Download pdf - Rachmaninoff programme notes

Principal Conductor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI*Principal Guest Conductor YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINLeader pIETER SChOEMANComposer in Residence JULIAN ANDERSONPatron hRh ThE DUKE OF KENT KG

Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOThY WALKER AM†

CONTENTS

2 Welcome 4 About the Orchestra5 List of players6 Leader7 Neeme Järvi 8 Boris Giltburg9 Programme notes13 Supporters 14 Future concerts15 Recordings16 LPO administration The timings shown are not precise and

are given only as a guide.

* supported by the Tsukanov Family † supported by Macquarie Group‡ supported by Dunard Fund

CONCERTS PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA WITH ASSISTANCE FROM BRIGHTON DOME (SATuRDAY 18 FEBRuARY)

JTI FRIDAY SERIES (Friday 17 February)

SOUThBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL hALLTuesday 14 & Friday 17 February 2012 | 7.30pm

BRIGhTON DOME, CONCERT hALLSaturday 18 February 2012 | 7.30pm

NEEME JÄRVI conductor

BORIS GILTBURG piano

RAChMANINOFFPiano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18‡ (32’)

KREISLER (arr. Rachmaninoff/orch. Leytush) Liebesleid (European première) (5’)

Interval

RAChMANINOFFSymphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 (54’)

Presented in co-operation with

Box Office: 01273 709709brightondome.org

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

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.

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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.

TUESDAY 14 & FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY

WELCOME TO BRIGhTON DOMEChIEF EXECUTIVE Andrew Comben

We hope you enjoy the performance and your visit to Brighton Dome. For your comfort and safety, please note the following:

LATECOMERS may not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance. Some performances may contain no suitable breaks.

SMOKING Brighton Dome is a no-smoking venue.

INTERVAL DRINKS may be ordered in advance at the bar to avoid queues.

phOTOGRAphY is not allowed in the auditorium.

RECORDING is not allowed in the auditorium.

MOBILES, pAGERS AND WATChES should be switched off before entering the auditorium.

Thank you for your co-operation.

The concert at Brighton Dome on 18 February 2012 is presented by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with assistance from Brighton Dome.

Brighton Dome gratefully acknowledges the support of Arts Council England and Brighton & Hove City Council.

Brighton Dome is managed by Brighton Dome and Festival Ltd which also runs the annual three-week Brighton Festival in May.

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This advertisement has been approved and/or communicated by Deutsche Bank AG. This advertisement does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to enter into any transaction. The services described in this advertisement are provided by Deutsche Bank AG or by its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in accordance with appropriate local legislation and regulation. Deutsche Bank AG is authorized under German Banking Law (competent authority: BaFin – Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) and authorized and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Services Authority. Details about the extent of Deutsche Bank AG’s authorization and regulation by the Financial Services Authority are available on request. Investments are subject to investment risk, including market fluctuations, regulatory change, counterparty risk, possible delays in repayment and loss of income and principal invested. The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you might not get back the amount originally invested at any point in time. © Copyright Deutsche Bank 2012.

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LONDON phILhARMONIC ORChESTRA

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the uK’s most adventurous and forward-looking orchestras. As well as performing classical concerts, the Orchestra also records film and computer game soundtracks, has its own record label, and reaches thousands of Londoners every year through activities for schools and local communities.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and since then has been headed by many of the great names in the conducting world, including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. The current Principal Conductor is Russian Vladimir Jurowski, appointed in 2007, with French-Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin as Principal Guest Conductor.

The Orchestra is based at Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre, where it has performed since it opened in 1951 and been Resident Orchestra since 1992. It gives around 40 concerts there each season with many of the world’s top conductors and soloists. Concert highlights in 2011/12 include a three-week festival celebrating the music of Prokofiev, concerts with artists including Sir Mark Elder, Marin Alsop, Renée Fleming, Stephen Hough and Joshua Bell, and several premières of works by living composers including the Orchestra’s Composer in Residence, Julian Anderson. In addition to its London concerts, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the uK. Every summer, the Orchestra leaves London for four months and takes up its annual residency accompanying the famous Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra 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 big part of the Orchestra’s life: tours in the 2011/12 season include visits to Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the uS, Spain, China, Russia, Oman, Brazil and France.

