London Philharmonic Orchestra 9 March 2016 concert programme

Concert programme2015/16 London Seasonlpo.org.uk

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI supported by the Tsukanov Family FoundationPrincipal Guest Conductor ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADALeader pIETER SChOEMAN supported by Neil WestreichComposer in Residence MAgNUS LINDbERgPatron hRh ThE DUKE OF KENT Kg

Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOThY WALKER AM

Contents

2 Welcome Orchestra news 3 On stage tonight4 About the Orchestra5 Leader: Pieter Schoeman6 Vladimir Jurowski7 Marc-André Hamelin8 Programme notes10 Recommended recordings11 Next concerts13 LPO 2016/17 season14 Sound Futures donors15 Supporters16 LPO administration

The timings shown are not precise and are given only as a guide.

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival hallWednesday 9 March 2016 | 7.30pm

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 (44’)

Interval (20’)

Zemlinsky Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) (39’)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Marc-André hamelin piano

This concert is being broadcast live by the BBC on Radio 3 Live In Concert – live concerts every day of the week. Listen online in HD Sound for 30 days at bbc.co.uk/radio3

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome

Welcome to Southbank Centre

We hope you enjoy your visit. We have a Duty Manager available at all times. If you have any queries please ask any member of staff for assistance.

Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shops and restaurants include Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO! Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, ping pong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Feng Sushi and Topolski, as well as cafes, restaurants and shops inside Royal Festival Hall.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone 020 7960 4250, or email [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery are closed for essential refurbishment until 2018. During this period, our resident orchestras are performing in venues including St John's Smith Square. Find out more at southbankcentre.co.uk/sjss

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.

Orchestra news

New season now on sale!

Next season's LPO concerts at Royal Festival Hall are now open for booking. After the huge success of The Rest Is Noise festival in 2013, we are excited to be collaborating once again with Southbank Centre on another large-scale multi-artform festival. Belief and Beyond Belief will interest atheists, agnostics and those of all faiths. We have devoted our 2017 concerts to the festival, beginning with Beethoven's profound statement on the human condition, Fidelio. LPO Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Vladimir Jurowski takes a major role throughout as we explore belief as revealed in works ranging from Haydn's The Creation to John Adams's Harmonielehre. Read more on page 13, browse the full 2016/17 season brochure online at lpo.org.uk/newseason or call us on 020 7840 4200 to request a copy in the post.

The LpO on Instagram You can now find us on Instagram! Head over to our page @londonphilharmonicorchestra and follow us for exclusive backstage

access. We’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes content to give you an insight into all things LPO, from the musicians themselves, to the On The Road team, and to the audiences at our concerts – tag us #londonphilharmonicorchestra so we can share in your experience...

New LpO Label releaseJust released on the LPO Label is a disc of works by Julian Anderson, the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence from 2010–14 (LPO-0089). The disc features the world premiere performance of In lieblicher Bläue (poem for violin

and orchestra) with soloist Carolin Widmann, recorded at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on 14 March 2015. It also includes Alleluia (composed for the London Philharmonic Choir, the LPO and Vladimir Jurowski to perform at the re-opening of Royal Festival Hall in June 2007) and The Stations of the Sun, both also live concert recordings.The disc is priced £9.99: visit lpo.org.uk/recordings or call 020 840 4242.

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage tonight

First ViolinsPieter Schoeman* Leader

Chair supported by Neil Westreich

Vesselin Gellev Sub-LeaderIlyoung Chae

Chair supported by an anonymous donor

Ji-Hyun LeeChair supported by Eric Tomsett

Katalin VarnagyChair supported by Sonja Drexler

Catherine CraigThomas EisnerMartin Höhmann

Chair supported by The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust

Geoffrey LynnChair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangGrace LeeRebecca ShorrockGalina TanneyCaroline Frenkel

Second ViolinsAndrew Storey PrincipalKate Birchall

Chair supported by David & Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanLorenzo Gentili-TedeschiFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaJoseph MaherMarie-Anne MairesseSioni WilliamsHarry KerrSheila LawAlison StrangeGeorgina LeoStephen StewartElizabeth BaldeyAlberto Vidal

