Post on 05-Apr-2016
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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 Vassily Sinaisky7 Pavel Kolesnikov8 Programme notes11 Recommended recordings12 Next concerts14 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
Southbank centre’s Royal Festival hallWednesday 29 October 2014 | 7.30pm
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor (45’)
Interval
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 in E minor (54’) Vassily Sinaisky conductor
Pavel Kolesnikov piano
In co-operation with the Serge Rachmaninoff Foundation
This concert is being broadcast live by the BBC on Radio 3 Live In concert – live concerts every day of the week. Listen online in HD Sound for 30 days at bbc.co.uk/radio3
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 customer@southbankcentre.co.uk
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 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
Ji-Hyun LeeChair supported by Eric Tomsett
Martin HöhmannGeoffrey Lynn
Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp
Robert PoolYang ZhangGrace LeeRebecca ShorrockGalina TanneyRobin WilsonKate ColeNilufar AlimaksumovaCaroline FrenkelCaroline SharpIshani BhoolaFrancesca Smith
Second ViolinsAnna-Liisa Bezrodny
Guest PrincipalFiona HighamJoseph MaherMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensFloortje Gerritsen Stephen StewartJohn DickinsonElizabeth BaldeyNaomi AnnerNynke HijlkemaDean WilliamsonSioni WilliamsMila Mustakova
ViolasCyrille Mercier PrincipalGregory AronovichLaura VallejoMartin FennMiriam EiseleKarin NorlenEmma SheppardGeorgina PayneSusanne MartensIsabel PereiraSarah MalcolmLinda Kidwell
cellosKristina Blaumane
PrincipalSteffan MorrisFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueSantiago Carvalho†David LaleElisabeth WiklanderGregory WalmsleySue Sutherley Susanna Riddell
Double bassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonTom WalleyHelen RowlandsLowri MorganLaura MurphyCatherine RickettsCharlotte KerbegianAntonia Bakewell
FlutesJoshua Batty
Guest PrincipalSue Thomas*
Chair supported by the Sharp Family
Stewart McIlwham*
PiccoloStewart McIlwham*
Principal
OboesIan Hardwick PrincipalAmy McKeanSue Böhling
cor AnglaisSue Böhling Principal
clarinetsRobert Hill* Principal Thomas Watmough
bass clarinetPaul Richards Principal
bassoonsGareth Newman PrincipalLaura Vincent
hornsDavid Pyatt* Principal
Chair supported by Simon Robey
John Ryan* PrincipalMartin HobbsDuncan FullerGareth Mollison
trumpetsNicholas Betts PrincipalAnne McAneney*
Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann
Tom Rainer
trombonesDavid Whitehouse PrincipalRoger Harvey
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
Olly Yates Keith MillarSarah Mason
* 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 William & Alex de Winton Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller
4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
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
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5
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.
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 Strauss’s Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben with Bernard Haitink; Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 6 & 14, Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 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
6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vassily Sinaiskyconductor
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Vassily Sinaisky’s international career was launched in 1973 when he won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Karajan Competition in Berlin. His early work with Kirill Kondrashin at the Moscow Philharmonic and with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatoire provided him with an incomparable grounding. Soon after his success at the Karajan Competition, Sinaisky was appointed Chief Conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, a post he held from 1976 to 1987. He then became Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic, leading numerous high-profile projects with the Orchestra both in Russia and on tour.
Sinaisky enjoys regular collaborations with such orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland, London Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony, Stuttgart Radio Symphony and Czech Philharmonic orchestras. Recent seasons have also seen him conduct the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and NHK Symphony, Tokyo.
Sinaisky holds the positions of Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Philharmonic and Honorary Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Sweden. Memorable projects with the BBC Philharmonic have included the ‘Shostakovich and his Heroes’ festival, tours to Europe and China, and many appearances at the BBC Proms. With the Malmö Symphony, Sinaisky has toured to the UK and to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and recorded an acclaimed four-disc series of the symphonies of Franz Schmidt. Sinaisky has also held the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and Music Director of the Russian State Orchestra. From 2010–13, he held the position as Chief Conductor and Music
Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow and conducted acclaimed productions including Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel directed by Kirill Serebrennikov and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier directed by Stephen Lawless (the first ever staging of this work in Moscow).
