24 October 2012 LPO Programme notes

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

CONTENTS 2 Welcome / Next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall 3 About the Orchestra 4 Tonight’s performers5 Stanisław Skrowaczewski6 Hilary Hahn7 Programme notes 9 Bruckner on the LPO Label10 Orchestra news11 Supporters12 LPO administration The timings shown are not precise and

are given only as a guide.

* supported by the Tsukanov Family and one anonymous donor

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

SOUThBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL hALLWednesday 24 October 2012 | 7.30pm

STANISłAW SKROWACZEWSKI conductor

hILARY hAhN violin

MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K219 (31’)

Interval

BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7 in E major (64’)

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 and Feng Sushi, 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.

WELCOME

Friday 26 October 2012 | 7.30pm JTI Friday Series

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1Bruckner (arr. Skrowaczewski) Adagio from String

Quintet in FShostakovich Symphony No. 1

Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductorGarrick Ohlsson piano

Wednesday 31 October 2012 | 7.30pm

Sibelius Symphony No. 3Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3Nielsen Symphony No. 6 (Sinfonia semplice)

Osmo Vänskä conductorChristian Tetzlaff violin

‘Christian Tetzlaff has the kind of technique that makes you forget the difficulty of the piece and simply wonder at the range of expression, the variety of tone and colour at his disposal.’ Evening Standard

NExT LpO CONCERTS AT ROYAL FESTIVAL hALL

Booking details

London philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office 020 7840 4242 Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (no transaction fee)

Southbank Centre Ticket Office (transaction fees apply) 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pmsouthbankcentre.co.uk

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

LONDON phILhARMONIC ORChESTRA

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most adventurous and forward-looking orchestras. As well as giving classical concerts, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, has its own record label, and reaches thousands of Londoners every year through activities for schools and local communities.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and since then its Principal Conductors have included Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. The current Principal Conductor is Vladimir Jurowski, appointed in 2007, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin is Principal Guest Conductor.

The Orchestra is Resident Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre, where it has performed since it opened in 1951, giving around 40 concerts there each season. 2012/13 highlights include three concerts with Vladimir Jurowski based around the theme of War and Peace in collaboration with the Russian National Orchestra; Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, also conducted by Jurowski; 20th-century American works with Marin Alsop; Haydn and Strauss with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and the UK premiere of Carl Vine’s Second Piano Concerto with pianist Piers Lane under Vassily Sinaisky. Throughout 2013 the Orchestra will collaborate with the Southbank Centre on The Rest Is Noise festival, based on Alex Ross’s book of the same name and charting the 20th century’s key musical works.

The Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Every summer, the Orchestra leaves London for four months and takes up its annual residency accompanying the famous Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing concerts to sell-out audiences worldwide. Tours in the 2012/13 season include visits to Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, the USA and Austria.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded many blockbuster scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, East is East, Hugo, 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 nearly 70 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Dvořák’s Stabat Mater under Neeme Järvi; Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 with Vladimir Jurowski; Sibelius’s Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6 under the late Paavo Berglund; and the world premiere of Ravi Shankar’s First Symphony conducted by David Murphy.

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.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra maintains an energetic programme of activities for young people and local communities. Highlights include the Deutsche

Bank BrightSparks schools’ concerts; the Leverhulme Young Composers project; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme

for outstanding young players. Over recent years, developments in technology and social networks have 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, news blog, iPhone app and regular podcasts, 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

‘As things stand now, the LPO must rate as an example to all orchestras.’Musicalcriticism.com, July 2011 (BBC Proms 2011: Liszt, Bartók and Kodály)


TONIGhT’S pERFORMERS

First ViolinsGeorgy Valtchev

Guest LeaderIlyoung Chae

Chair supported by Moya Greene

Ji-Hyun LeeKatalin Varnagy Catherine CraigThomas EisnerTina GruenbergMartin HöhmannGeoffrey Lynn Robert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangRebecca ShorrockGalina TanneyHelena SmartIshani Bhoola

Second ViolinsAnnabelle Meare

Guest Principal Joseph MaherKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Fiona HighamAshley StevensMarie-Anne MairesseNancy ElanAndrew ThurgoodSioni WilliamsAlison StrangeStephen StewartMila MustakovaSheila LawElizabeth Baldey