ViolasPrzemysław Pujanek

Guest Principal Cyrille Mercier

Co-PrincipalRobert DuncanGregory AronovichKatharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniLaura VallejoNaomi HoltDaniel CornfordMartin FennSarah Malcolm

CellosKristina Blaumane Principal

Chair supported by Bianca and Stuart Roden

Pei-Jee Ng Co-PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueSantiago Carvalho†David LaleGregory Walmsley Elisabeth Wiklander

Chair supported by The Viney Family

Sue Sutherley Susanna RiddellGeorge HoultTom Roff

Double bassesKevin Rundell* PrincipalSebastian PennarGeorge Peniston Laurence LovelleLowri MorganCharlotte KerbegianBen WolstenholmeLaura Murphy

Flutes Katie Bedford

Guest PrincipalSue Thomas*

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Clare ChildsStewart McIlwham*

piccolosStewart McIlwham*

PrincipalChair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

Clare Childs

OboesStéphane Rancourt

Guest PrincipalAlice Munday

Cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

Chair supported by Dr Barry Grimaldi

ClarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalThomas WatmoughRichard Russell

bass ClarinetPaul Richards Principal

E flat ClarinetThomas Watmough

Principal

bassoonsGareth Newman Principal Simon EstellEmma Harding

hornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* PrincipalChair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth MollisonStephen NichollsAlex Wide

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

David Hilton William Roberts

TrombonesDavid Whitehouse PrincipalMatthew LewisRoss Learmonth

bass TromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

TimpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

percussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Henry Baldwin Co-PrincipalChair supported by Jon Claydon

harpsRachel Masters* Principal Lucy Haslar

Assistant ConductorKarina Canellakis

* 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 player is not present at this concert:

William & Alex de Winton


London Philharmonic Orchestra

Recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-looking ensembles. 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. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence.

The Orchestra is resident at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it gives over 30 concerts each season. Throughout 2014/15 the Orchestra gave a series of concerts entitled Rachmaninoff: Inside Out, a festival exploring the composer’s major

orchestral masterpieces. 2015/16 is a strong season for singers, with performances by Toby Spence and Anne Sofie von Otter amongst others; Sibelius enjoys 150th anniversary celebrations; distinguished visiting conductors include Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Vasily Petrenko, with Robin Ticciati returning after his debut in 2015; and in 2016 the LPO joins many of London’s other leading cultural institutions in Shakespeare400, celebrating the Bard’s legacy 400 years since his death. The Orchestra continues its commitment to new music with premieres of commissions including Magnus Lindberg’s Second Violin Concerto and Alexander Raskatov’s Green Mass.

Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra 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. Touring remains a large part of

Richard Fairman, Financial Times, September 2015

Jurowski and the LPO can stand alongside the top international orchestras with pride.


the Orchestra’s life: highlights of the 2015/16 season include visits to Mexico City as part of the UK Mexico Year of Culture, Spain, Germany, the Canary Islands, Belgium, a return to the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and the Orchestra’s premiere at La Scala, Milan.

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 90 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 3 and 10 Songs under Vladimir Jurowski, and a second volume of works by the Orchestra's former Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson.

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 across social media.

lpo.org.uk

facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

twitter.com/LpOrchestra

youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7

instagram.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

Pieter Schoemanleader

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Pieter Schoeman was appointed Leader of the LPO in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo debut aged 10 with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Jack de Wet in South Africa, winning

numerous competitions including the 1984 World Youth Concerto Competition in the US. In 1987 he was offered the Heifetz Chair of Music scholarship to study with Eduard Schmieder in Los Angeles and in 1991 his talent was spotted by Pinchas Zukerman, who recommended that he move to New York to study with Sylvia Rosenberg. In 1994 he became her teaching assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Pieter has performed worldwide as a soloist and recitalist in such famous halls as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Moscow's Rachmaninov Hall, Capella Hall in St Petersburg, Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chamber musician he regularly performs at London's prestigious Wigmore Hall.

As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pieter has performed Arvo Pärt's Double Concerto with Boris Garlitsky, Brahms's Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, and Britten's Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the Orchestra's own record label to great critical acclaim. He has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film and television, and led the Orchestra in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. He is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. Pieter's chair in the London Philharmonic Orchestra is supported by Neil Westreich.

