Concert programmelpo.org.uk

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 Rachmaninoff: Inside Out 6 Yannick Nézet-Séguin7 Lars Vogt8 Programme notes11 Recommended recordings 12 Orchestra news13 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 19 November 2014 | 7.30pm

brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major (50’)

Interval

Schubert Symphony No. 8 in B minor (Unfinished) (22’)

R Strauss Don Juan (18’)

Yannick nézet-Séguin conductor

Lars Vogt piano

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. 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.

Highlights of the 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.

• 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.

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

• Premieres too of a Violin Concerto by former 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 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 ViolinsSergey Ostrovsky

Guest LeaderVesselin Gellev Sub-LeaderIlyoung Chae

Chair supported by an anonymous donor

Ji-Hyun LeeChair supported by Eric Tomsett

Catherine CraigThomas EisnerGeoffrey Lynn

Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangGrace LeeRebecca ShorrockAlina PetrenkoGalina TanneyCaroline FrenkelRobin Wilson

Second ViolinsNicole Wilson

Guest PrincipalJeongmin KimKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanLorenzo Gentili-TedeschiFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaJoseph MaherMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensFloortje GerritsenDean WilliamsonHelen NichollsStephen Stewart

ViolasScott Dickinson

Guest PrincipalRobert DuncanGregory AronovichSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniLaura VallejoNaomi HoltIsabel PereiraMartin FennSarah MalcolmDaniel CornfordRebecca Carrington

cellosKristina Blaumane

PrincipalKristaps BergsFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueSantiago Carvalho†David LaleGregory WalmsleyElisabeth WiklanderSue Sutherley Susanna Riddell

Double bassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalTim Gibbs Co-PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonRichard LewisTom WalleyHelen RowlandsLaura Murphy

FlutesKatie Bedford

Guest PrincipalSue Thomas*

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Stewart McIlwham*

PiccoloStewart McIlwham*

Principal

OboesIan Hardwick* PrincipalJenny Brittlebank

cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

clarinetsRobert Hill* Principal Thomas Watmough

bassoonsGareth Newman PrincipalSusan Frankel

contrabassoonLuke Whitehead

hornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* PrincipalMartin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth Mollison

trumpetsNicholas Betts PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Daniel Newell

trombonesMark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

bass tromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

tubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

timpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

PercussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Keith MillarSarah Mason

harpRachel Masters* Principal

* 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 | Neil Westreich

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

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

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 80 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include organ works by Poulenc and Saint-Saëns with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Strauss’s Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben with Bernard Haitink; Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 6 & 14 and Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy with Vladimir Jurowski; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Hans Graf. In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians through an energetic programme of activities for young people. Highlights include the BrightSparks schools’ concerts and FUNharmonics family concerts; the Young Composers Programme; and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training programme for outstanding young players. Its work at the forefront of digital engagement and social media has enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people worldwide: all its recordings are available to download from iTunes and, as well as a YouTube channel and regular podcast series, the Orchestra has a lively presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Find out more and get involved!

lpo.org.uk

facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

twitter.com/LPOrchestra

youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7

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

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

Friday 28 november 2014 Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Wednesday 3 December 2014 Symphony No. 1

Wednesday 21 January 2015 The Miserly Knight

Saturday 7 February 2015 Three Russian Songs | Spring

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

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

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

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

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

lpo.org.uk/rachmaninoff

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

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguinconductor

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He has conducted all the major ensembles in his native Canada and has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montreal) since 2000. He continues to enjoy a close collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was Principal Guest Conductor from 2008–14.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin has worked with many fine ensembles in Europe including the Dresden Staatskapelle, Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Festivals he has visited include the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, San Sebastián, Santander and Grafenegg. In North America he has conducted at the Lanaudiere, Vail Valley, Saratoga and Mostly Mozart festivals.

A notable opera conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s regular engagements at The Metropolitan Opera in New York have seen him conduct Rusalka, La traviata and Faust in recent seasons. He returns in spring 2015 for Don Carlo. He has also appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Teatro alla Scala, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Netherlands Opera. In 2011 he embarked on a major Mozart opera series for the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, most recently with performances of Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

Highlights of Nézet-Séguin’s 2014/15 season include a North American tour with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; a European tour with The Philadelphia Orchestra; and two separate projects with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also continues as Artist in Residence at the Konzerthaus Dortmund.