ViolasHelen Kamminga

Guest Principal Robert DuncanGregory AronovichKatharine LeekBenedetto Pollani Laura Vallejo Susanne MartensEmmanuella Reiter-

Bootiman Naomi HoltIsabel PereiraMiranda DavisSarah Malcolm

CellosKristina Blaumane

PrincipalSusanne Beer Co-PrincipalFrancis Bucknall Laura DonoghueJonathan Ayling

Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Gregory WalmsleySantiago Carvalho†Susan SutherleySusanna RiddellDavid Lale

Double BassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalTim Gibbs Co-PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonKenneth KnussenLowri MorganCharlotte KerbegianAntonia Bakewell

FlutesSue Thomas Principal

Chair supported by the Sharp Family

Stewart McIlwham*

OboesIan Hardwick PrincipalAngela Tennick

ClarinetsNicholas Carpenter*

PrincipalEmily Meredith

BassoonsGareth Newman* PrincipalSimon Estell

hornsDavid Pyatt Guest PrincipalDuncan FullerNicolas WolmarkGareth MollisonMarcus Bates

Wagner TubasMark VinesStephen NichollsMartin HobbsAnthony Chidell

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Tom RainerWilliam O’Sullivan

TrombonesMark Templeton* PrincipalDavid Whitehouse

Bass TromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

TimpaniSimon Carrington*

Principal

percussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

* 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:

John & Angela Kessler Julian & Gill Simmonds


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Stanisław Skrowaczewski commands a rare position in the international musical scene, being both a renowned conducting figure and a highly regarded composer. Having conducted all the top orchestras

during his long and distinguished career, Skrowaczewski is now the world’s oldest working major conductor.

Born in 1923 in Poland, Skrowaczewski began musical studies aged four; composed his first symphonic work at seven; gave his first public piano recital at 11; and two years later played and conducted Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. A hand injury during the war terminated his keyboard career, after which he concentrated on composing and conducting. In 1946 he became conductor of the Wrocław (Breslau) Philharmonic, and he later served as Music Director of the Katowice Philharmonic (1949–54), Kraków Philharmonic (1954–6) and Warsaw National Orchestra (1956–9).

Skrowaczewski spent the immediate post-war years studying with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1948 he conducted the Paris premiere of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. After winning the 1956 International Competition for Conductors in Rome, he was invited by George Szell to make his American debut conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. This led to engagements with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony and Cincinnati Symphony orchestras and, in 1960, to his appointment as Music Director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now the Minnesota Orchestra), a position he held for 19 years. During the 1960s he made his debuts with the London, Chicago and Boston symphony orchestras; the Los Angeles, Munich, Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras; the Philadelphia Orchestra; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; as well as with the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

From 1984 to 1991, Skrowaczewski was Principal Conductor of the Hallé, with whom he gave concerts throughout Europe and the USA and recorded

STANISłAW SKROWACZEWSKIconductor

extensively. In 2007 Skrowaczewski was appointed Principal Conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo, for three highly successful seasons, during which time many of his performances were recorded live for Columbia Records.

Guest engagements continue to take Skrowaczewski across North America, Europe and Japan. As well as two concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, highlights of his 2012/13 season include returns to the Hallé; the Orchestre National de Lyon; the Bruckner Orchester Linz; and the Frankfurt Radio and Gothenburg symphony orchestras. Skrowaczewski is currently Conductor Laureate of the Minnesota Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, and Honorary Conductor Laureate of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, all of which he also conducts this season.

Still an active composer, Skrowaczewski’s works have recently been performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony, German Radio Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and Minnesota orchestras. His Concerto for Orchestra (1985) and Passacaglia Immaginaria (1995) were both nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

The recipient of numerous accolades, Skrowaczewski has six Honorary Doctorates, awarded most recently by the universities of Minnesota and Wrocław, the New England Conservatory of Music and the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Katowice. His interpretations of Bruckner have earned him the Bruckner Society of America’s Kilenyi Medal of Honor and the Gold Medal of the Mahler-Bruckner Society, and his programming of contemporary music at the Minnesota Orchestra was acknowledged with five ASCAP Awards. Of particular note within Skrowaczewski’s extensive discography are his complete recordings of Bruckner and Beethoven symphonies with the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra for Arte Nova Classics, which received enormous critical acclaim. The Bruckner set was included in BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Top Ten Discs of the Decade’.