Sinaisky has a distinguished pedigree as an operatic conductor. He recently conducted Iolanta and Francesca da Rimini in new productions by Stephen Lawless at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, and Boris Godunov at San Francisco Opera. Other productions have included Carmen and Der Rosenkavalier for English National Opera and an acclaimed Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with Hans Neuenfels at the Komische Oper Berlin.
Vassily Sinaisky’s recordings include the aforementioned set of the symphonies of Franz Schmidt for Naxos with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, and many recordings with the BBC Philharmonic including works by Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shchedrin, Glinka, Liadov, Schreker and Szymanowski.
Vassily Sinaisky is a noted and influential teacher, and holds the position of Professor of Conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatoire.
Sinaisky grabbed the reins and presented the audience with a performance of great power and sheer sound ... Remarkable conducting.
ConcertoNet, February 2012
Vassily Sinaisky discusses his path to becoming a conductor in a YouTube video by the Seattle Symphony: http://y2u.be/z2L5vgeSdbs
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7
Pavel KolesnikovHonens Prize Laureate | piano
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Following Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov’s Wigmore Hall debut in January 2014, The Telegraph gave his recital a rare five-star review and called it ‘one of the most memorable of such occasions London has witnessed in a while.’ Since becoming Prize Laureate of the Honens International Piano Competition in 2012, Kolesnikov has been winning hearts around the world. A live recording of his prize-winning performances was released on the Honens label in March 2013, praised by BBC Music Magazine for its ‘tremendous clarity, unfailing musicality and considerable beauty’. This June, his debut studio recording was released on the Hyperion label to critical acclaim. The Sunday Times described his playing on this all-Tchaikovsky disc as having ‘affection and élan’.
Significant recital and festival appearances resulting from the Honens Prize have included Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, the Louvre (Paris), Vancouver Recital Society, La Jolla Music Society, Spoleto Festival (USA), Canada’s Ottawa ChamberFest and Banff Summer Festival, and the Plush Festival in Dorset, UK. Tonight is Kolesnikov’s concert debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Other recent and upcoming orchestral appearances include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Russia’s National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
London-based Pavel Kolesnikov was born in Siberia into a family of scientists. He studied both the piano and violin for ten years, before concentrating solely on the piano. He has studied at the Moscow State Conservatory with Sergey Dorensky, at London’s Royal College of Music with Norma Fisher and at Brussels’s Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with Maria João Pires, thanks to the generous support of Mr Christopher
D Budden, the RCM Scholarship Foundation and Hattori Foundation. This autumn he was named one of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists for 2014–16, a scheme that provides opportunities to develop live and recorded performances, including broadcasts with the BBC orchestras.
On the work he performs tonight, Kolesnikov says: ‘I remember very vividly how, as a little boy, I listened to Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto, and thought jealously that I would never be able to play it. And now, every time I go on stage to play it, it is somewhat hard to embrace the fact that I bear this incredible treasure in my hands! For it is not only a musical masterpiece, but also a piece of history, telling us of the fates and ways of the world with such an emotional power, in such a truthful, simple and yet prophetic manner that the work both melts and breaks our hearts at the same time. And, as a musician, I can say that there are very few things in life (if any) that quite compare to letting such an absolute masterpiece revive and speak through oneself.’
Tremendous clarity, unfailing musicality and considerable beauty.
BBC Music Magazine, March 2013
pavelkolesnikov.com
facebook.com/pavel.kolesnikov.982
vimeo.com/channels/pavelkolesnikov
In the LPO’s October 2014 podcast, Pavel discusses what it’s like to play Rachmaninoff’s music and performs the cadenza from the first movement of the Third Piano Concerto. lpo.org.uk/explore/podcasts
8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Programme notes
Two of Rachmaninoff’s finest works sit side by side in tonight’s concert. Both were criticised in earlier times and only in the last 50 years or so have they escaped from a prevailing attitude that thought it necessary to make them more palatable by means of savage cuts. Yet today, one of them has acquired a status as the ultimate model of the Romantic
piano concerto – texturally rich, soaringly lyrical and toweringly difficult to play, as befits the work of one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century – while the other shows this great composer’s resource, seriousness and depth as a composer away from the keyboard. Rachmaninoff at his best!
