchestra gave a series of concerts entitled Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, a festival exploring the composer’s major orchestral

masterpieces. 2015/16 is a strong year for singers, with performances by Toby Spence and Anne Sofie von Otter amongst others; Sibelius enjoys 150th anniversary celebrations; distinguished visiting conductors include Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Vasily Petrenko, with Robin Ticciati returning after his debut in 2015; and in 2016 the LPO joins many of London’s other leading cultural institutions in Shakespeare400, celebrating the Bard’s legacy 400 years since his death. The Orchestra continues its commitment to new music with premieres of commissions including Magnus Lindberg’s Second Violin Concerto, and works by Alexander Raskatov and Marc-André Dalbavie.

Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also 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

‘It was one of those unforgettable evenings where everything and everyone performed beautifully [with] an extraordinary performance by the London Philharmonic ... The ovation should have been standing.’Andrew Collins, The News, March 2015


Western orchestra. Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2015/16 season include visits to Mexico City as part of the UK Mexico Year of Culture, Spain, Germany, Canary Islands, Belgium, a return to the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and the Orchestra’s premiere at La Scala, Milan.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 80 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Vaughan Williams’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 6, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 conducted by Stanisław Skrowaczewski and Messiaen’s Des Canyons Aux Étoiles.

In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians through an energetic programme of activities for young people. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the Young Composers Programme; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Its work at the forefront of digital engagement and social media has 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 and regular podcast series, 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

youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7

Vesselin Gellevleader

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Bulgarian violinist Vesselin Gellev has been a featured soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Juilliard Orchestra, among others.

He won First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild

Competition in New York as a member of the Antares Quartet, and has recorded several albums and toured worldwide as Concertmaster of Kristjan Järvi’s Grammy-nominated Absolute Ensemble.

Vesselin has performed as Guest Leader with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Vesselin studied at The Juilliard School, and joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Sub-Leader in 2007.


Thierry Fischerconductor

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Precision and clarity comes naturally to Fischer ... With Fischer providing the fire, it all came together beautifully.

Seen and Heard International, July 2015

Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer recently renewed his contract as Music Director of the Utah Symphony Orchestra, where he has revitalised the music-making and programming, and brought a new energy to the orchestra and organisation as a whole. Fischer was Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from 2006–12 and returned as a guest at the 2014 BBC Proms.

Recent engagements have included the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteumorchester, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, BBC Symphony and London Sinfonietta.

Thierry Fischer has made numerous recordings, many of them for Hyperion Records, including a CD of Frank Martin’s opera Der Sturm with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus that was awarded the International Classical Music Award (opera category) in 2012. He recorded a Beethoven CD with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2014.

He started out as Principal Flute in Hamburg and at the Zurich Opera. His conducting career began in his 30s when he replaced an ailing colleague, subsequently directing his first few concerts with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe where he was Principal Flute under Claudio Abbado. He spent his apprentice years in Holland, and then became Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Ulster Orchestra 2001–6. He was

Chief Conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008–11, making his Suntory Hall debut in Tokyo in May 2010, and is now their Honorary Guest Conductor.

This evening's concert is Thierry Fischer's debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

When a call came from a friend to lead a rehearsal of an amateur choir in Geneva, Fischer declined. 'Find someone else,' he said. He had never conducted before [but] he finally agreed to do it 'as a joke,' he says now.The joke, as it turned out, was on him. 'After one minute conducting an amateur choir, I knew my life had completely changed ... It was almost a physical reaction ... I remember going back home and saying to my wife, "My life has changed."' From an interview with Thierry Fischer by Nicholas Beard

thierryfischer.com


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Benjamin Grosvenorpiano

Benjamin Grosvenor first came to prominence as the outstanding winner of the Keyboard Final of the 2004 BBC Young Musician Competition aged 11. Since then, he has become an internationally regarded pianist performing with orchestras including

the New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester and Tokyo Symphony. Benjamin has worked with numerous esteemed conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jiří Bělohlávek, Semyon Bychkov, Andrey Boreyko, Sir Mark Elder, Vladimir Jurowski, Andrew Litton, Andrew Manze and Kent Nagano among others.