Published in 2011, a comprehensive account of Skrowaczewski’s life can be found in Seeking the Infinite: The Musical Life of Stanisław Skrowaczewski, by Frederick Harris Jr; it is available via seekingtheinfinite.com.


American violinist Hilary Hahn’s probing interpretations, technical brilliance and commitment to new music have not only made her one of the most sought-after artists of our time, but also brought her love of classical music

to a diverse audience. Although only 32 years old, her international recognition, including two Grammys, multiple Diapason d’Or and German Record Critics’ awards, and the 2008 Classic FM/Gramophone Artist of the Year title are testament to her talent and drive.

Hahn appears regularly with the world’s elite orchestras and at prestigious recital series. During the 2010/11 season she embarked on a demanding recital tour covering 56 cities across four continents. After a planned tour of Japan in April 2011 was cancelled owing to the March tsunami disaster, Hahn organised four benefit concerts in the US to help aid the recovery.During the 2011/12 season she performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in its opening gala concert; the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra; the NDR Radiophilharmonie; the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Camerata Salzburg; and the Pittsburgh, Houston, San Francisco, Montreal and Alabama symphony orchestras. She also toured the US presenting the first half of her commissioning project In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores with long-time recital partner Valentina Lisitsa. She also gave concerts in Germany, France, Spain and Eastern Europe.

In the 15 years since she began recording, Hahn has released 12 albums on the Deutsche Grammophon and Sony labels, as well as three DVDs, an Oscar-nominated film soundtrack, an award-winning recording for children, and various compilations. In repertoire as diverse as Bach, Stravinsky, Elgar, Beethoven, Vaughan Williams, Mozart, Schoenberg, Paganini, Spohr, Barber, Bernstein and Korngold, her recordings have received every critical prize in the international press, and have met with equal popular success. All have spent weeks in Billboard’s Classical Top Ten chart.

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A 2008 recording of Schoenberg and Sibelius concertos entered the Billboard chart at No. 1 and spent the next 23 weeks in the chart. This album brought Hahn her second Grammy: the 2009 Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra. Her first Grammy came in 2003 for her Brahms and Stravinsky concertos album. In 2009 Hahn’s former teacher, composer Jennifer Higdon, wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning concerto for her. This was released in September 2010 along with works by Tchaikovsky. Hilary’s most recent album Silfra is the culmination of a two-year exploratory improvisation project in collaboration with German prepared-piano master and innovator Hauschka. The music on this ambitious and free-spirited collection is a tribute to the Silfra rift in Iceland.

Hahn’s commitment to contemporary music is shown by her current project In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores. She commissioned 27 composers to write short pieces for violin and piano, to be premiered during the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons and recorded for release next season. Shorter pieces remain a crucial part of every violinist’s education and repertoire, and Hahn believes potential new favourites should be encouraged and performed as well as longer works.

Hahn has appeared on the covers of all major classical music publications and has been featured in mainstream magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. In 2001, she was named ‘America’s Best Young Classical Musician’ by Time. In January 2010 she appeared as guest artist, playing Bartók and Brahms, on The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien.

Hahn is an avid writer and interviewer, posting diary entries on her website at hilaryhahn.com. She produces a YouTube channel (youtube.com/hilaryhahnvideos) and serves as guest host for the contemporary classical music blog Sequenza21. Elsewhere, her violin case comments on life as a travelling companion on Twitter: @violincase. In 2004, Hilary was a soloist on the Oscar-nominated soundtrack to the film The Village. She has made guest appearances on two albums by the alt-rock band … And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and on Grand Forks by Tom Brosseau, and she has collaborated and toured with folk/rock singer-songwriter Josh Ritter.


Mozart wrote at least four of his five violin concertos in one year, 1775, when he was 19 years old. At this time he was still the employee of the Archbishop of Salzburg. Next to nothing is known about why Mozart wrote so many solo works for violin around this time (a substantial ‘Concertone’ for two violins and orchestra dates from the previous year) – or why he never seriously returned to the form again. But as Konzertmeister (leader) of the Archbishop’s orchestra, Mozart would almost certainly have been expected to provide solo music for his employer’s entertainment, and he may well have played the solo parts himself – he certainly had the capability.

