17mar10 LPO Programme notes

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALLWednesday 17 March 2010 | 7.30 pm

LUDOVIC MORLOT conductor

ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER violin

WAGNERLohengrin, Prelude to Act 1 (9’)

BRAHMSConcerto in D for violin and orchestra (36’)

INTERVAL

BARTÓKConcerto for Orchestra (35’)

PROGRAMME £3

CONTENTS2 List of Players3 Orchestra History4 Pieter Schoeman5 Ludovic Morlot6 Anne-Sophie Mutter7 Programme Notes11 Recordings12 Annual Appeal /

Southbank Centre13 Supporters14 Philharmonic News15 Administration16 Future Concerts

The timings shown are notprecise and are given only asa guide.

Principal Conductor VLADIMIR JUROWSKIPrincipal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINLeader PIETER SCHOEMANComposer in Residence MARK-ANTHONY TURNAGEPatron HRH THE DUKE OF KENT KGChief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOTHY WALKER AM†

† supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

51424 LPO 17 March 10_51424 LPO 17 March 10 09/03/2010 15:44 Page 1

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINSPieter Schoeman* LeaderVesselin Gellev Sub-LeaderJulia RumleyChair supported byMrs Steven Ward

Benjamin RoskamsKatalin VarnagyThomas EisnerTina GruenbergMartin HöhmannChair supported byRichard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey LynnRobert PoolFlorence SchoemanSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangPeter NallGalina TanneyAlina Petrenko

SECOND VIOLINSClare Duckworth PrincipalChair supported by Richard and Victoria Sharp

Jeongmin KimJoseph MaherNancy ElanFiona HighamMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensDean WilliamsonSioni WilliamsPeter GrahamStephen StewartMila MustakovaElizabeth BaldeyCaroline Frenkel

VIOLASAlexander Zemtsov* PrincipalGregory AronowichRobert DuncanAnthony ByrneChair supported byJohn and Angela Kessler

Katharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniLaura VallejoMichelle BruilDaniel CornfordMiranda DavisSarah Malcolm

CELLOSSusanne Beer PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueSantiago Sabino Carvalho+

Sue SutherleyTom RoffPavlos CarvalhoTae-Mi SongDavid BucknallAlexandra Mackenzie

DOUBLE BASSESKevin Rundell* PrincipalTimothy GibbsLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonJoe MelvinKenneth KnussenDavid JohnsonHelen Rowlands

FLUTESJuliette Bausor Guest PrincipalJoanna MarshStewart McIlwham*

PICCOLOStewart McIlwham* Principal

OBOESDavid Theodore GuestPrincipalAngela TennickSue Bohling

COR ANGLAISSue Bohling PrincipalChair supported byJulian and Gill Simmonds

CLARINETSNicholas Carpenter PrincipalEmily SutcliffePaul Richards

BASS CLARINETPaul Richards Principal

BASSOONSGareth Newman* PrincipalRobin KennardSimon Estell

CONTRA BASSOONSimon Estell Principal

HORNSJohn Ryan PrincipalMartin HobbsAdrian UrenGareth MollisonRichard Bayliss

TRUMPETSPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*Chair supported byGeoff and Meg Mann

David Hilton

TROMBONESMark Templeton* PrincipalDavid Whitehouse

BASS TROMBONELyndon Meredith Principal

TUBAMartin Knowles GuestPrincipal

TIMPANIAntoine Bedewi GuestPrincipal

PERCUSSIONAndrew Barclay* PrincipalKeith Millar

HARPSHelen Sharp Guest PrincipalFiona Clifton-Welker

* Holds a professorialappointment in London

+ Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Chair SupportersThe London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are notpresent at this concert:

David and Victoria Graham FullerCaroline, Jamie and Zander SharpSimon Yates and Kevin Roon


London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3


Seventy-seven years after Sir Thomas Beecham foundedthe London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognisedtoday as one of the finest orchestras on the internationalstage. Following Beecham’s influential founding tenurethe Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passedfrom one illustrious musician to another, amongst themSir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, KlausTennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive traditioncontinued in September 2007 when Vladimir Jurowskibecame the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor, and in afurther exciting move, the Orchestra appointed YannickNézet-Séguin, its new Principal Guest Conductor fromSeptember 2008.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performingat Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall since it openedin 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It playsthere around 40 times each season with many of theworld’s most sought after conductors and soloists.Concert highlights in 2009/10 include Between TwoWorlds – an exploration of the music and times ofAlfred Schnittke; a Sibelius symphony cycle withOsmo Vänskä in January/February 2010; a perform-ance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah conducted by KurtMasur and dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of theFall of the Berlin Wall; and new works by Rautavaara,Philip Glass, Ravi Shankar and the Orchestra’sComposer in Residence, Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Imaginative programming and a commitment to newmusic are at the heart of the Orchestra’s activity, withregular commissions and world première performances.

