LPO Programme notes 29 Jan 2011

MAHLER ANNIVERSARY

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALLSaturday 29 January 2011 | 7.30pm

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI conductor

BARNABÁS KELEMEN violin

MELANIE DIENER sopranoCHRISTIANNE STOTIJN mezzo sopranoMICHAEL KÖNIG tenorCHRISTOPHER PURVES baritoneLONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

LIGETILontano (10’)

BARTÓKViolin Concerto No. 1 (21’)

INTERVAL

MAHLERDas klagende Lied (original version) (71’)

THOMAS BLUNT offstage band conductorJACOB THORN treble

PROGRAMME £3

CONTENTS

2 List of Players3 Orchestra History4 Leader / Southbank Centre5 Vladimir Jurowski6 Barnabás Kelemen / Thomas

Blunt / Jacob Thorn7 Melanie Diener / Christianne

Stotijn8 Michael König / Christopher

Purves9 London Philharmonic Choir10 Programme Notes17 Supporters18 Recordings19 Administration20 Future Concerts

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

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

† supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011_57683 LPO 29 Jan 2011 21/01/2011 10:58 Page 1

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINSPieter Schoeman* LeaderVesselin Gellev Sub-LeaderChair supported byJohn and Angela Kessler

Lucy BakerKatalin VarnagyCatherine CraigThomas EisnerTina GruenbergMartin HöhmannChair supported byRichard Karl Goeltz

Geoffrey LynnRobert PoolSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangRebecca ShorrockAlain Petitclerc

SECOND VIOLINSHeather Cottrell GuestPrincipalClare Duckworth Co-PrincipalChair supported by Richard and Victoria Sharp

Joseph MaherKate BirchallChair supported by David and Victoria Graham Fuller

Nancy ElanFiona HighamNynke HijlkemaMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensImogen WilliamsonSioni WilliamsAlison StrangePeter GrahamMila Mustakova

VIOLASJonathan Barrett GuestPrincipalKatharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniEmmanuella Reiter-BootimanLaura VallejoNaomi HoltIsabel PereiraMichelle BruilDaniel CornfordMiranda DavisSarah Malcolm

CELLOSKristina Blaumane PrincipalChair supported bySimon Yates and Kevin Roon

Francis BucknallLaura DonoghueSantiago Sabino Carvalho+

Jonathan AylingChair supported by Caroline,Jamie and Zander Sharp

Gregory WalmsleySue SutherleySusanna RiddellDavid LaleTom Roff

DOUBLE BASSESKevin Rundell* PrincipalTim Gibbs Co-PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonRichard LewisTom WalleyHelen RowlandsLouis Garson

FLUTESSue Thomas* PrincipalJoanna MarshGuro PettersenStewart McIlwham*

PICCOLOSStewart McIlwham* PrincipalGuro Pettersen

ALTO FLUTEJoanna Marsh

OBOESIan Hardwick PrincipalKatie BenningtonWill Oinn

COR ANGLAISSue Bohling PrincipalChair supported byJulian and Gill Simmonds

CLARINETSNicholas Carpenter PrincipalEmily MeredithPaul RichardsDavid Fuest

BASS CLARINETPaul Richards Principal

CONTRA BASS CLARINETDavid Fuest

BASSOONSJohn Price PrincipalGareth Newman*Laurence O’Donnell

CONTRA BASSOONSimon Estell Principal

HORNSJohn Ryan PrincipalMartin HobbsNicolas WolmarkGareth MollisonSamuel Jacobs

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

Daniel NewellDavid HiltonLucy Leleu

TROMBONESMark Templeton* PrincipalDavid WhitehouseRobert Workman

BASS TROMBONELyndon Meredith Principal

TUBASLee Tsarmaklis PrincipalJonathan Rees

TIMPANISimon Carrington* Principal

PERCUSSIONAndrew Barclay* PrincipalChair supported byAndrew Davenport

Keith Millar Jeremy CornesSarah Cresswell

HARPSRachel Masters* PrincipalHelen SharpRuth FaberPatrizia MeierLucy HaslarStephanie Beck

OFFSTAGE BAND

FLUTES/PICCOLOSIan Mullin Guest PrincipalGuro PettersenMarta Santamaria

CLARINETS/E FLATCLARINETSRobert Hill PrincipalJames BurkeRichard Russell

BASSOONSEmma Harding GuestPrincipalStuart Russell

TRUMPETS/CORNETS/FLUGELHORNSNicholas Betts PrincipalTom RainerTony CrossRobin TotterdellJoe SharpHeidi Bennett

PERCUSSIONIgnacio Molins Guest PrincipalEddie HackettChristopher Thomas

ASSISTANT CONDUCTORThomas Blunt

* Holds a professorialappointment in London

+ Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Chair SupportersThe London Philharmonic Orchestra alsoacknowledges the following chair supporters whoseplayer is not present at this concert:

The Tsukanov Family


London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3


Seventy-eight 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 2010/11 include an exploration ofMahler’s symphonies and complete song cycles duringthe composer’s anniversary season; the premières ofworks by Matteo D’Amico, Magnus Lindberg and BrettDean; a rare opportunity to hear Rossini’s opera Aurelianoin Palmira in collaboration with long term partner OperaRara; and works by the Orchestra’s new Composer inResidence, Julian Anderson.

In addition to its London season and a series of concertsat Wigmore Hall, the Orchestra has flourishingresidencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performsregularly around the UK. It is unique in combining theseconcert activities with esteemed opera performanceseach summer at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where ithas been the Resident Symphony Orchestra 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 made the first ever visit to China by aWestern orchestra. Touring continues to form asignificant part of the Orchestra’s schedule and issupported by Aviva, the International Touring Partner ofthe London Philharmonic Orchestra. Tours in 2010/11include visits to Finland, Germany, South Korea, Spain,France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Having long been embraced by the recording,broadcasting and film industries, the London

Philharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on domesticand international television and radio. It also works withthe Hollywood and UK film industries, recordingsoundtracks for blockbuster motion pictures includingthe Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogyand scores for Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission,Philadelphia and East is East.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra made its firstrecordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after itsfirst public performance. It has recorded and broadcastregularly ever since, and in 2005 established its ownrecord label. The recordings on its own label are takenmainly from live concerts given with distinguishedconductors over the years including the Orchestra’sPrincipal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, throughHaitink, Solti and Tennstedt, to Masur and Jurowski.

Recent additions to the catalogue have includedacclaimed releases of Christmas choral music conductedby Vladimir Jurowski, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, Verdi’s Requiemconducted by Jesús López-Cobos, Holst’s The Planetsconducted by Vladimir Jurowski and Elgar’s SymphonyNo. 1 and Sea Pictures with Vernon Handley and JanetBaker. The Orchestra’s own-label CDs are also widelyavailable to download. Visit www.lpo.org.uk/shop for thelatest releases.