A BBC New Generation Artist from 2010–12, Benjamin has performed at the BBC Proms on a number of occasions and in 2015 starred at the Last Night, performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop.

In 2011, Benjamin signed to Decca Classics, becoming the youngest British musician ever to sign to the label and the first British pianist to do so in almost 60 years. His most recent release, Dances, described as 'breathtaking' (The Guardian), won the BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award 2015. During his career to date, he has also received Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year and Instrumental Award, a Classic Brits Critics’ Award, UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent and a Diapason d’Or Jeune Talent Award.

The youngest of five brothers, Benjamin began playing the piano aged six. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Christopher Elton and Daniel-Ben Pienaar, graduating in 2012 with the ‘Queen’s Commendation for Excellence’. Benjamin has been supported since 2013 by EFG International, the widely respected global private banking group and has recently become Brand Ambassador for Casio New Celviano Grand Hybrid Piano Range.

benjamingrosvenor.co.uk

James Sherlockorgan

James Sherlock performs widely as a pianist, organist and conductor. He trained as organ scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, since when he has appeared regularly with leading orchestras and choirs throughout the UK and abroad. He features on future

LPO record releases of Gorecki and Enescu, and on an award-winning recording of the Fauré Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra, of which Gramophone magazine wrote 'James Sherlock leads the way brilliantly with some breathtaking manipulation of the St Giles’ Cripplegate organ ... In short, this is a devastatingly beautiful performance'.

As a chamber musician he appears regularly at major chamber venues throughout Europe. This season he appears at the Wigmore Hall alongside Angelika Kirchschlager, Benjamin Baker and Sarah-Jane Brandon, and makes appearances at the Schwarzenburg Schubertiade and Carnegie Hall. He will perform Bach's Das Wohltemperierte Klavier a second time at the Edinburgh Festival, and tour the work around the UK.

After completing his studies in Cambridge, James studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Ronan O'Hora and Joan Havill. He is a winner of the Royal Overseas League Piano Competition and the ROSL award for accompanists, the pianist award at Das Lied International Song Competition, the BBC Performing Arts Trust, and Gold Medallist at the Marcello Galanti International Organ Competition.

Increasingly active as a conductor, James has been selected by the London Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras to take part in their International Artists Academy, and has founded the period performance group Ensemble Passio. He is Director of Music at Hampstead Parish Church, a Samling Artist and a fellow of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He can be found most mornings practising mysore-style yoga.

jamessherlock.net


When Georges Bizet began work on his Symphony in C in 1855, he probably thought nobody would ever hear it. Bizet wrote the score as an exercise: part homage to his teacher Charles Gounod and part imitation of Gounod’s own Symphony in D that his pupil had studied keenly. Since Bizet’s score was found in a library 60 years after his death, it’s commonly agreed that his symphony is a case of the work of the pupil outshining that of the master.

The other Symphony performed tonight might have surprised when it was unveiled in 1886. Camille Saint-Saëns had promised to ‘take full advantage of advances in modern orchestration’ in the piece, which must have seemed odd given its solo instrument

was a traditional pipe organ. In truth, Saint-Saëns used the organ modestly – even those famously thundering chords are effectively just harmonic fillers – but filled his score with numerous other wonderful effects, not least that of the piano, played by four hands, that ripples enchantingly through the music.

A younger compatriot of both those composers, Maurice Ravel, saw (or heard) a completely different use for the piano when he walked the streets of Harlem and heard the wild syncopations and exotic blue notes spilling from the jazz bars. He returned to France with the ultimate souvenir: the inspiration for a sparkling, joyous and toe-tapping concerto that toys effortlessly with the language of jazz.