You may well have heard the London Philharmonic Orchestra on film soundtrack recordings: it has recorded many blockbuster scores, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, The Mission, Philadelphia and East is East. The Orchestra also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 50 releases on the label, which are available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Dvořák’s Symphonic Variations and Symphony No. 8 conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras; Holst’s The Planets conducted by Vladimir Jurowski; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under Klaus Tennstedt; Shostakovich Piano Concertos with Martin Helmchen under Vladimir Jurowski; and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5, Pohjola’s Daughter and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The Orchestra was also recently honoured with the commission to record all 205 of the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics Team Welcome Ceremonies and Medal Ceremonies.

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

The London Philharmonic Orchestra maintains an energetic programme of activities for young people and local communities. Highlights include the ever-popular family and schools concerts, fusion ensemble The Band, the Leverhulme Young Composers project and the Foyle Future Firsts orchestral training scheme for outstanding young players. Over the last few years, developments in technology and social networks have 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, news blog, iPhone app and regular podcasts, the Orchestra has a thriving Twitter presence.

Find out more and get involved!

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twitter.com/LpOrchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

First ViolinsPieter Schoeman* Leader

(first half)Mila Georgieva

Guest Leader (second half)Soran LeeJhi-Hyun LeeKatalin VarnagyCatherine CraigTina GruenbergMartin Höhmann

Chair supported by Richard

Karl Goeltz

Robert PoolYang ZhangRebecca ShorrockPeter NallGalina TanneyJoanne ChenSarah Buchan‡Caroline Frenkel‡

Second ViolinsClare Duckworth Principal

Chair supported by the Sharp

Family

Jeongmin KimJoseph MaherKate Birchall

Chair supported by David

& Victoria Graham Fuller

Fiona HighamAshley StevensMarie-Anne MairesseNynke HijlkemaImogen WilliamsonPeter GrahamSheila LawElizabeth BaldeySioni Williams‡Stephen Stewart‡

ViolasCyrille Mercier

Guest Principal Robert DuncanGregory AronovichKatharine LeekBenedetto PollaniLaura VallejoSusanne MartensDaniel CornfordNaomi HoltClaudio CavallettiIsabel Pereira‡Martin Fenn‡

CellosKristina Blaumane

PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueJonathan Ayling

Chair supported by Caroline,

Jamie & Zander Sharp

Gregory WalmsleySantiago Carvalho†Susanna RiddellTom RoffTae-Mi Song‡Jonathan Kitchen‡

Double BassesKevin Rundell*

PrincipalTim Gibbs Co-PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonKenneth KnussenJeremy WattTom WalleyCatherine RickettsLowri Morgan‡John Bakewell‡

FlutesDaniel Pailthorpe

Guest PrincipalAlison Hayhurst

piccoloMarta Santamaria

OboesIan Hardwick PrincipalAngela Tennick

Cor AnglaisSue Bohling Principal

Chair supported by Julian

& Gill Simmonds

ClarinetsRobert Hill* Principal Nicholas Carpenter*

Bass ClarinetPaul Richards Principal

BassoonsMichele Fattori

Guest PrincipalGareth Newman*

hornsJohn Ryan*Alec Frank-Gemmill

Guest PrincipalMartin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth Mollison

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff &

Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal

TrombonesMark Templeton* PrincipalDavid Whitehouse

Bass TromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

TimpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

percussion Alex Neal Guest PrincipalAndrew Barclay*

Co-PrincipalChair supported by Andrew

Davenport

Keith MillarIgnacio Molins

harpRachel Masters* Principal

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

‡ 14 & 17 February only

LONDON phILhARMONIC ORChESTRA

Chair Supporters

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

John & Angela Kessler


Pieter Schoeman joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Co-Leader in 2002, and was appointed Leader in 2008.

