30 oct - lpo programme notes

JTI FRIDAY SERIES

SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALLFriday 30 October 2009 | 7.30 pm

ALEXANDER VEDERNIKOVconductor

PIERS LANEpiano

PROKOFIEVClassical Symphony (13’)

RACHMANINOFFConcerto 2 in C minor for piano and orchestra (32’)

INTERVAL

TCHAIKOVSKYSymphony 4 in F minor (44’)

PROGRAMME £3

CONTENTS2 List of Players3 Orchestra History4 Southbank Centre5 Alexander Vedernikov6 Piers Lane7 Programme notes11 Recordings12 Administration13 Supporters14 Schnittke Festival16 Future Concerts

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

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

† supported by Macquarie Group

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

47156 LPO 30 October 09.qxd:47156 LPO 30 October 09 23/10/09 09:18

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINSTomo Keller Guest LeaderVesselin Gellev Sub-LeaderKatalin VarnagyCatherine CraigThomas EisnerMartin HöhmannChair supported byRichard Karl Goeltz

Robert PoolFlorence SchoemanSarah StreatfeildYang ZhangPeter NallRebecca ShorrockGalina TanneyJoanne ChenCharlotte Scott

SECOND VIOLINSClare Duckworth PrincipalChair supported byRichard and Victoria Sharp

Joseph MaherKate BirchallChair supported by Davidand Victoria Graham Fuller

Fiona HighamNynke HijlkemaMarie-Anne MairesseAshley StevensAndrew ThurgoodSioni WilliamsHeather BadkePeter GrahamMila MustakovaStephen StewartSheila Law

VIOLASAlexander Zemtsov* PrincipalRobert DuncanAnthony ByrneChair supported byJohn and Angela Kessler

Katharine LeekSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniEmmanuella ReiterAlistair ScahillMartin FennKarin NorlenSarah MalcolmPamela Ferriman

CELLOSMoray Welsh Guest PrincipalJonathan AylingSantiago Sabino Carvalho+

Pavlos CarvalhoFrancois RiveSteve AnsteeGrace ChenPhilip TaylorDavid BucknallCatherine Saumarez

DOUBLE BASSESKevin Rundell* PrincipalLaurence LovelleGeorge PenistonDavid JohnsonLi BobergTomWalleyHelen RowlandsCatherine Ricketts

FLUTESLaura Lucas Guest PrincipalFiona SlominskaKatie Bicknell

PICCOLOKatie Bicknell

OBOESIan Hardwick PrincipalAngela Tennick

CLARINETSRobert Hill* PrincipalAndrew Mason

BASSOONSGareth Newman* PrincipalSimon Estell

HORNSJohn Ryan PrincipalMartin HobbsAdrian UrenAnthony ChidellHugh Seenan

TRUMPETSPaul Beniston* PrincipalChristopher Deacon GuestPrincipalAnne McAneney*Chair supported byGeoff and Meg Mann

TROMBONESBlair Sinclair Guest PrincipalAndrew Connington

BASS TROMBONELyndon Meredith Principal

TUBALee Tsarmaklis Principal

TIMPANISimon Carrington* Principal

PERCUSSIONKeith Millar PrincipalBenedict HoffnungIgnacio Molins

* Holds a professorialappointment in London

+ Chevalier of the BrazilianOrder of Rio Branco

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

Julian and Gill SimmondsMrs StevenWardSimon Yates and Kevin Roon


London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3


Seventy-seven years after Sir Thomas Beecham foundedthe London Philharmonic Orchestra, it is recognisedtoday as one of the finest orchestras on the internationalstage. Following Beecham’s influential founding tenurethe Orchestra’s Principal Conductorship has been passedfrom one illustrious musician to another, amongst themSir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, KlausTennstedt and Kurt Masur. This impressive traditioncontinued in September 2007whenVladimir Jurowskibecame the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor, and in afurther excitingmove, 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 withmany of theworld’s most sought after conductors and soloists.Concert highlights in 2009/10 include Between TwoWorlds – an exploration of themusic and times of AlfredSchnittke; a Sibelius symphony cycle withOsmoVänskä in January/February 2010; aperformance of Mendelssohn’s Elijahconducted by Kurt Masur and dedicated tothe 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the BerlinWall; and newworks by Rautavaara, Górecki,Philip Glass, Ravi Shankar and the

Orchestra’s Composer in Residence, Mark-AnthonyTurnage. Imaginative programming and a commitmentto newmusic are at the heart of the Orchestra’s activity,with regular commissions and world premièreperformances.

