London Philharmonic Orchestra concert programme 28 Nov 2014

I N S I D E O U T

lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoffConcert programme

Winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI*Leader PIEtER SchOEMAn†Composer in Residence MAgnUS LInDbERgPatron hRh thE DUKE OF KEnt Kg

Chief Executive and Artistic Director tIMOthY WALKER AM

contents

2 Welcome LPO 2014/15 season3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman 6 David Zinman7 Behzod Abduraimov8 Programme notes11 Recommended recordings Tchaikovsky on the LPO Label Rachmaninoff: Inside Out12 Next concerts New on the LPO Label14 Supporters15 Sound Futures donors16 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 Series Southbank centre’s Royal Festival hallFriday 28 November 2014 | 7.30pm

Wagner Overture, Tannhäuser (14’)

Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (23’)

Interval

tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 in F minor (44’)

David Zinman conductor

behzod Abduraimov piano

In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation

Free pre-concert talk 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival hallAcclaimed film director Tony Palmer discusses the enduring popularity of Rachmaninoff’s music.

Tonight’s concert is being recorded by Classic FM for broadcast on Friday 5 December at 8.00pm.

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome

Welcome to Southbank centre

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

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

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

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

PhOtOgRAPhY is not allowed in the auditorium.

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

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

MObILES, PAgERS AnD WAtchES should be switched off before the performance begins.

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10008-CLASS LPO Concert Programme 73x69mm.pdf 1 14/11/2014 10:50

London Philharmonic Orchestra 2014/15 season

Welcome to tonight’s London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, part of our season-long festival Rachmaninoff: Inside Out. Whether you’re a regular concert-goer, new to the Orchestra or just visiting London, we hope you enjoy your evening with us. Browse the full season online at lpo.org.uk/performances or call 020 7840 4242 to request a copy of our 2014/15 brochure.

Other highlights of the season include:

• Appearances by today’s most sought-after artists including Maria João Pires, Christoph Eschenbach, Osmo Vänskä, Lars Vogt, Barbara Hannigan, Vasily Petrenko, Marin Alsop, Katia and Marielle Labèque and Robin Ticciati.

• Premieres of works by Magnus Lindberg, Harrison Birtwistle, Julian Anderson, a children’s work, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, by Colin Matthews, and a new piece for four horns by Titanic composer James Horner.

• Choral highlights with the London Philharmonic Choir include Stravinsky’s Requiem Canticles, Verdi’s Requiem, Rachmaninoff’s Spring and The Bells, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage tonight

First ViolinsPieter Schoeman* Leader

Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Vesselin Gellev Sub-LeaderJi-Hyun Lee

Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Catherine CraigThomas EisnerMartin HöhmannGeoffrey Lynn

Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangRebecca ShorrockAlina PetrenkoGalina TanneyIshani BhoolaNilufar AlimaksumovaElizabeth Pigram

Second ViolinsNicole Wilson

Guest PrincipalJeongmin KimJoseph MaherKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanLorenzo Gentili-TedeschiFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensFloortje GerritsenDean WilliamsonSioni WilliamsAlison Strange

ViolasCyrille Mercier PrincipalRobert DuncanGregory AronovichSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniLaura VallejoNaomi HoltIsabel PereiraDaniel CornfordMartin FennRebecca CarringtonRichard Cookson

cellosPei-Jee Ng Guest PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueSantiago Carvalho†David LaleGregory WalmsleyElisabeth Wiklander Susanna RiddellHelen RathboneTom Roff

Double bassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonRichard LewisTom WalleyLowri MorganLaura MurphyHelen Rowlands

FlutesKatherine Bryan

Guest PrincipalSue Thomas*

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

PiccoloStewart McIlwham*

Principal

OboesJohn Anderson

Guest PrincipalKatie Bennington

cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

clarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalThomas Watmough

bassoonsGareth Newman PrincipalLaura Vincent

hornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

Martin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth MollisonDuncan Fuller

trumpetsNicholas Betts PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Daniel Newell

trombonesMark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

bass tromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

tubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

timpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

PercussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith MillarJeremy CornesSarah Mason

harpRachel Masters* Principal

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

† Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

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:

An anonymous donor • Sonja Drexler


London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with its present-day position as one of the most dynamic and forward-looking ensembles in the UK. 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. From September 2015 Andrés Orozco-Estrada will take up the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence.