Even so, while there is technically brilliant writing in these concertos, the general tendency is more towards lyrical beauty, formal balance and wit. After hearing one particularly virtuosic violin concerto, Mozart wrote to his father that although he had quite enjoyed it, ‘you know that I am no lover of difficulties’. Several times, on hearing violin playing that pleased him thoroughly, he wrote that ‘it went smoothly as oil.’

The Fifth Concerto is the most adventurous, ingenious and beguiling of the five violin concertos. Mozart begins the first movement, Allegro aperto [Lively, broad in style] by lulling his audience into a false sense of security. The opening orchestral section seems reasonably conventional by later 18th-century standards: it presents us with a number of themes, all ripe for development, and builds to a stirring conclusion. At this point we would expect the soloist to pick up one of the themes we’ve already heard and run with it for a while. Instead, there’s a pause, the tempo drops to Adagio, and the soloist sings to us sweetly for a moment or two. The Adagio itself pauses – then the soloist relaunches the Allegro aperto, but with a new theme of its own. We never hear the Adagio music again (unless the soloist decides to allude to it in her solo cadenza), but the memory of that charming surprise persists, resurfacing in many touches of subtle poetry.

The second movement, Adagio, is significantly longer than any of the slow movements in Mozart’s previous violin concertos. There are echoes here of some of the great lyrical declarations of love in Mozart’s operas,

pROGRAMME NOTES

At first glance, Bruckner’s spacious, romantically lyrical Seventh Symphony and Mozart’s classically concise Fifth Violin Concerto may not seem to have a lot in common. But Bruckner revered his great forerunner and fellow Austrian, and studied him intently. The serene long opening melody of his Seventh Symphony has the kind of sensuous beauty and elegant formal balance that we find, on a much smaller scale, in

Mozart’s gorgeous slow central movement. Mozart may be wittier and lighter on his feet than Bruckner, but both composers pay tribute to dance music: Bruckner celebrating the rhythms and curvaceous melodies of the rural Ländler (country cousin of the sophisticated urban waltz) in his Scherzo, or Mozart pitting courtly Minuet against ‘Turkish’ stomping in his Rondo finale.

Speedread

Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K219 (‘Turkish’)

hilary hahn violin

1 Allegro aperto2 Adagio3 Rondeau: Tempo di Menuetto – Allegro – Tempo di Menuetto

Wolfgang AmadeusMozart

1756–91


yet the writing – as throughout the Concerto – is wonderfully suited to the violin. The finale is the most surprising and ingenious of the three movements. Mozart calls it a Rondeau (‘Rondo’, or in English ‘Round’), signifying a structure in which the main theme keeps returning, after contrasting ideas, to create a kind of circling effect.

In this Rondo finale, however, Mozart gives us a kind of ‘Rondo within a Rondo’. Some way into the movement, the minuet tempo is suddenly interrupted by an Allegro, which twice lurches into wild, rough-edged dance music. This style of deliberately un-refined folksy music, in a robust two beats per bar, was characterised in Mozart’s

time as ‘Turkish’ (hence the Concerto’s nickname). That it was a long way from real Turkish music needn’t concern us too much here; in any case the intention was almost certainly parody. Vienna had withstood sieges by massed Turkish armies in 1529 and 1683, and the idea of the ‘heathen Turk’ still had power to disturb Austrians in Mozart’s day. In the Concerto’s finale the elegant, eminently European minuet (ancestor of the Viennese waltz) eventually returns and – quietly – wins the day. The enemy has been invoked and ridiculed, and ‘civilised’ musical values have been shown to prevail. We may smile knowingly at this kind of stereotyping today, yet the charm of the music remains hard to resist.

The world premiere of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony in 1884 was the big turning point in the composer’s career. The previous 16 years had been a hard lesson in patience. In 1868, the 44-year-old Bruckner had left his Upper Austrian homeland for Vienna, full of hope. Instead he experienced rejection and mockery from the Viennese musical establishment. The first performance of the Third Symphony in 1877, by a visibly reluctant Vienna Philharmonic, was a catastrophe. The hall gradually emptied, and Bruckner was then subjected to a hideous mauling in the press. After that, few were disposed to take him seriously.