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

The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs toenthusiastic audiences all round the world. In 1956 itbecame the first British orchestra to appear in SovietRussia and in 1973made the first ever visit to China by aWestern orchestra. Touring continues to form asignificant part of the Orchestra’s schedule, with regularappearances in North America, Europe and the Far East,

© Richard Cannon

‘The LPO rose to the occasion with some very fineplaying: eloquent solo work combined with full-textured passages of often sumptuous beauty.’BARRY MILLINGTON, EVENING STANDARD, 4 SEPTEMBER 2009




often headlining at major festivals. Tours in 2009/10include visits to Germany, Australia, France, China, theCanaries and the USA.

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

The Orchestra also enjoys strong relationships with themajor record labels and in 2005 began reaching out tonew global audiences through the release of live, studioand archive recordings on its own CD label. Recentadditions to the catalogue have included acclaimedreleases of Shostakovich’s monumental Tenth Symphonyunder Bernard Haitink; a disc of contemporary works bycomposers Thomas Adès, JamesMacMillan and JenniferHigdon conducted byMarin Alsop; Rachmaninov’sSymphony 3 along with Bax’s Tintagel conducted byOsmoVänskä; a CD of early Britten works conducted byVladimir Jurowski; andMahler’s Symphony 6 under thebaton of Klaus Tennstedt. The Orchestra’s own-labelreleases are available to download by work or individualtrack from its website: www.lpo.org.uk/shop.

The Orchestra reaches thousands of Londoners throughits rich programme of community and school-basedactivity in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, whichincludes the offshoot ensembles Renga and The Band, itsFoyle Future Firsts apprenticeship scheme foroutstanding young instrumentalists, and regular familyand schools concerts.

To helpmaintain its high standards and diverse workload,the Orchestra is committed to the welfare of itsmusicians and in December 2007 received theAssociation of British Orchestras/Musicians BenevolentFund Healthy Orchestra Bronze Charter Mark.

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

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

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

If you wish to get in touch with us following yourvisit please contact our Head of Customer Relationsat Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE18XX, by phone on 020 7960 4250 or by email [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

A few points to note for your comfort and enjoyment:

PHOTOGRAPHY is not allowed in the auditorium

LATECOMERS will only be admitted to the auditoriumif there is a suitable break in the performance

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

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

WELCOMETO SOUTHBANK CENTRE



ALEXANDER VEDERNIKOVCONDUCTOR

Alexander Vedernikov was Music Director and ChiefConductor of the Bolshoi Theatre from 2001 until 2009.He has been credited with rebuilding the BolshoiTheatre’s historical reputation for artistic excellence.He led many productions there, including a newproduction of Boris Godunov in the original Mussorgskyorchestration, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Puccini’sTurandot, Prokofiev's Cinderella,War and Peace and TheFiery Angel, the world première of Leonid Desyatnikov’sThe Children of Rosenthal commissioned by the BolshoiTheatre, Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, Glinka’s Ruslanand Ludmila, Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina and Cilea’sAdriana Lecouvreur.

He was also responsible for developing the Bolshoi’sprogramme of symphonic concerts, featuring a verybroad repertoire, including Prokofiev's Cinderella,Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, Verdi’s Requiem, scenesfrom the operas of Wagner, and music by RichardStrauss, Alban Berg, Dmitri Shostakovich and GeorgySviridov. Under his direction, the orchestra of theBolshoi toured extensively, visiting Athens, Hamburgand Paris in February 2008 and giving a season of operaand ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, inJuly 2006 which included The Fiery Angel and BorisGodunov where the orchestra in particular was singledout for its exceptional playing. Recent opera andsymphonic performances at La Scala were equallysuccessful.