The Orchestra is based at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has performed since the Hall’s opening in 1951 and been Resident Orchestra since 1992. It gives around 30 concerts there each season with many of the world’s top conductors and

soloists. Throughout 2013 the Orchestra collaborated with Southbank Centre on the year-long The Rest Is Noise festival, charting the influential works of the 20th century. 2014/15 highlights include a season-long festival, Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, exploring the composer’s major orchestral masterpieces; premieres of works by Harrison Birtwistle, Julian Anderson, Colin Matthews, James Horner and the Orchestra’s new Composer in Residence, Magnus Lindberg; and appearances by many of today’s most sought-after artists including Maria João Pires, Christoph Eschenbach, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Osmo Vänskä, Lars Vogt, Barbara Hannigan, Vasily Petrenko, Marin Alsop, Katia and Marielle Labèque and Robin Ticciati.

Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer it 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 Western orchestra.

Full marks to the London Philharmonic for continuing to offer the most adventurous concerts in London.The Financial Times, 14 April 2014


Touring remains a large part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2014/15 season include appearances across Europe (including Iceland) and tours to the USA (West and East Coasts), Canada and China.

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 organ works by Poulenc and Saint-Saëns with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Strauss’s Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben with Bernard Haitink; Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 6 & 14 and Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy with Vladimir Jurowski; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Hans Graf. 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

Pieter Schoemanleader

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

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

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

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

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

In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter’s chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich.


David Zinmanconductor

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New York-born David Zinman’s career has been distinguished by a wide-ranging repertoire, a commitment to contemporary music and the introduction of historically informed performance practice. He has held positions as Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony orchestras; Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra; and Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival, School and American Academy of Conducting. He recently completed a 19-year tenure as Music Director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, with his final performance at the 2014 BBC Proms.

A regular guest with the world’s leading orchestras, inrecent seasons he has worked with the BavarianRadio Symphony Orchestra, the London and RoyalStockholm Philharmonic orchestras, the Orchestre deParis, the Orchestre National de France and the ViennaSymphony Orchestra. He regularly conducts the NewYork Philharmonic, and in summer 2014 appearedwith the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewoodand with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra.Projects this season include performances with theToronto Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, CzechPhilharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Washington’s NationalSymphony Orchestra.

David Zinman’s extensive discography of more than 100 recordings has earned him numerous international honours including five Grammy awards, two Grand Prix du Disque, two Edison Prizes, a German Record Critics’ Award and a Gramophone Award. Recent releases include a 50-CD box set,

David Zinman: Great Symphonies – The Zurich Years, which commemorates his recording legacy with the Tonhalle-Orchester.

In 2000 the French Ministry of Culture awarded David Zinman the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2002 the City of Zürich Art Prize was awarded to him for his outstanding artistic efforts, making him the first conductor and the first non-Swiss recipient of this award. More recently, Zinman received the prestigious Thomas Theodore Award in recognition of outstanding achievement and extraordinary service to his colleagues in advancing the art and science of conducting. In 2008 he won the MIDEM Classical Artist of the Year award for his work with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. He was also the 1997 recipient of the prestigious Ditson Award from Columbia University in recognition of his exceptional commitment to the performance of works by American composers.

Beautifully paced by Zinman … The way that he switched from Classical reserve for Brahms to full-on Romanticism for Mahler was masterly.The Times

davidzinman.com

twitter.com/DavidZinman


Behzod Abduraimovpiano

Behzod Abduraimov’s captivating performances have won him high critical praise, most recently from the LA Times: ‘He played Tchaikovsky’s fast and furious passages not like a challenge but an almost serene joy.’ A Washington Post critic also recently noted: ‘I’m not sure I could give higher praise – keep your ear on this one.’

An exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, Behzod Abduraimov has this autumn released his first recording on the label, featuring Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai (Turin) under Juraj Valčuha. In response to this disc The Times described him as ‘the master of all he surveys’ and The Telegraph wrote: ‘He possesses a maturity way beyond his 24 years.’ His debut recital CD on Decca Classics was released in 2012, and won both the Choc de Classica and the Diapason Découverte.

Abduraimov has worked with orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Atlanta Symphony and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has collaborated with conductors such as Vladimir Jurowski, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Krzysztof Urbański, Vasily Petrenko, James Gaffigan and Charles Dutoit.

Highlights of the 2014/15 season include a return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Jiří Bělohlávek. He takes part in the Mariinsky Orchestra’s Prokofiev Piano Concerto cycle at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Konzerthaus Dortmund under Valery Gergiev, and at the end of

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this year he will again collaborate with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on a tour to China with Vassily Sinaisky. He makes debuts with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä and with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Andrey Boreyko. His debut at Carnegie Hall will be with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev while on tour through the USA. He returns to Carnegie Hall later in the season to make his debut recital appearance as part of its ‘Distinctive Debuts’ series.

At the age of 18, Abduraimov achieved a sensational victory in the 2009 London International Piano Competition, winning First Prize with his thrilling performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. It was on this occasion that he played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time.

Behzod Abduraimov was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1990 and began to play the piano at the age of five. He was a pupil of Tamara Popovich at the Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent, and studied with Stanislav Iudenitch at the International Center for Music at Park University, Kansas City, where he is now Artist in Residence.

facebook.com/AbduraimovMusic

He played with impressive poise and immediacy, navigating the quiet passagework of Rachmaninoff’s much-loved Rhapsody with a certain feline grace but also displaying an unforced strength sufficient to project boldly above the orchestra when necessary. He is a talent to watch.The Boston Globe

behzodabduraimov.com


Programme notes

Fatalistic tones dominate tonight’s programme. Wagner’s eponymous troubadour Tannhäuser has to resist the profane call of Venus, goddess of love. Instead, he must choose the path of righteousness, heralded by the pilgrims’ chorus prefaced in the stirring Overture to Wagner’s opera. In Rachmaninoff’s dazzlingly virtuosic Rhapsody

on a Theme of Paganini, pious prophecy takes on a more ominous note, with references to the Dies irae reminding us that in the midst of life we are in death. Finally, fate casts an even darker shadow over Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, which, for all its energetic swagger, cannot shrug off the apocalyptic blasts with which it begins.

Speedread

Tannhäuser is Wagner’s fifth opera and in many ways his most complex. Telling the story of a troubadour who is torn between sacred and profane love, the work had a convoluted gestation. Begun with the creation of a prose scenario in 1842, the opera’s premiere took place in Dresden on 19 October 1845, though the score remained fluid throughout that initial run. A distinct second version was created for Paris in 1861, with further revisions being made for the first performances in Vienna in 1875. But even after 30 years of tinkering, Wagner remained unhappy, with his wife Cosima noting in her diary shortly before his death that ‘he says he still owes the world Tannhäuser’.

While disagreements about which version should be performed remain, Tannhäuser has always enjoyed honoured adherents, both historically, including figures such as Baudelaire, Swinburne and Queen Victoria, and in fiction, with Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray ‘seeing in the prelude to that great work of art a presentation of the tragedy of his own soul’. The Overture was the last part of the composition completed before the initial production in Dresden, and it has become a cherished concert work in its own right. Previewing the events of

the drama that is to unfold, it presents a summarised account of the opera’s musical material, including a Bachian pilgrims’ chorus, the seductive music of Venus and Tannhäuser’s hymn to the goddess of love, before the chorale returns, hinting at the hero’s ultimate redemption.

Piano concerto no. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Simon trpčeski piano

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

RichardWagner

1813–83

Overture, tannhäuser


By the 1930s, Rachmaninoff was a major celebrity. His music was regularly performed, widely published and frequently recorded. Yet he had an uneasy relationship with his fame, often accepting and then rejecting offers to tour Europe and America. Finding himself exiled from post-Revolutionary Russia and his possessions, forced to support his family, Rachmaninoff was more or less obliged to perform when he could, leading to an increasingly peripatetic life, which moved him between Stockholm and Copenhagen, on to New York and finally to a house on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.