Then, in 1881, the long-delayed premiere of the Fourth under Hans Richter began to turn the tide. Buoyed up by this, Bruckner began work on one of his most grandly affirmative works, the choral-orchestral Te Deum, which he dedicated proudly ‘to God, for having brought me

through so much anguish in Vienna’. A few months later, on 23 September, Bruckner began sketching the Seventh Symphony. Apparently the Symphony’s wonderful opening melody came to Bruckner in a dream: a friend from Bruckner’s younger days played the theme on a viola, with the words ‘This will bring you success’. If this is true it was prophetic: the premiere of the Seventh Symphony – significantly, not in conservative Vienna, but in the more culturally progressive German city of Leipzig – was one of the greatest successes of Bruckner’s life. One critic wrote, ‘How is it possible that he could remain so long unknown to us?’

It isn’t hard to believe that the long, serenely arching first theme (cellos and violas, with horn at first) could have come straight from the unconscious – a gift of nature. As the theme is repeated on full orchestra the vision intensifies, then fades. A more melancholy second

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

Symphony No. 7 in E major

1 Allegro moderato2 Adagio: Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam [Very solemn and slow]3 Scherzo: Sehr schnell [Very fast] – Trio: Etwas langsamer [Somewhat slower]4 Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht schnell [Lively, but not fast]

AntonBruckner

1824–96

pROGRAMME NOTES


theme (oboe and clarinet) aspires to recover lost glory. Eventually it sounds as though it might succeed, in a long crescendo over a repeated bass note, topped with brass fanfares. But this is suddenly cut off, and a more animated third theme follows: an earthy dance tune (strings in unison, with woodwind and brass support). After this, Bruckner allows us memories of his original vision; but it is only at the end of the movement that the promise of the opening is fulfilled: the Symphony’s opening motif rises steadily through the orchestra, crescendo, over a long-held major triad. Bruckner may have had the elemental one-chord crescendo that opens Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the back of his mind, but the effect here is quite different – after all this is a culmination, not a beginning.

It is said that Bruckner composed the Adagio in the knowledge that his idol Wagner hadn’t long to live. There is an unmistakable note of mourning in the noble first theme, in which Bruckner uses – for the first time – a quartet of so-called ‘Wagner tubas’ (more like deep horns than tubas). Just before the lovely second theme (strings, in 3/4), hushed horn and tubas allude to Wagner’s masterpiece Tristan und Isolde, but unless this is pointed out, you’d hardly notice it: the effect is pure Bruckner. In some performances the Adagio’s climax is crowned by a cymbal clash, with triangle and timpani.

(This wasn’t Bruckner’s idea, but a suggestion from two friends.) Either way, it’s a thrilling moment: a revelation of pure light, after which the tubas, joined by horns, sing a magnificent elegy, then the movement concludes in peace.

Like many of Bruckner’s earlier scherzos, the Scherzo of the Seventh Symphony reveals its rustic roots at almost every turn. (Bruckner often played in country dance-bands in his youth.) There are strong echoes of the Austrian Ländler, country cousin of the sophisticated Viennese waltz. But there is an obsessive, elemental drive here. The central Trio is much gentler, more songful, after which the Scherzo is repeated. Then comes the finale – unusually for Bruckner it’s the lightest (and in most performances, the shortest) of the four movements. Again there are three themes: a dancing, dotted theme (violins); a solemn chorale on violins and violas above a ‘walking’ pizzicato bass; and a jagged version of the first theme for full orchestra in unison. Excitement builds towards the end, until at last Bruckner reveals that the finale’s dancing first theme is simply the Symphony’s serene opening motif in disguise: we have travelled full circle.

Programme notes by Stephen Johnson

Bruckner Symphonies on the LpO Label

Available from www.lpo.org.uk/shop, the London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office (020 7840 4242, Monday–Friday 10am–5pm), all good CD outlets and the Royal Festival Hall shop. Downloads available from iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and classicsonline.com.

Symphony No. 8

Klaus Tennstedt conductor

LPO–0032 | £9.99

Symphony No. 6

Christoph Eschenbach conductor

LPO–0049 | £9.99

Symphony No. 7


LPO–0030 | £9.99

Symphony No. 4


LPO–0014 | £9.99


Greatest Video Game Music 2

Over the summer we were back in the recording studio for the follow-up album to last year’s hugely popular Greatest Video Game Music.