Aside from his immense success in Russia, AlexanderVedernikov performs extensively throughout Europeand further afield. Recent seasons have includedengagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra,Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra (at MarissJansons’ personal request), Maggio Musicale Florence

and Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana with MarthaArgerich at the Martha Argerich Project in Lugano, aswell as with the Netherlands Philharmonic, StockholmPhilharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony and HamburgPhilharmonic Orchestras. He has also conducted theNHK Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, MontrealSymphony, Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic,Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish Symphony, RAINational, Danish National Symphony, BergenPhilharmonic and Budapest Symphony Orchestras.

In the field of opera, Alexander Vedernikov hasappeared as guest conductor at La Scala Milan, LaFenice, Teatro Comunale Bologna, Teatro Reggio Turinand Rome Opera. In April 2005, he made his debut atthe Bastille Opéra in Paris conducting a new productionof Boris Godunov directed by Francesca Zambello.

Born in Moscow into a musical family – his father was abass soloist at the Bolshoi and his mother a professorof organ at the Moscow Conservatoire – he studied atthe Moscow Conservatoire and completed hispostgraduate studies in 1990.

From 1988-90, he worked at Moscow’s Stanislavsky andNemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre and from 1988-95, he was assistant to the chief conductor and secondconductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra,which he accompanied on many tours in Russia,Austria, Germany, Greece, Turkey and Great Britain. In1995, he founded the Russian Philharmonia SymphonyOrchestra and was Artistic Director and ChiefConductor of this orchestra until 2004. He hasconducted Russia’s State Symphony Orchestra and theAcademic Symphony Orchestra of the St PetersburgPhilharmonic. Since 2003, he has been a member of theconductors’ collegium of the Russian NationalOrchestra, with whom he has toured in France,Germany and the United States. In January 2004, aspart of the Russian National Orchestra’s tour of ninecities, Alexander Vedernikov made his debut atCarnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, Washington.

In September 2009 he took up the role of ChiefConductor of the Odense Orchestra in Denmark.

AlexanderBibek



PIERS LANEPIANO

London-based Australian pianist Piers Lane has aflourishing international career which has taken him tomore than 40 countries. In the past few years hisengagements have included concerto performances atNew York’s Avery Fisher Hall and Lincoln Center; athree-recital series calledMetamorphoses at London’sWigmore Hall and a recital for the opening of theSydney International Piano Competition.

He has performed with many of the world’s leadingorchestras including the BBC orchestras; Australia’s ABCorchestras; the Aarhus, American, Bournemouth andGothenburg Symphony Orchestras; KanazawaEnsemble, Orchestre National de France, City of LondonSinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and RoyalLiverpool Philharmonic Orchestra among others.Leading conductors with whom he has worked inrecent years include Andrey Boreyko, Sir Andrew Davis,Richard Hickox, Andrew Litton, Sir Charles Mackerras(for whose 70th birthday gala he played the Mozart/Hummel Concerto K491 at the Barbican Centre), JerzyMaksymiuk, Maxim Shostakovich, Vassily Sinaisky, YanPascal Tortelier and Antoni Wit. Piers Lane’s festivalappearances have taken him to Bard and Newport inthe USA; Bergen, Elverum and Trondheim in Norway;Como Autumn Music in Italy; Prague Spring; The RuhrKlavierfestival and Schloss vor Husum in Germany; LaRoque d’Antheron and Paris Chopin in France; andValdemossa Chopin in Mallorca.

Piers Lane's concerto repertoire exceeds 80 works. Hehas been a soloist at the BBC Proms in the Royal AlbertHall five times and, in 2007, his performance ofBeethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the QueenslandOrchestra received the Limelight Magazine Award forBest Orchestral Performance.

In 2007, Piers Lane’s chamber music expertise wasrecognised with his appointment as Artistic Director ofthe Australian Festival of Chamber Music. He is alsoArtistic Director of the Myra Hess Day held annually atthe National Gallery in London.

Highlights of 2009 and 2010 include a recital forWigmore Hall’s London Pianoforte Series, a concertoperformance in Glasgow with the BBC ScottishSymphony Orchestra, concerto performances with theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia, adate with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra duringhis annual tour of Australia and New Zealand, a ten-date concert tour of New Zealand with the Doric StringQuartet, a return to the Banff Centre for the Arts inCanada, and a recording on the Hyperion label.

