london philharmonic orchestra concert programme 12 april 2014

Concert programme 2013/14 season

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI*Principal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINLeader pIETER SChOEMANComposer in Residence JULIAN ANDERSONPatron hRh ThE DUKE OF KENT KG

Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOThY WALKER AM

programme £3

Contents2 Welcome LPO 2014/15 season3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra 6 Andrey Boreyko7 Julian Rachlin8 Programme notes11 LPO premieres in 2014/1512 Next concerts13 Tickets Please! LPO 2013/14 Annual Appeal14 Catalyst: Double Your Donation15 Supporters16 LPO administration

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

* supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation and one anonymous donor

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival hallSaturday 12 April 2014 | 7.30pm

Tansman Stèle in memoriam Igor Stravinsky (17’)

Stravinsky Violin Concerto in D (22’)

Interval

Górecki Symphony No. 4 (Tansman Episodes) (40’)

(world premiere)

Andrey Boreyko conductor

Julian Rachlinviolin

Górecki’s Symphony No. 4 is commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Southbank Centre, London, with generous support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Polish Cultural Institute in London; The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association: Gustavo Dudamel, Music Director; and the ZaterdagMatinee, Dutch radio’s classical music concert series in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

The LPO is filming tonight’s Górecki world premiere for future broadcast. Sign up at lpo.org.uk/signup to hear about our future streaming and broadcast plans.

This concert is presented under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

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.

LpO 2014/15 season now on sale

Browse and book online at lpo.org.uk or call us on 020 7840 4242 to request a season brochure. Highlights of the new season include:

• A year-long festival, Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, exploring the composer’s major orchestral masterpieces including all the symphonies and piano concertos, alongside some of his lesser-known works (see page 5).

• 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.

• Yannick Nézet-Séguin presents masterpieces by three great composers from the Austro-German tradition: Brahms, Schubert and Richard Strauss.

• The UK premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s piano concerto Responses: Sweet disorder and the carefully careless, performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard (see page 11).

• Soprano Barbara Hannigan joins Vladimir Jurowski and the Orchestra for a world premiere from our new Composer in Residence Magnus Lindberg (see page 11).

• Premieres too of a Violin Concerto by outgoing Composer in Residence Julian Anderson, a children’s work, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, by Colin Matthews, and a new piece for four horns by James Horner, a double-Oscar winner for his score to the film Titanic (see page 11).

• Legendary pianist Menahem Pressler – a founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio – joins Robin Ticciati to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.

• 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 ViolinsLaurence Jackson

Guest LeaderIlyoung ChaeJi-Hyun Lee

Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Catherine CraigMartin HöhmannGeoffrey Lynn

Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert PoolSarah StreatfeildGrace LeeAlina PetrenkoHelena SmartGalina TanneyCaroline FrenkelCaroline SharpCatherine Van de GeestKokila Gillett-Khan

Second ViolinsNicole Wilson

Guest PrincipalJoseph MaherKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanFiona HighamAshley StevensKsenia BerezinaHarry KerrStephen StewartElizabeth BaldeyGavin DaviesCathy FoxNaomi AnnerNicole Stokes

ViolasCyrille Mercier PrincipalGregory AronovichKatharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniEmmanuella ReiterLaura VallejoMiriam EiseleLinda KidwellMartin WrayKarin NorlenStephen Gorringe

CellosKristina Blaumane PrincipalMorwenna Del MarFrancis BucknallSantiago Carvalho†David LaleGregory WalmsleyElisabeth Wiklander Sue SutherleySusanna Riddell Tom Roff

Double BassesTim Gibbs PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonLowri MorganHelen RowlandsCharlotte KerbegianTom MartinChristina Cooper

FlutesPaola Bonora

Guest PrincipalClare RobsonHannah GraysonStewart McIlwham*

piccoloStewart McIlwham*

Principal

OboesIan Hardwick PrincipalOwen DennisSarah HarperSue Böhling

Cor AnglaisSue Böhling Principal

Chair supported by Julian & Gill Simmonds

ClarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalEmily MeredithMarie LloydPaul Richards

Bass ClarinetPaul Richards Principal

E-flat ClarinetMarie Lloyd

BassoonsGareth Newman PrincipalEmma HardingLaura VincentSimon Estell

ContrabassoonSimon Estell Principal

hornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* PrincipalMartin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth Mollison