Once again conductor Andrew Skeet has created symphony orchestra versions of a

huge range of familiar tunes, including music from Final Fantasy VII, The Elder Scrolls V, Street Fighter II, Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect 3, Halo, Legend of Zelda: Dragon Roost Island, Little Big Planet, and many others.

The album will be released on Tuesday 6 November. Watch a short preview film and listen to advance soundclips at www.lpo.org.uk/heroes/

Student pulse: the new app for student concert-goers in London The London Philharmonic Orchestra and its student scheme, NOISE, have joined forces with nine other London orchestras and venues to launch an iPhone and Android app that pulls together each organisation’s student schemes onto one platform, offering discounted tickets and loyalty points to student bookers. Simply book tickets directly through the app on your phone, and receive your e-ticket on your phone to show on the door on the night.

The app and the ticket discounts are available to full-time students from any UK university.

To find out more about the scheme, its partners, and to download the app, visit studentpulselondon.co.uk

Tennstedt conducts Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3: new release on the LpO Label

November sees an exciting new release on the Orchestra’s own CD label: Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 under the late Klaus Tennstedt (LPO–0068).

Tennstedt enjoyed a close and enduring relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra

that resulted in his appointment as its Principal Conductor and Music Director in 1983, later becoming Conductor Laureate. Renowned for his interpretations of the German Romantic repertoire, Tennstedt once said he loved the LPO so much because ‘it is a romantic orchestra’. These live recordings were made at Royal Festival Hall concerts in 1983 and 1992.

The double CD is priced £10.99 and is available from Thursday 1 November. Listen to soundclips and buy online at lpo.org.uk/shop

ORChESTRA NEWS

Animate Orchestra expands into Lambeth & Southwark Animate Orchestra is a partnership between Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and local music services that offers children aged 9–15 the opportunity to write their own music and play together in a mixed instrumental ensemble. Last month saw Animate Orchestra expand its reach into the boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth, following two successful years in Greenwich and Lewisham where it was launched in 2010. Members perform on instruments as varied as bassoon, guitar, ukulele and laptop, and draw upon their individual skills and interests to create their own music from scratch. To find out about Animate Orchestra courses in your borough, visit animateorchestra.org.uk

Animate Orchestra is supported by The Mayor of London’s Fund for Young Musicians, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Lewisham Council and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance.


Thomas Beecham GroupThe Tsukanov Family Anonymous

The Sharp FamilyJulian & Gill Simmonds

Garf & Gill CollinsAndrew Davenport Mrs Sonja DrexlerDavid & Victoria Graham FullerMoya GreeneJohn & Angela KesslerMr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg MannCaroline, Jamie & Zander SharpEric Tomsett

Guy & Utti Whittaker Manon Williams

principal BenefactorsMark & Elizabeth AdamsJane AttiasLady Jane BerrillDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookMr Charles Dumas

David EllenCommander Vincent Evans Mr Daniel GoldsteinMr & Mrs Jeffrey HerrmannPeter MacDonald EggersMr & Mrs David MalpasAndrew T MillsMr Maxwell MorrisonMr Michael PosenMr & Mrs Thierry SciardMr John Soderquist & Mr Costas MichaelidesMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi Underwood Lady Marina VaizeyHoward & Sheelagh WatsonMr Laurie Watt Mr Anthony Yolland

BenefactorsMrs A BeareDr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRSMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr David DennisMr David EdgecombeMr Richard Fernyhough

Ken FollettPauline & Peter HallidayMichael & Christine HenryMr Ivan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldMr R K JehaMr Gerald LevinSheila Ashley LewisWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFMr Frank LimPaul & Brigitta LockMr Brian MarshJohn Montgomery Mr & Mrs Andrew NeillEdmund PirouetMr Peter TausigMrs Kazue TurnerDes & Maggie WhitelockBill Yoe

hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd

hon. Life MembersKenneth Goode Pehr G GyllenhammarEdmund Pirouet Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

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:

