18
lpo.org.uk Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Concert programme

London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

 

Citation preview

Page 1: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

lpo.org.uk

Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Concert programme

Page 2: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme
Page 3: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

Winner of the 2013 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

Programme £2.50

Contents

2 Welcome LPO concerts at the Congress Theatre3 On stage 4 About the Orchestra5 Leader: Vesselin Gellev6 Garry Walker7 Tamsin Waley-Cohen8 Programme notes12 London 2015/16 season13 LPO Eastbourne Appeal Orchestra News14 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 and one anonymous donor † supported by Neil Westreich

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA IN ASSOCIATION WITH EASTBOURNE BOROUGH COUNCIL

Congress Theatre, Eastbourne Sunday 22 February 2015 | 3.00pm

Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia (7’)

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 (34’)

Interval

Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 (From the New World) (40’)

Garry Walker conductor

Tamsin Waley-Cohenviolin

Page 4: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome

Welcome to the Congress Theatre, EastbourneArtistic Director Chris Jordan General Manager Gavin Davis

Welcome to this afternoon’s performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. We hope you enjoy the concert and your visit here. As a courtesy to others, please ensure mobile phones and watch alarms are switched off during the performance. Thank you.

We are delighted and proud to have the London Philharmonic Orchestra reside at the Congress Theatre for the 18th year. Thank you, our audience, for continuing to support the concert series. Without you, these concerts would not be possible.

We welcome comments from our customers. Should you wish to contribute, please speak to the House Manager on duty, email [email protected] or write to Gavin Davis, General Manager, Eastbourne Theatres, Compton Street, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4BP.

More London Philharmonic Orchestra concerts to enjoy at the Congress Theatre

More information available in the season brochure: pick up a copy after the concert, call 020 7840 4242 to request a copy, or browse online at lpo.org.uk/eastbourne

Sunday 15 March 2015 | 3.00pm

Beethoven Symphony No. 1Haydn Piano Concerto in D major, Hob. VIII.11Rossini Overture, The Barber of SevilleMozart Symphony No. 41, K551 (Jupiter)

Daniel Smith conductorMaria Meerovitch piano

Sunday 29 March 2015 | 3.00pm

Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet (Fantasy Overture)Elgar Cello ConcertoRimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade

Jaime Martín conductorAndreas Brantelid cello

Sunday 12 April 2015 | 3.00pm

Elgar Introduction and AllegroMendelssohn Violin ConcertoBeethoven Symphony No. 7

Domingo Hindoyan conductorMadalyn Parnas violin

Tickets £13–£29 plus £1 postage per booking. Book all three concerts for a 10% discountBox Office 01323 412000 Book online at eastbournetheatres.co.uk

Page 5: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage

First ViolinsVesselin Gellev LeaderCatherine CraigMartin HohmannGeoffrey Lynn

Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Yang ZhangIshani BhoolaMaeve JenkinsonRobin WilsonPeter NallJacqueline RocheMiranda AllenGordon MacKay

Second ViolinsJeongmin Kim Principal Fiona HighamNynke HijlkemaJoseph MaherFloortje GerritsenHarry KerrElizabeth BaldeyNicole StokesGeorgina LeoNaomi Anner

Violas Helen Kamminga

Guest PrincipalBenedetto PollaniLaura VallejoIsabel PereiraMartin FennStanislav PopovRichard CooksonMartin Wray

CellosFrancis Bucknall PrincipalDavid LaleSantiago Carvalho†Elisabeth WiklanderSue Sutherley Susanna Riddell

Double BassesGeorge Peniston PrincipalTom WalleyKenneth KnussenCharlotte Kerbegian

FlutesSue Thomas* Principal

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Hannah Grayson

PiccoloHannah Grayson

OboesHelen Barker Guest PrincipalAlice Munday

Cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

ClarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalThomas Watmough

BassoonsGareth Newman

PrincipalSimon Estell

HornsStephen Nicholls

Guest PrincipalJonathan BarehamDuncan FullerJason KoczurAlex Wide

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

TrombonesDavid Whitehouse

PrincipalDuncan Wilson

Bass TromboneLyndon Meredith

Principal

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

Chair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

TimpaniBarnaby Archer

Guest Principall

PercussionIgnacio Molins

Guest Principal

* Holds a professorial appointment in London † Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Chair Supporters

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

Neil Westreich; Eric Tomsett; Sonja Drexler; David & Victoria Graham Fuller; Simon Robey; William & Alex de Winton; Andrew Davenport; anonymous donor

Page 6: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

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 orchestras 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.