Recent additions to Nézet-Séguin’s extensive discography include the complete Schumann symphonies and Così fan tutte with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; The Rite of Spring with The Philadelphia Orchestra; and a Tchaikovsky disc with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, all for Deutsche Grammophon. He also continues to enjoy a fruitful recording relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for its own label (most recently organ works by Poulenc and Saint-Saëns, LPO-0081: see page 12) and with the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.

A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied piano, conducting, composition and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montreal, and choral conducting at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, before going on to study with renowned conductors, most notably the Italian maestro Carlo Maria Giulini. His honours include a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; and the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts awarded by the Quebec government. He has honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal (2011) and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (2014). He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2012.

Nézet-Séguin may just be the most compelling, most accomplished conductor of his generation.The Financial Times

yannicknezetseguin.com

© M

arco

Bor

ggre

ve

twitter.com/nezetseguin

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

Lars Vogtpiano

Lars Vogt has established himself as one of the leading musicians of his generation. Born in the German town of Düren in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition, and has since then enjoyed a varied career. His versatility as an artist ranges from the core Classical repertoire of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms to the Romantics Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, through to the dazzling Lutosławski Concerto.

Lars Vogt is now increasingly working with orchestras both as a conductor and directing from the keyboard. His recent appointment as Music Director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia from the 2015/16 season reflects this new development in his career.

Lars has performed with many of the world’s great orchestras including the London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and NHK Symphony orchestras and the Orchestre de Paris. He has collaborated with some of the world’s most prestigious conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Mariss Jansons, Claudio Abbado and Andris Nelsons. His special relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic has continued with regular collaborations following his appointment as their first ever Pianist in Residence in 2003/04.

Highlights of Lars Vogt’s 2014/15 season include the opening of the Royal Northern Sinfonia’s season conducting Beethoven and Brahms, followed by a programme of Janáček, Schumann and Dvořák in April 2015. In Europe he performs with the Orchestre Philharmonique de France and the Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic and Salzburg Mozarteum

© N

eda

Nav

aee

larsvogt.com

twitter.com/lars_vogt

orchestras, as well as the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin both tonight in London and on tour in Germany this weekend. In North America he appears with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra this season. South America also features strongly, with concerts in São Paulo, Mexico City and Bogotá. He is a key soloist in the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s Brahms cycle conducted by Paavo Järvi, with performances of the Brahms piano concertos at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York and the Tanglewood and Lanaudiere festivals, as well as at Tokyo’s Opera City Hall. He returns to Japan at the end of the season for concerts with the New Japan Philharmonic under Daniel Harding.

Lars Vogt enjoys a high profile as a chamber musician, and in June 1998 founded his own chamber festival in the German village of Heimbach. Its huge success has been marked by the release of ten live recordings on EMI. In 2005 he established an educational programme, ‘Rhapsody in School’, which takes musicians to schools across Germany and Austria. He is also an accomplished and enthusiastic teacher, and in 2013 was appointed Professor of Piano at the Hannover Conservatoire.

As an EMI recording artist Lars Vogt has made 15 discs for the label, and has also recently recorded solo projects for CAvi-music and Berlin Classics, as well as Mozart Sonatas with Christian Tetzlaff for Ondine.

Vogt’s performance was stellar – he brought sparkling beauty to this concerto.Forbes, July 2013 (Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3)

8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Programme notes

Richard Strauss was raised on a strict diet of Viennese Classicism, with works such as Schubert’s poignant ‘Unfinished’ Symphony, the core of this evening’s programme. Strauss’s father, a famous horn player, wanted his talented young son to steer clear of the decadent ‘new music’ that was being championed by figures such as Liszt and Wagner (though he himself played in the premieres of many

of Wagner’s operas). But the prodigious composer couldn’t resist temptation and, as well as indulging his love of Brahms, whose Second Piano Concerto launches tonight’s concert, he was travelling to Bayreuth to hear Wagner’s music dramas, as well as writing tone poems to rival those of Liszt, such as his heady 1889 masterpiece Don Juan.

Speedread

Brahms’s two piano concertos, the First in D minor (premiered in 1859) and the Second in B flat major (first performed in Budapest in 1881), are truly symphonic in scale. Conceived as far more than mere pianistic showcases – though there is great virtuosity in both – these iconic works represent Brahms in his youth, grappling to find his voice, and Brahms as the mature agent of ‘pure’ symphonic music. And yet such a view risks overlooking the vivid, quixotic nature of these scores and their emotional punch. That is particularly evident in the expressive cello solo with which Brahms opens the third movement of his later B flat major work, teeing up the joyful triumph of its Finale.