Piers Lane is also in great demand as a chamber musicplayer and continues his long-standing partnershipwith British violinist Tasmin Little. Other recentcollaborations have included Musica Viva tours withsoprano Cheryl Barker, baritone Peter Coleman-Wrightand violist/composer Brett Dean, and performanceswith Anne Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg inMalmö, Stockholm and the Bergen Festival. He is alsoembarking on a new and exciting collaboration withclarinettist, Michael Collins, as well as developing hisrelationship with the Australian based Goldner StringQuartet.

His extensive discography includes much admiredrecordings of rare Romantic Concertos, the completePreludes and Etudes by Scriabin and transcriptions ofBach and Strauss, along with complete collections ofConcert Etudes by Saint-Saëns, Moscheles and Henselt,and transcriptions by Grainger. Recent releases includethe Piano Concerto by William Busch and the PianoQuintet by Bloch with Australia’s Goldner StringQuartet, an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazineand Record of the Month in BBC Music Magazine in2008.

Piers Lane has written and presented over 100programmes for BBC Radio 3, including the popular 54-part series The Piano.

Visit his website at www.pierslane.com for moreinformation.

CliveBarda



Having been a child prodigy as pianist and composer,Prokofiev was a superbly equipped and already quiteexperienced musician when he graduated from theSt Petersburg Conservatory in 1914. He had valuablechampions in such elder contemporaries as Miaskovsky,Taneiev, Glière and Nikolai Tcherepnin, but the pungent,combative nature of most of his early compositions wasnot calculated to please many hearers. Even Diaghilevwas taken aback when he commissioned a ballet onprehistoric themes from the young composer in 1914and received the explosive Ala and Lolly. (Prokofievturned it into the Scythian Suite for the concert hall.) Itwas therefore quite a surprise when the first ofProkofiev’s seven symphonies proved to be genial, lyricaland instantly accessible. Composed in 1917, it receivedits first performance the following year in St Petersburgwith the composer conducting.

Until this time Prokofiev had usually composed at thepiano, but now he wanted to write a symphonic work

without a piano to hand. He had acquired a taste forHaydn and Mozart and, feeling that he understoodHaydn’s technique, he decided that writing a symphonyin D along lines that a 20th-century Haydn might havefollowed would be the safest way to compose withoutthe aid of a keyboard. ‘If Haydn had lived to our day,’ hewrote later, ‘he would have preserved his manner ofwriting and at the same time would have absorbedsomething of the new. That was the kind of symphony Iwanted to write, and when it began to gel I renamed itClassical Symphony, first because it is simpler, second –just for fun – to tease the “geese” and in secret hopethat eventually the symphony would become a classic.’

His hope was soon fulfilled. This symphony was his firstwork to win universal recognition, although it has notalways been recognised that the ‘new’ elements make ita strikingly original work rather than clever pastiche.The form may be 18th-century classical, but the piquantharmonies, adroit melodic turns and rhythmic ingenuity

PROGRAMME NOTES

SPEEDREAD

This evening’s Russian programme opens withProkofiev’s Classical Symphony, the first of his seven. Ahit right from its birth, it was conceived in 1917 as asymphony along lines that Haydnmight have followed ifhe had been living in the 20th-century. The fourmovements are not just pastiche, however, butconstructed with a strikingly witty originality fullyworthy of comparison with the 18th-century master.

Rachmaninoff enjoyed great success in London in 1898-99 andwas invited to return and play his First PianoConcerto. Instead he decided to compose a second one.Completed in 1901, the new concerto displayed his gift

for romantic expression at its most typical and attractive,and it has long been themost popular of his four. Thereare the usual threemovements, but curiously the firstwas the last to be composed.

Tchaikovsky considered in his Fourth Symphony how lifealternates ‘between grim reality and fleeting dreams ofhappiness’. Fate intrudes uponwaltz-time longings in thefirst of the four movements.Wistful memories occupythe secondmovement, which is followed by a novelthree-part scherzo. The boisterous finale is based on aRussian folksong; ‘rejoice in the joy of others and life isbearable after all’.