Born in South Africa, he made his solo début 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. 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 performed frequently as Guest Leader with the symphony orchestras of Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon and Baltimore, as well as with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Pieter is a Professor of Violin at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

pIETER SChOEMANLEADER

Piano TakeoverSaturday 25 February

Peter DonohoeTuesday 28 February

Maurizio PolliniTuesday 6 March

François-Frédéric GuyTuesday 20 March

Leif Ove AndsnesThursday 29 March

Mitsuko UchidaMonday 23 April

Yuja WangTuesday 1 May

Lars VogtTuesday 15 May

Arcadi VolodosTuesday 22 May

Alexei VolodinWednesday 13 June

INTERNATIONAL piano seriesSPRING – SUMMER 2012

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Yuja Wang ©

Felix Broede


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The head of a musical dynasty, Neeme Järvi is one of today’s most respected maestros. He conducts many of the world’s most prominent orchestras and works alongside soloists of the highest calibre. A prolific recording artist, he has

amassed a discography of over 450 recordings.

Over his long and highly successful career, Järvi has held positions with orchestras across the world. He is currently Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Netherlands, Artistic Director of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and Conductor Laureate and Artistic Advisor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He became Artistic Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in January 2011 and will become the orchestra’s Music Director in September 2012. He also holds the titles of Music Director Emeritus of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor Emeritus of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Recent and future seasons include engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic; Orchestre de Paris; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; and the Bavarian Radio and Vienna symphony orchestras, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra. This season he continues his regular relationships with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (for the start of a Tchaikovsky ballet cycle project) and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (for a number of continued recording and concert projects). He looks forward to strengthening his relationship with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, and a return to the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for an exciting project culminating in a concert to celebrate his 75th birthday. He will also make appearances with the Orquesta Nacional de España and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Soloist collaborations include Janine Jansen, Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky, Vadim Repin, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Yefim Bronfman, Truls Mørk and Frank Peter Zimmerman.

NEEME JÄRVICONDUCTOR

Highlights of an impressive discography include critically acclaimed complete symphony cycles of Prokofiev, Sibelius, Nielsen and Brahms. Neeme Järvi has also championed lesser-known composers such as Wilhelm Stenhammar, Hugo Alfvén and Niels Gade, and composers from his native Estonia including Rudolf Tobias, Eduard Tubin and Arvo Pärt. He has recorded with Chandos, Deutsche Grammophon, BIS and EMI, amongst others. In 2009 his recording of Dvořák’s Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on the LPO Label was released to great acclaim.

Järvi’s most recent discs with Chandos are a Wagner and de Vlieger series with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; a recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 with the Residentie Orkest (which was awarded the prestigious Toblacher Komponierhäuschen award); and a series of Johan Halvorsen’s works with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Throughout his career, Neeme Järvi has been honoured with many international awards and accolades. These include an honorary doctorate from the Music Academy of Estonia in Tallinn, and the Order of the National Coat of Arms from the President of the Republic of Estonia, Lennart Meri. The Mayor of Tallinn presented Maestro Järvi with the city’s first-ever ceremonial sash and coat of arms insignia, and he has been named one of the ‘Estonians of the Century’. He holds an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Detroit’s Wayne State university and the university of Michigan, as well as honorary doctorates from the university of Aberdeen and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He has also received the Commander of the North Star Order from King Karl Gustav XVI of Sweden.


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Born in 1984 in Moscow, Boris Giltburg began learning the piano with his mother at the age of five. He has lived in Tel Aviv since early childhood, where he studied with Arie Vardi. He has received many awards at international

competitions, notably the Santander Piano Competition (top prize and Audience Prize, 2002) and the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition (Second Prize and Best Classical Concerto, 2011).