Evidence of Brahms’s confidence and skill can be found by comparing the gestation of his two concertos. The First took five years to complete; the Second, on the other hand, was written speedily in the summer of 1881 and premiered that November, with publication following in 1882. No longer did the ghosts of musical predecessors such as Beethoven haunt Brahms, who gave the first performance of his B flat major Concerto in Budapest. By the end of that season, Brahms had performed the work in 22 cities across Europe.

The piece opens with a horn solo, followed by sweeping piano arpeggios (with a tail-end echo of the horn’s wistful triplet). The woodwind introduces a chorale-like melody, which in turn spurs an impassioned piano cadenza. These statements all precede the exposition proper, which has as its first subject a bold orchestral tutti, developing themes presented in the introduction. This section shows a meeker side to its character before building to a stormy climax for the re-entry of the piano, moving towards the dominant minor after an extended dialogue between soloist and orchestra.

These exchanges provoke tempestuous music at times, the tone of which continues in the Allegro appassionato in D minor. The strings try to pacify matters, though despite moments of respite, the predominant dynamic is fortissimo, matching the ‘passionate’ tempo instruction at the top of the score.

A more conciliatory disposition emerges in the longing third movement, led not by the piano but by a cello, whose song-like melody permeates the orchestral texture and even manages to calm the piano’s impetuous character. But a turn towards the tonic minor reawakens old storms, from which the cello

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

Simon trpčeski piano

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

Johannesbrahms

1833–97

Piano concerto no. 2 in b flat major, Op. 83

Lars Vogt piano

1 Allegro non troppo 2 Allegro appassionato 3 Andante4 Allegretto grazioso

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

is forced to rescue us, eventually re-establishing the stillness with which the movement began. This in turn provides a more secure springboard for the Finale, in which Brahms offers Hungarian-inspired dance rhythms in an ever-evolving rondo structure. The piano and orchestra work in close collaboration, building to a gleeful conclusion, where a final flurry of arpeggios brings us full circle.

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

Schubert began and left incomplete his ‘Unfinished’ Symphony in October 1822. He was to live for another six years after the work’s inception, during which time he wrote his ‘Great’ C major symphony, proving that he clearly had no intention of returning to this unique B minor work. Many theories abound as to why this was the case. Certainly, towards the end of 1822, Schubert became very ill, having contracted the venereal disease that eventually killed him. Perhaps this ruminating work holds some clue to those troubled times – B minor often denotes despair in the composer’s Lieder. Maybe, for that reason, Schubert wanted to move on or perhaps he felt that the Scherzo begun as the Symphony’s third movement was not going to be satisfactory and that his symphonic project would have to continue in another form. Whatever the reasons, this partial picture offers both musical glories and a poignant portrait of the composer himself, whose life was also cut short, at the age of 31.

The Symphony follows ‘Classical’ principles, with a sonata-form structure followed by a slow movement. But if the model comes from the 18th century, the musical mood is unmistakably Romantic. Shadowy cellos and basses introduce the agitated Allegro,

underpinned by an obsessive pizzicato motif, to which the oboe and clarinet add a longing melody. Although this is the primary thematic focus of the exposition, it cannot allay the nervousness that accompanies it. Those tremors build to a climax before, suddenly, Schubert changes mood entirely, with a second subject that lilts and beguiles. One of Schubert’s friends said that the composer ‘had, so to speak, a double nature’ and that split personality plays out in the dualities of this stirring opening movement. Ultimately, however, it is the music of the ominous introduction that caps the narrative with a coda anticipating Tchaikovsky’s fateful symphonies, as much as recalling those by Beethoven.

There are hints of such dark dramas in the ensuing Andante, though here reverent peace and understanding are its prevailing qualities. There is poignancy too, but coming after the rumbles and nervous agitation of the Allegro, this Andante never fails to soothe, granting the Symphony, unlike its composer, peace at last.