In addition to its London season, the Orchestra hasflourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, andperforms regularly around the UK. It is unique incombining these concert activities with esteemed operaperformances each summer at Glyndebourne FestivalOpera where it has been the Resident SymphonyOrchestra since 1964.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs toenthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 itbecame the first British orchestra to appear in SovietRussia and in 1973 it made the first ever visit to China bya Western orchestra. Touring continues to form asignificant part of the Orchestra's schedule and issupported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner of

© Richard Cannon

‘This pulsating concert was the best possibleadvertisement for the rest of Osmo Vänskä’sSibelius cycle ... If any musical event thisseason has a better Finnish than this, I’m aNorseman.’RICHARD MORRISON, THE TIMES, 29 JANUARY 2010




the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2009/10include visits to Germany, Australia, France, China, theCanaries and the USA.

Having long been embraced by the recording,broadcasting and film industries, the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domesticand international television and radio. It also worksextensively with the Hollywood and UK film industries,recording soundtracks for blockbuster motion picturesincluding the Oscar-winning score for The Lord of theRings trilogy and scores for Lawrence of Arabia, TheMission, Philadelphia and East is East.

The Orchestra also enjoys strong relationships with themajor record labels and in 2005 began reaching out tonew global audiences through the release of live, studioand archive recordings on its own CD label. Recentadditions to the catalogue have included acclaimedreleases of early Britten works conducted by VladimirJurowski; Mahler’s Symphony 6 under the baton of KlausTennstedt; Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1 and 6 conductedby Vladimir Jurowski; Sir Thomas Beecham recordings ofMozart, Delius and Rimsky-Korsakov from the 1930s; a CDof John Ireland’s works taken from his 70th BirthdayConcert in 1949; and Dvor̆ák’s Requiem conducted byNeeme Järvi. The Orchestra’s own-label releases areavailable to download by work or individual track from itswebsite: www.lpo.org.uk/shop.

The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners throughits rich programme of community and school-basedactivity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, whichincludes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, itsFoyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme for outstandingyoung instrumentalists, and regular family and schoolsconcerts.

To help maintain its high standards and diverse workload,the Orchestra is committed to the welfare of its musiciansand in December 2007 received the Association of BritishOrchestras/Musicians Benevolent Fund Healthy OrchestraBronze Charter Mark.

There are many ways to experience and stay in touch withthe Orchestra’s activities: visit www.lpo.org.uk, subscribeto our podcast series and join us on Facebook.

In 2002, PieterSchoeman joined theLondon PhilharmonicOrchestra as Co-Leader. In 2008 he was appointed Leader.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut with theCape Town Symphony Orchestra at the age of ten. Hestudied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winningnumerous competitions, including the 1984 World YouthConcerto Competition in America. In 1987 he was offeredthe Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study withEdouard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talentwas spotted by Pinchas Zukerman who recommendedthat he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg.In 1994 he became her teaching assistant at IndianaUniversity, Bloomington.

Pieter Schoeman has performed as a soloist and recitalistthroughout the world in such famous halls as theConcertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow’s RachmaninovHall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek inBerlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and QueenElizabeth Hall in London. As a chamber musician heregularly performs at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall.As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, hehas performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concerto andBenjamin Britten’s Double Concerto, which was recordedfor the Orchestra’s own record label. Most recently healso played concertos with the Wiener Concertverein andOrchestre Philharmonique de Nice.

In 1995 Pieter Schoeman became Co-Leader of theOrchestre Philharmonique de Nice. During his tenurethere he performed frequently as Guest Leader with thesymphony orchestras of Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon,Baltimore and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. A frequent guest of the BBC Symphony Orchestra inLondon, Pieter Schoeman returned in October 2006 tolead that orchestra on a three week tour of Seoul, Beijing,Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Pieter Schoeman has recorded numerous violin soloswith the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos,Opera Rara, Naxos, the BBC and for American film andtelevision. He led the Orchestra in its soundtrackrecordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He teaches atTrinity College of Music.

PIETERSCHOEMAN

LEADER



LUDOVIC MORLOTCONDUCTOR

The French musician Ludovic Morlot is quicklyestablishing a reputation as one of the leadingconductors of his generation. Already in great demandin North America, he will return to the Chicago andBoston Symphony Orchestras during the current seasonas well as making his debut with the Cincinnati andAtlanta Symphony Orchestras. Elsewhere he will makehis debut with the Oslo Philharmonic, Danish NationalRadio Symphony and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestrasand tour Germany with the London PhilharmonicOrchestra and Anne-Sophie Mutter. He also returns tothe Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of BirminghamSymphony and Ensemble Intercontemporain, withwhom he has a regular relationship. Committed toworking with young people Ludovic Morlot will alsoundertake a tour with the Netherlands Youth Orchestrawhich will include a concert in the AmsterdamConcertgebouw. Future debuts will take him to theRoyal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Czech PhilharmonicOrchestra, Opéra National de Lyon and Opéra Comiquein Paris.