It was there, in the summer of 1934, that Rachmaninoff wrote his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (effectively forming his fifth piano concerto). The work is based on the last of virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices. Rachmaninoff was not the first to use its terse little theme. Liszt, Brahms and Szymanowski, alongside other less celebrated names, had already tapped its potential and Rachmaninoff was to be succeeded by Lutosławski and Andrew Lloyd Webber, among others. Yet Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody arguably remains the most imaginative of these, not least because of its ingenious inversion of the original theme in the 18th variation and the highly expressive use of the orchestra throughout.

Rather than opening with Paganini’s theme, Rachmaninoff begins his work with a sassy chromatic introduction, followed by the first variation on the theme we are yet to hear. The tune proper finally appears and is played by the strings, echoing its original violin form, with the piano picking out various constituent notes, before providing more dazzling

SergeRachmaninoff

1873–1943

Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini behzod Abduraimov piano

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

Mini film guides to this season’s works

For the 2014/15 season we’ve produced a series of short films introducing the pieces we’re performing. Watch Patrick Bailey introduce Rachmaninoff’s music for piano and orchestra: lpo.org.uk/explore/videos.html

decoration. The opening ten variations form the outline of a first movement and during the seventh variation Rachmaninoff introduces a second theme, based on the plainchant Dies irae (Day of Wrath) from the Requiem Mass. This motivic kernel appears in many of Rachmaninoff’s works – not least The Isle of the Dead and The Bells – chillingly reminding us that in the midst of life we are in death. After the tenth variation comes what is, effectively, a slow movement, capped by the glorious 18th variation in a luscious D flat major, before the Rhapsody closes with a challengingly virtuosic finale.


Programme notes continued

Tchaikovsky began work on his fourth of seven symphonies (including the Manfred) in May 1877, shortly before his disastrous marriage to Antonina Milyukova. He had written to his brother Modest, who was also gay, about his impulse to marry the previous year:

I am now going through a very critical period of my life. I will go into more detail later, but for now I will simply tell you, I have decided to get married. It is unavoidable. I must do it, not just for myself but for you, Modest, and all those I love. I think that for both of us our dispositions are the greatest and most insuperable obstacle to happiness, and we must fight our natures to the best of our ability. So far as I am concerned, I will do my utmost to get married this year, and if I lack the necessary courage, I will at any rate abandon my habits forever.

As Tchaikovsky’s fame grew, the balance between his public and private life became ever more precarious. But rather than accepting Antonina, Tchaikovsky treated her abominably and their marriage lasted but a couple of months. These events form the emotional backdrop to the Fourth Symphony, which was completed alongside Tchaikovsky’s equally tragic opera Eugene Onegin.

The fanfare that opens the Symphony was, Tchaikovsky described to his friend and patron Nadezhda von Meck, representative of ‘the fatal power which prevents one from attaining the goal of happiness’. ‘There is nothing to be done’, Tchaikovsky added, ‘but submit to it and lament in vain’. Lamentation is the overriding mood of the first movement, offering a stuttering (if not broken) evocation of a waltz, one of Tchaikovsky’s favourite dance forms. The composer’s ballet Swan Lake, completed in 1876, is also induced by the tonality

of F minor, which accompanies the dastardly villain Von Rothbart and his ‘black swan’ daughter Odile’s gloating triumph over Prince Siegfried. There are hints too of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, as Tchaikovsky revealed to fellow composer Sergei Taneyev, though none of that work’s rapidity or its promises of triumph endure here, as Tchaikovsky piles thundering attack on top of thundering attack.

While the mood of the ensuing Andantino seems less aggressive, its descending oboe melody offers a clear echo of the first movement. The Scherzo’s jig shrugs off that spectre, though in the context of the Symphony as a whole, its pizzicato textures take on a ghostly edge. Revealingly, the very first gesture of this dance is another descending scale and, although firmly couched in F major, the Scherzo’s harmonic palette has a disturbing tendency towards minor colours, with the strained outline of the tritone appearing in the upper reaches of the melody. The woodwind introduces a new texture, melody and mood in the middle of the movement, dominated by shrill piccolo and then, in its wake, the brass section heralds the mania of the Finale.