The LPO’s playing throughout was exceptional in its warmth, finesse and detail. The Guardian, January 2013

Page 7: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

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 Poulenc and Saint-Saëns organ works with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and organist James O’Donnell; Strauss’s Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben with Bernard Haitink; Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 and Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy with Vladimir Jurowski; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Hans Graf. In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble.

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

Find out more and get involved!

lpo.org.uk

facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

twitter.com/LPOrchestra

The Guardian, January 2013

Vesselin Gellevleader

© B

enja

min

Eal

oveg

a

Bulgarian violinist Vesselin Gellev has been a featured soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Juilliard Orchestra, among others.

He won First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild

Competition in New York as a member of the Antares Quartet, and has recorded several albums and toured worldwide as Concertmaster of Kristjan Järvi’s Grammy-nominated Absolute Ensemble.

Vesselin has performed as Guest Leader with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Vesselin studied at The Juilliard School, and joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Sub-Leader in 2007.

Page 8: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Garry Walkerconductor

© Ja

ck L

iebe

ck

Winner of the 1999 Leeds Conductor’s Competition, Scottish born Garry Walker studied cello (with Ralph Kirshbaum) and conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music. He is now Visiting Professor of Conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Garry Walker was Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (2003–07), Guest Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic, Principal Conductor of Paragon Ensemble and now enjoys a close association with Red Note Ensemble, Scotland’s premiere contemporary music ensemble.

In the UK, he has worked with all the BBC orchestras, the Hallé, National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Chamber orchestras have included the Northern Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and Academy of St Martin’s in the Fields. He regularly appears at the Edinburgh International Festival and in 2003 conducted a notable performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’ with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Outside the UK he has appeared with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Collegium Musicum, Denmark, Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin. Further afield he has conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, and made his US debut with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. More recently he has conducted the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra in California, the Dortmund Philharmoniker, and Musikkollegium Winterthur.

An experienced opera conductor, Garry Walker conducted a new production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen for Garsington Opera in 2014. He has also conducted both Britten’s Curlew River and the world premiere of Stuart Macrae’s opera The Assassin Tree at the Edinburgh International Festival. He also conducted David McVicar’s much acclaimed production of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, and Raskatov’s A Dog’s Heart for English National Opera, Cimarosa’s The Secret Marriage for Scottish Opera, Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at the Royal Northern College of Music and Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine at the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Outside the UK he has conducted Britten’s Curlew River for Lyon Opera and a new production by Calixto Bieito of Hosakawa’s Hanjo at the Ruhr Triennale.

Future plans include appearances with the Auckland Philharmonia, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestra della Toscana.

Amongst the many international soloists with whom Garry Walker has collaborated are Maxim Vengerov, Truls Mørk, Mischa Maisky, James Ehnes, David Geringas and Branford Marsalis.

Recordings have included works by Havergal Brian and Matthew Taylor on Toccata Classics, Edward Harper on Delphian and Dvořák on Sony.

Today’s appearance is Garry’s debut with the LPO.

“Garry Walker’s handling of the music is sharp-eared, to say the least.

Richard Fairman, The Financial Times, June 2014

garrywalker.net

A short video profiling Garry Walker bit.ly/1xzGFmvt

Page 9: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 7

Tamsin Waley-Cohen enjoys an adventurous and varied career. She has performed with many orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony and BBC Concert orchestras, and further afield with Budapest Philharmonic, Graz Kammerphilharmonie and Chapelle Musicale de Tournai, with conductors including Andrew Litton, Jose Serebrier, Tamas Vasary, Shlomo Mintz and Nicolae Moldoveanu. Performances have taken her across Europe and to the USA, playing in venues such as the Barbican, Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Bridgewater Hall Manchester, the Great Hall, Liszt Academy and in other venues across the UK and the continent.