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 foroutstanding young instrumentalists, and regular familyand schools concerts.

To help maintain its high standards and diverseworkload, the Orchestra is committed to the welfare ofits musicians and in December 2007 received theAssociation of British Orchestras/Musicians BenevolentFund Healthy Orchestra Bronze Charter Mark.

There are many ways to experience and stay in touchwith the Orchestra’s activities: visit www.lpo.org.uk,subscribe to our podcast series, download our iPhoneapplication and join us on Facebook and Twitter.

www.lpo.org.uk



PIETERSCHOEMANLEADER

In 2002, Pieter Schoemanjoined the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra asCo-Leader. He was appointed Leader in 2008.

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 withEduard 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 SouthbankCentre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. As a chambermusician he regularly performs at London’s prestigiousWigmore Hall. As a soloist with the London PhilharmonicOrchestra, he has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concertowith Boris Garlitsky and Benjamin Britten’s DoubleConcerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recordedand released on the Orchestra’s own record label to greatcritical acclaim. Last October he performed the BrahmsDouble Concerto with Kristina Blaumane.

In 1995 Pieter Schoeman became Co-Leader of theOrchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Since then he hasperformed frequently as Guest Leader with thesymphony orchestras of Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon andBaltimore as well as the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Thisseason he has been invited to lead the RotterdamPhilharmonic Orchestra on several occasions.

Pieter Schoeman has recorded numerous violin soloswith the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos,Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film andtelevision. He led the Orchestra in its soundtrackrecordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

He teaches at Trinity College of Music in London.

WELCOME TO SOUTHBANK CENTRE

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

Eating, drinking and shopping? Southbank Centre shopsand restaurants include: Foyles, EAT, Giraffe, Strada, YO!Sushi, wagamama, Le Pain Quotidien, Las Iguanas, pingpong, Canteen, Caffè Vergnano 1882, Skylon, Concreteand Feng Sushi, as well as cafes, restaurants and shopsinside Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall andHayward Gallery.

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visitplease contact Kenelm Roberts, our Head of CustomerRelations, at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, LondonSE1 8XX or email [email protected] orphone 020 7960 4250.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium

LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditorium ifthere is a suitable break in the performance

RECORDING is not permitted in the auditorium withoutthe prior consent of Southbank Centre. Southbank Centrereserves the right to confiscate video or sound equipmentand hold it in safekeeping until the performance hasended

MOBILES, PAGERS AND WATCHES should be switchedoff before the performance begins

SOUTHBANK CENTRE



VLADIMIR JUROWSKICONDUCTOR

Born in Moscow, the son of conductor Mikhail Jurowski,Vladimir Jurowski completed the first part of hismusical studies at the Music College of the MoscowConservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family toGermany where he continued his studies in Dresdenand Berlin, studying conducting with Rolf Reuter andvocal coaching with Semion Skigin. In 1995 he made hisinternational debut at the Wexford Festival, where heconducted Rimsky-Korsakov’s May Night. The same yearsaw his brilliant debut at the Royal Opera House CoventGarden in Nabucco. In 1996 he joined the ensemble ofKomische Oper Berlin, becoming First Kapellmeister in1997 and continuing to work at the Komische Oper on apermanent basis until 2001.

Since 1997 Vladimir Jurowski has been a guest at someof the world’s leading musical institutions including theRoyal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro La Fenice diVenezia, Opéra Bastille de Paris, Théâtre de la MonnaieBruxelles, Maggio Musicale Festival Florence, RossiniOpera Festival Pesaro, Edinburgh Festival, SemperoperDresden and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (where heserved as Principal Guest Conductor between 2000 and2003). In 1999 he made his debut at the MetropolitanOpera New York with Rigoletto.

In January 2001 Vladimir Jurowski took up the positionof Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera and in2003 was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra, becoming theOrchestra’s Principal Conductor in September 2007. Healso holds the title of Principal Artist of the Orchestra ofthe Age of Enlightenment, and from 2005 to 2009served as Principal Guest Conductor of the RussianNational Orchestra with whom he will continue to workin the years ahead.

Vladimir Jurowski is a regular guest with many of theworld’s leading orchestras including the BerlinPhilharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw,Bavarian Radio Symphony, Dresden Staatskapelle, LosAngeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras aswell as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Highlights ofthe 2010/11 season and beyond include his debuts withthe Vienna Philharmonic, Cleveland, San FranciscoSymphony and Mahler Chamber Orchestras, and returnvisits to the Chicago Symphony, Chamber Orchestra ofEurope, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, StPetersburg Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras.

His operatic engagements have included Jenůfa, TheQueen of Spades and Hänsel und Gretel at theMetropolitan Opera, Parsifal and Wozzeck at WelshNational Opera, War and Peace at the Opéra National deParis, Eugene Onegin at La Scala Milan, as well as DieZauberflöte, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff,Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, The Rake’s Progress andPeter Eötvös’ Love and Other Demons at GlyndebourneOpera. Future engagements include new productions ofDie Meistersinger and The Cunning Little Vixen atGlyndebourne, Die Frau ohne Schatten at theMetropolitan Opera, Russlan and Ludmila at the BolshoiTheatre, and Iolanta at the Dresden Semperoper.

Jurowski’s discography includes the first ever recordingof Giya Kancheli’s cantata Exil for ECM (1994), L’Étoile duNord by Meyerbeer for Naxos-Marco Polo (1996), andWerther for BMG (1999) as well as live recordings ofworks by Rachmaninov, Turnage, Tchaikovsky, Britten,Brahms and Shostakovich on the London PhilharmonicOrchestra’s own label, and Prokofiev’s Betrothal in aMonastery on Glyndebourne Opera’s own label. He alsorecords for PentaTone with the Russian NationalOrchestra, with releases to date including Tchaikovsky’sSuite No. 3 and Stravinsky’s Divertimento from Le Baiserde la fée, Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos 1 and 6,Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and Tchaikovsky’s HamletIncidental Music. Glyndebourne have released DVDrecordings of his performances of La Cenerentola, GianniSchicchi, Die Fledermaus and Rachmaninov’s The MiserlyKnight, and other recent DVD releases include Hänselund Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera New York, andhis first concert as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’sPrincipal Conductor featuring works by Wagner, Bergand Mahler (released by Medici Arts).

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BARNABÁS KELEMENVIOLIN

Hungarian violinist Barnabás Kelemen has alreadycaptured the attention of the music world. His widerepertoire spans classical to contemporary music and hehas given the Hungarian premières of the Ligeti andSchnittke Violin Concertos. He has performed withconductors such as Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner,Marek Janowski, Peter Eötvös, Robert Spano, ZoltánKocsis and Ivan Fischer, and as a chamber musician hehas given recitals at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam,Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall. Future highlights willinclude engagements with the Malaysian Philharmonic,Hong Kong Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic,Helsinki Philharmonic and Trondheim SymphonyOrchestras, and recitals and chamber music throughoutEurope with recital partners Zoltán Kocsis and ShaiWosner. This season he is Artist in Residence at theMusis Sacrum in Arnhem.