© Eric Mason

CLASSICAL SYMPHONY, OP. 25

Allegro | Larghetto | Gavotte: Non troppo allegro |Molto vivace

SergeiPROKOFIEV

1891-1953



PROGRAMME NOTES

Rachmaninoff’s First Symphony, completed in 1895, wassuch a disastrous failure on its first appearance that hesuffered a nervous breakdown and for some time wasunable to face the prospect of composing at all. In thewinter of 1898-99, however, he enjoyed such a successin London as conductor, pianist and composer that hewas invited to return and play his First Piano Concerto.This, he felt, was too immature (he revised it in 1917)and he decided instead to write a new concerto. Thesecond and third movements were finished thefollowing year and performed in Moscow withRachmaninoff as soloist, and the first movement wasadded in 1901. Although it is less cohesive than theThird Concerto, it shows the composer’s gift of melodicinvention at its most typical and attractive and has longbeen the most popular of his four piano concertos.

It is not evident from the music that the first movementwas the last written, for the finale appears to derivefeatures from it, notably from the swelling piano chordswith which the concerto begins. These lead directly intothe first subject, a long tune con passione on the upperstrings against swirling arpeggios for the piano. It ischaracteristic of the composer that the melodyrepeatedly returns to and winds closely around the

keynote. Consideration of this theme concludes with anorchestral fortissimo. A transitional passage for violaswith an accompaniment for clarinets brings us to thesecond subject, a romantic melody introduced by thesoloist. The development is mainly concerned with thefirst subject in association with a rhythmic motive firstheard on the lower strings. The recapitulation beginswith the first subject on the strings with pianoaccompaniment. A horn reintroduces the secondsubject, on which the piano freely rhapsodises. There isno piano cadenza, the movement proceeding directly toa coda.

Four preludial bars exchange the first movement’sC minor for E major, the key of the slow movement. Thepiano commences an accompanimental pattern onwhich is floated a melody of two strains entrustedrespectively to flute and clarinet. Piano and orchestradiscuss the two elements until a more vigorous passagefor the piano leads to the relatively animated middlesection, which culminates in a cadenza for the soloist.The end of the cadenza dissolves into the piano’soriginal accompanimental pattern, and the principaltheme is heard once more, this time on the strings. Apoetic variant of this makes an exquisite coda.

CONCERTO 2 IN C MINOR FOR PIANO ANDORCHESTRA, OP. 18

PIERS LANE piano

Allegro moderato | Adagio sostenuto | Allegroscherzando

SergeiRACHMANINOFF

1873-1943

are typical of Prokofiev in his wittiest vein. Thesymphony is scored for double woodwind, horns,trumpets, timpani and strings.

The first movement in compressed sonata formpresents its first subject on violins and flutes in turnand its wide-stepping second subject on violins withbassoon accompaniment. The working out of theseideas needs no explanation. The slow movement’stheme begins very softly and high up, descends slowly

and then climbs again. After a more animated centralepisode the initial theme returns with woodwindcounterpoints. Instead of a minuet and trio for thirdmovement Prokofiev provides a catchy gavotte. Itsmiddle section is a musette with drone bass. The finalehas three themes, and Prokofiev deploys them with amerry humour worthy of Haydn himself.

© Eric Mason



PROGRAMME NOTES

For two unconnected reasons 1877 was a fateful year inTchaikovsky’s life. First, it was the year in which hisfriendship with Nadezhda von Meck, the wealthybenefactress whom by mutual agreement he neverintentionally met, ripened. Tchaikovsky wrote to her inMay that he had been at work since the winter on asymphony, and by early June he was able to tell her thatthe four movements were complete except fororchestration. She accepted the dedication ‘To my bestfriend’ on condition that her name was not specified.

At this time Tchaikovsky became engrossed incomposing his opera Eugene Onegin, and the Pushkinstory was a powerful factor in persuading him into aloveless marriage that July to a young woman he hardlyknew. Within two months he was brought to a nervousbreakdown and attempted suicide, and not until

December was he sufficiently recovered to tackle theorchestration of the symphony. He worked at this inVenice and completed the task in San Remo early in theNew Year.