Recent notable engagements have included concertswith the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland, DresdenStaatskapelle, Tonhalle, Budapest Festival, RoyalStockholm Philharmonic and Seoul PhilharmonicOrchestras. He has collaborated with manydistinguished soloists including Christian Tetzlaff, GilShaham, Renaud Capuçon, Lynn Harrell, Frank PeterZimmermann, Emanuel Ax and Jessye Norman.

Ludovic Morlot has maintained a close workingrelationship with the Boston Symphony Orchestra since2001 when he was the Seiji Ozawa FellowshipConductor at the Tanglewood Music Center. He wassubsequently appointed assistant conductor for theorchestra and their Music Director James Levine, a rolehe fulfilled from 2004 to 2007. He has conducted theorchestra in many public concerts, both in Boston andTanglewood. From 2002 to 2004, he served asconductor in residence of the Orchestre National deLyon under David Robertson.

Trained as a violinist, Ludovic Morlot studiedconducting at the Royal Academy of Music in Londonand then at the Royal College of Music as recipient ofthe Norman del Mar Conducting Fellowship. He waselected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in2007 in recognition of his significant contribution tomusic.



ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTERVIOLIN

For three decades Anne-Sophie Mutter has been one ofthe greatest violin virtuosos. Born in Rheinfelden in thestate of Baden, she launched her international career atthe Lucerne Festival in 1976. A year later she performedas a soloist at the Salzburg Whitsun Concerts under thedirection of Herbert von Karajan. Since then she hasgiven concerts at all the major music centres. Inaddition to performing traditional works, her repertoirecontinually breaks new ground with chamber musicand orchestral works presented on equal terms. Shealso uses her popularity for charity projects andsupports the development of talented young musicians.

In 2010 Anne-Sophie Mutter gives concerts in Asia,Europe and North America with a focus on certainworks such as Gubaidulina’s In tempus praesens, whichshe will perform for the first time in Japan, Canada andRussia. On a tour of the USA and Europe she will playBrahms’s Violin Concerto with the Pittsburgh SymphonyOrchestra under the direction of Manfred Honeck andshe will appear on stage with Lambert Orkis in Japanand Taiwan for performances of Brahms’s ViolinSonatas. They will also play works by Brahms, Debussy,Mendelssohn and Sarasate on a European tour. Onanother American tour she will perform Beethoven’sString Trios with Yuri Bashmet and Lynn Harrell.

Anne-Sophie Mutter will be the Artist in Residence atthe 2010 Rheingau Music Festival where she willperform the Beethoven and Mendelssohn ViolinConcertos with the hr-Symphony Orchestra under thedirection of Paavo Järvi.

In addition to the major focal points for 2010, Anne-Sophie Mutter will also play violin concertos byBeethoven, Dvořák and Mendelssohn, Henri Dutilleux’s

Sur le même accord and Wolfgang Rihm’s GesungeneZeit. Her partners on the podium will be PabloGonzáles, Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Mutiand Kent Nagano.

Anne-Sophie Mutter takes special pride in performingcontemporary music. Sebastian Currier, Henri Dutilleux,Sofia Gubaidulina, Witold Lutoslawski, Norbert Moret,Krzysztof Penderecki, André Previn and Wolfgang Rihmhave all dedicated works to her.

For her many recordings Anne-Sophie Mutter hasreceived the German Record Prize, the Record AcademyPrize, the Grand Prix du Disque, the InternationalRecord Prize and several Grammies. On Mozart's 250thanniversary she recorded all Mozart's majorcompositions for violin on the Deutsche Grammophonlabel. Her recording of Gubaidulina's Violin Concerto Intempus praesens with the London Symphony Orchestraunder Valery Gergiev as well as her recording of Bach'sViolin Concertos in A minor and E major with theTrondheim Soloists under her own direction werereleased last September. To mark the bicentenary ofMendelssohn’s birth, she is recording his Violin Sonatain F, the Piano Trio in D minor and the Violin Concerto inE minor. Her recording of Brahms’s Violin Sonatas withLambert Orkis will be released this month.

In 2008 she established the ‘Anne-Sophie MutterFoundation’. Its objective is to increase worldwidesupport for promising young musicians – a task shetook on when she founded ‘The Anne-Sophie MutterCircle of Friends Foundation’ in 1997. She also takes aspecial interest in the medical and social problems ofour time and regularly lends her support to thesecauses through charitable concerts.

In 2008 Anne-Sophie Mutter received the InternationalErnst von Siemens Music Prize as well as the LeipzigMendelssohn Prize and the following year she wasawarded the European St Ulrich’s Prize and theCristobal Gabaroon Award. She is a bearer of the GrandOrder of Merit of the German Federal Republic, theFrench Order of the Legion of Honour, the BavarianOrder of Merit, the Great Austrian Order of Merit, andmany other awards.