Since his breakthrough appearance with the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2007, Boris has been an annual visitor to Royal Festival Hall, and made his BBC Proms début at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Recent European concerto engagements have included the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra; and the Frankfurt Radio, Swedish Radio and Malmö symphony orchestras.

Having toured the uSA as a teenager with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Boris made his North American symphony orchestra début in 2007 with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. As a result of an audition with Zubin Mehta, he made his début with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in February 2005, and is a regular guest of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, with whom he performed Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto in spring 2011. He made his Tokyo début in 2005, toured China for the first time in 2007, and appeared with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 2010. He has toured South America several times since 2002.

Boris has collaborated with many of the world’s leading conductors including Marin Alsop, Petr Altrichter, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Martyn Brabbins, Christoph von Dohnányi, Philippe Entremont, Kirill Karabits, Grant Llewellyn, Hannu Lintu, Nicola Luisotti, Vasily Petrenko, Mikhail Pletnev, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam, Vasily Sinaisky and Stefan Soltesz.

BORIS GILTBURGpIANO

Boris has played recitals to audiences across Europe in major venues such as Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre in London, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Louvre in Paris, the Zurich Tonhalle, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and the Sony Auditorium in Madrid. Festival appearances have included the Klavierfest am Ruhr, Schwetzingen, Luzern, Piano aux Jacobins and Cheltenham, where he was Artist in Residence in 2007 and remains a regular visitor. He regularly performs chamber music with members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

This season, as well as his London Philharmonic Orchestra début at Royal Festival Hall and Brighton Dome, Boris performs Dohnányi’s Nursery Variations with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko, and returns after several previous visits to the Malmö Symphony Orchestra for Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra for Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2. He appears in recital from Vancouver to Tel Aviv, taking in Prague, Stuttgart and London’s Wigmore Hall along the way.

Boris Giltburg has recorded for the EMI Debut label (Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Scriabin) and has a live recital DVD available on VAI. He was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award in 2008.

Boris Giltburg requested to perform on a Fazioli piano, which has kindly been supplied by Jaques Samuel Pianos.


pROGRAMME NOTES

Rachmaninoff means romance. From the heartbreak of Brief Encounter to Eric Carmen’s schmaltzy All by Myself, few have been able to resist his charms. But the tenderness of those tunes comes not only from an openhearted spirit, but also from the composer’s ongoing problems with depression. The failure of his First Symphony in 1897 prompted a period of grave self-doubt. Music lay dormant for extended periods as Rachmaninoff tried to summon up the strength to

return to his work. With the support of friends and the intervention of a hypnotist, Rachmaninoff was finally able to break the deadlock. His famous Second Piano Concerto was a comeback triumph. Soon after its première he completed a previously unfinished opera, and this began a stream of unbridled composition. Finally, Rachmaninoff vanquished his symphonic demons with the epic Second Symphony.

Speedread

Rachmaninoff was primarily known as a pianist. A virtuoso in the grand tradition of Chopin and Liszt, his fame soon spread. He came to London in 1899 to make his début at the Queen’s Hall, his first major appearance outside Russia. At the concert he conducted his orchestral work The Rock, as well as playing his imposing Prelude in C-sharp minor and other piano pieces. Despite the success of the concert, the Philharmonic Society had expected Rachmaninoff to appear with his Second Piano Concerto (not a note of which had been considered, let alone written). Truth be told, Rachmaninoff was in no mood to compose. The première of his First Symphony in 1897 had been a total disaster. Although the quality of the performance itself was partly to blame (conducted by the usually reliable Glazunov), there can be no doubt that his compatriot Cui’s description of a ‘programme symphony on the Seven Plagues of Egypt’ had dented Rachmaninoff’s pride. For three years, he hardly wrote a note.