Speedread

French composers have not tended to be thought of as ‘natural’ symphonists – certainly in the 19th century this field was dominated by German, Austrian and later Russian composers. But the Symphony in C by the 17-year-old Georges Bizet (then still a student at the Paris Conservatoire) is a fine exception to the cultural stereotype. Astonishingly, it lay unknown and unheard for nearly 80 years. The composer Reynaldo Hahn was given the manuscript by Bizet’s son, Jacques, but apparently he didn’t think much of it. It was Bizet’s first biographer, D C Parker who persuaded the conductor Felix Weingartner to perform the Symphony in 1935. It was an instant hit, and has remained popular ever since.

Perhaps one of the reasons the Symphony is so successful is that the teenage Bizet made no attempt to imitate the emotional profundity or formal daring of the archetypal romantic symphonist Ludwig van Beethoven. The elegance and wit of the great classical symphonists Haydn and Mozart – and perhaps also Mendelssohn’s ever-fresh Italian Symphony – seem to have been his guiding principles. The first movement, Allegro vivo, is firmly in classical ‘sonata form’ – two main themes are contrasted, developed in a more dramatic central section, then recapitulated in something close to their original form. But there is no sense that Bizet’s imagination is in any way fettered

Symphony in C

1 Allegro vivo2 Adagio3 Scherzo: Allegro vivace4 Allegro vivace

GeorgesBizet

1838–75

Programme notes


by this use of formal convention (as does happen sometimes with the German, and particularly the Russian romantic symphonists): the spirit of cloudless exuberance continues right through to the final cadence. The second movement is a lyrical ‘romance’, with a lilting, Italianate, faintly melancholy oboe melody as its main theme. Cheerfulness breaks out again in the brisk Scherzo. This is dominated by one

theme, which also holds sway in the rustic central trio section, with low string chords suggesting a bagpipe drone. In contrast to the romantics of his time, Bizet makes his finale the lightest and least complicated of the four movements, but again the spirit of delight prevails to the very end.

Piano Concerto in G major

Benjamin Grosvenor piano

1 Allegramente2 Adagio assai3 Presto

MauriceRavel

1875–1937

Ravel composed two piano concertos, both at the same time. They make a fascinating pair, one the darkly Romantic D major Concerto for the Left Hand, and the other this glittering work in G major, described by the composer as ‘a concerto in the strict sense, written in the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saëns’. The G major was begun in the summer of 1929 while Ravel was staying in the Basque country, but the commission for the D major from the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein supervened, and it was not until November 1931 that the ‘first’ Concerto was finished. Ravel had originally told his pupil Marguerite Long that it was for her, but somewhere along the line he changed his mind and decided that he wanted to perform it himself. He was not, however, a great pianist – despite the extreme difficulty of some of his piano music – and although he entered a rigorous practice regime, concerned friends eventually persuaded him to let Long give the premiere after all. Given at an all-Ravel concert in Paris in January 1932 (with the composer now conducting), it was hailed as a triumph of French art, and immediately taken on a four-month European tour.

According to one of Ravel’s friends the outer movements were based on ideas from a projected concerto on Basque themes he had begun back in 1911. Ravel’s mother was a Basque, and Spanish music was always a prominent strain in his music, but such popular elements as exist in the G major Concerto are only part of an eclectic mix of readily apparent influences, among them jazz (Ravel had recently visited America, where he had met Gershwin), music-hall, Scarlatti, Mozart and Stravinskian neo-classicism. The end result is a work which is often detached in its cool sophistication and humour, but which at times reaches out to the listener with an emotion that is both powerful and direct.

This expressiveness is at its most exquisite in the hauntingly beautiful central slow movement, described by Long as ‘one of the most touching melodies to have come from the human heart’. The movement is framed by two brilliant companions, the first a breezy creation based on a succession of themes from both the Spanish and American camps, and the finale a witty rondo whose playfulness and irreverent comedy bring the work to a close in fairground mood.