Anja Frers/DG



Richard Wagner had a cataclysmic effect on the operaworld. He changed forever its musical scale, the range ofits dramatic effects, the technology of its stagecraft andeven the architecture of its housing auditoria. Thehumble opera overture, too, would never be quite thesame after Wagner. While Gluck, Mozart and Beethovenhad increasingly filled their operatic curtain-raisers withthe passionate emotional material of the operas thatfollowed them, Wagner raised the anticipation factor inovertures to its highest level. He invested them with anorganic structure and emotional depth that seemed totranscend the diminutive label ‘overture’. As a result,many of Wagner’s ‘Preludes’ have since been welcomedinto concert halls as stand-alone works.

Lohengrin – the last of Wagner’s classic-style operaswritten before the transformative language of the Ring,

Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal took root – has actuallygifted two orchestral delicacies to the concert hall in theform of Preludes to both Acts I and III. The first of theseis centred on the cup Christ drank from at the LastSupper – the Holy Grail, the opera’s central icon and aseminal symbol in medieval German history. Hushed,divided violins appear to herald the Grail fromsomewhere in the ionosphere at the start of thePrelude. Colours slowly alter, a warm glow heats thesteadily building orchestral texture, and the Grailgradually descends towards the assembled Knightsbefore swiftly returning to the ether. Wagner uses asingle thematic idea across this highly affecting musicalarch, investing it with an ethereal tonal language andshimmering instrument combinations to capture theenigmatic legend of the Grail.

PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD

What is life without the warmth and inspiration ofhuman friendship? When violin virtuoso Joseph Joachimbounded into Johannes Brahms’s life like an energeticpuppy, he utterly overwhelmed the young composer. Itwas only a matter of time before Brahms would bemoved to write a piece for his new friend, and laterrather than sooner, he delivered one. It was a beautifullypoised Violin Concerto that combined the finesse anddelicate beauty that characterised Brahms with the feistyHungarian spirit of Joachim.

Forced out of Hungary as war ravaged Europe, BélaBartók wound up in America half a century afterBrahms’s death. Alone, exiled, ill and poor, Bartókthought his compositional life over. But his friend theconductor Serge Koussevitsky thought otherwise. Themaestro re-energised Bartók with encouragement and a

major commission for an orchestral work. Eight weekslater, Bartók delivered the score for what would prove tobe his finest orchestral creation and his signature piece:the Concerto for Orchestra, a spectacular monument tohis marrying of vernacular and classical music.

And when Wagner polished off his majestic operaLohengrin in 1850, he did more than contribute a finework to the operatic canon boasting truly magical vocaland orchestral music. He also put a smile on the face ofKing Ludwig II of Bavaria, who himself offered Wagnerthe hand of friendship as a result – and with it the cash,resources and political support he’d need to create andhouse the epic Ring cycle. Listening to the etherealstrains of the Prelude to Lohengrin, you can see how KingLudwig might have developed such belief in Wagner’sability to capture intense drama in his music, bothhuman and mystical.

LOHENGRIN, PRELUDE TO ACT 1RichardWAGNER

1813-1883



PROGRAMME NOTES

We tend to think of Brahms as a portly conservativewho laboured over those terribly un-sexy compositionaldetails of structure, cohesion and orchestral balance.And yes, those qualities certainly helped make Brahms agreat composer. But for a moment, picture not theclassic portrait of the bearded Brahms, but instead a 20-year-old youth blessed with a blazing talent and eagerto please. This was the Brahms – and presumably aclean-shaven one, too – who first encountered thecelebrated virtuoso violinist, conductor and composerJoseph Joachim in 1853. Back then, Joachim describedthe young Brahms as ‘pure as diamond, soft as snow’.

And while we’re dusting down the traditional view ofthe composer’s personality, we might as well do thesame for his music. Brahms can actually be viewed asan innovator: a composer who used his retrospectiveadmiration for Bach and Beethoven to tread a new path,arguably recognisable in his concertos more readily thanin any of his other works. Beethoven’s concertos hadprogressively acquired symphonic proportions andBrahms’s would take that lead. The violin concertoheard tonight was famously described by onecommentator as ‘a symphony with principal violin’.

In spite of that description, Brahms created acaptivatingly lyrical violin part for the concerto withJoachim by his side, and a full score which reflects thecomposer’s singular combination of orchestral

argument and elegance. But there’s warmth to thework, too. Like Brahms’s B flat Piano Concerto, the scorewas inspired partly by Italy where the composer hadbeen travelling in April 1878. A few months later hedecamped to a lakeside summer house at Pörtschach insouthern Austria to score the piece. Joachim gave thefirst performance of the results in Leipzig on New Year’sDay 1879 with the composer conducting, and it wasprobably the violinist who advised the conductor somemonths earlier to remove the then third movementScherzo. Brahms took the advice, recycling themovement later as part of that same B flat PianoConcerto.