Jurowski and the LPO can stand alongside the top international orchestras with pride.


Vladimir Jurowskiconductor

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Jurowski seems to have reached the magic state when he can summon a packed house to hear anything he conducts with the LPO, however unfamiliar.

Geoff Brown, The Arts Desk, February 2015

One of today’s most sought-after conductors, acclaimed worldwide for his incisive musicianship and adventurous artistic commitment, Vladimir Jurowski was born in Moscow and studied at the Music Academies of Dresden and Berlin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival conducting Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night, and the same year saw his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Nabucco.

Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, becoming Principal Conductor in 2007. In October 2015 he was appointed the next Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-sinfonieorchester Berlin, a position he will take up in September 2017, and also accepted the honorary position of Artistic Director of the Enescu International Festival in Bucharest, also from 2017. He has previously held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997–2001), Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–03), Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–09), and Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001–13).

He is a regular guest with many leading orchestras in both Europe and North America, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; The Philadelphia Orchestra; The Cleveland Orchestra; the Boston, San Francisco and Chicago symphony orchestras; and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden and Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

In 2007 Vladimir was a guest on BBC Radio 4's flagship programme Desert Island Discs. Discover his eight records of choice here: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007w97r

His opera engagements have included Rigoletto, Jenůfa, The Queen of Spades, Hansel and Gretel and Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera; War and Peace at the Opéra national de Paris; Eugene Onegin at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre; Moses und Aron at Komische and Iolanta and Die Teufel von Loudun at Semperoper Dresden, and numerous operas at Glyndebourne including Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Cunning Little Vixen, Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons, and Ariadne auf Naxos. The Glyndebourne production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, led by Vladimir Jurowski with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Chorus won the 2015 BBC Music Magazine Opera Award.

During the performance we are all 'in the same boat', so since conductors are meant to be silent during the concert, a friendly encouraging look in the right moment is very helpful, almost as helpful as good conducting technique (the latter being rather obligatory). Vladimir Jurowski on engaging players during a performance


Marc-André Hamelinpiano

Is it possible for a pianist to be too good? If anyone faces jeopardy with that question, it’s Marc-André Hamelin.

The New York Times, 22 February 2015

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Marc-André Hamelin is ranked among the elite of world pianists for his unrivalled blend of musicianship and virtuosity in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of neglected music of the 19th and 20th centuries.

This season he performs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski at the Alte Oper Frankfurt as well as at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall and Eastbourne's Congress Theatre; tours North America with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer; has a three-part residency at the Muziekgewbouw in Amsterdam; and makes his debut at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, under Jakub Hrůša.

Orchestral appearances in North America include the Edmonton, Los Angeles Chamber, Manitoba, National Arts Centre, Quebec, San Diego and Toronto symphony orchestras. In addition to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, in Europe Hamelin appears with the Hallé, Berlin Radio Symphony and Lucerne Symphony orchestras and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, in repertoire ranging from Mozart to Brahms, Ravel and Messiaen.

In recital, he appears in the Keyboard Virtuoso series at Carnegie Hall and at Chicago Symphony Presents, the Van Cliburn, Spivey Hall, ProMusica Montreal, Music Toronto and the Green Center in Sonoma. European recitals include Munich, DeSingel in Antwerp, Moscow State Philharmonic Society, Perugia, Heidelberg Festival, Bilbao and the Salzburg Mozarteum.

The summer of 2015 included a return to the BBC Proms performing Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

and François-Xavier Roth. Recitals included London's Wigmore Hall, the Ruhr Piano Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Festival Cully Classique, the International Keyboard Festival in New York City and Aspen Music Festival.

Marc-André Hamelin records exclusively for Hyperion Records. His most recent releases are a two-disc set of Mozart Sonatas and Leo Ornstein's Piano Quintet with the Pacifica Quartet. He was honoured with the 2014 ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year (Piano) and Disc of the Year by Diapason and Classica magazines for his three-disc set of Busoni's late piano music. Other recent recordings include Debussy's Images and Préludes Book II; Haydn concertos with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie; three double-disc sets of Haydn sonatas; and an album of his own compositions, Hamelin: Études, which received a 2010 Grammy nomination (his ninth) and a first prize from the German Record Critics’ Association. His Hyperion discography of over 50 recordings includes concertos and works for solo piano by such composers as Alkan, Godowsky and Medtner, as well as brilliantly received performances of Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Shostakovich.