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Daniel Newell David Hilton

TrombonesMark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

Matthew Lewis

Bass TromboneLewis Edney

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

TimpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

percussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith MillarSimon Carrington*Sarah MasonRichard HorneJames BowerBarnaby Archer

pianoClíodna Shanahan

Organ & CelesteJames Sherlock

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

† Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Chair Supporters

The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert:

Sonja Drexler The Sharp Family


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 orchestras in the UK. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, has its own successful CD label, and enhances the lives of thousands of people every year through activities for schools and local communities.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the greatest names in the conducting world, 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, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin is Principal Guest Conductor. Julian Anderson 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 1951 and been Resident Orchestra since 1992. It gives around 40 concerts there each season with many of the world’s top conductors and soloists. 2013/14 highlights include a Britten centenary celebration with Vladimir Jurowski; world premieres of James MacMillan’s Viola

Concerto and Górecki’s Fourth Symphony; French repertoire with Yannick Nézet-Séguin including Poulenc, Dutilleux, Berlioz, and Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’ Symphony; and two concerts of epic film scores. The season features soloists including Evelyn Glennie, Mitsuko Uchida, Leif Ove Andsnes, Miloš Karadaglić, Renaud Capuçon, Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, Julia Fischer and Simon Trpčeski, and a distinguished line-up of conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Osmo Vänskä, Vasily Petrenko, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Stanisław Skrowaczewski. Throughout 2013 the Orchestra collaborated with Southbank Centre on the year-long festival The Rest Is Noise, exploring the influential works of the 20th century.

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 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. Touring remains a large and vital part of the Orchestra’s life: highlights this season include visits to

The LPO are an orchestra on fire at the moment. Bachtrack.com, 2 October 2013, Royal Festival Hall: Vladimir Jurowski conducts Britten


the USA, Moscow, Romania, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, France and Spain, and plans for 2014/15 include returns to many of the above plus visits to Turkey, Iceland, the USA (West and East Coast), Canada, China and Australia.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission and East is East to Hugo, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 75 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 with Vladimir Jurowski; Orff’s Carmina Burana with Hans Graf; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sarah Connolly and Toby Spence; and a disc of works by the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson.

In summer 2012 the Orchestra was invited to take part in The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, as well as being chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians and audiences through an energetic programme of activities for young people. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; fusion ensemble The Band; the Leverhulme Young Composers project; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Over recent years, digital advances and social media have enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people across the globe: 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

Friday 3 October 2014 The Isle of the Dead | Piano Concerto No. 1 (original version) | Symphonic Dances

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

London philharmonic Orchestra 2014/15 season

Rachmaninoff: Inside OutA year-long exploration of the composer’s life and music

lpo.org.uk

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


© A

rch

iv K

un

stle

r

Andrey Boreykoconductor

Andrey Boreyko holds the position of Music Director of the National Orchestra of Belgium and the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. With the National Orchestra of Belgium, he ended the 2012/13 season with a highly successful concert at Amsterdam’s

Concertgebouw with pianist Nikolai Lugansky. This season sees the Orchestra tour Germany with pianist Boris Berezovsky, present a Dvořák Festival next month, and return to the Concertgebouw. In 2014/15 Andrey Boreyko will become Music Director of Florida’s Naples Philharmonic. He also holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Basque National Orchestra.

Highlights of the 2013/14 season include performances with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Toronto, St Louis and Houston symphony orchestras. Further ahead he will work with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The 2012/13 season saw his debut with the Orchestre de Paris, and he also returned to conduct the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra (Turin) and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a guest conductor Andrey Boreyko has worked with major orchestras around the world including the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the Vienna Symphony, London Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras. In North America he has conducted the Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Dallas and Montreal symphony orchestras.

Numerous CD, TV and radio recordings demonstrate Andrey Boreyko’s artistic versatility. His discography with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (with whom he held the position of Principal Guest Conductor) includes Arvo Pärt’s Lamentate, Valentin Silvestrov’s Symphony No. 6 (both for ECM Records) and the world premiere of the original version of the Suite from Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for Hänssler Classics. He has also recorded Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra and Lutosławski’s Chain 2 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Martin Chalifour for Yarling Records. With the National Orchestra of Belgium, he continues an extensive recording project of the complete Shostakovich symphonies, having already recorded Nos. 1, 4, 6, 9 and 15 with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Andrey Boreyko has previously held positions including Chief Conductor of the Jenaer Philharmonie in Germany (of which he is now Honorary Conductor) and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Bern and Hamburg symphony orchestras and the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland). He was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Ural State Philharmonic Orchestra.