The movements that remain exude Brahmsian poise.There’s noble expanse aplenty in the first movement,and yet it never seems bloated or haughty. Theorchestra is assuredly in charge of proceedings, thoughthe soloist does lead the second of Brahms’s twothematic ‘expositions’ (the introduction of a newmusical idea) at the movement’s opening. The secondmovement contains what one famous violinist called‘the only real tune in the work’; the same violinistprotesting later that it’s given not to the fiddle playerbut to the oboe. The soloist is, though, bestowed similarmelodic gifts soon thereafter. The final movement is inthe rumbustious Hungarian spirit of Joachim, butBrahms the perfectionist peers through its meticulousintricacies.

CONCERTO IN D FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, OP. 77

ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER violin

Allegro non troppo | Adagio | Allegro giocoso, ma nontroppo vivace – Poco più presto

JohannesBRAHMS

1833-1897

INTERVAL 20 minutes

An announcement will be made five minutes before the end of the interval.



Béla Bartók was one of a number of twentieth centurycomposers who turned to the indigenous language offolk music to enrich their creative palettes. Bartók,though, took the process rather more seriously thanmost: he recorded and transcribed swathes of ‘peasant’music from his native Hungary as well as from Romania,Croatia and even Turkey and North Africa. By the 1920sa musical voice had emerged in Bartók that fused thesediscoveries with his existing post-impressionistic, lateRomantic tendencies. It was a distinctive voice full ofcontrapuntal textures, rhythmic drive, offbeat syncopa-tions, sonorous harmonies and elemental folk qualities.

Like that of so many of his contemporaries, Bartók’s lifewas thrown off course by the events of the SecondWorld War. In 1940 the composer left Nazi-occupiedHungary for a tour of America; his mother had died andthe violence was escalating behind him. Initially thingsturned out well enough for Bartók in the States: thetour was a success and soon thereafter he took ateaching post at Columbia University. But nothing waspermanent, and the composer soon got the feeling thatthe Americans were less interested in his music thanthey were in his perceived prestige.

Bartók was also ill. He didn’t know it – nor, it seems, didhis doctors – but he was dying of leukaemia. The painand mystery of his illness put a huge strain on thecomposer’s emotions, and he withdrew into himself. Asthe situation appeared to reach its lowest ebb in 1942,violinist Joseph Szigeti and conductor SergeKoussevitsky attempted between them to re-kindleBartók’s spirit. What they came up with was as simpleand inspired as it was risky: a major commission for anorchestral work, to be performed by Koussevitsky’sBoston Symphony Orchestra. Risky, that is, becauseBartók had on more than one occasion insisted that hewas ‘past’ composing.

As it happens, the piece that commission spawnedbecame Bartók’s signature work. And for Koussevitsky,at the time of the Concerto for Orchestra’s firstperformance in December 1944, it was ‘the bestorchestral piece of the last 25 years.’ That’s what theconductor told Bartók, anyway – the composer himself,rejuvenated, wrote excitedly to a friend recounting thedetails of the first performance in Boston andKoussevitsky’s reaction to it.

The Concerto for Orchestra represents one of Bartók’smost successful attempts to marry the effectively localphenomenon of folk music with the more universallanguage of the 20th century orchestra. The work’s titlereflects ‘a tendency to treat the single instruments orinstrumental groups in a concertante or soloisticmanner’ according to the composer, and is built in anarch structure in which the first movement reflects thefifth and the second reflects the fourth, all surroundinga central ‘Elegia’ (described by Bartók as a ‘night piece’).

It’s easy to hear (and see) when Bartók is exploiting thequalities of particular instruments or instrumentalgroups by throwing the musical spotlight on them. Butthere are a few less obvious features in the Concerto forOrchestra to listen out for. First among them is Bartók’streatment of ‘intervals’ (two notes separated by aspecific gap), and initially his fondness for the interval ofthe ‘fourth’ – the most straightforward being the‘perfect fourth’ (think of the first two notes of the carol‘Away in a Manger’). The Concerto’s main idea is builtfrom fourths, suggested first in the piece’s hushedopening and developed throughout. Bartók’s fascinationwith intervals also controls the ‘game of pairs’ that isthe second movement. Here, the folk influence can beheard in the shape of the melodies which are strunginto a chain, played by five pairs of wind instruments.But of real interest in this episode is the composer’s

CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA

Introduzione: Andante non troppo – Allegro vivace |Giuoco delle coppie: Allegretto scherzando | Elegia:Andante non troppo | Intermezzo interotto: Allegretto |Finale: Pesante – Presto

BélaBARTÓK

1881-1945

PROGRAMME NOTES



characterising of each pair with a particular interval:bassoons play in sixths, oboes in thirds, clarinets insevenths, flutes in fifths and trumpets in seconds.