Something had to break the deadlock. Although Rachmaninoff busied himself with a new-found career

as a conductor (as well as his regular appearances as a pianist), his composing ambitions seemed dead in the water. Friends arranged for him to meet Tolstoy in order to rekindle his inspiration, but it proved useless. It was a physician who practised hypnosis (then all the rage), who finally achieved breakthrough. While some have believed that Rachmaninoff had clinical depression, others have eschewed the still prevalent stigma of such a diagnosis. Whatever the cause, Rachmaninoff slowly returned to composition by completing passages of his opera Francesca da Rimini and beginning his much-vaunted Piano Concerto.

Although the work comes from a period of self-doubt, the opening piano chords – recalling the thunderous Prelude in C-sharp minor – become ever bolder. They launch us into a torrid landscape of tearing arpeggios and a bruised theme in the strings. A more yearning second section moves us into a major key with a flare of horns. This is outspoken music – a great outburst after a period of total silence. Having been submerged within the thick textures of the orchestra, the piano

pIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN C MINOR BORIS GILTBURG piano

ModeratoAdagio sostenuto – Più animato – Tempo IAllegro scherzando

SergeiRAChMANINOFF 1873–1943


INTERVAL An announcement will be made a few minutes before the end of the interval.

comes to the surface. Rising melodies are accompanied by tumbling arpeggios in the left hand, giving a feeling of emotional freedom. Thick chromatic harmonies intensify these gestures before various solos from the woodwind and horns create amorous dialogues with the piano. A development follows, seemingly unaffected by the emotional turmoil of what has gone before. But once we reach a restatement of those opening themes, the piano bursts through with a manic march figure. Clearly the feelings professed within this movement are not to be taken lightly.

A pining E major emerges out of the waste of the first movement’s coda. As at the beginning of the Concerto, the piano plays a series of arpeggios, though here they are infinitely more reflective. A flute states a theme, before it is passed to the clarinet against a halo of

strings; this is disarmingly sincere music. Harmonic shifts deepen those sentiments in a series of variations, moving freely between the orchestra and the piano.

The finale begins with an impudent jig, shifting us back into the C minor tonality of the first movement. Snappy rhythms and virtuosic blurs give way to a pounding rhapsody. There is clearly unfinished emotional business and the rapid tempo slumps into a brooding new theme. The piano responds, complete with aching harmonic suspensions and melodic sequences, and it is this theme that comes to dominate. Although the orchestra tries to whip up the tempo, the piano leads them in a huge restatement of the main theme. It is triumphant in its amorous glory, before all the musicians launch into a joyful coda.

The Austrian violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler won admiration with his effortless technique and musical charm. But he was an equally adept composer and shared Rachmaninoff’s melodic skill. Cheekily, he often published his works under made-up pseudonyms or claimed them as long-lost rediscoveries. Liebesleid (‘Love’s Sorrow’) comes from a 1905 publication of Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen (‘Old Viennese Melodies’). It was falsely attributed to Josef Lanner who, along

with Johann Strauss I, was one of the originators of the Viennese waltz. A lilting triple-time dance, its cheeky variations in phrase-length and its rich harmonic language tell us that it can only be Kreisler. Played by Rachmaninoff as a piano showpiece, those expressive touches were teased out in his 1921 arrangement. This orchestration is by the Russian-born conductor Arkady Leytush.

LIEBESLEID Arranged by Serge Rachmaninoff (1921) Orchestrated by Arkady Leytush (European première of this version)

FritzKREISLER

1875–1962

pROGRAMME NOTES

‘... performances of full-blooded intensity and fire’BBC Music Magazine

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PROGRAMME NOTES

SYMphONY NO. 2 IN E MINOR Largo – Allegro moderato Allegro moltoAdagio Allegro vivace

SergeiRAChMANINOFF 1873–1943

While the Second Piano Concerto had exorcised many of Rachmaninoff’s demons, the composer still had to return to the dreaded genre of the symphony. Facing his fears, he began work in 1906 and confronted his problems head on. Rachmaninoff chose the key of E minor, the same as Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. Tchaikovsky had similarly felt the hand of fate on his shoulder, but in his Fifth Symphony (and in Rachmaninoff’s homage), fate is overcome and both works end in triumphant celebration. For Rachmaninoff, that musical conquest turned into professional success and the symphony was well-received at its première in 1908. Commanding an hour-long span of heady but combative music, it is one of the great symphonies of the 20th century.