His discography includes Brahms’s Sonatas for Violinand Piano which won a Diapason d’Or; Liszt’s completeworks for violin and piano, awarded the 2001 Grand Prixdu Disque by the International Liszt Society; a live DVDof the complete Mozart Violin Concertos; and CDs ofBartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Solo Sonata.

Born in Budapest in 1978, Barnabás Kelemen studied atthe Franz Liszt Music Academy and won Third Prize atthe 2001 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels andFirst Prize at the International Violin Competition inIndianapolis in 2002. He has received the 2001 SándorVegh Prize, the 2003 Franz Liszt Prize and the 2003Rózsavölgyi Prize. Since 2005 he has been a professor atthe Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest and a guestprofessor at Bloomington Indiana University. He plays aGuarneri del Gesú violin of 1742 (ex Dénes Kovács),generously on loan from the State of Hungary.

THOMAS BLUNTOFFSTAGE BAND CONDUCTOR

Chorus master of Glyndebourne from 2006 to 2009,British conductor Thomas Blunt is now AssistantConductor to Vladimir Jurowski and the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra. Born in 1977, he studied thecello and conducting before taking up an organscholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 2007 hemade his conducting debut with Glyndebourne in L’elisird’amore for Glyndebourne on Tour, and in 2009conducted the second half of their run of Falstaff. Otherhighlights have included the world première of Ghostsat the Linbury Studio Theatre; The Rape of Lucretia andCosì fan tutte at the Benjamin Britten InternationalOpera School; work on The Knot Garden at the CantiereInternazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano; and aperformance of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette for BritishYouth Opera. Last year he worked as an assistantconductor for Opera North on Rusalka and Così fantutte, and conducted The Rape of Lucretia at the ArcolaTheatre in London. Future engagements includeperformances of La Cenerentola for Glyndebourne onTour and Bruckner’s Mass No. 2 in Sao Paolo.

Jacob is a scholar at Magdalen College School, Oxford,and was a chorister in the choir of Magdalen College forthree years until June 2009. He studies singing andAlexander Technique with Maria Thompson. As well assolos with the choir, he sang the Young Nicolas inBritten’s cantata St Nicolas with the Queen’s CollegeChoir and was treble soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijahwith the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under NicholasCleobury. In 2010 he won the Michael Howard JuniorVocal Prize at the Oxford Festival, was a finalist in theBBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year competitionand was a featured soloist for the BBC Oxford CarolService. Future engagements as a treble soloist includethe Fauré Requiem with the English Chamber Orchestraand Nicholas Cleobury, and his operatic debut in thetitle role of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors in StHelen’s Church, Abingdon, where he currently sings inthe parish choir.

JACOB THORNTREBLE



MELANIE DIENERSOPRANO

The German soprano Melanie Diener studied withSylvia Geszty in Stuttgart, with Rudolf Piernay inMannheim, and at Indiana University. She made herdebut as Ilia in Idomeneo at the Garsington OperaFestival in 1996 and has since been heard at the ViennaStaatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal OperaCovent Garden, the Bavarian Opera, Semper Oper andBerlin Staatsoper, as well as in Paris, Zurich, Lausanneand Ferrara. Her repertoire predominantly includes theoperas of Mozart and Strauss, comprising roles such asElettra (which she has sung in Vienna), Fiordiligi (inLondon, Paris, Zurich, Dresden, Ferrara and the Met),Donna Elvira (in London, Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Vienna,Munich and the Met), Vitellia (in Berlin and the Met)the Marschallin (in Berlin and Hamburg), Ariadne andChrysothemis (in Zurich, Munich and Vienna).

Melanie Diener made her Bayreuth Festival debut in1999 as Elsa in Lohengrin, a role she has also sung inZurich, London, Vienna and Munich, and was heard atthe 2002 and 2003 Salzburg Festivals as Donna Elviraunder the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. She achievedgreat success in the title roles of Fidelio in Zurich andKatya Kabanova in Berlin and Vienna, as Ellen Orford inPeter Grimes at the Vienna Staatsoper and Dresden,and as Sieglinde in Dresden.

She has collaborated with most of the major orchestrasand conductors of our time, and her concert repertoireincludes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Britten’s WarRequiem, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Strauss’s Four LastSongs, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass and Mahler’s SymphonyNo. 8. Future projects include the role of Ursula inHindemith’s Mathis der Maler in Paris, Senta in Derfliegende Holländer in Lisbon, Sieglinde in Amsterdamand Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony in Turin.

CHRISTIANNE STOTIJNMEZZO SOPRANO

Christianne Stotijn studied singing in Metz, London andAmsterdam, and later with Noelle Barker, Jard van Nesand Dame Janet Baker. She has worked extensively withBernard Haitink, who invited her to sing Mahler’sRuckert Lieder with the Concertgebouw Orchestra,Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Boston and ChicagoSymphony Orchestras, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 atthe Lucerne Festival and Bach’s St Matthew Passion withthe Boston Symphony Orchestra. As well as her busyconcert career, she is an impassioned song recitalist andhas appeared at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam,Wigmore Hall in London, Konzerthaus and Musikvereinin Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, Théâtre desChamps Elysées and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris,Mozarteum in Salzburg, Palais des Beaux Arts inBrussels and Kennedy Center in Washington. Heroperatic career has seen her perform the role of Paulinein The Queen of Spades at the Paris Opera, Ottavia inPoppea at the Netherlands Opera, Cornelia in GiulioCesare at the Monnaie and Netherlands Opera andTamerlano at Covent Garden.

This season Christianne gives an American recital tourwith pianist Joseph Breinl and collaborates withpianists Imogen Cooper, Graham Johnson and JuliusDrake at recitals in London, Berlin and Dortmund.Future concerts include Kindertotenlieder with the Cityof Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Berlioz’sRomeo et Juliette with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.Her recordings include CDs of Schubert, Berg and Wolfsongs with Joseph Breinl, and Mahler and Tchaikovskysongs with Julius Drake. In 2006, she recorded FrankMartin’s Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des CornetsChristoph Rilke, which won the 2008 Echo KlassikAward, and in 2010 she won the BBC Music MagazineVocal Award for her CD of Tchaikovsky Romances.