As a recitalist, Tamsin enjoys a duo partnership with pianist Huw Watkins, with whom she has released three CD recordings, most recently 1917 which received outstanding reviews and was in the Top 20 of the Official Classical Charts. Other recordings include music based on ‘Americans in Paris’ in the 20th century (Champs Hill) and a disc of Mendelssohn concertos with David Curtis and Orchestra of the Swan (Signum Records). Tamsin’s most recent disc is Vaughan Williams’s Lark Ascending and Violin Concerto in D minor again with Orchestra of the Swan and David Curtis.

Her love of chamber music led her to form the Honeymead Ensemble (resident at the Tricycle Theatre in London) as well as the Honeymead Festival in Exmoor. She recently joined the acclaimed London Bridge Trio and regularly plays with pianists Tom Poster and Simon Crawford-Philips, and cellist Gemma Rosefield. She has premiered works by composers including Torsten Rasch, Joseph Phibbs, and Richard Causton; in 2011 she gave the premiere of Concertion written for her by Huw Watkins.

Tamsin Waley-Cohenviolin

Tamsin has performed in many festivals including Cheltenham, Academia San Felice, Florence Chamber Music and Stift, Presteigne, and made her US debut with the Mendelssohn Concerto in the Bowdoin Festival. She has been artist in residence at RomanRiver and Frome Music festivals. She is also Artistic Director of the Sunday Series at London’s Tricycle Theatre, for which she was named one of Evening Standard’s 1,000 most influential Londoners and was Artistic Director of Music at the Bargello Chamber Music Festival in Florence, Italy in 2011–12.

Tamsin Waley-Cohen was born in London in 1986. She became a Foundation Scholar, studying with Itzhak Rashkovsky, at the Royal College of Music where she won all available awards, including – twice – the concerto competition, and was their String Player of the Year in 2005. Numerous competition successes include winning the 2005 Royal Overseas League String Prize and the 2007 J&A Beare Bach competition. She has also participated in masterclasses given by Ida Haendel, Igor Ozim, and Ruggiero Ricci, the latter describing her as ‘the most exceptionally gifted young violinist I have ever encountered’.

Tamsin plays the 1721 ex-Fenyves Stradivarius violin.

Tamsin Waley-Cohen held us rapt with daring and undaunted performances.

Hilary Finch, The Times

tamsinwaleycohen.com

An interesting little snippet: Tamsin Waley-Cohen helps BBC Two ‘s Global Weirding find out about the strange relationship between her Stradivarius and the weather. bit.ly/1Dm9HNt

Page 10: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Programme notes

Three unmistakable voices of 19th-century Slavonic nationalism speak out in today’s concert. Borodin was a leading figure in the movement towards a new style reflecting Russian national character, and his ‘musical picture’ In the Steppes of Central Asia is one of its most evocative products; Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was

written during a period of self-imposed exile, and aches with feeling for his native land; and Dvořák’s effortless ability to evoke the atmosphere of his Czech homeland shines through even when combined with a determined attempt to honour the open horizons and peoples of the ‘New World’ of America.

Speedread

Borodin’s ‘proper job’ as a chemist (in which he rose to be Professor at the Medico-Surgical Academy in St Petersburg) meant that his time for composing was largely limited to the university holiday periods, with the result that of the five great nationalist Russian composers of the 19th century (himself, Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov) he was the least productive. With much of that creative time, too, dominated by long toil on the ultimately unfinished opera Prince Igor, his purely orchestral output was restricted to just four works: three symphonies (one of them uncompleted at his death) and the eight-minute tone poem V sredney Azii (‘In the Steppes of Central Asia’). Composed in 1880, this last was premiered in St Petersburg that same year, with Rimsky-Korsakov conducting.