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


The home of classical music

Tue 3 Nov 2015 Nikolai DemidenkoBrahms and Prokofi ev

Tue 12 Jan 2016Lukas GeniušasBeethoven, Brahms, Bartók and Prokofi ev

Tue 26 Jan 2016Jean-Effl am BavouzetBeethoven’s last three sonatas

Wed 3 Feb 2016Steven OsborneSchubert, Debussy and Rachmaninov

Tue 23 FeB 2016Maurizio PolliniSchumann and Chopin

FRI 26 Feb 2016Tamara StefanovichCopland, Carter and Ives

Fri 11 Mar 2016Chopin Competition Winner2015’s winner plays Chopin

Wed 6 Apr 2016Ingrid FliterAn all-Chopin programme including the 24 Preludes

Tue 19 Apr 2016YundiThe piano superstar returns

Tue 26 Apr 2016Mitsuko UchidaBerg, Schubert, Mozart and Schumann

Thu 28 Apr 2016Katia and Marielle LabèqueSisters – moments from a shared musical life

Wed 11 May 2016Paul LewisBrahms, Schubert and Liszt

Wed 25 May 2016Richard GoodeSchubert’s last three sonatas

Wed 8 Jun 2016Imogen CooperSchumann, Wagner and Liszt

southbankcentre.co.uk/piano 0844 847 9929

2015/16

INTERNATIONAL

PIANOSERIES

Concerts take place in Royal Festival Hall and at St John’s Smith Square.

SERIES SAVINGS: Book 3 – 4 concerts and save 10% Book 5 or more concerts and save 20%

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

Bizet: Symphony in CFrench National Radio Orchestra | Thomas Beecham [EMI]

Ravel: Piano Concerto in GPhilip Fowke | London Philharmonic Orchestra | Serge Baudo [Classics for Pleasure]

Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 (Organ)James O'Donnell | London Philharmonic Orchestra | Yannick Nézet-Séguin [LPO-0081]

LPO release The latest release on the LPO label is a live BBC recording by the late great Klaus Tennstedt, the Orchestra's Principal Conductor from 1983 to 1987,

in a performance of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and powerful Symphony No. 5. 'Nobody listens to Beethoven quite like Klaus Tennstedt,' wrote Hilary Finch in The Times in 1992, 'and, because he listens so acutely, his orchestra must, and we in the audience do as well. The dark glass of familiarity is swept aside and we meet the composer face to face.’

The recording is available as a CD and download, priced £6.99, number LPO-0087.lpo.org.uk/recordings


Programme notes continued

Camille Saint-Saëns was at the heart of his country’s venerable tradition of building, playing and writing music for organs. He spent two decades as organist of the church of La Madeleine in Paris, where he played an instrument built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, the engineer who invented the circular saw and effectively established the tradition of ‘symphonic’ organ composing (and playing) in France by mechanical means.

The organ, though, probably wasn’t the first thing on Saint-Saëns’s mind when he came to write his Third Symphony. The piece was written for the London Philharmonic Society and the first performance, under the composer’s direction, was at St James’s Hall in London on 19 May 1886. The organ there wasn’t French and it wasn’t particularly big either. Saint-Saëns actually advised that a harmonium be used if an organ wasn’t available, which says a thing or two about his concept. A concerto this isn’t; the organ is really only used to throw in some transitional chords and colour the orchestral conversation.

The latter fact is particularly relevant. Saint-Saëns expressed his desire ‘to take advantage of advances in modern instrumentation’ in his Third Symphony and the use of the organ (not named in the Symphony’s original title) was but one element of that. Another, and an arguably more interesting one, was the composer’s use of a piano within the orchestra, played by two pianists.

‘Though this Symphony is divided into two parts, it does comprise in principle the four traditional movements’, wrote Saint-Saëns of the piece, adding that by avoiding the Germanic tradition of thematic development he ‘sought to avoid somewhat interminable repeats and repetitions that are tending to disappear from

instrumental music’. In a sense, though, the composer does ‘develop’ his themes, and in quite a remarkable way. Following the example of Liszt (to whom the Symphony was dedicated), Saint-Saëns took a single musical ‘motto’ and transformed it as his Symphony proceeded.

That motto is first heard courtesy of the nervous string semiquavers that follow the Symphony’s slow introduction. It’s this very theme – transformed into the major – that forms the ‘big tune’ of the Symphony’s finale, famously thrust out on huge organ chords. The motto appears in numerous guises in between, often changing character chameleon-like according to its dramatic or musical surroundings. Similarly the organ itself: it’s exhilarating in those final pages, but appears to speak in confidence in the mystical dialogue with divided strings that comes earlier on.