Andrey Boreyko was born in St Petersburg where, at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, he studied conducting and composition, graduating with the highest honour. While with the Jenaer Philharmonie, Boreyko received awards for the most innovative concert programming in three consecutive seasons from the German Music Critics’ Association – the first in the history of the prize.


© Ju

lia W

esel

y

Julian Rachlinviolin

Julian Rachlin is one of the most exciting and respected violinists of our time. For the last 25 years he has captivated audiences around the world with his distinctively rich sound, superb musicianship and outstanding interpretations. He has established

close relationships with many of the most prestigious conductors and orchestras. Always willing to expand his musical horizons, Julian is also praised as a viola player and, more recently, as a conductor. For 12 years he has directed the internationally renowned ‘Julian Rachlin & Friends’ festival in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a platform for creative and vibrant projects with leading musicians and actors. Julian also receives recognition as a young philanthropist for his charity work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and for his educational outreach work.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include engagements with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Lorin Maazel, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta and Gianandrea Noseda, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Alan Gilbert, the Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Mariss Jansons, and the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra with Yuri Temirkanov. Julian will also tour Europe with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly; the USA with the Orchestre National de France and Daniele Gatti; and China with the China Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony and Guangzhou Symphony orchestras under Long Yu. As a conductor he appears with, among others, the Czech Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, RTÉ National Symphony (Ireland), English Chamber and Lausanne Chamber orchestras, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Moscow Virtuosi.

In 2012 Julian gave the world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Concerto Doppio (Double Concerto) at the Vienna Musikverein with Janine Jansen and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mariss Jansons. This concerto was commissioned by the Musikverein and is dedicated to Julian. In honour

of Penderecki’s 80th birthday in November 2013, Julian gave a series of concerts in Warsaw, as well as the Asian premiere of the Concerto Doppio at the Beijing Music Festival, under the baton of the composer.

Julian Rachlin’s recordings for Sony Classical, Warner Classics and Deutsche Grammophon have all met with great acclaim.

Born in Lithuania in 1974, Julian emigrated to Vienna in 1978. He studied with the eminent pedagogue Boris Kuschnir at the Konservatorium Wien University and took private lessons with Pinchas Zukerman. He gained international acclaim overnight in 1988 when he won the ‘Young Musician of the Year’ award at the Eurovision Competition in Amsterdam. He then became the youngest soloist ever to appear with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, making his debut at the age of 15 under Riccardo Muti.

Since September 1999, Julian Rachlin has taught at the Konservatorium Wien University. He plays the 1704 ‘Ex-Liebig’ Stradivari, on loan to him courtesy of the Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Privatstiftung.


Programme notes

Recollection and remembrance can take many forms. The Polish-born Alexandre Tansman not only composed his Stèle in memoriam Igor Stravinsky, but had already written a book about the older composer’s life and works. He knew Stravinsky well, both in the hot-house atmosphere of Paris between the wars and when they were in exile in the USA in the early 1940s. Tansman admitted: ‘My opinion of Stravinsky is very subjective because in his letters he referred to me as his “friend of the heart”.’ Tansman’s choice of title for his memorial piece reflects the personal nature of his recollection.

Stravinsky too wrote pieces ‘in memoriam’, but his relationship with the past generally emphasised objectivity. The Violin Concerto comes from a period when he had settled into a distinctive dialogue with 18th-century music, a dialogue that renewed rather

than commemorated. In the context of tonight’s programme, it is interesting to note the significance of what one might call ‘character’ chords. Tansman’s Stèle opens with one, while the chord for the solo violin that begins Stravinsky’s Concerto also initiates each of the succeeding movements.

Górecki’s Fourth Symphony, receiving its belated world premiere tonight, shares a few if distant stylistic features with Stravinsky, but its main connection – given its descriptive title ‘Tansman Episodes’ – is with his older compatriot. Górecki’s use of a motif derived from Tansman’s full name is his act of remembrance, an aural equivalent of a carved inscription. What stands out in this programme, however, is the strength of individuality and musical vision of each of the three composers.