As the Concerto for Orchestra thunders towards itsfinale, there’s a feeling of palpable release. Americanmusic writer Alex Ross imagines it as Bartók throwingaway the notebook in which he’s been scribbling downfolk tunes with a shy detachment and ‘entering the fray’of a village band in full swing. ‘Strings whip up clouds

of dust under manic feet’, says Ross in his book The Restis Noise, ‘winds squawk like children.’ Bartók was, ofcourse, in exile. It’s not fanciful to imagine this sense ofrelease as an imagined homecoming – a final chance forthe composer to connect with Hungary. It was thenearest he’d get: Bartók died in America ten monthsafter that first performance of the Concerto, havingnever returned to his homeland.

Programme notes by Andrew Mellor © 2010

PROGRAMME NOTES

Download London Philharmonic Orchestra recordings from www.lpo.org.uk/shop

It’s easy to take the London Philharmonic Orchestra with you wherever you go! Visit ourdownloads site to choose the works (or even single movements) you’d like to buy, anddownload high quality MP3s to your computer for transfer to an MP3 player or CD. Withregular additions of new recordings with conductors from Beecham to Jurowski you’ll alwayshave a selection of great music to choose from.



RECORDINGSON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. They may alsobe purchased from all good retail outlets or through the London Philharmonic Orchestra: telephone 0207840 4242 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) or visit the website www.lpo.org.uk

LPO-0043 Vladimir Jurowski conducts Brahms’s Symphonies 1 and 2

‘This pair of budget-priced CDs on the LPO’s own label demonstrate how, inthe right hands, the first two symphonies can thrill and delight … exquisitewind playing …genuinely exciting …’GRAHAM RICKSON, THE ARTS DESK, 22 FEBRUARY 2010

LPO-0003 Klaus Tennstedt conducts orchestral excerpts from Wagneroperas

‘Every bar of these performances is filled with the extra adrenalin that oneexpects at a really memorable concert.’BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

LPO-0045 Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Brahms’s A German Requiemwith Elizabeth Watts, Stéphane Degout and the London PhilharmonicChoir

NEW RELEASE



WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a DutyManager available at all times. If you have anyqueries please ask any member of staff forassistance.

Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centreshops and restaurants include: MDC music andmovies, Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, wagamama, LePain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen,Caffé Vergnano 1882, Skylon and Feng Sushi, as wellas cafes, restaurants and shops inside the RoyalFestival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and HaywardGallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following yourvisit please contact our Head of Customer Relationsat Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE18XX, by phone on 020 7960 4250 or by 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 auditoriumif there is a suitable break in the performance

RECORDING is not permitted in the auditoriumwithout the prior consent of Southbank Centre.Southbank Centre reserves the right to confiscate videoor sound equipment and hold it in safekeeping until theperformance has ended

MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should beswitched off before the performance begins

SOUTHBANK CENTRE2009/10 Annual Appeal

The London Philharmonic Orchestra would like tothank everyone who has donated to this year’sAnnual Appeal, which is raising funds for theOrchestra’s FUNharmonics Family Concerts.

The second of thisyear’s FamilyConcerts tookplace on Sunday 14 March, with aprogramme ofdreamy musicincluding anexcerpt fromDebussy’s Prélude àl’après-midi d’unfaune and aspeciallycommissionedwork by DarioMarianelli. Over2,500 children andtheir families came

to the Royal Festival Hall to enjoy the concert and arange of activities before and after the performance,including face painting and opportunities to ‘have-a-go’ on a variety of orchestral instruments.

The Orchestra has received over 150 donations tothis year’s appeal and we would like to thank thefollowing donors for their major contributions:

Garf & Gill CollinsMr Ferry F van DijkCdr Vincent EvansMr A H FerrellDavid & Victoria Graham FullerMr Derek GrayJohn & Angela KesslerMr & Mrs MakharinskyAlison Clarke & Leo PilkingtonMrs Pauline Pinder

It is not too late to donate.The third and final Family Concert of the season willtake place on Saturday 8 May. For many childrenthese concerts represent their first opportunity tohear a full orchestra live on stage. We need your helpto keep ticket prices as low as possible. To make adonation please call Anna Gover on 020 7804 4225or visit our website at www.lpo.org.uk.