The first performance took place in Moscow on 22February 1878 under Nicholas Rubinstein, but it was ill-prepared and made little impression. The St Petersburgpremière in November under Eduard Napravnik was asuccess, but the symphony did not become popular inRussia during the composer's lifetime. He himself, oftena prey to self-doubt, thought the symphony the best hehad so far composed. ‘I believe’, he said, ‘that I havewritten music which cannot fall into oblivion.’

Thanks to his correspondence with Mrs von Meck wehave a detailed account of the programme underlying

SYMPHONY 4 IN F MINOR, OP. 36

Andante sostenuto - Moderato con anima | Andantinoin modo di Canzona | Scherzo: Allegro | Finale: Allegrocon fuoco

Peter IlyichTCHAIKOVSKY

1840-1893

INTERVAL 20 minutes

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

Like the second movement the finale has a shortintroduction to establish mood and key, in this casereturning from E major to the original C minor. Abrilliant piano cadenza leads to a rhythmic version ofthe concerto’s opening chords and to the finale’s briskfirst subject, to which subsidiary ideas are appended. Abroader version of the theme on the piano heralds thecelebrated second subject, which is introduced by violasand oboes and repeated by the piano. A triplet versionof the first theme on the piano, accompanied by

brushed cymbals, precedes the return and furthervariation of that theme, including a brief fugaltreatment. The big second subject tune comes backin D flat and, after a repeat of the triplet passage andsome orchestral play with fragments of the first theme,makes its majestic last appearance on piano and fullorchestra in C major. The ending is brief, brisk andjoyful.

© Eric Mason



PROGRAMME NOTES

the Fourth Symphony. The sinister brass fanfare thatopens and dominates the first movement representsFate, Tchaikovsky wrote, ‘the force that prevents us fromever attaining complete happiness ... It can never beovercome. One can only submit to it and take refuge infutile longings.’ The main part of the movement,marked ‘in waltz time’, begins with such longings,expressed by a syncopated melody that becomesincreasingly agitated and rises to a despairing climax.Clarinet and bassoon exchanges lead to the secondsubject on clarinet – ‘Would it not be better to turnaway from reality and plunge oneself in dreams?’ Flutesand oboes take up this theme over a cello counter-melody which soon becomes a swaying major-keytheme for the violins against soft drum-taps, answeredby a major version of the syncopated melody onwoodwind – ‘Some luminous human form passes byand beckons. All that was dark and joyless is forgotten.’Happiness does not last; the agitation returns and theFate motive reappears to open the development section,which is almost exclusively concerned with the firstsubject and the ever more insistent Fate. ‘Thus thewhole of life’, wrote Tchaikovsky, ‘is a continualalternation between grim reality and fleeting dreams ofhappiness.’ The recapitulation recalls the themes inunorthodox D minor, and there is a long coda endingwith the first subject.

The second movement, in B flat minor, expresses the‘melancholy which steals over us when, at evening, wesit indoors alone, weary of work ... A long procession ofmemories goes by. How sad to think how much isalready past! And yet these recollections of youth aresweet.’ A solo oboe plays a plaintive, folk-like tune withpizzicato string accompaniment. The cellos take it over

and this brings an answering melody, after which bothideas are repeated in different scoring. The faster centralepisode in F major has another folk-like tune, introducedby clarinets and bassoons. When the original themesreturn, they are presented in still more varied dress andwith charming ornaments.

Tchaikovsky had high hopes that the novel scherzowould please. It is in three sections, the first being forpizzicato strings and representing ‘fleeting images thatcome into a man’s head when he has been drinking’.The trio section is for woodwind (suggested by peasantson the spree and a street song) and brass (a distantmilitary brand), after which the three sections of theorchestra join forces in a brilliantly conceived andexecuted recapitulation.

For the main theme of the finale Tchaikovsky borroweda Russian folksong, In the field there stood a birch tree,which is introduced by the woodwind after two noisyintroductory flourishes. A further statement of theflourishes announces the second theme, a jolly march-like tune for full orchestra. The intention is to suggest arustic holiday with its attendant merrymaking. ‘If youcannot find reason for happiness in yourself ... get outamong the people. See what a good time they have.’There follow two groups of variations on the folksong,divided by the second theme. The last variation isinterrupted by the sudden return of the Fate theme.This time, however, it does not dampen spirits for long,and the symphony ends in a merry mood. ‘Simple,unspoiled happiness does exist. Rejoice in the joy ofothers and life is bearable after all.’