Speedread

It is a sign of the times that recordings are the saviour of neglected composers such as Alexandre Tansman. Rarely is his music played in concert. Yet in his lifetime, and particularly in the 1920s and 30s, it was performed by major orchestras and conductors across Europe and the USA. He knew composers from Ravel to Roussel, Gershwin to Milhaud, Stravinsky to Schoenberg. It was his misfortune, like that of Dutilleux and Ohana, to be elbowed off the stage by younger, avant-garde composers in the 1950s and 60s. Yet Tansman continued composing until the end of his long life and his output is considerable, including seven operas, nine symphonies and numerous other orchestral and concertante pieces.

The title Stèle refers to tall memorial stones, examples of which Tansman may well have seen on his international travels. The three movements constitute a modern take on the Baroque French ouverture – slow-fast-slow – yet their soundworld is far removed from Stravinsky’s precision engineering of 18th-century idioms. There are, however, detectable allusions to Stravinsky’s music, especially that up to the 1940s. Yet there is also a pervading exoticism in the opening Elegia, for example, that connects Tansman to a swathe of French composers, and French-influenced composers, of the first half of the 20th century. This is music of passionate intensity and veiled atmosphere.

AlexandreTansman

1897–1986

Stèle in memoriam Igor Stravinsky (1972)

1 Elegia. Lento2 Studio ritmico3 Lamento. Lento


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

The central Studio ritmico speaks for itself, its idiom not a million miles away from some of today’s composers who are fascinated by glittering orchestration and pulsing momentum. Its exhilaration is in part due to Tansman’s absorption of non-Western musical traditions that he encountered in the early 1930s.

The concluding Lamento is the most intimate movement, restrained and delicate. Even here, Tansman’s entrancement with the exotic is in evidence, tempered by contrapuntal skeins of sound that objectify it in a way that Stravinsky would have recognised.

Violin Concerto in D (1931)

Julian Rachlin violin

1 Toccata2 Aria I 3 Aria II4 Capriccio

IgorStravinsky

1882–1971

When Stravinsky jotted down a chord for the violinist Samuel Dushkin, he was told by Dushkin that it was unplayable. ‘Quel dommage’ (‘What a pity’) was the composer’s response. When Dushkin, with whom Stravinsky worked frequently, tried the chord at home, he realised that it was feasible after all, and phoned Stravinsky to tell him. Stravinsky then placed the chord at the start of all four movements of his new Concerto and called it his ‘passport’ to the work. The chord’s function, as a signal or announcement, bears a striking functional relationship with the opening of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, which immediately preceded his work on the Concerto.

The Concerto has four movements, with two Arias flanked by a Toccata and Capriccio. These titles, nominally at least, suggest connections with the Baroque suite, although even this is tenuous. At this point in his career, Stravinsky seems to have settled into a relatively comfortable idiom, acknowledging the past without overly challenging it either structurally or stylistically. The result in this Concerto is amiable, relaxed and, the unusual sequence of movement types notwithstanding, relatively conventional.

The hallmarks of the Toccata include the opening idea that turns in on itself around D natural (often doubled at the third, as at its first appearance on two trumpets) and the nod toward the solo violin writing in The Soldier’s Tale. This latter aspect proposes a link with the laid-back, insouciant character of the Soldier in Stravinsky’s morality tale, yet there is no lack of sophistication in this Toccata.

The dissonance quotient in Aria I is higher, giving the violinist’s song a bittersweet quality, offset by the animation in the central section. This is itself punctuated by an especially resonant wind chord. The much slower tempo of Aria II allows Stravinsky to explore Baroque ornamentation, not only in the solo part but notably also in the structural framing provided by flute, piccolo, clarinet, trumpet and two trombones. In bringing out the cantabile character of the violin, he brings an intimacy to an otherwise playful composition. This joie-de-vivre is embodied by the Finale, whose witty interplay between violin and orchestra manages dexterously to combine the grotesque and the delicate.