Having-a-go on the trumpet at the Family Concerts



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In-kind SponsorsHeinekenLindt & Sprüngli LtdSela Sweets LtdVilla Maria

Education PartnersLambeth City Learning CentreLondon Borough of LambethSouthwark EiC

Trusts and FoundationsAdam Mickiewicz InstituteAllianz Cultural FoundationThe Andor Charitable TrustThe Bernard Sunley CharitableFoundationBorletti-Buitoni TrustThe Candide Charitable TrustThe John S Cohen FoundationThe Coutts Charitable TrustThe D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundThe Emmanuel Kaye FoundationThe Equitable Charitable TrustThe Eranda FoundationThe Ernest Cook TrustThe Fenton Arts TrustThe Foyle FoundationGarfield Weston FoundationThe Henry Smith CharityThe Idlewild TrustJohn Lyon’s CharityJohn Thaw FoundationThe Jonathan & Jeniffer Harris TrustThe Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust

Lord Ashdown Charitable SettlementMarsh Christian TrustMaurice Marks Charitable TrustMaxwell Morrison Charitable TrustThe Michael Marks Charitable TrustMusicians Benevolent FundPaul Morgan Charitable TrustThe R K Charitable TrustRuth Berkowitz Charitable TrustThe Samuel Sebba Charitable TrustSerge Rachmaninoff FoundationSound ConnectionsStansfield TrustUK Friends of the Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-FoundationThe Underwood Trust

and others who wish to remainanonymous.

The generosity of our Sponsors, Corporate Members, supporters and donors is gratefully acknowledged.

Thomas Beecham GroupMr & Mrs Richard & Victoria SharpJulian & Gill SimmondsMrs Steven WardSimon Yates & Kevin Roon

Garf & Gill CollinsDavid & Victoria Graham FullerRichard Karl GoeltzJohn & Angela KesslerMr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg MannCaroline, Jamie and Zander SharpEric Tomsett

Guy & Utti Whittaker

Principal BenefactorsMark & Elizabeth AdamsJane AttiasLady Jane BerrillDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookAndrew DavenportMrs Sonja DrexlerMr Charles DumasDavid EllenCommander Vincent Evans

Mr Daniel GoldsteinMrs Barbara GreenMr Ray HarsantOliver HeatonPeter MacDonald EggersMr & Mrs David MalpasAndrew T MillsMr Maxwell MorrisonMr & Mrs Thierry SciardMr John Soderquist & Mr CostasMichaelidesMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerHoward & Sheelagh WatsonMr Laurie WattMr Anthony Yolland

BenefactorsMrs A BeareDr & Mrs Alan CarringtonCBE FRSMarika Cobbold & Michael Patchett-JoyceMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr David EdgecombeMr Richard FernyhoughKen Follett

Michael & Christine HenryMr Glenn HurstfieldMr R K JehaMr & Mrs Maurice LambertMr Gerald LevinSheila Ashley LewisWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T LiddiardOBE JP RAFMr Frank LimPaul & Brigitta LockMr Brian MarshJohn MontgomeryMs Sarah NeedhamMr & Mrs Egil OldeideEdmund PirouetMr Michael PosenMr Peter TausigMrs Kazue TurnerLady Marina VaizeyMr D Whitelock

Hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd

Hon. Life MembersKenneth GoodeMrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas Beecham Group Patrons, PrincipalBenefactors and Benefactors:



PHILHARMONIC NEWS

German Tour

Tomorrow theLondonPhilharmonicOrchestra flies offto Germany foreight concertswith conductorLudovic Morlotand soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Therepertoire includesWagner’s Preludeto Lohengrin,Brahms’s ViolinConcerto, Bartók’sConcerto forOrchestra andDvořák’sSymphony 7.

The tour will takethe Orchestra toCologne, Essen,

Baden-Baden, Mannheim, Munich, Hamburg, Hannoverand Dortmund.

Renga Ensemble in India

At the end of the month the London PhilharmonicOrchestra’s Renga ensemble takes to the sky for aground-breaking trip to India. Renga is a group ofplayers from the London Philharmonic Orchestrawho work with performers and composers fromoutside the classical mainstream. It creates its ownrepertoire of music, some written and muchprepared by ear, extending the skills of its membersinto the creative working environment of folk andjazz musicians and those from other cultures.

On this tour it will collaborate with the KarnatakaCollege of Percussion and together they will giveconcerts in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The twogroups previously combined for a concert atLondon’s Union Chapel in April 2009.

Members of Renga will also undertake as mucheducation and outreach work as possible, givingworkshops, participatory-style interactions anddemonstrations of classical chamber musicrepertoire.

The tour is supported by Aviva, the Orchestra’sInternational Touring Partner.

Anne-Sophie Mutter, who will betouring with the Orchestra inGermany later this month

Anja Frers/DG

Renga performs at London’s Union Chapel with the Karnataka College of Percussion in April 2009.



ADMINISTRATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Martin HöhmannChairmanStewart McIlwhamVice-ChairmanSue BohlingSimon CarringtonLord Currie*Jonathan Dawson*Anne McAneneyGeorge PenistonSir Bernard Rix*Kevin RundellSir Philip ThomasSir John Tooley*The Rt Hon. Lord Wakeham DL*Timothy Walker AM †*Non-Executive Directors

THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC TRUST

Pehr Gyllenhammar ChairmanDesmond Cecil CMGRichard Karl GoeltzJonathan Harris CBE FRICSDr Catherine C. HøgelMartin HöhmannAngela KesslerClive Marks OBE FCAVictoria SharpJulian SimmondsTimothy Walker AM †Laurence WattSimon Yates

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THELONDON PHILHARMONICORCHESTRA, INC.