© Eric Mason



RECORDINGSON THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S OWN RECORD LABEL

The recordings may be downloaded in high quality MP3 format from www.lpo.org.uk/shop. They mayalso be purchased from all good retail outlets or through the London Philharmonic Orchestra: telephone020 7840 4242 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm) or visit the website www.lpo.org.uk

LPO-0004 Vladimir Jurowski conductsRachmaninoff’s The Isle of the Dead andSymphonic Dances

‘... dramatic and focused ... Jurowski’s slow-burningRachmaninoff is irresistible.’INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

LPO-0009 Vladimir Jurowski conductsTchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony

‘…the LPO displays the fire in its belly as much as thedramatic energy scorching through this heartsearching score.’ANTHONY HOLDEN, THE OBSERVER, 28 MAY 2006

Robin Rhode is a Southbank Centre Artist in Residence supported by

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Frances CookPublications Manager

Samantha KendallBox Office Administrator(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Heather BarstowMarketing Co-ordinator

Valerie BarberPress Consultant(Tel: 020 7586 8560)

ARCHIVES

Edmund PirouetConsultant

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian PoleRecordings Archive

INTERN

Christina HickmanMarketing

LONDON PHILHARMONICORCHESTRA

89 Albert EmbankmentLondon 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 Prokofiev,Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovksycourtesy of the Royal Collegeof Music, London.

Photograph on the front coverby Benjamin Ealovega.

Programmes printed byCantate.

†Supported by Macquarie Group



Corporate MembersGoldDeloitte & Touche

SilverBritish American BusinessMan Group plc

BronzeAppleyard & Trew llpCharles RussellDestination Québec – UKDiagonal ConsultingLazardLeventis OverseasQuébec Government Office in London

Corporate DonorsLombard Street ResearchRedpoint Energy Limited

In-kind SponsorsHeinekenLindt & Sprüngli LtdSela Sweets Ltd

The United Grand Lodge of EnglandVilla Maria

Education PartnersLambeth City Learning CentreLondon Borough of LambethSouthwark EiC

Trusts and FoundationsAdamMickiewicz InstituteAllianz Cultural FoundationThe Andor Charitable TrustThe Bernard Sunley CharitableFoundationBorletti-Buitoni TrustThe Candide Charitable TrustThe John S Cohen FoundationThe Coutts Charitable TrustThe D’Oyly Carte Charitable TrustDunard FundThe Emmanuel Kaye FoundationThe Equitable Charitable TrustThe Eranda FoundationThe Ernest Cook Trust

The Fenton Arts TrustThe Foyle FoundationGarfield Weston FoundationThe Henry Smith CharityThe Idlewild TrustJohn Lyon’s CharityJohn Thaw FoundationThe Jonathan & Jeniffer Harris TrustThe Sir Jules Thorn Charitable TrustLord Ashdown Charitable SettlementMarsh Christian TrustMaurice Marks Charitable TrustMaxwell Morrison Charitable TrustThe Michael Marks Charitable TrustMusicians Benevolent FundPaul Morgan Charitable TrustThe R K Charitable TrustRuth Berkowitz Charitable TrustThe Samuel Sebba Charitable TrustSergei Rachmaninoff FoundationStansfield TrustThe Underwood Trustand others who wish to remainanonymous.