Programme notes continued

Henryk MikołajGórecki1933–2010

Symphony No. 4, Op. 85 (Tansman Episodes) for orchestra with obbligato organ and piano (2006)World premiere

1 Deciso-Marcatissimo ma ben tenuto –2 Largo-Ben Tenuto – Marcatissimo –3 Deciso-Marcatissimo – Tranquillo e Cantabile –4 Allegro Marcato – Giocoso – Deciso-Marcatissimo ma ben tenuto

Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Southbank Centre, London, with generous support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Polish Cultural Institute in London; The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association: Gustavo Dudamel, Music Director; and the ZaterdagMatinee, Dutch radio’s classical music concert series in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

The success in the 1990s of Górecki's Third Symphony (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), composed in 1976, was unprecedented in its reach and volume. The music had a profound effect on audiences across the world that few had foreseen. During the late 1970s and through the 1980s, when the Third Symphony remained largely out of sight, Górecki moved on, developing his music in different directions both stylistically and in the genres that he chose. There were large-scale choral works (Beatus vir, Miserere), a piano trio and two string quartets, Marian hymns and folksongs. And in the 1990s, while the Third Symphony was making waves, he composed two works that included references to circus music (Concerto-Cantata and Little Requiem). There is, therefore, some distance between the Third and Fourth symphonies.

Undoubtedly the media circus and international invitations in the mid-1990s – enjoyable though the latter often were – disrupted Górecki's routines and, in a way, caused him some anguish about his future path. Hence the ten-year delay before releasing his Third String Quartet in 2005, and the fact that he held on to his Fourth Symphony, completed in 2006 in short score for piano, with indications of eventual orchestration. Dates for its premieres came and went, and the composer died in 2010 before he was ready to share it.

The task of realising the manuscript for publication and performance fell to Górecki’s son Mikołaj, a composer in his own right. Although much of the instrumentation was already written into the short score, elsewhere Mikołaj Górecki drew on his intimate knowledge of his father’s music and thought processes. The use of three bass drums in the first movement, for example, comes from Górecki’s comments to his son when he played the Symphony to him on the piano in 2006. There are also instrumental references to comparable moments in works from Beatus vir and the Harpsichord Concerto to Little Requiem and Concerto-Cantata.

The Symphony's subtitle, 'Tansman Episodes', reveals something of its source of inspiration, although it is not quite what it appears. The work was the result of several years of cajoling by Andrzej Wendland, who initiated a festival in Tansman's name in the central Polish city of Łódź, where Tansman was born. Wendland sowed the idea for a new work in Górecki's mind and left it to him to come up with a piece as and when it suited the composer's schedule and health. Although Górecki had asked Wendland for a range of materials by and about Tansman, in the end he decided to write a work apparently uninfluenced by his compatriot, with one important exception.

In a number of previous works, Górecki had included the names of dedicatees in the fabric of the music (for example, Michael Vyner’s name in Good Night, 1990). This he did by translating suitable letters into their musical equivalents. In the Fourth Symphony, he derived the following musical cipher from Aleksander Tansman (Górecki used the Polish original of the forename): A-La (A)-E-S (E flat)-A-D-E-Re (D) ... uT (C)-A-S (E flat)- Mi (E)-A.


There are four movements, played without a break and with internal subdivisions (usually indicated by changes in tempo or instrumentation) that sometimes run counter to the score's indicated division. This approach is developed in part from Górecki’s chamber music of the 1980s and 90s. The scoring is for large orchestra (quadruple woodwind, three percussionists, organ) with obbligato piano. The role of the piano is an overt echo of Little Requiem.

The first movement opens with the first five notes of the 'Tansman' theme, the remainder following in a series of fff repetitions. Its incantatory nature is reinforced by superimposing chords (based on A and E flat), this characteristic dissonance released rather than resolved by a skeletal exchange between piano and tubular bells. The movement ends with six emphatic A minor chords, gritted by G sharps and B flats.

As an example of the through-composed nature of the Symphony, the second movement continues the basic A minor tonality, with a chorale-like idea in the cellos and basses, ben sonore, that is interrupted several times by the gritty chords. A second melodic theme, backed by a G major triad, is played by a pair of clarinets. This turns out to be the theme from the final movement of Szymanowski's Stabat mater, one of Górecki's favourite pieces. Its punctuation is gentler (a whole tone on piano and bells). A third theme follows (second violins and violas). The movement ends with a return of the opening ben sonore material, this time intercut by the whole-tone piano and bells, and a final recall of the clarinets, doubled by French horns.