We are very grateful to theBoard of the American Friendsof the London PhilharmonicOrchestra for its support ofthe Orchestra’s activities inthe USA.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Charles RussellSolicitors

Horwath Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Timothy Walker AM †Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Alison AtkinsonDigital Projects Manager

Julius HendriksenAssistant to the Chief Executiveand Artistic Director

FINANCE

David BurkeGeneral Manager andFinance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager

Joshua FoongFinance Officer

CONCERT MANAGEMENT

Roanna ChandlerConcerts Director

Ruth SansomArtistic Administrator

Graham WoodConcerts, Recordings andGlyndebourne Manager

Alison JonesConcerts Co-ordinator

Hattie GarrardTours and EngagementsManager

Camilla BeggConcerts and Tours Assistant

Matthew FreemanRecordings Consultant

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah ThomasLibrarian

Michael PattisonStage Manager

Hannah TuckerAssistant Orchestra PersonnelManager

Ken Graham TruckingInstrument Transportation(Tel: 01737 373305)

EDUCATION ANDCOMMUNITY PROGRAMME

Matthew ToddEducation and Community Director

Anne NewmanEducation Officer

Isobel TimmsCommunity Officer

Alec HaylorEducation and Community Assistant

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

DEVELOPMENT

Emma O’ConnellDevelopment Director

Nick JackmanCharitable Giving Manager

Phoebe RouseCorporate Relations Manager

Sarah TattersallCorporate Relations and Events Manager

Melissa Van EmdenCorporate Relations and Events Officer

Anna GoverCharitable Giving Officer

MARKETING

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Frances CookPublications Manager

Samantha KendallBox Office Administrator(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Heather BarstowMarketing Co-ordinator

Valerie BarberPress Consultant(Tel: 020 7586 8560)

ARCHIVES

Edmund PirouetConsultant

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian PoleRecordings Archive

INTERN

Jo LangstonMarketing


89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Fax: 020 7840 4201Box Office: 020 7840 4242

www.lpo.org.ukVisit the website for fulldetails of LondonPhilharmonic Orchestraactivities.

The London PhilharmonicOrchestra Limited is aregistered charity No. 238045.

Photographs of Wagner,Brahms and Bartók courtesyof the Royal College of Music,London.

Photograph on the front cover by Benjamin Ealovega.

Programmes printed by Cantate.

†Supported by Macquarie Group



FUTURE CONCERTSAT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

Saturday 10 April 2010 | 7.30pm

Handel Music for the Royal FireworksProkofiev Violin Concerto 1Stravinsky FireworksBeethoven Symphony 7

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductorLisa Batiashvili violin

Wednesday 14 April 2010 | 7.30pm

Verdi Dances (Ballabili) from ‘Otello’Dvor̆ák Cello ConcertoRichard Strauss Aus Italian

Gianandrea Noseda conductorEnrico Dindo cello

Saturday 17 April 2010 | 7.30pm

Turnage Texan Tenebrae (UK première)Glass The Four Seasons (European première)Górecki Symphony 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)

Marin Alsop conductorRobert McDuffie violinJoanna Woś soprano

FREE Pre-Concert Event6.15pm | Royal Festival HallMarin Alsop introduces the evening’s programme.

This concert is supported by the Adam MickiewiczInstitute as part of POLSKA! YEAR.


Ives The Unanswered QuestionBernstein Symphony 2 (Age of Anxiety)Shostakovich Symphony 5

Marin Alsop conductorNicolas Hodges piano


Prokofiev Sinfonia concertanteMyaskovsky Symphony 6

Vladimir Jurowski conductorDanjulo Ishizaka celloLondon Philharmonic Choir

Barlines | FREE Post-Concert EventClore Ballroom Floor, Royal Festival Hall FoyerAn informal discussion with Vladimir Jurowski reflectingon the evening’s performance of Myaskovsky’sSymphony 6.

TO BOOKTickets £9-£38 / Premium seats £55

London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office020 7840 4242 | www.lpo.org.ukMon-Fri 10am-5pm; no booking fee

Southbank Centre Ticket Office | 0844 847 9920www.southbankcentre.co.uk/lpoDaily, 9am-8pm. £2.50 telephone / £1.45 online bookingfees; no fee for Southbank Centre members

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and LisaBatiashvili

Marin Alsop andNicolas Hodges

Gianandrea Nosedaand Enrico Dindo

Vladimir Jurowskiand DanjuloIshizaka


Documents

17mar10 LPO Programme notes