The motto theme is derived from the Dies Irae plainsong beloved of Liszt, and all Saint-Saëns’s themes, even the transitional and incidental, have a Lisztian cut and a propulsive, dramatic swagger. On top of what is effectively Saint-Saëns’s harmonic conservatism and reliance on the complex counterpoint between concurrent themes, it makes for a piece of mouth-watering clarity, purpose and narrative depth. Or, in the words of Marcel Proust, ‘the most beautiful of symphonies since Beethoven’s’.

Programme notes © Andrew Mellor

CamilleSaint-Saëns

1835–1921

Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 (Organ)

James Sherlock organ

I Adagio – Allegro moderato – Poco adagioII Allegro moderato – Presto – Maestoso – Allegro


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More Piano Concertos with the LPO at Royal Festival Hall

PAUL LEWIS

Wednesday 4 November 2015 | 7.30pm

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 Mahler Symphony No. 5

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BEATRICE RANA

Friday 27 November 2015 | 7.30pmJTI FRIDAY SERIES

Liadov From the Apocalypse Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 Sibelius Symphony No. 1

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Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

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Friday 6 November 2015 7.30pm

Mexican MagicCastro Intermezzo de AtzimbaGounod Cavatina ‘L’amour! L’amour! ... Ah! Lève-toi soleil!’ (Roméo et Juliette) Federico Ibarra Sinfonía No. 2Various Mexican songsBernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side StoryRevueltas SensemayáArturo Márquez Danzón No. 2

Jaime Martín conductorArturo Chacón-Cruz tenor

JTI FRIDAY SERIES

Experience an uplifting and illuminating evening of classical music all the way from Mexico. An eclectic and sophisticated repertoire, spanning a broad spectrum of musical possibilities, Mexico’s classical music canon embodies the vibrant spirit of its homeland in all its richness and diversity.

This concert is part of The Year of Mexico in the United Kingdom 2015.

Wednesday 11 November 2015 7.30pm

French ImpressionsFauré Suite, Pelléas et MélisandeMagnus Lindberg Violin Concerto No. 1Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentalesDebussy La mer

Robin Ticciati conductorChristian Tetzlaff violin

Debussy’s orchestral depiction of the sea, unrivalled in its subtlety and evocation, swells with all the surging currents and surface spray of the ocean. Debussy’s stunningly sensory work is matched with the clarity and luminous restraint that imbues Fauré’s Pelléas and Mélisande Suite, Magnus Lindberg’s Violin Concerto, and Ravel’s teasing French waltzes.


From the mountains, to the cities, to the sea

Music to take you on a journey to another time and place

lpo.org.uk/journeys

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office: 020 7840 4242 | Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone.

at Royal Festival Hall‘ The Peter Pan of music’

The New York Times on Leonard Bernstein, 1960

‘ Art is the most beautiful deception of all. And although people try to incorporate the everyday events of life in it, we must hope that it will remain a deception lest it become a utilitarian thing, sad as a factory’

Claude Debussy


SOUND FUTURES DONORS

We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. Thanks to their support, we successfully raised £1 million by 30 April 2015 which has now been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This has enabled us to create a £2 million endowment fund supporting special artistic projects, creative programming and education work with key venue partners including our Southbank Centre home. Supporters listed below donated £500 or over. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures.