Born in Montreal and a resident of Boston, Marc-André Hamelin is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the German Record Critics' Association. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada.

marcandrehamelin.com


In spite of their early promise and unquestioned skill, the two late-Romantic composers in tonight’s concert both suffered and later transcended the slings and arrows of fashion. In the cool neo-Classical atmosphere of the post-First World War years, Rachmaninoff was often dismissed as a throwback, while Zemlinsky had already drifted into obscurity, perhaps because his close association with Schoenberg and his circle only highlighted his lack of desire to join them wholeheartedly on their

modernist course. Yet today such concerns have faded into the distance: Rachmaninoff’s stock is perhaps as high as it has ever been, and his texturally rich, soaringly lyrical and toweringly difficult Third Piano Concerto has acquired the status of a model of its kind, while in the last 30 years or so Zemlinsky’s reputation as a highly accomplished and individual composer has (like Mahler’s before it) continued to attract greater interest and understanding.

Speedread

Programme notes

Although not as popular as its predecessor, and not as well-stocked with Romantically lingering tunes, Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is in many other ways his most admired. This was not always the case; ‘dry, difficult and unappealing’ was how the young Prokofiev heard it (he preferred the ‘charming’ First and Second), and many of the earlier performances and recordings of the work (including the composer’s own, made in 1939) were afflicted by damaging cuts. Prokofiev was right about it being difficult, though. The Third is one of the most technically daunting of all the major piano concertos, its 45-minute span demanding of its executant heroic feats of virtuosity, stamina and power, while at the same time challenging them to show the more musicianly qualities of precision, clarity and line.

Rachmaninoff composed it at his family estate in Ivanovka in the autumn of 1909 specifically for his forthcoming first tour to the USA, and he was the soloist at its premiere with the New York Symphony Orchestra on 28 November with Walter Damrosch conducting.

An even more memorable performance, however, must have been the one Rachmaninoff gave with the New York Philharmonic the following January, when the conductor was Gustav Mahler. ‘Mahler touched my composer’s heart straight away’, Rachmaninoff wrote, ‘by devoting himself to my concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had been practised to the point of perfection.’

The complexity that Rachmaninoff refers to is due not only to the orchestral accompaniment’s richness, but also to the important role it plays in the work’s construction. While he may not have been the composer to reproduce the taut motivic discourse of a Schoenberg or a Bartók, in this Concerto Rachmaninoff achieves a satisfying sense of unity through laid-back but persistent allusion to themes outlined in the first movement. Of these, none is more of a presence than the long, tender melody uncurled by the piano right at the start. Its restless Russian melancholy is unmistakable, but Rachmaninoff denied suggestions that it had origins in folksong or Orthodox chant:

piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Simon Trpčeski piano

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

SergeRachmaninoff

1873–1943

piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Marc-André hamelin piano

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


By his own admission, Alexander Zemlinsky was one of those composers who, despite manifest gifts, were somehow never going to achieve high celebrity. ‘Everyone is to blame for his own destiny’, he once wrote, ‘or at least is to blame in a blameless way. I am sure that I lack that certain something needed to get to the top … It’s not enough to have elbows, you have to know how to use them.’ This confession came in 1930, when he had just abandoned a distinguished career

Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid)

1 Sehr mäßig bewegt [With a swift pulse]2 Sehr bewegt, rauschend [Quite fast, roaring]3 Sehr gedehnt, mit schmerzvollem Ausdruck [Very relaxed tempo, with anguish]

Alexander von Zemlinsky

1871–1942

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

as an opera and stage conductor to concentrate on his composing, but things did not improve for him. As an Austrian Jew, he was forced to flee Europe a few years later, and, having arrived in America with no reputation and no contacts, he died in poverty in 1942.