MICHAEL KÖNIGTENOR

Michael König was born in Mutlangen in Germany. Hewas a choir boy from 1976 to 1989 and from 1992studied voice with Rudolf Piernay in Mannheim. In 1993he made his debut at the Ludwigsburg Palace Festivaland in 1994 made his opera debut in Verdi’s I dueFoscari in Ludwigshafen. Many engagements followed,among them Hans in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride atthe 1999 Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Narraboth inStrauss’s Salome in Frankfurt, the title role in EugeneOnegin at the Basel Opera and Tamino in Mozart’s DieZauberflöte in Frankfurt. More recent engagementshave included Der Freischütz in Vienna; Jenůfa inHamburg; Tannhäuser in Paris; Fidelio at the FrankfurtOpera; The Diary of One who Disappeared in Barcelonaand Tokyo; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Fidelio in Paris;Lohengrin and Die Frau ohne Schatten at the FrankfurtOpera; Der Freischütz at the Hamburg State Opera; andMahagonny at the opening of the Teatro Real Madrid’s2010/11 season.

On the concert platform Michael König has worked withconductors such as Gennady Rozhdestvensky, VladimirJurowski, Mikhail Jurowski, Lothar Zagrosek, SeijiOzawa, Paolo Carignani, Gustav Kuhn and Christof Prick.

Among his future engagements are Fidelio inAmsterdam and Zurich; and Messiaen’s St Françoisd’Assise and Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk inMadrid. In spring 2012 he will make his debut inZemlinsky’s Eine florentinische Tragödie in Toronto and insummer 2012 he appears for the first time at theBayreuth Festival as Erik in a new production of TheFlying Dutchman with Christian Thielemann. This willbe followed by a new production of Boris Godunov inMadrid in autumn 2012 and Lohengrin in Frankfurt andBerlin in 2013.

CHRISTOPHER PURVESBARITONE

Born in Cambridge Christopher Purves was a choralscholar at King’s College Cambridge where he studiedEnglish. On leaving university he joined the highlyinnovative rock & roll group Harvey and theWallbangers. Since then Christopher has workedregularly with the director Richard Jones and hasenjoyed much critical acclaim for his interpretations ofthe title role in Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera, Tonioin I Pagliacci for English National Opera, the title role inFalstaff at the Glyndebourne Festival and Beckmesser inDie Meistersinger for WNO. Other roles have includedMarco in Gianni Schicchi at Covent Garden, Balstrode inPeter Grimes for Opera North, The General in JamesMacmillan’s The Sacrifice for WNO, Alcina at theBayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Sharpless inMadama Butterfly for ENO. He made his Salzburg debutin Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore, and created therole of Executioner in James Macmillan’s Ines de Castrofor Scottish Opera.

On the concert platform Christopher has sungBeethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestra of theAge of Enlightenment, Saul with De NederlandseBachvereniging, Acis and Galatea with the GabrieliConsort and Paul McCreesh and Alexander’s Feast withthe Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He made his debut asa recitalist at the Aldeburgh Festival and last seasonsang Schubert’s Schwanengesang in Leeds andCambridge. Recordings include the title role in Le nozzedi Figaro, Messiah and Maria de Rohan. Futureengagements include Aci, Galatea et Polifemo with LesArts Florissants, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the Casada Musica in Porto, Mr Redburn in Billy Budd forNetherlands Opera, Méphistophélès in The Damnationof Faust for ENO, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress forOpéra de Lille and Balstrode in Peter Grimes for La Scala.

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LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIRPATRON: HRH Princess Alexandra ACCOMPANIST: Iain FarringtonPRESIDENT: Sir Roger Norrington CHAIRMAN: Mary MooreARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Neville Creed CHOIR MANAGER: Kevin Darnell

Sopranos Annette Argent, Katy Austin, Tessa Bartley,Olivia Carter, Paula Chessell, Katja Cleasby, Sally Cottam,Sheila Cox, Sarah Deane-Cutler, Sally Donegani, AlisonFlood, Rachel Gibbon, Jane Hanson, Sally Harrison,Joanna Hartman, Carolyn Hayman, Elizabeth Hicks,Alexa Hills, Jessica May Hislop, Georgina Kaim, MaiKikkawa, Jenni Kilvert, Ilona Kratochvilova, SuzannahLipmann, Joanna Loxton, Georgie Mawby, Marj McDaid,Natalie Millett, Katie Milton, Linda Park, Beth Procopio,Isobel Pyrke, Victoria Smith, Claire Spencer, Tania Stainer,Caroline Taunt, Susie Thomas, Isobel Timms, Agnes Tisza,Jenny Torniainen, Nicola Ward, Frances Wheare

Altos Joanna Arnold, Phye Bell, Sally Brien, Noel Chow,Yvonne Cohen, Liz Cole, Janik Dale, Margaret de ValoisRowney, Margaret Driver, Moira Duckworth, AndreaEasey, Carmel Edmonds, Regina Frank, Erica Howard,Kasia Hunt, Alexis Kessler Calice, Young Kim, AndreaLane, Mary Moore, Rachel Murray, Raluca Negruic,Elisabeth Nicol, Helene Richards, Jenny Ryall, Muriel

Swijghuisen Reigersberg, Harriet Shawcross, CatherineTravers, Susi Underwood, Libby Vannet, Jenny Watson

Tenors David Aldred, Geir Andreassen, Chris Beynon,John Boyne, Keith Chaundy, Lorne Cuthbert, KevinDarnell, Michael Delany, Jack Dixon, Oliver Firth, ColinFleming, Iain Handyside, Stephen Hodges, Rob Home,Patrick Hughes, Rhydian Peters, Luke Phillips, Paul Thirer,Tony Wren

Basses Ken Atkinson, Stephen Benson, Jonathon Bird,Gordon Buky-Webster, Adam Bunzl, Geoff Clare, DavidClark, Phillip Dangerfield, Marcus Daniels, Ian Frost, PaulGittens, Nigel Grieve, Christopher Harvey, Mark Hillier,Stephen Hines, David Hodgson, Martin Hudson, SteveKirby, Robbie Li, John Luff, Anthony McDonald, AshleyMorrison, John Murton, William Parsons, Johan Pieters,David Regan, Daniel Snowman, Peter Sollich, PeterTaylor, Alex Thomas, Edwin Tomlins, James Torniainen,John Wood, Hin-Yan Wong

Founded in 1947, the London Philharmonic Choir iswidely regarded as one of Britain’s finest choirs,consistently meeting with great critical acclaim. It hasperformed under leading international conductorsthroughout its history and made numerous recordingsfor CD, radio and television. Its Artistic Director is NevilleCreed.

Enjoying a close relationship with the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra, the Choir frequently joins it forconcerts in the UK and abroad. Last season’s highlightsincluded performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2,Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Seven Last Words,Honegger’s Une Cantate de Noël, Poulenc’s Stabat Mater,Janáček’s The Eternal Gospel, Myaskovsky’s SymphonyNo. 6 and Liszt’s A Faust Symphony.