Speedread
Although not as popular as its predecessor, and not as well-stocked with Romantically lingering tunes, Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is in many other ways his most admired. This was not always the case; ‘dry, difficult and unappealing’ was how the young Prokofiev heard it (he preferred the ‘charming’ First and Second), and many of the earlier performances and recordings of the work (including the composer’s own, made in 1939) were afflicted by damaging cuts. Prokofiev was right about it being difficult, though. The Third is one of the most technically daunting of all the major piano concertos, its 45-minute span demanding of its executants heroic feats of virtuosity, stamina and power, while at the same time challenging them to show the more musicianly qualities of precision, clarity and line.
Rachmaninoff composed it at his family estate in Ivanovka in the autumn of 1909 specifically for his forthcoming first tour to the USA, and he was the soloist at its premiere with the New York Symphony Orchestra on 28 November with Walter Damrosch conducting. An even more memorable performance,
however, must have been the one Rachmaninoff gave with the New York Philharmonic the following January, when the conductor was Gustav Mahler. ‘Mahler touched my composer’s heart straight away’, Rachmaninoff wrote, ‘by devoting himself to my concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had been practised to the point of perfection.’
The complexity that Rachmaninoff refers to is due not only to the orchestral accompaniment’s richness, but also to the important role it plays in the work’s construction. While he may not have been the composer to reproduce the taut motivic discourse of a Schoenberg or a Bartók, in this Concerto Rachmaninoff achieves a satisfying sense of unity through laid-back but persistent allusion to themes outlined in the first movement. Of these, none is more of a presence than the long, tender melody uncurled by the piano right at the start. Its restless Russian melancholy is unmistakable, but Rachmaninoff denied suggestions that it had origins in folksong or Orthodox chant: ‘It simply wrote itself’, he said. ‘I was thinking only of the
Piano concerto no. 3 in D minor, Op. 30
Simon trpčeski piano
1 Allegro ma non tanto2 Intermezzo: Adagio –3 Finale: Alla breve
SergeRachmaninoff
1873–1943
Piano concerto no. 3 in D minor, Op. 30
Pavel Kolesnikov piano
1 Allegro ma non tanto2 Intermezzo: Adagio –3 Finale: Alla breve
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9
sound. I wanted to “sing” the melody on the piano, as a singer would sing it.’ Whether naturally arising or not, this theme and its lilting accompaniment inform many of the melodic outlines that follow, giving the whole work the flavour of ongoing, seamless development. Eventually a second theme appears, introduced with a new rhythmic impulse that seems almost like a fanfare in the circumstances, but soon settling down to more expansive lyricism under the pianist’s hands. The development section starts with a reprise of the opening, though naturally one which takes new turns. The music builds to a climax, then subsides, the texture thinning until the piano is left to embark on a long solo cadenza whose own powerful climax is in turn calmed by snippets of the first theme on solo winds. A recapitulation of this theme in its original form follows, but the movement is nearly done now, and the end arrives with a few quiet echoes of the second theme.
The title of the second movement, Intermezzo, suggests a desire to relax the atmosphere, as does the drop in key
to D flat major. In fact the free variations on the sombre melody introduced by the orchestra at the outset encompass both textural detail and much Romantic warmth, while a faster and lighter section turns out to be a waltz-like, major-key transformation of the first-movement theme in which brilliant piano figuration accompanies the woodwind. A brief and passionate return to the original theme is broken off, however, by a commanding interposition by the pianist, who whips things up and pitches us decisively into the Finale.
Here the dominant element is a vigorous, twitching line made from an inversion of the rocking accompaniment figure from the opening of the Concerto. The somewhat militaristic flavour it now gives off is contrasted with another soaringly Romantic second theme, but it returns, along with a melancholy lower-string reminiscence of the first movement’s main theme, in a skittish development section. The recapitulation begins after a moment of near stillness, but, after the soaring theme has returned in glory, the Concerto ends in an exhilarating dash to the finish.
Interval – 20 minutesAn announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.