Like Tchaikovsky’s example, Rachmaninoff begins with a dark murmur. Cellos and double basses introduce a weighty motif, answered by a chorale-like theme in the woodwind and brass and a more twisting response from the upper strings. The sections of the orchestra coalesce, but none of their statements finds release. A cor anglais sounds its lonesome plea before the strings introduce the Allegro proper. Although we are still firmly in E minor, there is more freedom of movement. Melodies build through sequences of repeated motifs as we hurtle across an ever-evolving panorama. A clarinet introduces a more youthful melody – prefiguring the yearning third movement – that alternates with more impassioned music. But there are darker energies at play, bursting through with a violent flow of climaxes. A more relaxed theme in G major appears in the strings (echoing the previous youthful melody) before the movement concludes with a brutal return to E minor.

Those hostile streaks have clearly not been sated, as the second movement launches into a stuttering attack.

While the glockenspiel adds an air of celebration, the accented first theme returns again and again to erode any such impressions. Boundless energy and clipped rhythms play across the orchestra. But there is warmth too and, although underpinned by the ‘Dies irae’ chant for the dead, this movement cannot help but wear its heart on its sleeve. Exasperated by such fickle emotions, the orchestra launches into a terrifying fugato. The strings begin the attack, but are soon joined by the other sections, followed by a military march akin to something by Shostakovich. Rocking between these martial touches and the heartfelt pangs of the first movement, this is a truly schizophrenic dance.

With the Adagio, Rachmaninoff lets his melodic gift come to the fore in one of the greatest tunes of all time. Emerging out of a straightforward arpeggio that lands on an aching leading note (one short of an octave), the melody describes pining affection. Out of this simple motif and the enrapt clarinet tune, Rachmaninoff weaves one of his most effortless creations.

Those sentiments now explained, the finale is a grand celebration of what has gone before. Having instilled a major key within the Adagio, the Allegro vivace transforms the original tonic into E major. Crashes of cymbal and braying fanfares add to the party atmosphere. While themes return from the previous movements, their aggressive tones cannot mar the celebration and the melodies from the third movement dominate, peppered with woodwind counterpoint. The military character, which had seemed so ironic within the context of the scherzo, now becomes a romantic march of triumph. Depression and symphonic self-doubt overcome, Rachmaninoff’s final bars are some of the most joyful in all music.

Programme notes © Gavin Plumley


Thomas Beecham GroupThe Tsukanov Family Anonymous

The Sharp FamilyJulian & Gill Simmonds

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

Mrs Sonja Drexler Guy & utti Whittaker

principal BenefactorsMark & Elizabeth AdamsJane AttiasLady Jane BerrillDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookMr Charles Dumas

David EllenCommander Vincent EvansMr & Mrs Jeffrey HerrmannPeter MacDonald EggersMr & Mrs David MalpasAndrew T MillsMr Maxwell MorrisonMr Michael PosenMr & Mrs Thierry SciardMr John Soderquist & Mr Costas MichaelidesMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi underwood Lady Marina VaizeyHoward & Sheelagh WatsonMr Laurie Watt Mr Anthony Yolland

BenefactorsMrs A BeareDr & Mrs Alan Carrington CBE FRSMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr David DennisMr David EdgecombeMr Richard Fernyhough