FranzSchubert

1797–1828

Symphony no. 8 in b minor (Unfinished), D759

1 Allegro moderato2 Andante con moto

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Programme notes continued

Richard Strauss was raised on a strict diet of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert. Strauss’s father, the Munich-based horn player Franz Strauss, had decided that his precocious son should be kept away from the ‘new music’ of Liszt and Wagner (despite the fact that Franz played in the premieres of many of Wagner’s operas in his hometown and Bayreuth). The composer’s early years were therefore dominated by the masters of Viennese Classicism, whose clear structural principles and winning melodies were to remain with Strauss until his very last years. But the composer had a much more curious musical mind and it was not long before he was abandoning concerto and symphonic forms – he conducted his own early Symphony in F minor in front of Brahms – for the more modish genre of the tone poem during the 1880s and 90s. This, all before his narrative bent exploded onto the operatic stage at the turn of the century.

Having written his ‘symphonic fantasy’ Aus Italien in 1886 and begun Macbeth in 1888 (finished in 1891), Strauss composed his first acknowledged tone poem, Don Juan, in 1888–9. The composer was, at the time, heavily influenced by Alexander Ritter, the husband of one of Wagner’s nieces and therefore closely associated with Bayreuth. Turning away from Brahms and what he began to see as the ‘hollow shell’ of abstract sonata form, Strauss looked to Liszt for inspiration – ‘new ideas must seek new forms’, he said – whose symphonic poems he soon tried to emulate.

Far from being a mere homage, however, Don Juan is an inspired work in its own right. A character piece, rather than a slavish narrative recreation, the music speaks for itself. The opening portrait of the eponymous swain gives way to an unfolding panorama in which the Don fauns and flatters, capturing the hearts (and bodies) of numerous hapless women. Swooning violin

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

Simon trpčeski piano

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

RichardStrauss

1864–1949

Don Juan, Op. 20

solos, whirling harps and glittering glockenspiel are just some of the most impressive elements in Strauss’s kaleidoscopic orchestration. But it is the central love scene and the bravura of the central horn theme that really impress. These and other earlier themes are recalled in the concise recapitulation, before Don Juan suffers a fatal wound – delivered by a stab of trumpets – and collapses, as his hedonistic life comes to a painful close.

But whatever Don Juan’s fate, this work was to be Strauss’s calling card. Realising that in the formal freedom of the tone poem he had found his dramatic metier, Strauss wrote Tod und Verklärung and completed Macbeth, before composing four further masterpieces in the 1890s: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote and Ein Heldenleben. This manifestly dramatic genre thus perfected, Strauss moved on to even more verdant pastures in the opera house.

Programme notes © Gavin Plumley

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

Mini film guides to this season’s works

For the 2014/15 season we’ve produced a series of short films introducing the pieces we’re performing. Watch Patrick Bailey introduce Strauss’s Don Juan: lpo.org.uk/explore/videos.html

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

brahms: Piano concerto no. 2 in b flat major Stephen Kovacevich/London Philharmonic Orchestra/Wolfgang Sawallisch [EMI]

Schubert: Symphony no. 8 in b minor (Unfinished) London Philharmonic Orchestra/Kurt Masur [LPO Label LPO-0029: see below]

Strauss: Don JuanLondon Philharmonic Orchestra/Bernard Haitink [LPO Label LPO-0079: see below]

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

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

Schubert Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) Janáček Glagolitic Mass

Kurt Masur conductor

£9.99 (1 audio CD) LPO-0029

Strauss Don Juan Strauss Ein Heldenleben

bernard haitink conductor

£9.99 (1 audio CD) LPO-0079

tonight’s works on the LPO cD LabelcDs on sale tonight from the Royal Festival hall shop

Recommended recordings

‘This blazing account is searing in every respect, underlining the genius of the composer, the quality of the LPO, and the gripping command of Masur.’Glasgow Herald

‘In both works the LPO is on very fine form indeed … Admirers of this greatly distinguished conductor should not hesitate.’Music Web International

12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Autumn tours

This Friday (21 November) the Orchestra, along with tonight’s conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and pianist Lars Vogt, visits Germany where they will reprise tonight’s programme in Dortmund, Essen and Baden-Baden. On 8 December the Orchestra will return to Germany with conductor Vladimir Jurowski and cellist Sol Gabetta for concerts in Cologne, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Munich, Friedrichshafen, Hamburg and Hannover.

The run-up to Christmas sees the Orchestra’s first visit to Iceland where, with conductor Osmo Vänskä and pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, they will give two concerts on 18 & 19 December at Harpa, a stunning new waterfront concert hall in Reykjavík. This tour is an exciting venture for the Orchestra, particularly as we will be the first British orchestra to perform at the venue.