This season, the Choir has performed Mahler’sSymphony No. 3, Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin,Dvořák’s Te Deum and Stabat Mater, and Fauré’sRequiem. Future engagements include Holst’s ThePlanets and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.

Recently released CDs with the London PhilharmonicOrchestra include Dvořák’s Requiem conducted byNeeme Järvi, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Holst’s The Planets underVladimir Jurowski.

The Choir appears regularly at the BBC Proms at theRoyal Albert Hall and performances have includedBeethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Elgar’s The Dream ofGerontius, Rachmaninov's The Bells and the UKpremières of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s A Relic of Memoryand Goldie’s Sine Tempore in the Evolution! Prom. TheChoir shared the stage with Daleks and other creaturesat the Doctor Who Prom in 2008 and for a second timein 2010.

The Choir also works with other leading orchestras, hasvisited many countries in Europe and travelled as farafield as Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Perth, Australia.It sings in Raymond Gubbay’s Classical Spectacular,Organ Gala and Christmas Classics concerts, andrecently joined Katherine Jenkins in her Christmas showat the Royal Albert Hall.

The London Philharmonic Choir prides itself onachieving first-class performances from its members,who are volunteers from all walks of life. For moreinformation, including details about how to join, pleasevisit www.lpc.org.uk.




György Ligeti, who died five years ago this June, was oneof the greatest and most original composers of the latertwentieth century. A native of Transylvania, then inHungary though now part of Romania, he studied afterthe Second World War at the Budapest Academy ofMusic, where he later taught. But, finding his artisticambitions severely restricted by the Communist régime,he escaped in 1956 to western Europe. He made hishome first in Cologne, where he worked alongsideKarlheinz Stockhausen at the pioneering electronicmusic studio, and later in Hamburg. His mature stylewas formed by many influences, including hisHungarian background, his studioexperience, and several different strands ofcontemporary and folk music; but it alwaysreflected his distinctive personality, at oncehumorous and visionary.

Ligeti composed Lontano in 1967, inresponse to a commission of South WestGerman Radio for that year’s

Donaueschingen Festival. Scored for a large orchestrabut without percussion, it stands in a direct line ofdescent from two of his earlier works of the 1960s, theorchestral Atmosphères and the choral Lux aeterna (bothof which were used by Stanley Kubrick for the soundtrack of his film 2001 – A Space Odyssey). For most of itslength, the textures of Lontano are made up of shifting,drifting clouds of sound, created by multiple statementsof the same line at different speeds. (In his biography ofLigeti, Richard Steinitz has shown that these are allbased on a single melodic line derived from Luxaeterna.) Three passages created in this way are

PROGRAMME NOTES

LONTANO, FOR LARGE ORCHESTRA

FROM CENTRAL EUROPE

Tonight’s programme consists of music by composersfrom different parts of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.The Hungarian-born György Ligeti wrote Lontano in1967, just over a decade after his escape to the West: it isa characteristic example of his music of the period, inwhich drifting clouds of texture, built up throughintricate canons, create a sense of distance andenchantment. Ligeti’s great Hungarian predecessor BélaBartók composed his long-suppressed First ViolinConcerto in 1907/08 for the violinist Stefi Geyer, during apassionate love affair with her: its two movements, alinked pair of slow and fast in the manner of a Hungarianrhapsody, portray different aspects of the dedicatee’scharacter.

Gustav Mahler was born in Bohemia 150 years ago lastJuly, and died in Vienna, the Imperial capital, a hundredyears ago this May. He completed his cantata Dasklagende Lied in 1880 when he was just twenty, thoughit already sounds astonishingly like the music of hismaturity. It is based on a folk tale in which a knight killshis brother to win a queen’s hand, but a bone from thedead brother, fashioned into a flute by a roamingminstrel, sings out the truth and wrecks the wedding.Tonight’s performance not only includes the first andlongest part of the work, ‘Forest Tale’, which Mahlersuppressed in his lifetime, but also matches it with theoriginal versions of the remaining two parts, starker andeven more startling in their effect than Mahler’s laterrevised versions.

GyörgyLIGETI

1923-2006

The same that oft-times hathCharmed magic casements, opening on the foam

Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.LINES FROM JOHN KEATS’S ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE, CITED BYGYÖRGY LIGETI AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION WHILE HE WASWRITING LONTANO



PROGRAMME NOTES

separated by two freer, more static and more sparselyscored interludes, the first beginning with held notes atthe very top and bottom of the orchestra’s pitch range,the second with a cluster sustained by two cellos andbass clarinet; and in the closing stages of the piece thetwo characters are superimposed.

The work’s title means ‘distant’, and is often used inorchestral scores to indicate parts played from, orsounding as if played from, offstage. Here it indicates a

sense of changing perspectives within the orchestra,generated by gradations of density, variations ofscoring, layers of different dynamics, and the degree ofdissonance in the harmonies – so that for exampleentries in octaves cut through the texture like shafts oflight. And the overall dynamic level is low, so that thewhole piece sounds as if it is coming from a distance,before disappearing at the end beyond the limits ofhearing.

VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1, OP. POSTH.

BARNABÁS KELEMEN violin

Andante sostenuto – | Allegro giocoso

BélaBARTÓK

1881-1945

The first of Bartók’s two violin concertos was writtenbetween July 1907 and February 1908, but wassuppressed during the composer’s lifetime. It reflectsthe composer’s intense but short-lived love affair withthe brilliant and beautiful violinist Stefi Geyer, whichtook place not long before his marriage to his pupilMárta Ziegler. The first movement was designed as anintimate portrait of ‘the idealised Stefi Geyer’, while thesecond was a portrayal of the ‘witty and entertaining’side of her character. Only a week after the latter wascompleted, Geyer ended the relationship. Bartóknevertheless sent her the manuscript of the work, andalthough she did not play it she kept it until her deathin 1956. Meanwhile, Bartók retained a copy, but chosenot to put the Concerto forward for performance.However, in 1910 he paired its first movement with anew finale on a related theme for orchestra alone, anexpansion of a piano piece, and the following year hepublished the result as Two Portraits, entitledrespectively ‘Ideal’ and ‘Grotesque’. The Concerto wasnot played in its original form until 1958; it waspublished the following year.

The work, scored for relatively large forces including twoharps, shows the young Bartók’s growing mastery of theorchestra. As yet, there are few signs of the researcheswhich he had begun during the previous few years into

the folk music of rural Hungary. But the twomovements, played without a break, correspond broadlyto the slow and fast sections of the traditionalHungarian verbunkos, or recruiting dance, as reproducedin Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies and Bartók’s own workswith the title ‘Rhapsody’.