Borodin actually called the piece a ‘musical picture’, and indeed little more is shown in it than an empty landscape into which a caravan of horses and camels arrives and then departs. Two themes are heard over the pervading ostinato – a ‘peaceful Russian song’ and ‘the melancholy notes of an oriental melody’ – but although according to the composer one represents a conqueror and the other the conquered, they eventually merge in languid counterpoint. Despite this simple outline, there is great skill in the piece, both in its technical handling – it seems that Borodin did not use actual folk tunes, but composed his own characteristic melodies with their contrapuntal combination in mind from the beginning – and in its atmospheric orchestral scoring.

In the Steppes of Central AsiaAlexanderBorodin

1833–87

Page 11: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

If there is a sense of reawakening, perhaps even of rebirth, to the start of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, it is an entirely appropriate one. Only days before he started composing it in March 1878, he had been picking at a new piano sonata with scant success: ‘Am I played out?’, he wrote in a letter. ‘I have to squeeze out of myself weak and worthless ideas and ponder every bar.’ He was writing from the house at Clarens near Lake Geneva where he was staying as part of his six-month escape from Russia following the personal disaster and resultant mental breakdown (there had even been a suicide attempt) provoked by his ill-considered marriage the previous year. In that period of wandering he had completed both the Fourth Symphony and the opera Eugene Onegin, but begun very little that was new in itself.

It was now, however, that the arrival of Josef Kotek, a violinist and former pupil from the Moscow Conservatory (and possibly a former lover), brought a recovery in the composer’s spirits. The two spent much time playing chamber music together, and within three days Tchaikovsky was enthusiastically at work on the Violin Concerto. The sketches were completed eleven days later and the scoring a fortnight after that, by which time Tchaikovsky had also managed to provide a new slow movement to replace the original (which survives as Méditation for violin and piano). The work got a lukewarm reception at its first performance in Vienna in 1881 with Adolf Brodsky as soloist, but the Russian premiere in Moscow nine months later set it firmly on the way to the popularity it enjoys today.

Of the pieces Tchaikovsky and Kotek played through together, one that particularly impressed the composer

was Édouard Lalo’s new Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra, both for its ‘freshness’ and for the fact that ‘like Léo Delibes and Bizet, [Lalo] does not strive for profundity, but carefully avoids the routine, seeks out new forms, and thinks more about musical beauty than observing established traditions, as the Germans do’. That freshness certainly finds its way into Tchaikovsky’s concerto, which inhabits a very different world from the tortured emotionalism of his recent symphony and opera. But there is something here, too, of the unforced and unassuming formal simplicity of Lalo’s approach, though this is not to say that it is without craft. The first movement is a sonata form with an elegant introduction and two clearly discernable big melodies amid some more fleeting themes, all bound together by subtly glinting thematic connections. ‘Musical beauty’ is also present; like Mendelssohn in his Violin Concerto – whose formal quirk of a cadenza placed before the moment of recapitulation it also recalls – Tchaikovsky manages effortlessly to make natural partners of lyrical grace and virtuoso brilliance.

Tchaikovsky’s designation of the G minor slow movement as a Canzonetta acknowledges its essentially song-like nature (complete with woodwind introduction and play-out), but does little to hint at its Slavic melancholy. That Russian flavour is then raised to a newly boisterous level in a Finale which sports with two dance-like themes, the first excitably athletic, the second a more lyrical one whose innate soulfulness quickly overcomes the rustic drones with which it first appears.

Interval – 20 minutesA bell will be rung a few minutes before the end of the interval.

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35

Tamsin Waley-Cohen violin

1 Allegro moderato – Moderato assai2 Canzonetta: Andante –3 Finale: Allegro vivacissimo

Pyotr IlyichTchaikovsky

1840–93

Page 12: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

‘Apparently I am to show them the path to the promised land and the kingdom of a new, independent art; in short, to create a national music!’ Having been appointed Director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, Dvořák knew that great things were expected of him, as his letters home show. American music in the second half of the 19th century was strongly dominated by German-trained composers who aligned it firmly with the central European classical tradition, and it must have been with a view to breaking free from this somewhat stifling influence that the wealthy Jeanette Thurber founded her new conservatory in 1892 and invited Dvořák, one of Europe’s most prominent nationalist composers, for a three-year term as its first Director. By her own account, it was Mrs Thurber who also suggested to Dvořák the idea of composing a symphony that would reflect his impressions of America. He began it in January 1893 and completed it the following May. It was premiered amid huge public interest and acclaim on 16 December.