SergeRachmaninoff
Symphony no. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
1 Largo – Allegro moderato2 Allegro molto 3 Adagio4 Allegro vivace
Thanks largely to the concertos, Rachmaninoff is usually thought of primarily as a composer for the piano, but before he left Russia for the last time in 1917 he was more widely recognised as a composer of vocal, chamber and orchestral music and a gifted conductor active both in the concert hall and the opera house. The Third Piano Concerto came well into a period of heartening success that had served to wipe away the creatively crippling depression caused by the disastrous premiere of the First Symphony ten years earlier:
1901 had seen him return to form with the Second Piano Concerto; in 1902 he had married, his wife giving birth to a daughter the following year; and 1904 had brought a conducting post at the Bolshoi Opera in Moscow, where, early in 1906, he presided over well-received premieres of his operas Francesca da Rimini and The Miserly Knight.
By this time, however, Rachmaninoff was beginning to feel the strain of celebrity, and made the decision to give
10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Programme notes continued
himself more breathing space by removing himself and his family to Dresden. It was there that he composed his Second Symphony, in such secrecy that even his closest friends were unaware of the fact until they read about it in the press. ‘I have completed a symphony, it’s true!’, he wrote to one of them in February 1907. ‘It’s only ready in draft. I finished it a month ago and immediately put it aside. It was a severe worry to me and I am not going to think about it any more.’ The score was eventually completed early the following year and the premiere took place in St Petersburg on 8 February 1908, with Rachmaninoff himself conducting.
The Second Symphony is both one of Rachmaninoff’s most popular orchestral compositions and one of his finest, a work of relaxed expansiveness and easy melodic flow, yet also one of great expressive power and sweep. Rachmaninoff’s talent for memorable melody is as present as ever here, but it never descends into facility; like Tchaikovsky (whose influence is unmistakable), he was able to move the listener with a big tune, but also to mould his melodies into great architectural spans with a subtlety that makes them appear totally natural. This Symphony is in fact shot through with motivic connections and links, but so organic do they seem that the listener could be forgiven for hardly noticing.
Three important thematic cells are set out in the Symphony’s opening eight bars. The first, a weighty, undulating figure heard in the cellos and basses, is closely followed by a lightly syncopated stab from the woodwind and horns, and then by a downward-winding line in the violins. All are significant to the work as a whole, but for the moment they serve to initiate a sombre slow introduction which is lengthy enough to include a powerful climax before subsiding on to a cor anglais solo. The main Allegro section of the movement features two themes, the first a dreamy transformation of the opening cello-and-bass figure, and the second (heralded by a brief clarinet solo) a romantic dialogue between wind and strings with links to the syncopated second motif. Reminders of all three motifs then continue to appear as the music drives forward through a Tchaikovskian climax in the central development section (built largely on the first motif), warm restatements of the principal themes, and on to an impassioned finish.
The second movement starts out as a breezily confident scherzo. Simpler in design than its companions, it is in three sections, the third of which is essentially a reprise of the first. The outer sections oppose a striding main theme and a lovingly lyrical second for strings, while the central one introduces a contrasting texture of closely worked, chattering counterpoint. Towards the end of the reprise, the brass interrupt with an apparition of the first movement’s second motif, and the scherzo ends in unexpectedly ominous mood.
The Adagio that forms the third movement is one of Rachmaninoff’s most generous melodic creations, a worthy cousin to the slow movement of the Second Piano Concerto, to which it bears similarities. Strangely, its two main themes are presented almost on top of each other, the initial arpeggio-based string melody being immediately followed by a long and languid solo clarinet tune, but both are given ample space to breathe in the course of the ravishing movement that follows, as Rachmaninoff handles their leisurely juxtaposition with great skill and expressive control, decorating them here and there with glistening remembrances of the by-now familiar motifs.
The Finale announces its intentions in joyously whirling, carnivalesque music whose textural complexities carry numerous thematic references to what has gone before. Rachmaninoff does not intend to let the movement run away with him, however, and before long introduces a noble violin theme to calm things down. It is an uplifting new presence, and proves even more heart-swellingly so when – following a nostalgic reminiscence of the slow movement and a mountingly exciting section built on descending scales – it makes its majestic return as the Symphony’s crowning glory.
Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp
CDs by tonight’s pianist Pavel Kolesnikov will be on sale at the Foyles merchandise stand in the Royal Festival Hall foyer before and after tonight’s concert, and during the interval.