The ‘sustained’ first movement is characteristic of thelater Bartók in its textures of tautly woven counterpoint.It is based on the melody with which the solo violinopens the work – starting with a series of rising thirdswhich Bartók told Stefi Geyer constituted her motif –together with the counter-melody added by the frontdesk of first violins. The orchestra unfolds a fugue onthe first theme, with the soloist adding a soaringdescant; there is a slightly faster orchestral interlude onthe second theme; and the soloist returns for a finalsection based more freely on the first theme, whichrises to an urgent orchestral climax but ends calmly.

The ‘cheerful’ second movement is in classical sonataform, with an athletic first theme and a more relaxedsecond-subject group in triplet rhythms. After apredominantly playful and highly virtuosic developmentsection, the first theme returns exuberantly on theorchestra, and the second begins more reflectively thanbefore but reaches a passionate climax. The coda



PROGRAMME NOTES

includes a snatch of march tune on the flutes, presentedin the score between quotation marks and footnotedwith a place name and date, presumably as a souvenir

of something Bartók had heard with Stefi in a momentof shared happiness; and there is a last reference backto her motif before the emphatic orchestral ending.

INTERVAL 20 minutes

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

DAS KLAGENDE LIED (ORIGINAL VERSION)

JACOB THORN treble; MELANIE DIENER soprano;CHRISTIANNE STOTIJNmezzo soprano; MICHAEL KÖNIGtenor; CHRISTOPHER PURVES baritone; LONDONPHILHARMONIC CHOIR

Waldmärchen (Forest Legend) | Der Spielmann (TheMinstrel) | Hochzeitsstück (Wedding Piece)

GustavMAHLER

1860-1911

‘The first work in which I really came into my own as“Mahler” was a fairy-tale for choir, soloists andorchestra: Das klagende Lied. I number that work Opus 1.’ So Mahler wrote to a music critic in 1896, aspart of a potted history of his career; and though henever in fact used opus numbers, the cantata is indeedhis first significant composition. He compiled the versetext himself in the spring of 1878, while he was in hislast year at the Vienna Conservatoire. It is based on afolk tale, as re-told by Ludwig Bechstein (and, in somedetails, by the Grimm Brothers). In ballad fashion,without individual voices representing particularcharacters, it tells the story of two brothers, brown andblond knights, who search in the forest for a rare flowerwhich will win the hand of a queen. The blond youngerknight finds it, but he is murdered in his sleep by hisbrother, and buried beneath a willow tree. A minstrelcomes along, picks up a bone from the body, and carvesit into a flute; but when he plays it, it tells the blondknight’s story of how he was killed. The minstrel’stravels take him to the castle where the queen is about

to marry the brown knight. On seeing the bone flute,the brown knight seizes it and begins to play, only forhis brother to accuse him directly. The queen sinks tothe floor as the castle collapses.

The composition of the cantata occupied Mahler untilthe autumn of 1880, by which time he was justbeginning, at the age of 20, to get work as an operaconductor. The score failed to win the 1881 BeethovenPrize of the Viennese Society of Friends of Music, adecision which Mahler later complained hadcondemned him to continue ‘my whole cursed operaticcareer’. But he went on trying to obtain performances ofthe work, revising it twice during the 1890s – and in theprocess removing the first and longest of the threeparts, ‘Waldmärchen’. The shortened work waspublished in 1898, and first performed under thecomposer in Vienna in 1901. Subsequently the score ofthe original version was passed down within Mahler’sfamily, and formed the basis for performances of‘Waldmärchen’ in Brno in 1934. Later it was sold to an

Other solo parts sung from the Choir will be taken by members of the Glyndebourne Chorus:

Pamela Wilcock, Maria Kozlova sopranos, Charlotte Stephenson, Natalia Brzezinskamezzo sopranos, Giuseppe De’Ligia, David Butt Philip tenors/baritones, Callum Thorpe, Cirprian Droma basses



PROGRAMME NOTES

American collector, who donated it to Yale University in1969. Publication of ‘Waldmärchen’ followed, giving riseto a number of performances and recordings of a hybridversion in which the rediscovered Part I was followed bythe revised Parts II and III. It was not until the late 1990sthat the original versions of Parts II and III were madepublic, as part of a complete performance and recordingby Hallé forces under Kent Nagano, and in asupplementary volume of the complete Mahler edition.

Tonight’s performance is of the complete originalversion, not only restoring ‘Waldmärchen’ but alsoreverting to Mahler’s unrevised full score of Parts II andIII. This version has the obvious merits of telling thestory complete, rather than in truncated form, and ofconsistency. It foregoes the detailed changes whichMahler made to the orchestration and tempo markingsin his revisions of Parts II and III, no doubt on the basisof his practical conducting experience in the meantime.But this is not an unequivocal loss, as Mahler’s originalorchestral sound is generally leaner and sharper. It isalso more distinctive in other ways, for example in itsrequest for six harps if possible to share the two harpparts. The offstage band which represents the weddingfeast, asked to play very loudly in the far distance, is alsotreated differently in the first version: it includes shrill E flat clarinets, and military flugelhorns and cornetsrather than the orchestral brass of the final version; itappears briefly at the end of Part II as well as in Part III;and its music in places clashes violently with that of themain orchestra. Listeners who know the revised versionwell will also recognise some differences in the text(Mahler’s revision having had to take the absence ofPart I into account) and some short passages which herewrote completely. And not the least importantchanges were in the allocation of the solo parts: theoriginal version has four principal soloists rather than

the three of the revision (from which Mahler eliminatedthe baritone), and it also includes two boy soloists, altoand treble, who take turns in the crucialpronouncements of the singing bone. (Tonight the boyalto part will be sung by the solo soprano.)

One incidental benefit of the original version is that itconfirms beyond doubt how much Mahler anticipatedthe language of his mature music at the age of 19 and20. That language has its roots in German Romanticopera, from Weber to early Wagner, with an admixtureof the tradition of folk-like song from Schubert onwards,and of bird-calls, popular dances, songs, marches,fanfares, Lutheran chorales, and even the plainchant‘Dies irae’ – all treated with bold individuality in clear,open textures. There are pre-echoes of the FirstSymphony in particular: the start of the prelude to‘Waldmärchen’ resembles the opening of the Symphonyin its evocation of the mysterious primeval forest; theMinstrel’s song is close to the ‘Song of the WayfaringLad’ paraphrased in the main section of the Symphony’sfirst movement; and a despairing moment in Part IIIreappears exactly at the climax of the Symphony’sfinale. The musical treatment is obviously dictated bythe text rather than by abstract symphonic form, sothemes tend to alternate in verse-and-refrain patternsrather than being subjected to development. But thereare significant ideas which recur within and betweenthe three parts: groups of motifs associated with theknights, the murder, the minstrel, the singing bone andthe wedding feast, a lament to the words ‘O Leide’, anda simple descending scale (in ‘piano practice’ rhythm)which runs through all three parts of the cantata andright to its dramatic end.