The ideal identity of an American national music was at this time the subject of considerable debate, one desirable element recognised by many being the influence of black and native American music. Dvořák espoused the cause straight away. Having heard spirituals sung to him by a black student (and no doubt encountered the ‘plantation songs’ of the popular white composer Stephen Foster), he declared in an interview in the New York Herald in May 1893: ‘I am now convinced that the future music of this country must be built on the foundations of the songs which are called Negro melodies. They must become the basis of a serious and original school of composition which should be established in the USA.’ His recently completed symphony – which by the time of its premiere had acquired the title ‘From the New World’ – undoubtedly embodied this ambition.

But although few would deny the American feel of the ‘New World’ Symphony, or the audibility of its influence on later American composers (not least those who wrote for Hollywood), Dvořák was clear that he did not use existing folk melodies, and sought only to reproduce ‘the spirit of Negro and Indian music’ with ‘characteristic themes’. In this sense he was doing much the same as in his ‘Slavonic’ music, and indeed, given that such features as syncopations and pentatonic melodies are common to many of the world’s folk-musics (Czech among them), there is much to be said for considering this a work of truly dual nationality. Though he loved America, Dvořák was often homesick while there, and with a different set of ears it is not hard to hear the symphony as an expression of longing for his Bohemian homeland, displaying (as the 20th-century conductor Václav Talich once put it) ‘the rhythm and melody of his surroundings ... remoulded by Dvořák’s Czechness’.

The Symphony opens with a pensive introduction containing a slow melody whose syncopations gradually draw it towards the athletic main theme of the Allegro which follows (and which will make several strategic returns later in the symphony). This first movement also features two contrasting themes, both introduced by winds and both with a syncopated nature that would seem to qualify them as ‘characteristically’ American. There is a stormy central development section, and after the main themes have been reprised, a driving finish.

The slow movement is a gem whose celebrity is richly deserved. After a sequence of solemn chords has helped to establish its new and unusual key (D flat major), a solo cor anglais intones the simple, spiritual-like theme that is surely one of the most glorious melodies in all music. The warm sense of pastoral nostalgia is briefly broken by some forest stirrings and a fleeting glimpse of

Programme notes continued

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 (From the New World)

1 Adagio – Allegro molto2 Largo3 Scherzo: Molto vivace4 Allegro con fuoco

AntonínDvořák

1841–1904

Page 13: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

the first movement’s wider vistas, but at the end there is a return to the opening’s mood of wistfulness.

The stamping dance of the Scherzo seems to inhabit the world of the native American – indeed, Dvořák later said that, like the Largo, it was inspired by a scene in Longfellow’s poem The Song of Hiawatha. Its form is unusual, containing in addition to its lightly skipping central Trio a song-like second theme within its main repeated section.

The finale introduces a striking new theme, but while this rightly dominates the movement, Dvořák makes much play of bringing back melodic fragments from earlier movements. The music works to an almost Wagnerian climax before the symphony ends in a final surprise gesture of longing.

Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp

Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

£10.99 (2CDs) | LPO-0064

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.

Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

£10.99 (2CDs) | LPO-0039

Manfred Symphony

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

£9.99 (1CD) | LPO-0009

On the LPO CD Label: Jurowski conducts TchaikovskyCDs on sale tonight from the Congress Theatre merchandise kiosk

Page 14: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

12 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

2015/16 season at Royal Festival HallHighlights

2015Wednesday 23 SeptemberMahler Symphony No 7Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Wednesday 14 OctoberPenderecki conducts Penderecki including UK premieres of Harp Concerto and Adagio for Strings

Saturday 31 OctoberBruckner Symphony No. 5Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor

Friday 6 November A celebration of Mexican orchestral music Alondra de la Parra conductor JTI Friday Series