Yet his professional life until then had been lived out in the highest circles. Born in Vienna in 1871, he studied at the Conservatory there, impressed Brahms, and

‘It simply wrote itself’, he said. ‘I was thinking only of the sound. I wanted to “sing” the melody on the piano, as a singer would sing it.’ Whether naturally arising or not, this theme and its lilting accompaniment inform many of the melodic outlines that follow, giving the whole work the flavour of ongoing, seamless development. Eventually a second theme appears, introduced with a new rhythmic impulse that seems almost like a fanfare in the circumstances, but soon settling down to more expansive lyricism under the pianist’s hands. The development section starts with a reprise of the opening, though naturally one which takes new turns. The music builds to a climax, then subsides, the texture thinning until the piano is left to embark on a long solo cadenza whose own powerful climax is in turn calmed by snippets of the first theme on solo winds. A recapitulation of this theme in its original form follows, but the movement is nearly done now, and the end arrives with a few quiet echoes of the second theme.

The title of the second movement, Intermezzo, suggests a desire to relax the atmosphere, as does the drop in key

to D flat major. In fact the free variations on the sombre melody introduced by the orchestra at the outset encompass both textural detail and much Romantic warmth, while a faster and lighter section turns out to be a waltz-like, major-key transformation of the first-movement theme in which brilliant piano figuration accompanies the woodwind. A brief and passionate return to the original theme is broken off, however, by a commanding interposition by the pianist, who whips things up and pitches us decisively into the Finale.

Here the dominant element is a vigorous, twitching line made from an inversion of the rocking accompaniment figure from the opening of the Concerto. The somewhat militaristic flavour it now gives off is contrasted with another soaringly Romantic second theme, but it returns, along with a melancholy lower-string reminiscence of the first movement’s main theme, in a skittish development section. The recapitulation begins after a moment of near stillness, but, after the soaring theme has returned in glory, the Concerto ends in an exhilarating dash to the finish.


Programme notes continued

made a name for himself in his twenties as a composer with songs, chamber works, three symphonies and an opera. His second opera, Es war einmal, was personally championed and conducted by Mahler. He also met and befriended Schoenberg (three years his junior), teaching him for a while, becoming his brother-in-law, and founding with him a society to promote new music in Vienna. (His other composition pupils included Alma Schindler, and he briefly became one of her more unlikely lovers before she married the almost-as-unlikely Mahler.) Zemlinsky’s composing slowed in subsequent years, during which he held successive opera-conductor posts in Vienna, Prague and Berlin – but his modest output also included six more operas, a luxuriant Lyric Symphony, four string quartets, some choral psalms and a number of songs.

It is probably true to say, however, that the very nature of Zemlinsky’s music contributed to its failure to shine. For while there was never any doubting his technical and creative powers, or his credentials as a supporter and connoisseur of the new music of his time (he was one of the composers invited to complete Berg’s unfinished opera Lulu, though he didn’t accept), as a composer he was eclectic, being neither a radical in the manner of Schoenberg and his followers in the Second Viennese School, nor a 19th century-hugging conservative. Instead he offered a middle way that baffled his contemporaries, and it has only been since the 1980s that his music has come to be better appreciated.

Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) was a discovery of that revival. Composed in 1902–03, it was first performed in 1905 at a concert in Vienna, but with critical approval favouring another premiere that same evening – that of Schoenberg’s tone-poem Pelleas und Melisande – the disheartened Zemlinsky withdrew it and it was not heard again until 1984. Although subtitled ‘fantasy’, it is better viewed as a three-movement tone-poem inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s famous story The Little Mermaid, for although Zemlinsky left no details of its programme, it appears to follow the narrative in broad terms. Thus, in the first movement we can surely imagine the depths of the mermaid’s ocean home in the sombrely lolling opening (over which a lightly syncopated ‘sea motif’ appears), associate the sweet violin theme with her yearning for a life in the world above, and hear in the tumultuous central section the

storm that wrecks the human prince’s boat, and from which the mermaid rescues him before falling in love with him.

In the second movement the details become less precise: episodes that could depict the mermaid’s visit to a sea-witch to acquire a potion that will give her legs to walk on land, there to pursue her prince, and an immortal human soul in exchange for the loss of her tongue, or perhaps a ball at the prince’s wedding that breaks her heart. However the true thread of the movement seems rather to be the interweaving and fragmentation of themes that increases with the mermaid’s mental turmoil.