The expressive atmosphere at this point has become introverted. As in his chamber music, Górecki punctures the mood with something more upbeat, although not in this case really up-tempo. The third movement shows Górecki in earthy mode. The core of the movement is unexpected and was part of Górecki’s original concept. He abandons the orchestra and focuses on a small chamber ensemble with the piano at its heart. It accompanies firstly a solo cello, to which subsequently is added a solo violin, with a piccolo joining in for the major part of the section. This 'trio' is followed by the return, elaborated and extended, of the orchestral 'scherzo'.

It will have become evident that much of the melodic material, the 'Tansman' theme aside, has a strong

folkloric identity or may be borrowed material. The finale begins as a true Allegro, taking its cue from the opening notes of the ‘Tansman’ theme. There is a typical acerbic answer (violin dissonances) as well as repeated triadic punctuation. The music is marked giocoso when it moves decisively into triple metre. After a recapitulation of the opening, a slower solo for the piano brings back the 'Tansman' theme in new chording, the brass intone a brand new phrase which in its stentorian presentation seems particularly significant, and the orchestra picks up the 'Tansman' thread from the first movement. The final moments are dominated by the reiterated, gritty A minor chords, but they do not have the final word.

Programme notes © Adrian Thomas

LpO premieres in 2014/15

Saturday 6 December 2014 | 7.30pmharrison Birtwistle Responses: Sweet disorder and the carefully careless, for piano and orchestraCommissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayerische Rundfunk Musica Viva, Casa da Musica 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.

Wednesday 28 January 2015 | 7.30pm Magnus Lindberg Work for soprano and orchestraCommissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Sunday 8 February 2015 | 12 noon–1.00pmColin Matthews The Pied Piper of HamelinCommissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with the generous support of the PRS for Music Foundation.

Saturday 14 March 2015 | 7.30pmJulian Anderson Violin ConcertoCommissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin and Seattle Symphony Orchestra. The London Philharmonic Orchestra gratefully acknowledges financial support from PRS for Music Foundation and the Boltini Trust.

Saturday 21 March 2015 | 7.30pmMagnus Lindberg Piano Concerto No. 2

Friday 27 March 2015 | 7.30pmJames horner New work for four horns

See full details and book online at lpo.org.uk


Wednesday 16 April 2014 | 7.30pmThe Thomas Beecham Group Concert

Zimmermann PhotoptosisBeethoven Piano Concerto No. 3Brahms Symphony No. 4

Vladimir Jurowski conductorMitsuko Uchida piano

Generously supported by Dunard Fund

Free pre-concert performance 6.00–6.45pm | The Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival hallAnimate Orchestra is a ‘young person’s orchestra for the 21st century’. Tonight’s performance of music written by the group is the culmination of their recent course.

Friday 25 April 2014 | 7.30pmJTI Friday Series

Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Festival OvertureRodrigo Concierto de AranjuezTchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)

Vladimir Jurowski conductorMiloš Karadaglić guitar

Saturday 26 April 2014 | 7.30pm

Marko Nikodijevic La lugubre gondolaBeethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor)Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)

Vladimir Jurowski conductorLeif Ove Andsnes piano

Generously supported by Dunard Fund

The Orchestra’s 2014/15 season is now on sale: see page 2 for highlights, call 020 7840 4242 to request a season brochure, or browse online at lpo.org.uk.

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.ukTransaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone. No transaction fee for bookings made in person

Last LPO concerts this season at Royal Festival Hall

Latest LpO CD release: Carmina Burana

Recently released on the LPO Label is Orff’s Carmina Burana conducted by Hans Graf (LPO-0076). It was recorded live in concert at Royal Festival Hall on 6 April 2013, as part of Southbank Centre’s year-long The Rest Is Noise festival, and also features the London

Philharmonic Choir, Trinity Boys Choir and soloists Sarah Tynan, Andrew Kennedy and Rodion Pogossov.

Priced £9.99, the CD is also available from lpo.org.uk/shop (where you can listen to soundclips before you buy), the LPO Ticket Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD retailers.

Alternatively you can download it from iTunes, Amazon and others, or stream via Spotify.