Ken FollettPauline & Peter HallidayMichael & Christine HenryMr Ivan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldMr R K JehaMr Gerald LevinSheila Ashley LewisWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFMr Frank LimPaul & Brigitta LockMr Brian MarshJohn MontgomeryEdmund PirouetMr Peter TausigMrs Kazue TurnerMr D WhitelockBill Yoe

hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd

hon. Life MembersKenneth Goode Pehr G GyllenhammarEdmund Pirouet Mrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

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

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

The Boltini TrustBritten-Pears FoundationThe Candide Charitable TrustThe Coutts Charitable TrustThe Delius TrustDunard FundThe Equitable Charitable TrustThe Eranda FoundationThe Fenton Arts TrustThe Foyle FoundationThe Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable TrustHattori Foundation for Music and the ArtsCapital Radio’s Help a London ChildThe Hobson CharityThe Kirby Laing Foundation The Idlewild TrustThe Leverhulme TrustLord and Lady Lurgan TrustMaurice Marks Charitable TrustMarsh Christian TrustThe Mercers’ CompanyAdam Mickiewicz Institute The Peter Minet TrustPaul Morgan Charitable Trust

Corporate MembersSilver: AREVA uKBritish American Business Hermes Fund ManagersBronze:Appleyard & Trew LLPBerkeley LawCharles RussellDestination Québec – uKLazardLeventis Overseas

Corporate DonorLombard Street Research

In-kind SponsorsGoogle IncHeinekenLindt & Sprüngli LtdSela / Tilley’s SweetsVilla Maria

Trusts and FoundationsAddleshaw Goddard Charitable Trust Arts and BusinessAllianz Cultural Foundation Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation

The Diana and Allan MorgenthauCharitable Trust

Maxwell Morrison Charitable TrustMusicians Benevolent FundNewcomen Collett Foundation The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust The Serge Prokofiev FoundationSerge Rachmaninoff FoundationThe Reed Foundation The Rothschild Foundation The Seary Charitable TrustThe Samuel Sebba Charitable TrustThe David Solomons Charitable TrustThe Steel Charitable TrustThe Stansfield TrustThe Bernard Sunley Charitable FoundationThe Swan TrustJohn Thaw FoundationThe Thistle TrustThe underwood Trust Kurt Weill Foundation for MusicGarfield Weston FoundationYouth Music and others who wish to remain anonymous


FUTURE CONCERTS AT ROYAL FESTIVAL hALL

Wednesday 22 February 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival hall

Mozart Symphony No. 32 Brahms Violin Concerto Zemlinsky Psalm 23, Op. 14Szymanowski Symphony No. 3 (The Song of the Night)

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Joshua Bell violin Jeremy Ovenden tenor London philharmonic Choir

Concert generously supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music grant programme.

Free pre-concert discussion Royal Festival hall | 6.15–6.45pmDr Stephen Downes, Reader in Musicology at the university of Surrey, discusses the music of Szymanowski and Zemlinsky.

Saturday 24 March 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival hall

Julian Anderson The Discovery of Heaven (world première)† Delius Sea Drift**Elgar Symphony No. 1

Sir Mark Elder conductorRoderick Williams baritoneLondon philharmonic Choir

† Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with kind support from The Boltini Trust and the Britten-Pears Foundation, and the New York Philharmonic (Alan Gilbert, Music Director).** Performance generously supported by The Delius Trust.

Barlines free post-concert event Level 2 Foyer at Royal Festival hall Sir Mark Elder and Composer in Residence Julian Anderson discuss The Discovery of Heaven.

Wednesday 28 March 2012 | 7.30pm Royal Festival hall

Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3Mahler Symphony No. 9

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductorLisa Batiashvili violin

Concert generously supported by the Sharp Family.

Free pre-concert performance Royal Festival hall | 6.00–6.45pmLondon Music Masters Artists and Bridge Project students celebrate four years of creative collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal College of Music, Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre with a performance featuring specially commissioned works.