The third movement, in which the mermaid has resolved to kill the prince, again has moments we may think we recognise – her initial laments perhaps, or the moment when, unable to do the deed, she lets the knife drop and we hear a precipitous fall back into the deep, or her final transmutation into an eternal bodiless spirit, a ‘daughter of the air’. Yet nothing is for certain, and neither do we need it to be. Better to surrender to Zemlinsky’s beautifully achieved (and highly apposite) transcendent progression from the particular to the general.

Programme notes © Lindsay Kemp

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

Many of our recommended recordings, where available, are on sale this evening at the Foyles stand in the Royal Festival Hall foyer.

Rachmaninoff: piano Concerto No. 3 Vladimir Ashkenazy | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Bernard Haitink [Decca] or Yuja Wang | Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela | Gustavo Dudamel

Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra | Riccardo Chailly [Decca]


Friday 15 April | 7.30pmJTI FRIDAY SERIES

De Falla The Three-cornered Hat (Suite No. 2) Rodrigo Fantasía para un gentilhombre* prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (excerpts)

Jaime Martín conductor Miloš Karadaglić guitar

* Please note a change to the programme from originally advertised

Friday 18 March | 7.30pm

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 brief Encounter (film with live orchestra)

David Charles Abell conductor Jayson gillham piano

By arrangement with ITV Studios Global Entertainment & Park Circus Films

Saturday 9 April | 7.30pm

Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht* brahms A German Requiem

Christoph Eschenbach conductor Sarah Tynan soprano Matthias goerne baritone London philharmonic Choir

* Please note a change to the programme from originally advertised

Next concerts at Royal Festival Hall

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

London philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office: 020 7840 4242 Monday–Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk Transaction fees: £1.75 online, £2.75 telephone.

Concerts take place in Royal Festival Hall and at St John’s Smith Square. Full details online.

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Wed 6 Apr 2016Ingrid FliterAn all-Chopin programme including the 24 Preludes

Tue 19 Apr 2016YundiThe piano superstar returns

Tue 26 Apr 2016Mitsuko UchidaBerg, Schubert, Mozart and Schumann

Thu 28 Apr 2016Katia and Marielle LabèqueSisters – moments from a shared musical life

Wed 11 May 2016Paul LewisBrahms, Schubert and Liszt

Wed 25 May 2016Richard GoodeSchubert’s last three sonatas

Wed 8 Jun 2016Imogen CooperSchumann, Wagner and Liszt

southbankcentre.co.uk/piano 0844 847 9929

2015/16

INTERNATIONAL

PIANOSERIES

Tickets £65 - £10 (transaction fees may apply)

SERIES SAVINGS: Book 3 – 4 concerts and save 10% Book 5 or more concerts and save 20%

Paul Lewis © Mark McNulty

Mitsuko Uchida © Decca / Justin Pumfrey

Our new International Piano Series 2016/17 is now on sale.

Go to southbankcentre.co.uk/ips for full listings and to book.

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Experience the best concerts from across the UK,every weekday evening from 7.30

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MUSIC IS OUR WORLD.

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Book now lpo.org.uk 020 7840 4242Season discounts of up to 30% available

2016/17 Concert Season at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall

Highlights include:

— Belief and Beyond Belief, a year-long festival with Southbank Centre exploring what makes us human in the 21st century, in partnership with Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Vladimir Jurowski

— Sibelius expert Osmo Vänskä presents a Symphony Cycle pairing Sibelius’s symphonies with concertos by British composers

— Soloists including Anne-Sofie Mutter, Nicola Benedetti, Julian Bliss, Steven Isserlis, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Hilary Hahn

— Great choral works including Haydn’s The Creation, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Choral)


Sound FutureS donorS

We are grateful to the following donors for their generous contributions to our Sound Futures campaign. Thanks to their support, we successfully raised £1 million by 30 April 2015 which has now been matched pound for pound by Arts Council England through a Catalyst Endowment grant. This has enabled us to create a £2 million endowment fund supporting special artistic projects, creative programming and education work with key venue partners including our Southbank Centre home. Supporters listed below donated £500 or over. For a full list of those who have given to this campaign please visit lpo.org.uk/soundfutures.