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11
Recommended recordings of tonight’s works
Rachmaninoff: Piano concerto no. 3Nikolai Lugansky piano Sakari Oramo conductor City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Warner Classics
Rachmaninoff: Symphony no. 2 Royal Philharmonic OrchestraYuri Temirkanov conductorRCA
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. We’ve picked highlights from throughout the season, creating bite-sized introductions to the music and its historical background.
Watch Patrick Bailey introduce Rachmaninoff’s piano music: lpo.org.uk/explore/videos.html
Media Partner The International Piano Series is devised, co-ordinated and developed by Harrison Parrott
International Piano Series2014/15Alexandre TharaudTuesday 4 November 2014
Schubert, Mahler, Couperin and Ravel
Alexei VolodinWednesday 26 November 2014
Schubert, Chopin and Schumann
Dejan LazicThursday 11 December 2014
CPE Bach, Britten, D Scarlatti and Bartók
Denis MatsuevTuesday 20 January 2015
Tchaikovsky, Liszt and Rachmaninov
Louis LortieThursday 29 January 2015
Fauré and Scriabin
Lukáš VondráčekTuesday 10 February 2015
Graham Lack, Schumann, Liszt and Rachmaninov
Ivo PogorelichTuesday 24 February 2015
Liszt, Schumann, Stravinsky and Brahms
Sunwook KimTuesday 3 March 2015
Bach, Beethoven and Mussorgsky
Maurizio PolliniTuesday 17 March 2015
Schumann and Chopin
Jonathan BissTuesday 31 March 2015
Berg, Schoenberg, Schumann and Beethoven
YundiMonday 13 April 2015
Chopin
Stephen HoughTuesday 28 April 2015
Debussy and Chopin
Yevgeny SudbinWednesday 13 May 2015
Haydn, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Scriabin and Saint-Saëns
Alice Sara Ott & Francesco TristanoThursday 11 June 2015Ravel, Debussy, Tristano and Stravinsky
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Alice Sara Ott & Francesco Tristano © Marie Staggat Photography
12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Saturday 1 november 2014 | 7.30pm
Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection)
Jaap van Zweden conductor Elizabeth Watts soprano Alice coote mezzo soprano London Philharmonic choir
Please note there will be no interval during this performance.
Wednesday 5 november 2014 | 7.30pm
Sibelius The Bard Sibelius Violin Concerto Sibelius Lemminkäinen Suite (Four Legends of the Kalevala)
Osmo Vänskä conductor Alexandra Soumm violin Free pre-concert event 6.00–6.45pm | Royal Festival hall Musicians from the LPO join students from London Music Masters’ innovative music education programme, the Bridge Project, for a musical celebration.
Friday 7 november 2014 | 7.30pm
JtI Friday Series Rachmaninoff: Inside Out*
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 4 (final version) tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 (Winter Daydreams)
Osmo Vänskä conductor nikolai Lugansky piano
Wednesday 12 november 2014 | 7.30pm
Pierné Overture and Suite, Ramuntcho† Poulenc Concerto for two pianos and orchestra Ravel Rapsodie espagnole Debussy La mer
Juanjo Mena conductor Katia Labèque piano Marielle Labèque piano
† Supported by Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française.
Wednesday 19 november 2014 | 7.30pm
brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 Schubert Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) R Strauss Don Juan
Yannick nézet-Séguin conductor Lars Vogt piano
Friday 28 november 2014 | 7.30pm JtI Friday Series Rachmaninoff: Inside Out*
Wagner Overture, Tannhäuser Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
David Zinman conductor behzod Abduraimov piano
Free pre-concert event | 6.15–6.45pm Royal Festival hall Acclaimed film director Tony Palmer discusses the enduring popularity of Rachmaninoff’s music. * 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.ukTransaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone. No transaction fee for bookings made in person
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14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
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
bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLP Charles 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 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 The Sharp FamilyJulian & 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 EllenCommander Vincent Evans Mr 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 Hurstfield
Per JonssonMr 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
London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15
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 Emmanuel & Barrie Roman The Sharp FamilyThe 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 Trust
John HunterIvan 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
16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Administration
board of DirectorsVictoria Sharp 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 Sharp 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 Sharp 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
Noelia Moreno Charitable Giving 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: admin@lpo.org.uklpo.org.uk
The London Philharmonic Orchestra Limited is a registered charity No. 238045.
Photograph of Rachmaninoff courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Cover design: Chaos Design.Printed by Cantate.