Masur CircleArts Council EnglandDunard FundVictoria Robey OBEEmmanuel & Barrie RomanThe Underwood Trust

Welser-Möst CircleWilliam & Alex de Winton John Ireland Charitable TrustThe Tsukanov Family FoundationNeil Westreich

Tennstedt CircleValentina & Dmitry Aksenov Richard BuxtonThe Candide TrustMichael & Elena KroupeevKirby Laing FoundationMr & Mrs MakharinskyAlexey & Anastasia ReznikovichSimon RobeyBianca & Stuart RodenSimon & Vero TurnerThe late Mr K Twyman

Solti PatronsAgeas John & Manon AntoniazziGabor Beyer, through BTO

Management Consulting AGJon ClaydonMrs Mina Goodman & Miss

Suzanne GoodmanRoddy & April GowThe Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris

Charitable Trust Mr James R.D. KornerChristoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia

Ladanyi-CzerninRobert Markwick & Kasia RobinskiThe Maurice Marks Charitable TrustMr Paris Natar

The Rothschild FoundationTom & Phillis SharpeThe Viney Family

Haitink PatronsMark & Elizabeth AdamsDr Christopher AldrenMrs Pauline BaumgartnerLady Jane BerrillMr Frederick BrittendenDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyMr Clive ButlerGill & Garf CollinsMr John H CookMr Alistair CorbettBruno de KegelGeorgy DjaparidzeDavid EllenChristopher Fraser OBE & Lisa FraserDavid & Victoria Graham FullerGoldman Sachs InternationalMr Gavin GrahamMoya GreeneMrs Dorothy HambletonTony & Susie HayesMalcolm HerringCatherine Høgel & Ben MardleMrs Philip KanRehmet Kassim-Lakha de MorixeRose & Dudley LeighLady Roslyn Marion LyonsMiss Jeanette MartinDuncan Matthews QCDiana & Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustDr Karen MortonMr Roger PhillimoreRuth RattenburyThe Reed FoundationThe Rind FoundationSir Bernard RixDavid Ross & Line Forestier (Canada)

Carolina & Martin SchwabDr Brian SmithLady Valerie SoltiMr & Mrs G SteinDr Peter StephensonMiss Anne StoddartTFS Loans LimitedLady Marina Vaizey Jenny WatsonGuy & Utti Whittaker

Pritchard DonorsRalph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Mrs Arlene BeareMr Patrick & Mrs Joan BennerMr Conrad BlakeyDr Anthony BucklandPaul CollinsAlastair CrawfordMr Derek B. GrayMr Roger GreenwoodThe HA.SH FoundationDarren & Jennifer Holmes Honeymead Arts TrustMr Geoffrey KirkhamDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MaceMr & Mrs David MalpasDr David McGibneyMichael & Patricia McLaren-TurnerMr & Mrs Andrew NeillMr Christopher QuereeThe Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer

Charitable TrustTimothy Walker AMChristopher WilliamsPeter Wilson SmithMr Anthony Yolland

And all other donors who wish to remain anonymous


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

Thomas Beecham Group

The Tsukanov Family Foundation

Neil Westreich

William and Alex de Winton Mrs Philip Kan* Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Laurence Watt

Anonymous Jon Claydon Garf & Gill Collins* Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds* Eric Tomsett The Viney Family

John & Manon Antoniazzi Jane Attias John & Angela Kessler Guy & Utti Whittaker

* BrightSparks Patrons: instead of supporting a chair in the Orchestra, these donors have chosen to support our series of schools’ concerts.

Principal BenefactorsMark & Elizabeth AdamsDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookDavid EllenMr Daniel GoldsteinDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MacDonald EggersDr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry SciardMr & Mrs David MalpasMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi UnderwoodLady Marina VaizeyGrenville & Krysia WilliamsMr Anthony Yolland

BenefactorsMr Geoffrey BatemanMrs A BeareMs Molly BorthwickDavid & Patricia BuckMrs Alan CarringtonMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr Bruno de KegelMr David EdgecombeMr Timothy Fancourt QCMr Richard FernyhoughWim and Jackie Hautekiet-ClareTony & Susan HayesMichael & Christine Henry

Malcolm HerringJ. Douglas HomeIvan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldPer JonssonMr Gerald LevinWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFPaul & Brigitta LockMr Peter MaceMs Ulrike ManselMr Brian MarshAndrew T MillsDr Karen MortonMr & Mrs Andrew NeillMr Michael PosenAlexey & Anastasia ReznikovichMr Konstantin SorokinMartin and Cheryl SouthgateMr Peter TausigSimon and Charlotte WarshawHoward & Sheelagh WatsonDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoeand others who wish to remainanonymous

Hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd

Hon. Life MembersKenneth Goode Carol Colburn Grigor CBE Pehr G GyllenhammarMrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

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

Corporate Members

Silver: Accenture BerenbergCarter-Ruck We are AD

Bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLPBTO Management Consulting AGCharles Russell SpeechlysLazardLeventis Overseas

Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria

In-kind SponsorsGoogle Inc

Trusts and Foundations Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation The Bernarr Rainbow Trust The Boltini TrustBorletti-Buitoni TrustThe Candide Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts The D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable Trust The Foyle FoundationLucille Graham TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris

Charitable TrustHelp Musicians UK The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leche Trust The London Community Foundation London Stock Exchange Group FoundationLord and Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian TrustAdam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust

The Ann and Frederick O’BrienCharitable Trust

Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs ofthe Embassy of Spain in London

The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust The Stanley Picker Trust The Radcliffe TrustRivers Foundation The R K Charitable TrustRVW TrustSerge Rachmaninoff Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The John Thaw FoundationThe Tillett Trust UK Friends of the Felix-Mendelssohn-

Bartholdy-Foundation The Viney FamilyGarfield Weston FoundationThe Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust

and all others who wish to remain anonymous


Administration

Board of DirectorsVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-PresidentDr Manon Antoniazzi Roger BarronRichard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Amanda Hill Dr Catherine C. Høgel Rachel Masters* George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Natasha Tsukanova Mark Vines*Timothy Walker AM Laurence WattNeil Westreich David Whitehouse** Player-Director

Advisory CouncilVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson William de Winton Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness ShackletonLord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds Martin SouthgateSir Philip Thomas Sir John TooleyChris VineyTimothy Walker AMElizabeth Winter

American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc.Jenny Ireland Co-ChairmanWilliam A. Kerr Co-ChairmanKyung-Wha ChungAlexandra JupinJill Fine MainelliKristina McPhee Dr. Joseph MulvehillHarvey M. Spear, Esq.Danny Lopez Hon. ChairmanNoel Kilkenny Hon. DirectorVictoria Robey OBE Hon. DirectorRichard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA,EisnerAmper LLP

Stephanie Yoshida

Chief Executive

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Amy SugarmanPA to the Chief Executive / Administrative Assistant

Finance

David BurkeGeneral Manager and Finance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager

Dayse GuilhermeFinance Officer

Concert Management

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Graham WoodConcerts and Recordings Manager

Jenny Chadwick Tours Manager

Tamzin Aitken Glyndebourne and UK Engagements Manager

Alison JonesConcerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

Jo CotterTours Co-ordinator Orchestra Personnel

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah Holmes Sarah ThomasLibrarians ( job-share)

Christopher AldertonStage Manager

Damian Davis Transport Manager

Madeleine Ridout Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Education and Community

Isabella Kernot Education Director (maternity leave)

Clare Lovett Education Director (maternity cover)

Talia LashEducation and Community Project Manager

Lucy DuffyEducation and Community Project Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Catherine Faulkner Development Events Manager

Kathryn HagemanIndividual Giving Manager

Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations Manager

Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager

Rebecca FoggDevelopment Co-ordinator

Helen Yang Development Assistant

Kirstin PeltonenDevelopment Associate

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager (maternity leave)

Sarah BreedenPublications Manager (maternity cover)

Samantha CleverleyBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Anna O’ConnorMarketing Co-ordinator

Natasha Berg Marketing Intern

Digital Projects

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Director

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant Public Relations

Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930) Archives

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive Professional Services

Charles Russell SpeechlysSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

London Philharmonic Orchestra89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Box Office: 020 7840 4242Email: [email protected]

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

Composer photographs courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Front cover photograph: Ilyoung Chae, First Violin © Benjamin Ealovega. Cover design/ art direction: Ross Shaw @ JMG Studio.

Printed by Cantate.

Documents

London Philharmonic Orchestra 23 October 2015 Concert Programme