Masur CircleArts Council EnglandDunard FundVictoria Robey OBEEmmanuel & Barrie RomanThe Underwood Trust

Welser-Möst CircleWilliam & Alex de Winton John Ireland Charitable TrustThe Tsukanov Family FoundationNeil Westreich

Tennstedt CircleValentina & Dmitry Aksenov Richard BuxtonThe Candide TrustMichael & Elena KroupeevKirby Laing FoundationMr & Mrs MakharinskyAlexey & Anastasia ReznikovichSimon RobeyBianca & Stuart RodenSimon & Vero TurnerThe late Mr K Twyman

Solti patronsAgeas John & Manon AntoniazziGabor Beyer, through BTO

Management Consulting AGJon ClaydonMrs Mina Goodman & Miss

Suzanne GoodmanRoddy & April GowThe Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris

Charitable Trust Mr James R.D. KornerChristoph Ladanyi & Dr Sophia

Ladanyi-CzerninRobert Markwick & Kasia RobinskiThe Maurice Marks Charitable TrustMr Paris Natar

The Rothschild FoundationTom & Phillis SharpeThe Viney Family

haitink patronsMark & Elizabeth AdamsDr Christopher AldrenMrs Pauline BaumgartnerLady Jane BerrillMr Frederick BrittendenDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyMr Clive ButlerGill & Garf CollinsMr John H CookMr Alistair CorbettBruno de KegelGeorgy DjaparidzeDavid EllenChristopher Fraser OBE & Lisa FraserDavid & Victoria Graham FullerGoldman Sachs InternationalMr Gavin GrahamMoya GreeneMrs Dorothy HambletonTony & Susie HayesMalcolm HerringCatherine Høgel & Ben MardleMrs Philip KanRehmet Kassim-Lakha de MorixeRose & Dudley LeighLady Roslyn Marion LyonsMiss Jeanette MartinDuncan Matthews QCDiana & Allan Morgenthau

Charitable TrustDr Karen MortonMr Roger PhillimoreRuth RattenburyThe Reed FoundationThe Rind FoundationSir Bernard RixDavid Ross & Line Forestier (Canada)

Carolina & Martin SchwabDr Brian SmithLady Valerie SoltiMr & Mrs G SteinDr Peter StephensonMiss Anne StoddartTFS Loans LimitedLady Marina Vaizey Jenny WatsonGuy & Utti Whittaker

pritchard DonorsRalph & Elizabeth Aldwinckle Mrs Arlene BeareMr Patrick & Mrs Joan BennerMr Conrad BlakeyDr Anthony BucklandPaul CollinsAlastair CrawfordMr Derek B. GrayMr Roger GreenwoodThe HA.SH FoundationDarren & Jennifer Holmes Honeymead Arts TrustMr Geoffrey KirkhamDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MaceMr & Mrs David MalpasDr David McGibneyMichael & Patricia McLaren-TurnerMr & Mrs Andrew NeillMr Christopher QuereeThe Rosalyn & Nicholas Springer

Charitable TrustTimothy Walker AMChristopher WilliamsPeter Wilson SmithMr Anthony Yolland

and all other donors who wish to remain anonymous


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

Corporate Members

Silver: Accenture BerenbergCarter-Ruck We are AD

bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLPBTO Management Consulting AGCharles Russell SpeechlysLazardRusso-British Chamber of Commerce Willis Towers Watson

preferred partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Lindt & Sprüngli LtdSipsmith Steinway Villa Maria

In-kind SponsorGoogle Inc

Trusts and Foundations Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation Axis Foundation The Bernarr Rainbow Trust The Boltini TrustBorletti-Buitoni TrustThe Candide Trust Cockayne – Grants for the Arts The D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable Trust The Foyle FoundationLucille Graham TrustThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris

Charitable TrustHelp Musicians UK The Idlewild Trust Kirby Laing Foundation The Leverhulme Trust The London Community Foundation London Stock Exchange Group FoundationLord and Lady Lurgan Trust Marsh Christian TrustAdam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet Trust