Booking details

Tickets £9–£39 | premium seats £65

London philharmonic Orchestra Box Office 020 7840 4242 Monday to Friday 10.00am–5.00pm lpo.org.uk (no transaction fee)

Southbank Centre Box Office 0844 847 9920 Daily 9.00am–8.00pmsouthbankcentre.co.uk (transaction fees apply)

In person at Royal Festival hall Box Office Daily 10.00am–8.00pm (no transaction fee)

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Lisa Batiashvili

Sir Mark Elder and Roderick Williams


New recordings on the London philharmonic Orchestra label

VLADIMIR JUROWSKI CONDUCTS hONEGGER’S Pastorale d’été, SYMphONY NO. 4 AND Une Cantate de noël ‘[The Fourth Symphony] is full of charm and tactile invention, vividly realised in this live recording.’ The Sunday Times, 30 October 2011

Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music grant programme

JUKKA-pEKKA SARASTE CONDUCTS SIBELIUS’S SYMphONY NO. 5 AND Pohjola’s daUghter, AND LUTOSłAWSKI’S CONCERTO FOR ORChESTRA

‘This has to be one of the best recordings around of Sibelius’s Fifth. And Lutosławski’s Concerto can never have been more brilliantly played.’Classic FM magazine, December 2011

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ChRISTOph ESChENBACh CONDUCTS BEEThOVEN’S missa solemnis April 2012

RAVI ShANKAR: SYMphONYApril 2012

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BERNARD hAITINK CONDUCTS RAVEL’S daPhnis et ChloéMarch 2012

Coming soon ...

Browse and order online at lpo.org.uk/shop, or call the Box Office on 020 7840 4242

ADMINISTRATION


FSC_57678 LPO 14 January 2011 15/09/2011 12:30 Page 1

Board of Directors

Martin Höhmann ChairStewart McIlwham Vice-ChairSue BohlingLord Currie*Jonathan Dawson*Gareth NewmanGeorge PenistonSir Bernard Rix*Kevin RundellSir Philip Thomas*Timothy Walker AM†*Non-Executive Directors

The London philharmonic Trust

Victoria Sharp ChairDesmond Cecil CMGJonathan Harris CBE FRICSDr Catherine C. HøgelMartin HöhmannAngela KesslerClive Marks OBE FCAJulian Simmonds Natasha TsukanovaTimothy Walker AM†Laurence Watt

American Friends of the London philharmonic Orchestra, Inc.

We are very grateful to the Board of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for its support of the Orchestra’s activities in the 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 GibsonConcerts Director

Ruth SansomArtistic Administrator

Graham WoodConcerts, Recordings andGlyndebourne Manager

Alison JonesConcerts Co-ordinator

Jenny ChadwickTours and Engagements Manager

Jo OrrPA to the Executive / Concerts Assistant

Matthew FreemanRecordings Consultant

Education & Community

Patrick BaileyEducation and Community Director

Anne FindlayEducation Manager

Caz ValeCommunity and Young Talent Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Orchestra personnel

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah ThomasLibrarian

Michael PattisonStage Manager

Julia BoonAssistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Ken Graham TruckingInstrument Transportation(Tel: 01737 373305)

Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Harriet MesherCharitable Giving Manager

Alexandra RowlandsCorporate Relations Manager

Melissa Van EmdenEvents Manager

Laura LuckhurstCorporate Relations and Events Officer

Elisenda AyatsDevelopment and Finance Officer

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Ellie DragonettiMarketing Manager

Rachel FryerPublications Manager

Helen BoddyMarketing Co-ordinator

Samantha KendallBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

John BarnettIntern

Valerie Barber Press Consultant (Tel: 020 7586 8560)

Archives

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian PoleRecordings Archive

London philharmonic Orchestra89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Fax: 020 7840 4201Box Office: 020 7840 4242lpo.org.uk

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

Photographs of Rachmaninoff and Kreisler courtesy of the Royal College of Music, London. Front cover photograph © Benjamin Ealovega.

Printed by Cantate. †Supported by Macquarie Group