In-kind SponsorsGoogle IncSela / Tilley’s Sweets

Trusts and FoundationsAddleshaw Goddard Charitable Trust Angus Allnatt Charitable FoundationBBC Performing Arts Fund The Boltini TrustBritten-Pears FoundationThe Candide TrustThe Coutts Charitable TrustDiaphonique, Franco-British fund for

contemporary musicDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable TrustThe Eranda FoundationFidelio Charitable TrustThe Foyle FoundationJ Paul Getty Junior Charitable TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable TrustCapital Radio’s Help a London ChildThe Hobson CharityThe Kirby Laing Foundation The Idlewild TrustThe Leverhulme Trust

Corporate Members

Silver: AREVA UKBritish American Business Destination Québec – UKHermes Fund Managers Pritchard Englefield

Bronze: Lisa Bolgar Smith and Felix

Appelbe of Ambrose AppelbeAppleyard & Trew LLPBerkeley LawCharles RussellLazardLeventis Overseas

Education partner Boeing

Corporate DonorLombard Street Research

preferred partners Corinthia Hotel Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli Ltd Villa Maria

Marsh Christian TrustAdam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet TrustPaul Morgan Charitable TrustThe Diana and Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustMaxwell Morrison Charitable TrustMusicians Benevolent FundNewcomen Collett Foundation The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust Serge Rachmaninoff FoundationThe Rothschild Foundation The Seary Charitable TrustThe Samuel Sebba Charitable TrustThe David Solomons Charitable TrustThe Steel Charitable TrustThe Bernard Sunley Charitable

FoundationJohn Thaw FoundationThe Underwood Trust Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary

SettlementKurt Weill Foundation for MusicGarfield Weston Foundation and others who wish to remain anonymous


ADMINISTRATION

Board of Directors

Victoria Sharp ChairmanStewart McIlwham* PresidentDesmond Cecil CMG Vesselin Gellev* Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Dr Catherine C. HøgelMartin Höhmann* Angela Kessler Gareth Newman* George Peniston* Sir Bernard RixKevin Rundell* Julian SimmondsMark Templeton*Sir Philip ThomasNatasha TsukanovaTimothy Walker AM Laurence Watt Dr Manon Williams

* Player-Director

Advisory Council

Jonathan DawsonClive Marks OBE FCALord Sharman of Redlynch OBEVictoria Sharp Timothy Walker AM

American Friends of the London philharmonic Orchestra, Inc.

Margot Astrachan ChairmanDavid E. R. Dangoor

Vice Chair/TreasurerKyung-Wha ChungPeter M. Felix CBE Alexandra JupinDr. Felisa B. KaplanWilliam A. KerrJill Fine MainelliKristina McPhee Dr. Joseph MulvehillHarvey M. Spear, Esq.Danny Lopez

Honorary ChairmanNoel Kilkenny

Honorary DirectorVictoria Sharp

Honorary Director

Richard Gee, Esq Of CounselRobert Kuchner, CPA

General Administration

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Alison AtkinsonDigital Projects Manager

Finance

David BurkeGeneral Manager andFinance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager Concert Management

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director (maternity leave)

Ruth SansomArtistic Administrator / Acting Head of Concerts Department

Graham WoodConcerts and Recordings Manager

Barbara Palczynski Glyndebourne and Projects Administrator

Jenny Chadwick Tours and Engagements Manager

Alison JonesConcerts Co-ordinator

Jo OrrPA to the Chief Executive / Concerts Assistant

Matthew FreemanRecordings Consultant Education & Community

Patrick BaileyEducation and Community Director

Alexandra ClarkeEducation Manager

Caz ValeCommunity and Young Talent Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Orchestra personnel

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah ThomasLibrarian

Michael PattisonStage Manager

Julia BoonAssistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Ken Graham TruckingInstrument Transportation Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Helen Searl Corporate Relations Manager

Katherine HattersleyCharitable Giving Manager

Melissa Van EmdenEvents Manager

Laura LuckhurstCorporate Relations and Events Officer

Sarah FletcherDevelopment and Finance Officer Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Mia RobertsMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager

Samantha KendallBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Co-ordinator

Claire LamponIntern

Albion Media Public Relations (Tel: 020 3077 4930)

Archives

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian PoleRecordings 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 4242lpo.org.uk

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

Photograph of Bruckner courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Front cover photograph © Patrick Harrison.

Printed by Cantate.

FSC_57678 LPO 14 January 2011 15/09/2011 12:30 Page 1

24 October 2012 LPO Programme notes

Documents

Transcript of 24 October 2012 LPO Programme notes