Don’t forget you can follow all our tour adventures on Twitter: @lporchestra

new cD: Poulenc & Saint-Saëns organ works

Just released on the LPO Label is a disc of Poulenc’s Organ Concerto and Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’ Symphony, recorded live at Royal Festival Hall (LPO-0081). This sell-out concert in March 2014, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with organist James

O’Donnell, launched the refurbished Royal Festival Hall organ, complete for the first time since 2005.

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

The CD is priced £9.99, including free postage. Buy from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office (020 7840 4242), all good CD outlets, and the Royal Festival Hall shop. Also available to download via iTunes, Spotify and others.

Orchestra news

new LP box set: Vladimir Jurowski conducts the complete brahms Symphonies

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

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

The box set is priced £85.00, including free postage. Buy from lpo.org.uk/recordings, the London Philharmonic Orchestra Box Office (020 7840 4242) and all good CD outlets.

Family concert: the Pied Piper of hamelin

On Sunday 8 February at 12 noon, children’s author Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, The Mozart Question) and Colin Matthews, one of today’s most exciting living composers, team up with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall to present the world premiere of The Pied Piper of Hamelin. The timeless story of the travelling flute player and the rich, greedy mayor is compellingly and movingly told through the eyes of a young boy – one of Hamelin’s Thief-Dogs. Vladimir Jurowski conducts, with Michael Morpurgo narrating.

The performance is suitable for children aged 7 and over. Tickets are £14–18 for adults and half price for under-16s. Book now at lpo.org.uk or call the LPO Ticket Office on 020 7840 4242.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with the generous support of the PRS for Music Foundation.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

Next LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall

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.

Wednesday 3 December 2014 | 7.30pm Rachmaninoff: Inside Out*

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

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Igor Levit piano

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

† Supported by the Polish Cultural Institute in London.

Saturday 6 December 2014 | 7.30pm

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

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano

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

† Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayerische Rundfunk Musica Viva, Casa da 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 21 January 2015 | 7.30pm Rachmaninoff: Inside Out*

Wagner Das Rheingold (excerpts) Rachmaninoff The Miserly Knight (semi-staged; sung in Russian with English surtitles)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Annabel Arden director Lucy carter lighting designer Joanna Parker design consultant

For full performer details see lpo.org.uk

Free pre-concert discussion 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival hall Director Annabel Arden discusses her semi-staging of The Miserly Knight.

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

tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Mayor of London’s Fund for YoungMusicians

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

Charitable TrustPalazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique

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

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

anonymous

thomas beecham group

The Tsukanov Family Foundation

Neil Westreich

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

anonymous

hon. benefactorElliott Bernerd

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

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

* Player-Director

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

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

EisnerAmper LLP

chief Executive

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Amy SugarmanPA to the Chief Executive / Administrative Assistant

Finance

David BurkeGeneral Manager and Finance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager

Samanta Berzina Finance Officer concert Management

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Graham WoodConcerts and Recordings Manager

Jenny Chadwick Tours Manager

Tamzin Aitken Glyndebourne and UK Engagements Manager

Alison JonesConcerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

Jo CotterTours Co-ordinator Orchestra Personnel

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah Holmes Sarah ThomasLibrarians ( job-share)

Christopher AldertonStage Manager

Damian Davis Transport Manager

Ellie Swithinbank Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Education and community

Isabella Kernot Education Director

Alexandra ClarkeEducation and Community Project Manager

Lucy DuffyEducation and Community Project Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Catherine Faulkner Development Events Manager

Kathryn HagemanIndividual Giving Manager

Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations Manager

Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager

Helen Etheridge Development Assistant

Rebecca FoggDevelopment Assistant

Kirstin PeltonenDevelopment Associate

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Mia RobertsMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager

Samantha CleverleyBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Co-ordinator

Lorna Salmon Intern

Digital Projects

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Director

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant Public Relations

Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930) Archives

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive Professional Services

Charles RussellSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

London Philharmonic Orchestra89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Box Office: 020 7840 4242Email: admin@lpo.org.uklpo.org.uk

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

Photograph of Brahms courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Front cover photograph: Martin Hobbs, horn © Julian Calverley. Cover design/ art direction: Chaos Design.

Printed by Cantate.