Glyndebourne Festival 2014

Tickets for Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s 80th anniversary season are now on sale. The season, which opens on 17 May 2014 and runs until 24 August, also marks the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 50th anniversary as Resident Symphony Orchestra at Glyndebourne. This summer the Orchestra will give performances of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier under the Festival’s new Music Director Robin Ticciati; Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin under Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber in his Glyndebourne debut; Mozart’s Don Giovanni under Andrés Orozco-Estrada, the Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor from 2015, also making his Glyndebourne debut; and Verdi’s La traviata under Sir Mark Elder.

Browse the full performance schedule and buy tickets online at glyndebourne.com or call the Box Office on 01273 813813.


London Philharmonic Orchestra Annual Appeal 2013/14

Tickets please!

Do you remember the first time you saw a symphony orchestra live on stage?

Every year the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s schools’ concerts allow over 16,000 young people to see and hear the Orchestra live. The LPO is the only orchestra in the UK to offer specific and tailored orchestral concerts for all ages – from primary school children aged five, through to 18-year-old A-level students. Six out of ten children attending the concerts will be experiencing an orchestra for the very first time.

We want to offer free tickets to 2,500 children from the most disadvantaged schools and we need your help to make this happen.

A donation of just £9 will allow a child from one of south

London’s most disadvantaged schools to attend our schools’ concerts for free. If you would like to donate more, you could secure tickets for three children (£27), a row of seats in the stalls (£108), or a whole class to attend (£270). Every donation of any size from our supportive audience will help us to fill our concert hall with new young audience members.

Please visit lpo.org.uk/ticketsplease, where you can select the seats you wish to secure, or call Katherine Hattersley on 020 7840 4212 to donate over the phone.

Thank you for supporting Tickets please!

Tickets please! has now raised over £15,000. This amount means that over 1,600 children will be able to attend our schools’ concerts for free. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has already donated, and in particular to the following donors:

Dr Christopher Aldren, Adrian Clark, Alison Clarke & Leo Pilkington, Garf & Gill Collins, Roger Greenwood, Lord & Lady Hall, Rose & Dudley Leigh, Rivers Foundation, Dr Peter Stephenson, Mr & Mrs J C Tucker, and those who wish to remain anonymous.


Catalyst: Double Your Donation

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is building its first ever endowment fund, which will support the most exciting artistic collaborations with its partner venues here in London and around the country.

Thanks to a generous grant pledge from Arts Council England’s Catalyst programme, the Orchestra is able to double the value of all gifts from new donors up to a maximum value of £1 million. Any additional gifts from existing generous donors will also be matched.

By the end of the campaign we aim to have created an endowment with a value of £2 million which will help us work with partners to provide a funding injection for activities across the many areas of the Orchestra’s work, including:

• Morevisionaryartisticprojectslike The Rest Is Noise at Southbank Centre• EducationalandoutreachactivitiesforyoungLondonerslikethisyear’sNoye’s Fludde performance project• IncreasedtouringtovenuesaroundtheUKthatmightnototherwisehaveaccesstogreatorchestralmusic

To give, call Development Director Nick Jackman on 020 7840 4211, email [email protected] or visit www.lpo.org.uk/support/double-your-donation.html

Masur CircleArts Council England Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Sharp FamilyThe Underwood Trust

Welser-Möst CircleJohn Ireland Charitable Trust

Tennstedt CircleSimon Robey The late Mr K Twyman

Solti patronsAnonymousSuzanne GoodmanThe Rothschild Foundation Manon Williams & John Antoniazzi

haitink patronsMark & Elizabeth Adams Lady Jane Berrill Moya Greene Tony and Susie HayesLady Roslyn Marion LyonsDiana and Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustRuth RattenburySir Bernard Rix Kasia Robinski

Catalyst Endowment Donors

TFS Loans LimitedThe Tsukanov Family Foundation Guy & Utti Whittaker

pritchard DonorsAnonymousLinda BlackstoneMichael BlackstoneYan BonduelleRichard and Jo BrassBritten-Pears Foundation Desmond & Ruth CecilLady June ChichesterLindka CierachMr Alistair CorbettMark DamazerDavid DennisBill & Lisa DoddMr David EdgecombeDavid Ellen Commander Vincent EvansMr Daniel Goldstein Mrs Mina Goodman and Miss

Suzanne GoodmanFfion HagueRebecca Halford HarrisonMichael & Christine HenryHoneymead Arts Trust

John HunterIvan HurryTanya KornilovaHoward & Marilyn LeveneMr Gerald Levin Wg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE

JP RAFDr Frank LimGeoff & Meg MannUlrike ManselMarsh Christian TrustJohn MontgomeryRosemary MorganJohn Owen Edmund PirouetMr Michael PosenJohn PriestlandTim SlorickHoward SnellStanley SteckerLady Marina VaizeyHelen Walker Timothy Walker AMLaurence WattDes & Maggie Whitelock Christopher WilliamsVictoria YanakovaMr Anthony Yolland


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 Berenberg BankBritish American BusinessCarter-Ruck Thomas Eggar LLP

Bronze: Lisa Bolgar Smith and Felix Appelbe of

Ambrose AppelbeAppleyard & Trew LLP Berkeley LawCharles RussellLeventis 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 Ernest Cook TrustThe Coutts Charitable TrustThe D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundEmbassy of Spain, Office for Cultural

and Scientific AffairsThe Equitable Charitable Trust Fidelio Charitable TrustThe Foyle FoundationJ Paul Getty Junior Charitable Trust Lucille Graham TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris

Charitable TrustHelp Musicians UK The Hinrichsen Foundation The Hobson Charity The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing FoundationThe Leverhulme TrustMarsh Christian TrustThe Mayor of London’s Fund for Young

Musicians

Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet TrustMaxwell Morrison Charitable 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 The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust 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-FoundationSir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary

SettlementGarfield Weston Foundation The Barbara Whatmore Charitable TrustYouth Music & others who wish to remain anonymous

Thomas Beecham GroupThe Tsukanov Family Foundation Anonymous

William and Alex de Winton Simon Robey The Sharp FamilyJulian & Gill Simmonds

Garf & Gill CollinsAndrew Davenport Mrs Sonja DrexlerDavid & Victoria Graham FullerMr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg MannCaroline, Jamie & Zander SharpEric Tomsett

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

principal BenefactorsMark & Elizabeth AdamsLady Jane BerrillDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookDavid Ellen

Commander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel GoldsteinPeter MacDonald Eggers Mr & Mrs David MalpasMr Maxwell MorrisonMr Michael PosenMr & Mrs Thierry SciardMr & 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 Mr David EdgecombeMr Richard FernyhoughTony & Susan Hayes Michael & Christine HenryMalcolm HerringIvan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldMr R K Jeha Per Jonsson

Mr Gerald LevinSheila Ashley LewisWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFDr Frank LimPaul & Brigitta LockMr Brian Marsh Andrew T MillsJohn Montgomery Mr & Mrs Andrew NeillMartin and Cheryl Southgate Professor John StuddMr Peter TausigMrs Kazue Turner Howard & Sheelagh Watson Mr Laurie WattDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoe & others who wish to remain anonymous

hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd

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


Administration

Board of Directors

Victoria Sharp Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman*

Vice-PresidentRichard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. HøgelMartin Höhmann* George Peniston* Sir Bernard RixKevin Rundell* Julian SimmondsMark Templeton*Natasha TsukanovaTimothy Walker AM Laurence WattNeil Westreich Dr Manon Williams

* Player-Director

Advisory Council

Victoria Sharp Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham 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. Chairman

Noel Kilkenny Hon. DirectorVictoria Sharp Hon. DirectorRichard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA,

EisnerAmper LLP

Chief Executive

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Finance

David BurkeGeneral Manager andFinance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager

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 CotterPA to the Chief Executive / Tours Co-ordinator

Education and Community

Isabella Kernot Education Director

Alexandra ClarkeEducation and Community Project Manager

Lucy DuffyEducation and Community Project Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Orchestra personnel

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah Holmes Sarah ThomasLibrarians ( job-share)

Christopher AldertonStage Manager

Ellie SwithinbankAssistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Katherine HattersleyCharitable Giving Manager

Helen Searl Corporate Relations Manager

Molly Stewart Development and Events Manager

Sarah Fletcher Development and Finance Officer

Rebecca FoggDevelopment Assistant

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Mia RobertsMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager

Samantha KendallBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Co-ordinator

Penny MillerIntern

Digital projects

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Manager

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 4200Fax: 020 7840 4201Box Office: 020 7840 4242Email: [email protected]

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

Photograph of Górecki © Malcolm Crowthers.

Front cover photograph © Patrick Harrison.

Printed by Cantate.

london philharmonic orchestra concert programme 12 april 2014

Documents