The Ann and Frederick O’BrienCharitable Trust

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

The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust The Stanley Picker Trust The Radcliffe TrustRivers Foundation The R K Charitable TrustRVW Trust Schroder Charity TrustSerge Rachmaninoff Foundation The David Solomons Charitable Trust Souter Charitable Trust The John Thaw FoundationThe Tillett Trust UK Friends of the Felix-Mendelssohn-

Bartholdy-Foundation The Viney FamilyGarfield Weston FoundationThe Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust

and all others who wish to remain anonymous

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 Mrs Philip Kan* Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Laurence Watt

Anonymous Jon Claydon Garf & Gill Collins* Andrew Davenport Mrs Sonja Drexler David & Victoria Graham Fuller Dr Barry Grimaldi The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust Mr & Mrs Makharinsky Geoff & Meg Mann Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp Julian & Gill Simmonds* Eric Tomsett The Viney Family

John & Manon Antoniazzi Jane Attias David Goldstone CBE LLB FRICS 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 AdamsDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookMr Bruno de KegelDavid EllenMr Daniel GoldsteinDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MacDonald EggersDr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry SciardMr & Mrs David Malpas Virginia SlaymakerMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi UnderwoodGrenville & Krysia WilliamsMr Anthony Yolland

benefactorsMr Geoffrey BatemanMrs A BeareMs Molly BorthwickDavid & Patricia BuckMrs Alan CarringtonMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr Timothy Fancourt QCMr Richard FernyhoughMr Gavin GrahamWim and Jackie Hautekiet-ClareTony & Susan HayesMr Daniel Heaf and Ms Amanda HillMichael & Christine HenryMalcolm HerringJ. Douglas Home

Ivan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldPer JonssonMr Gerald LevinWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFPaul & Brigitta LockMr Peter MaceMs Ulrike ManselMr Robert Markwick and Ms Kasia Robinski Mr Brian MarshAndrew T MillsDr Karen MortonMr & Mrs Andrew Neill Mr Roger Phillimore Mr James PickfordMr Michael PosenAlexey & Anastasia ReznikovichMr Konstantin SorokinMartin and Cheryl SouthgateMr Peter Tausig Lady Marina VaizeySimon and Charlotte WarshawHoward & Sheelagh WatsonDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoe

and others who wish to remainanonymous

hon. benefactorElliott Bernerd

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


Administration

board of DirectorsVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Stewart McIlwham* President Gareth Newman* Vice-PresidentDr Manon Antoniazzi Roger BarronRichard Brass Desmond Cecil CMG Jonathan Harris CBE FRICS Amanda Hill Dr Catherine C. Høgel Rachel Masters* George Peniston* Kevin Rundell* Natasha Tsukanova Mark Vines*Timothy Walker AM Laurence WattNeil Westreich David Whitehouse** Player-Director

Advisory CouncilVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson William de Winton Cameron Doley Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness ShackletonLord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds Barry Smith 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 Chung Xenia HanusiakAlexandra JupinJill Fine MainelliKristina McPhee David Oxenstierna Harvey M. Spear, Esq.Danny Lopez Hon. ChairmanNoel Kilkenny Hon. DirectorVictoria Robey OBE Hon. DirectorRichard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA,EisnerAmper LLP

Stephanie Yoshida

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

Dayse GuilhermeFinance 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

Madeleine Ridout Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Education and Community

Isabella Kernot Education Director (maternity leave)

Clare Lovett Education Director (maternity cover)

Talia LashEducation and Community Project Manager

Lucy SimsEducation 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

Rebecca FoggDevelopment Co-ordinator

Helen Yang Development Assistant

Kirstin PeltonenDevelopment Associate

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager

Samantha CleverleyBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Anna O’ConnorMarketing Co-ordinator

Natasha Berg Marketing 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 Russell SpeechlysSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Barry GrimaldiHonorary Doctor

Mr Chris AldrenHonorary ENT Surgeon

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.

Composer photographs courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Front cover photograph: Ilyoung Chae, First Violin © Benjamin Ealovega. Cover design/ art direction: Ross Shaw @ JMG Studio.

Printed by Cantate.

Documents

London Philharmonic Orchestra 9 March 2016 concert programme