This Allegro con fuoco begins with a triumphant sally of F major, describing a helter-skeltering downward scale, which is answered by a strident march. At first, this has a proto-Shostakovich sneer, before threatening a return of the fanfare with which the Symphony began. But there is also an outwardly gentler theme within this final movement: the Russian folk tune ‘In the Field a Little Birch Tree Stood’. Far from evoking the song’s charming imagery of braided birch wreaths floating in a stream, however, Tchaikovsky veers erratically between dance rhythms and a more threatening symphonicism. The legend goes: if the wreath floats, there will be a happy marriage; if it spins in a circle, the marriage will not take place; and if it sinks, death

Symphony no. 4 in F minor, Op. 36

1 Andante sostenuto — Moderato con anima — Moderato assai, quasi Andante — Allegro vivo2 Andantino in modo di canzona3 Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato — Allegro4 Finale: Allegro con fuoco

Pyotr Ilyichtchaikovsky

1840–93


is on the cards. Given the repeated plunging gestures of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, underlined in this whirling Finale, musicologist Roland John Wiley has suggested that the composer is predicting a decidedly bleak future. Such a view is confirmed when the brass finally bursts through the texture with a reprise of the opening fanfare. Tchaikovsky adds a hysterical coda, but its rictus grin and repetitive cymbal blasts cannot allay the fundamental negativity of this brutal Symphony.

Programme notes © Gavin Plumley

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

Wagner: Overture, tannhauser London Philharmonic Orchestra/Klaus Tennstedt [LPO Label LPO-0003: Tennstedt conducts Wagner opera excerpts]

Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Nikolai Lugansky/City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo [Warner Classics]

tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 4 in F minorLondon Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir Jurowski[LPO Label LPO-0064: see below]

tchaikovskySymphonies nos. 4 & 5

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

LPO-0064 | £10.99 (2CDs)

Available from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets

Available to download or stream online via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and others.

tchaikovsky on the LPO Label

Wednesday 29 October 2014 Piano Concerto No. 3 | Symphony No. 2

Friday 7 november 2014 Piano Concerto No. 4 (final version)

Friday 28 november 2014 Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Wednesday 3 December 2014 Symphony No. 1

Wednesday 21 January 2015 The Miserly Knight

Saturday 7 February 2015 Three Russian Songs | Spring

Wednesday 11 February 2015 Piano Concerto No. 2 | The Bells

Friday 13 February 2015 Piano Concerto No. 4 (original version)

Wednesday 25 March 2015 Piano Concerto No. 1 (final version)

Wednesday 29 April 2015 Four Pieces | Ten Songs | Symphony No. 3

A season-long exploration of the composer’s life and music

lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff

Rachmaninoff Inside Out is presented in co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.


Next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall

tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

London Philharmonic Orchestra ticket Office020 7840 4242 Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk | Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone.

Southbank centre ticket Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pm southbankcentre.co.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone. No transaction fee for bookings made in person

new on the LPO Label this month

cD: Poulenc & Saint-Saëns organ works

Released this month on the LPO Label is a disc of Poulenc’s Organ Concerto and Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’ Symphony, recorded live at Royal Festival Hall (LPO-0081). This sell-out concert in March 2014, conducted

by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with organist James O’Donnell, launched the refurbished Royal Festival Hall organ, complete for the first time since 2005.

The CD booklet includes full organ specification and an article on the history and refurbishment of the organ by its curator, Dr William McVicker.

The CD is priced £9.99, including free postage.

LP box set: Vladimir Jurowski conducts the complete brahms Symphonies

Also released this month is a very special 4-LP box set: Brahms’s complete four symphonies conducted by Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Vladimir Jurowski. These recordings – of live LPO concerts at

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall between 2008 and 2011 – have previously been released as two separate LPO Label CDs, but are brought together in one package for the first time in this exclusive box set, which will be a must-have for lovers of Brahms, Jurowski fans and vinyl enthusiasts alike.