2016Shakespeare400In 2016 the LPO joins many of London’s other leading cultural institutions to celebrate the legacy of Shakespeare, 400 years since his death. Highlights include:

Wednesday 3 FebruaryDvorák Overture, Otello

Wednesday 10 FebruarySibelius The Tempest (extracts)

Friday 15 AprilProkofiev Romeo and Juliet (extracts) JTI Friday Series

Saturday 23 AprilAnniversary Gala ConcertIncluding:Verdi Otello and Falstaff (extracts)Music from Britten, Mendelssohn and WaltonVladimir Jurowski conductor Simon Callow director

Booking now Tickets from £9.00Ticket office 020 7840 4242lpo.org.uk

LP14_LPO_SeasonBrochure_FullPage_Advert_AW3_2.indd 2 03/02/2015 12:35

Page 15: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 13

2015/16 season at Royal Festival HallHighlights

2015Wednesday 23 SeptemberMahler Symphony No 7Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Wednesday 14 OctoberPenderecki conducts Penderecki including UK premieres of Harp Concerto and Adagio for Strings

Saturday 31 OctoberBruckner Symphony No. 5Stanisław Skrowaczewski conductor

Friday 6 November A celebration of Mexican orchestral music Alondra de la Parra conductor JTI Friday Series

2016Shakespeare400In 2016 the LPO joins many of London’s other leading cultural institutions to celebrate the legacy of Shakespeare, 400 years since his death. Highlights include:

Wednesday 3 FebruaryDvorák Overture, Otello

Wednesday 10 FebruarySibelius The Tempest (extracts)

Friday 15 AprilProkofiev Romeo and Juliet (extracts) JTI Friday Series

Saturday 23 AprilAnniversary Gala ConcertIncluding:Verdi Otello and Falstaff (extracts)Music from Britten, Mendelssohn and WaltonVladimir Jurowski conductor Simon Callow director

Booking now Tickets from £9.00Ticket office 020 7840 4242lpo.org.uk

LP14_LPO_SeasonBrochure_FullPage_Advert_AW3_2.indd 2 03/02/2015 12:35

London Philharmonic Orchestra 2014/15 Eastbourne Appeal

As the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2014/15 season at Eastbourne continues with another year of superb programming, it is with great anticipation that we welcome a number of gifted young artists to share the stage with the Orchestra, including violinists Tamsin Waley-Cohen (today’s soloist) and Madalyn Parnas, and cellist Andreas Brantelid.

Young musicians like these will have been significantly influenced by their first experience of a live orchestral concert, and it is for this reason that the Orchestra performs live to over 16,000 school children each year through a series of specially designed daytime concerts that link to what they are learning at school.

Our 2014/15 Eastbourne Appeal aims to secure further support towards these educational activities, ensuring that young people – particularly those in under-resourced areas – have the opportunity to access their first orchestral experience. There is a subsidy of £9 on each ticket and we hope to be able to offer over 550 young people the opportunity to attend a performance as a result of this Appeal.

To date, your support through this appeal has enabled us to reach 90% of that target. We are extremely grateful for the continued support of our Eastbourne audiences in reaching this point and hope you will consider making a contribution to enable us to achieve our goal.

To donate please visit lpo.org.uk/eastbourneappeal or contact Helen Etheridge: 020 7840 4225 or [email protected]

Orchestra news

Latest LPO CD release: Vaughan Williams Symphonies Nos. 4 & 8

Released this month on the LPO Label is a pair of Vaughan Williams Symphonies: Nos. 4 & 8, (LPO-0082) conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth and Vladimir Jurowski respectively. They were recorded live in concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 24 September 2008 (Symphony No. 8) and 1 May 2013 (Symphony No. 4).

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

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

2015/16 season launchBooking for the new season at Royal Festival Hall is now well and truly open. Highlights include Shakespeare400: a joint celebration with other leading cultural organisations of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. We present a series of concerts celebrating some of the wonderful music inspired by the great playwright, including works by Nicolai, Sibelius, Dvořák, Prokofiev, Strauss and Britten. The series culminates in a specially curated Anniversary Gala Concert directed by Simon Callow. Find out more a lpo.org.uk/performances.