Programme notes by Anthony Burton © 2011

DAS KLAGENDE LIED

1. Waldmärchen

Es war eine stolze Königin,gar lieblich ohne Maßen,kein Ritter stand nach ihrem Sinn,sie wollt' sie alle hassen.O weh! Du wonnigliches Weib!Wem blühet wohl dein süßer Leib?

THE PLAINTIVE SONG

1. Forest Legend

There was a proud queen,Lovely beyond measure;No knight was suitable in her mind,She hated all of them.O woe, you fair woman!For whom will your sweet body bloom?



PROGRAMME NOTES

Im Wald eine rote Blume stand,ach so schön wie die Königinne,welch’ Rittersmann die Blume fand,der konnt' die Frau gewinnen.O weh! Du stolze Königin!Wann bricht er wohl, dein stolzer Sinn?

Zwei Brüder zogen zum Walde hin,die wollten die Blume suchen,der Eine hold und von mildem Sinn,der And’re konnte nur fluchen.O Ritter, schlimmer Ritter mein!O ließest du das Fluchen sein!

Als sie so zogen eine Weil',da kamen sie zum Scheiden.Das war ein Suchen nun in Eil'im Wald und auf der Heide!Ihr Brüder mein, im schnellen Lauf,wer findet wohl die Blume?

Der Junge zieht durch Wald und Heid',er braucht nicht lang zu gehen,bald sieht er von ferne bei der Weid'die rote Blume steh’n.Die hat er auf den Hut gesteckt,und dann zur Ruhe sich hingestreckt.

Den And’re zieht im wilden Hang,umsonst durchzieht er die Heide,und als der Abend herniedersank,da kommt er zur grünen Weide!O weh, wen er dort schlafend fand,die Blume am Hut am grünen Band!

Du wonnigliche Nachtigallund Rotkehlchen hinter der Hecken,wollt ihr mit eurem süßen Schallden armen Ritter erwecken!Du rote Blume hinter’m Hut,du blinkst und glänzest ja wie Blut!

Ein Auge blickt in wilder Freud',dess’ Schein hat nicht gelogen,ein Schwert von Stahl glänzt ihm zur Seit',das hat er nun gezogen!Der Alte lacht unter’m Weidenbaum!Der Junge lächelt wie im Traum.

Ihr Blumen, was seid ihr vom Tau so schwer?Mir scheint, das sind gar Tränen!Ihr Winde, was weht ihr so traurig daher,

In the forest there grew a red flowerAs beautiful as the queen;The knight who found the flowerCould win her for his wife.O woe, you proud queen!When will your proud spirit break?

Two brothers entered the forestTo search for the flower,The one fair and of gentle spirit,The other could but curse.O knight, my wicked knight,Forsake your cursing!

When they had travelled for a while,It happened that they parted;The search was now conducted in hasteIn the forest and on the heath.My brothers in a hurry,Who will discover the flower?

The younger travelled through wood and heath,He had not far to go, Soon from the distance by a willow he sawThe red flower growing.He stuck it in his hatAnd then lay down to rest.

The other combed the wild hillside,In vain searched through the heather,And when the evening descended,He came to the green willow.O woe, whom he found sleeping there,The flower in his hat, in the green ribbon!

You fair nightingaleAnd robin in the hedge,You want with your sweet soundTo awaken the poor knight.You red flower in the hat,You gleam indeed like blood!

His eye stares with savage joy,Its look has told no lie;A sword of steel gleams at his side,Now he has drawn it!The elder laughs ’neath the willow tree,The younger smiles as in a dream.

You flowers, what makes you so heavy with dew?Methinks indeed you are weeping!You winds, why waft so sadly,


PROGRAMME NOTES

was will euer Raunen und Wähnen?‘Im Wald, auf der grünen Heide,da steht eine alte Weide.’

2. Der Spielmann

Beim Weidenbaum im kühlen Tann,da flattern die Eulen und Raben,da liegt ein blonder Rittersmannunter Blättern und Blüten vergraben.Dort ist's so lind und voll von Duft,als ging ein Weinen durch die Luft.O Leide, weh o Leide!

Ein Spielmann zog einst des Weges vorbei,da sah er ein Knöchlein blitzen.Er hob es auf, es war nicht schwer,wollt' sich eine Flöte d’raus schnitzen!O Spielmann, lieber Spielmann mein!O ließest du das Flöten sein.O Leide, weh o Leide!

Der Spielmann setzt die Flöte anund läßt sie laut erklingen.O Wunder, was nun da begann!Welch seltsam traurig Singen!Es klingt so traurig und doch so schön,wer's hört, der möchte weinen geh’n.O Leide, Leide, weh!

‘Ach, Spielmann, lieber Spielmann mein,das muß ich dir denn klagen.Um ein schönfarbig Blümeleinhat mich mein Bruder erschlagen.Im Walde bleichet mein junger Leib,mein Bruder freit ein wonnig Weib!’

Der Spielmann ziehet in die Weite,läßt's überall erklingen.Ach weh, ach weh, ihr lieben Leut',was soll denn euch mein Singen?Weh! Weh! Weh! Weh!Hinauf muß ich zu des Königs Saal,hinauf zu des Königs holdem Gemahl.O Leide, weh o Leide!

3. Hochzeitsstück

Vom hohen Felsen erglänzt das Schloß,die Pauken erschallen und Zinken erschall’n.Dort sitzt der mutigen Ritter Troß,

What does your whispering mean?‘In the forest on the greensward,There grows an old willow.’

The Minstrel

By the willow tree, in the cool fir wood,Where the owls and ravens flutter,There lies a fair-haired knightUnder leaves and blossoms buried.It is so mild and fragrant there,As though weeping filled the air.O sorrow, sorrow!

A minstrel wandered once that way,He saw a small bone gleaming there;He picked it up, it was not heavy,He meant to carve a flute from it.O minstrel, dear minstrel,O let the flute be.O sorrow, woe! O sorrow!

The minstrel set the flute to his lips,And loudly made it sound.O wonder, what there now began,What strange and doleful singing!It sounded so sad and yet so beautiful,Who heard it might fall to weeping!O sorrow, sorrow, woe!

‘Ah minstrel, dear minstrel,I must lament to you:For a beautiful flowerMy brother struck me dead.In the forest my young body bleaches,My brother woos a fair woman!’

The minstrel wandered far and wide,Letting it everywhere sound.Ah woe, ah woe, dear people!What do you think of my singing?Woe! Woe! Woe! Woe!I must up to the king’s hall,Up to the king’s gracious bride!O sorrow, woe! O sorrow!

3. Wedding Piece

From the high rock the castle gleams,The drums and trumpets resound;There sits the brave band of knights,



PROGRAMME NOTES

die Frau’n mit goldenen Ketten.Was will wohl der jubelnde, fröhliche Schall,was leuchtet und glänzet im Königssaal?!O Freude, heia, Freude!