The box set is priced £85.00, including free postage.

Buy these and over 80 other titles from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets.

Wednesday 3 December 2014 | 7.30pm Rachmaninoff: Inside Out

Szymanowski Concert Overture* Scriabin Piano Concerto Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 1

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Igor Levit piano

Free pre-concert event 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival hall Professor Stephen Downes, a specialist in 20th-century music, looks at the influence of Scriabin.

* Supported by the Polish Cultural Institute in London.

Rachmaninoff: Inside Out is presented in co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation.

Saturday 6 December 2014 | 7.30pm

Stravinsky Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920 version) harrison birtwistle Responses: Sweet disorder and the carefully careless, for piano and orchestra (UK premiere)† Messiaen Oiseaux exotiques Stravinsky Orpheus

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano

Free pre-concert event 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival hall LPO Soundworks, a collaborative arts project for young people, presents a performance of new music and dance.

† Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayerische Rundfunk Musica Viva, Casa da Música Porto, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The London Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and PRS for Music Foundation.


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We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following thomas beecham group Patrons, Principal benefactors and benefactors:

the generosity of our Sponsors, corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged:

corporate Members

Silver: AREVA UK BerenbergBritish American BusinessCarter-Ruck

bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLP Charles Russell SpeechlysLeventis Overseas Preferred Partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli LtdSipsmith Steinway Villa Maria In-kind SponsorsGoogle IncSela / Tilley’s Sweets

trusts and Foundations Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation Ambache Charitable Trust Ruth Berkowitz Charitable Trust The Boltini TrustBorletti-Buitoni TrustBritten-Pears Foundation The Candide Trust The Peter Carr Charitable Trust, in memory

of Peter CarrThe Ernest Cook TrustThe Coutts Charitable TrustThe D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable Trust Fidelio Charitable TrustThe Foyle FoundationLucille Graham TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris

Charitable TrustHelp Musicians UK The Hinrichsen Foundation The Hobson Charity Kirby Laing Foundation The Leche TrustMarsh Christian Trust

The Mayor of London’s Fund for YoungMusicians

Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet TrustThe Ann and Frederick O’Brien

Charitable TrustPalazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique

romantique françaisePolish Cultural Institute in London PRS for Music FoundationRivers Foundation The R K Charitable TrustSerge Rachmaninoff Foundation Schroder Charity Trust Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust The Steel Charitable TrustThe John Thaw FoundationThe Tillett Trust UK Friends of the Felix-Mendelssohn-

Bartholdy-FoundationGarfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable TrustYouth Music and others who wish to remain

anonymous

thomas beecham group

The Tsukanov Family Foundation

Neil Westreich

William and Alex de Winton Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBEJulian & Gill Simmonds*

Anonymous Garf & Gill Collins*Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja DrexlerDavid & Victoria Graham Fuller Mrs Philip Kan*Mr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg MannCaroline, Jamie & Zander SharpEric Tomsett

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 AdamsLady Jane BerrillDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookDavid EllenMr Daniel GoldsteinPeter MacDonald Eggers Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Mr & Mrs David MalpasMr Michael PosenMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina Vaizey Grenville & Krysia Williams Mr Anthony Yolland

benefactorsMrs A Beare David & Patricia BuckMrs Alan CarringtonMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair Corbett Georgy Djaparidze Mr David Edgecombe Mr Timothy Fancourt QCMr Richard FernyhoughTony & Susan Hayes Michael & Christine HenryMalcolm Herring J. Douglas HomeIvan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldPer Jonsson

Mr Gerald LevinSheila Ashley LewisWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFDr Frank LimPaul & Brigitta Lock Ms Ulrike Mansel Robert MarkwickMr Brian Marsh Andrew T MillsJohn Montgomery Dr Karen Morton Mr & Mrs Andrew Neill Tom & Phillis SharpeMartin and Cheryl Southgate Professor John StuddMr Peter TausigMrs Kazue Turner Simon Turner Howard & Sheelagh Watson Mr Laurie WattDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoe and others who wish to remain

anonymous

hon. benefactorElliott Bernerd

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


Sound FutureS donorS

We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to Sound Futures, which will establish our first ever endowment. Donations from those below, as well as many who have chosen to remain anonymous, have already been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant.