The new season at Eastbourne will be announced very soon. To be the first to find out what’s coming up sign up for our emails at lpo.org.uk/signup.

Page 16: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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

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 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 AdamsDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookDavid EllenMr Daniel Goldstein Drs Frank & Gek LimPeter 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 Laurence Watt 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 Hurry

Mr Glenn HurstfieldPer JonssonMr Gerald LevinWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFPaul & Brigitta Lock Mr Peter MaceMs 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 Des & 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

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

Silver: AREVA UK BerenbergBritish American BusinessCarter-Ruck

Bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLP BTO Management Consulting AG 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 Trust

Borletti-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 The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leche Trust London Stock Exchange Group FoundationMarsh Christian TrustThe Mayor of London’s Fund for Young

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

Charitable Trust

Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs ofthe Embassy of Spain in London

Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musiqueromantique française

The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust Polish Cultural Institute in London PRS for Music FoundationThe Radcliffe TrustRivers Foundation The R K Charitable TrustSerge Rachmaninoff Foundation Romanian Cultural Institute 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-Foundation The Viney FamilyGarfield Weston FoundationThe Barbara Whatmore Charitable TrustYouth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous

Page 17: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

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 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 The Tsukanov Family Foundation

Neil Westreich

Tennstedt Circle

Richard Buxton Simon Robey Simon & Vero Turner The late Mr K Twyman

Solti Patrons

Ageas John & Manon Antoniazzi Georgy DjaparidzeMrs Mina Goodman and

Miss Suzanne GoodmanRobert Markwick & Kasia RobinskiThe Rothschild Foundation

Haitink Patrons

Mark & Elizabeth AdamsMrs Pauline BaumgartnerLady Jane BerrillMr Frederick BrittendenDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyBruno de KegelMr Gavin GrahamMoya GreeneTony and Susie HayesCatherine Høgel & Ben MardleMrs Philip Kan

Rose and Dudley LeighLady Roslyn Marion LyonsMiss Jeanette MartinDiana and Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustDr Karen MortonRuth RattenburyThe Reed Foundation Sir Bernard RixDavid Ross and Line Forestier (Canada)Carolina & Martin SchwabTom and Phillis SharpeDr Brian SmithMr & Mrs G SteinDr Peter Stephenson Miss Anne StoddartTFS Loans LimitedLady Marina VaizeyMs Jenny WatsonGuy & Utti Whittaker

Pritchard Donors

Ralph and Elizabeth AldwinckleMichael and Linda BlackstoneDr Anthony BucklandBusiness Events SydneyLady June ChichesterJohn Childress & Christiane WuillamieLindka CierachPaul CollinsMr Alistair CorbettDavid DennisMr David EdgecombeDavid EllenMr Timothy Fancourt QCKarima & David GMr Daniel GoldsteinMr Derek B. GrayMr Roger Greenwood

Rebecca Halford HarrisonHoneymead Arts TrustMrs Dawn HooperRehmet Kassim-LakhaMr Geoffrey KirkhamPeter LeaverDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MaceMr David MacfarlaneGeoff & Meg MannMarsh Christian TrustDr David McGibneyMichael & Patricia McLaren-TurnerJohn MontgomeryRosemary MorganParis NatarMr Roger H C PattisonThe late Edmund PirouetMr Michael PosenSarah & John PriestlandMr Christopher QuereeMr Peter RussellMr Alan SainerTim SlorickLady Valerie SoltiTimothy Walker AMLaurence WattMr R WattsDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsPeter Wilson SmithVictoria YanakovaMr Anthony Yolland

And all other donors who wish to remain anonymous

Page 18: London Philharmonic Orchestra 22 Feb 2015 Eastbourne programme

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 (maternity leave)

Sarah BreedenPublications Manager (maternity cover)

Samantha CleverleyBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Co-ordinator

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: [email protected]

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

Photographs of Borodin, Tchaikovsky and Dvořák courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London.

Front cover photograph © Julian Calverley. Cover design/ art direction: Chaos Design.

Printed by Cantate.