Und weißt du's nicht, warum die Freud'?Hei, daß ich dir's sagen kann!Die Königin hält Hochzeit heut'mit dem braunen Rittersmann!Seht hin, die stolze Königin!Heut bricht er doch, ihr stolzer Sinn!O Freude, heia, Freude!

Was ist der König so bleich und stumm!Was geht ihm wohl im Kopfe herum?Ein Spielmann tritt zur Türe herein!Was mag's wohl mit dem Spielmann sein?O Leide, Leide, weh!

‘Ach Spielmann, lieber Spielmann mein,dass muß ich dir nun klagen!Um ein schönfarbig Blümeleinhat mich mein Bruder erschlagen.Im Walde bleicht mein junger Leib!Mein Bruder freit ein wonnig Weib!’O Leide, weh, o Leide!

Auf springt der König auf seinem Thronund blickt auf die Hochzeitsrund',und nimmt die Flöte in frevelndem Hohnund setzt sie selbst an den Mund.O Schrecken! Was nun da erklang!Hört ihr die Märe wüst und bang!?

‘Ach Bruder, lieber Bruder mein,Das muß ich dir nun klagenNun bläst du auf meinem Totenbein!Dess’ muß ich ewig klagen!Was hast du mein junges Lebendem Tode schon gegeben?’O Leide, weh, o Leide!

Am Boden liegt des Königs Gemahl.Die Pauken verstummen und Zinken,mit Schrecken die Ritter und Frauen flieh’n,die alten Mauern sinken.Die Lichter verlöschen im Königssaal.Was ist es wohl mit dem Hochzeitsmahl?Ach Leide!

The ladies with golden necklaces.What means the rejoicing, joyful sound?What shines and glitters in the king’s hall?O joy, hey-ho! Joy!

And know you not wherefore the joy?Hey, that I can tell you;The queen is to be married todayTo the brown knight.See over there, the proud queen!But today her proud spirit will be broken!O joy, hey-ho! Joy!

Why is the king so pale and silent?What goes on in his mind?A minstrel enters at the door!What can the minstrel’s purpose be?O sorrow, sorrow, woe!

‘Ah minstrel, dear minstrel,Now I must lament to you:For a beautiful flowerMy brother struck me dead.In the forest my young body bleaches,My brother woos a fair woman!’O sorrow! Woe, o sorrow!

The king upon his throne leaps upAnd looks at the wedding party;And takes the flute in outraged scornAnd puts it to his own mouth.O horror, what now there sounds!Do you hear the story, confused and afraid?

‘Ah brother, dear brother,Now I must lament to you!Now you play on my dead bone,Wherefore I must for ever complain.Why have you givenMy young life to death?’O sorrow, woe, o sorrow!

The king’s bride lies upon the floor,The drums and trumpets fall silent;With terror the knights and ladies flee,The ancient walls fall down.The lights go out in the king’s hall.What is there now of the wedding feast?Ah sorrow!

English translation © Eric Mason, 1983 & 2007




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Martin HöhmannChairmanStewart McIlwhamVice-ChairmanSue BohlingSimon CarringtonLord Currie*Jonathan Dawson*Anne McAneneyGeorge PenistonSir Bernard Rix*Kevin RundellSir Philip Thomas*Sir 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 Watt

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

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Timothy Walker AM †Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Alison AtkinsonDigital Projects Manager

FINANCE

David BurkeGeneral Manager andFinance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager

CONCERT MANAGEMENT

Roanna ChandlerConcerts Director

Ruth SansomArtistic Administrator

Graham WoodConcerts, Recordings andGlyndebourne Manager

Alison JonesConcerts Co-ordinator

Jenny ChadwickTours and EngagementsManager

Jo OrrPA to the Executive / Concerts Assistant

Matthew FreemanRecordings Consultant

EDUCATION ANDCOMMUNITY PROGRAMME

Fiona LambertEducation and CommunityConsultant

Anne FindlayEducation Officer

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah ThomasLibrarian

Michael PattisonStage Manager

Camilla BeggAssistant Orchestra PersonnelManager

Ken Graham TruckingInstrument Transportation(Tel: 01737 373305)

DEVELOPMENT

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Harriet MesherCharitable Giving Manager

Phoebe RouseCorporate Relations Manager

Sarah TattersallCorporate Relations and Events Manager

Melissa Van EmdenCorporate Relations and Events Officer

Elisenda AyatsDevelopment and FinanceOfficer

MARKETING

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Ellie DragonettiMarketing Manager

Helen BoddyMarketing Co-ordinator

Frances CookPublications Manager

Samantha KendallBox Office Administrator(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Ed WestonIntern

Valerie BarberPress Consultant(Tel: 020 7586 8560)

ARCHIVES

Edmund PirouetConsultant

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian PoleRecordings Archive


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 Bartók andMahler courtesy of the RoyalCollege of Music, London.Photograph of Ligeti courtesyof Wiener Konzerthaus.

Photograph on the front cover by Karen Robinson.

Programmes printed by Cantate.

†Supported by Macquarie Group



FUTURE CONCERTSAT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

JTI FRIDAY SERIESFriday 4 February 2011 | 7.30pm

Brahms Double Concerto for violin and celloBrahms Symphony No. 1

Kurt Masur conductorAnne-Sophie Mutter violinDaniel Müller-Schott cello

Wednesday 9 February 2011 | 7.30pm

Rachmaninov The Isle of the DeadRachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of PaganiniLiszt TotentanzDvořák Symphony No. 7

Osmo Vänskä conductorBernd Glemser piano

JTI FRIDAY SERIESFriday 11 February 2011 | 7.30pm

Weber Overture, Der FreischützMozart Piano Concerto No. 22, K482Beethoven Overture, CoriolanSchumann Symphony No. 4

Louis Langrée conductorDavid Fray piano

Wednesday 16 February 2011 | 7.30pm

Ravel Suite, Mother GooseBerlioz La Mort de CléopâtreBerlioz Symphonie fantastique

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductorAnna Caterina Antonacci soprano

6.15pm–6.45pm | FREE Pre-Concert EventRoyal Festival HallA discussion around the music of Berlioz.

MAHLER ANNIVERSARYSaturday 19 February 2011 | 7.30pm

Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, K364Mahler Das Lied von der Erde

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductorStefan Jackiw violinRichard Yongjae O’Neill violaSarah Connolly mezzo sopranoToby Spence tenor

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

Osmo Vänskä andBernd Glemser

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and AnnaCaterina Antonacci

Kurt Masur andAnne-Sophie Mutter

Sarah Connolly andToby Spence


Documents

LPO Programme notes 29 Jan 2011