By May 2015 we aim to have raised £1 million which, when matched, will create a £2 million fund supporting our Education and Community Programme, our creative programming and major artistic projects at Southbank Centre.

We thank those who are helping us to realise the vision.

Masur circle

Arts Council EnglandDunard Fund Victoria Robey OBEEmmanuel & Barrie Roman The Tsukanov Family Foundation The Underwood Trust

Welser-Möst circle

John Ireland Charitable Trust Neil Westreich

tennstedt circle

Simon Robey Simon & Vero Turner The late Mr K Twyman

Solti Patrons

Ageas Anonymous John & Manon Antoniazzi Georgy DjaparidzeMrs Mina Goodman and Miss

Suzanne GoodmanRobert MarkwickThe Rothschild Foundation

haitink Patrons

Mark & Elizabeth AdamsLady Jane Berrill David & Yi Yao Buckley Bruno de Kegel Goldman Sachs International Moya Greene Tony and Susie HayesLady Roslyn Marion LyonsDiana and Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustDr Karen Morton Ruth RattenburySir Bernard Rix

Kasia Robinski David Ross and Line Forestier (Canada) Tom and Phillis Sharpe Mr & Mrs G Stein TFS Loans LimitedThe Tsukanov Family Foundation Guy & Utti Whittaker

Pritchard Donors

AnonymousLinda BlackstoneMichael BlackstoneYan BonduelleRichard and Jo BrassBritten-Pears Foundation Business Events Sydney Desmond & Ruth CecilLady June Chichester John Childress & Christiane WuillamieLindka Cierach Paul CollinsMr Alistair Corbett Dolly CostopoulosMark Damazer Olivier DemartheDavid DennisBill & Lisa DoddMr David EdgecombeDavid Ellen Commander Vincent Evans Mr Timothy Fancourt QC Christopher Fraser OBEKarima & David G Lyuba Galkina David GoldbergMr Daniel Goldstein Ffion HagueRebecca Halford HarrisonMichael & Christine HenryHoneymead Arts TrustJohn Hunter

Ivan Hurry Rehmet Kassim-LakhaTanya Kornilova Peter Leaver Mr Mark Leishman LVO and Mrs

Fiona LeishmanHoward & Marilyn LeveneMr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE

JP RAFDr Frank Lim Dr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry Sciard Peter MaceGeoff & Meg MannUlrike ManselMarsh Christian TrustJohn MontgomeryRosemary Morgan Paris NatarJohn Owen The late Edmund PirouetMr Michael PosenSarah & John Priestland Victoria Provis William ShawcrossTim SlorickHoward Snell Lady Valerie SoltiStanley SteckerLady Marina VaizeyHelen Walker Timothy Walker AMLaurence WattDes & Maggie Whitelock Brian Whittle Christopher Williams Peter Wilson SmithVictoria YanakovaMr Anthony Yolland


Administration

board of DirectorsVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-PresidentDr Manon Antoniazzi Richard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. HøgelMartin Höhmann* George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Julian SimmondsMark Templeton*Natasha TsukanovaTimothy Walker AM Laurence WattNeil Westreich

* Player-Director

Advisory councilVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness ShackletonLord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC 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 JupinDr. Felisa B. KaplanJill 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

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

Samanta Berzina Finance 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

Ellie Swithinbank Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Education and community

Isabella Kernot Education Director

Alexandra ClarkeEducation 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

Helen Etheridge Development Assistant

Rebecca FoggDevelopment Assistant

Kirstin PeltonenDevelopment Associate

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Mia RobertsMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager

Samantha CleverleyBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Co-ordinator

Lorna Salmon 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 RussellSolicitors

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.

Photographs of Wagner, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Cover design: Chaos Design.Printed by Cantate.

Documents

London Philharmonic Orchestra concert programme 28 Nov 2014