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

Garf & Gill CollinsDavid & Victoria Graham FullerRichard Karl GoeltzJohn & Angela KesslerMr & Mrs MakharinskyGeoff & Meg MannEric Tomsett

Guy & Utti Whittaker

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

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

BenefactorsMrs A BeareDr & Mrs Alan CarringtonCBE FRSMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr David EdgecombeMr Richard FernyhoughKen FollettMichael & Christine Henry

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

Hon. BenefactorElliott Bernerd

Hon. Life MembersKenneth GoodeMrs Jackie Rosenfeld OBE

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

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



Wednesday 18 November | 7.30pm | Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival HallHaydn Symphony 22 (The Philosopher) Wagner Prelude and Good Friday Spell fromParsifal Schnittke Excerpts from The History of D. Johann Faustus (UK première)Stephen Richardson Dr Faustus Anna LarssonMephistophilaMarco LazzaraMephistophilesMarkus Brutscher NarratorMoscow Conservatory Chamber Choir

Sunday 22 November | from 10am | Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and PurcellRoomIn the labyrinth of Alfred Schnittke: a day of music and discussionAllison Bell soprano Dmitry Sitkovetsky violin Alexander Zemtsov viola Alexander Ivashkin celloBoris Petrushansky piano Royal College of Music Chamber Orchestra Moscow Conservatory ChamberChoir

Wednesday 25 November | 7.30pm | Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival HallWebern Passacaglia Lindberg Chorale Berg Violin Concerto Schnittke Symphony 3Leonidas Kavakos violin

Saturday 28 November | 2.30pm | Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival HallA screening of Elem Klimov’s 1974 film The Agony, with score by Alfred Schnittke

Saturday 28 November | 7.30pm | Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival HallSchnittke Cello Concerto 2 Haydn The Seven Last WordsAlexander Ivashkin cello Lisa Milne soprano Ruxandra Donosemezzo sopranoAndrew Kennedy tenor Christopher Maltman baritone London Philharmonic Choir

BOOK NOWTickets £9-£38 / Premium seats £55

London Philharmonic Orchestra Ticket Office

020 7840 4242 Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; no booking fee; www.lpo.org.uk

Southbank Centre Ticket Office

0844 847 9920 Daily, 9am-8pm; £2.50 telephone booking fee

www.southbankcentre.co.uk/lpo £1.45 online booking fee

Vladimir JurowskiFestival Director / Conductor



FUTURE CONCERTSAT SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

Wednesday 4 November 2009 | 7.30pm

Wagner Overture, TannhäuserWagnerWesendonk-LiederBruckner Symphony 6

Christoph Eschenbach conductorPetra Langmezzo soprano

JTI Friday Series | Friday 6 November 2009 | 7.30pm

Verdi Overture, La forza del destinoTchaikovsky Piano Concerto 1Dvor̆ák Symphony 9 (From the NewWorld)

Yutaka Sado conductorDenis Matsuev piano

BETWEEN TWOWORLDS – THE LIFE AND WORK OFALFRED SCHNITTKEWednesday 18 November 2009 | 7.30pm

Haydn Symphony 22 (The Philosopher)Wagner Prelude and Good Friday Spell from ‘Parsifal’Schnittke Excerpts from ‘The History of D. JohannFaustus’ (UK première)Sung in German with English surtitles.

Vladimir Jurowski conductorCast includes:Stephen Richardson Dr FaustusAnna LarssonMephistophilaMarco LazzaraMephistophilesMarkus Brutscher NarratorMoscow Conservatory Chamber Choir

6.15pm | Royal Festival HallFREE Pre-Concert EventA performance of Schnittke’s String Quartet No. 3 by theHarpham Quartet.

Sunday 22 November 2009 | Study DayQueen Elizabeth HallIN THE LABYRINTH OF ALFRED SCHNITTKEAn absorbing day of music and discussion celebratingthe life and music of Alfred Schnittke. Pick up a leaflet inthe foyer for full details.

Wednesday 25 November 2009 | 7.30pm

Webern PassacagliaLindberg ChoraleBerg Violin ConcertoSchnittke Symphony 3

Vladimir Jurowski conductorLeonidas Kavakos violin

6.00pm | Royal Festival HallFREE Pre-Concert EventA performance of works including the Bach/WebernRicercar and Schnittke’s Polyphonic Tango by FoyleFuture Firsts conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.

Barlines | Central Bar, Level 2 FoyerFREE Post-Concert EventAn informal discussion with Vladimir Jurowski and theevening’s soloist, Leonidas Kavakos.

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

ChristophEschenbach andPetra Lang

Vladimir Jurowskiand LeonidasKavakos

Yutaka Sado andDenis Matsuev


30 oct - lpo programme notes

Documents

london chevalier

kevin roon47156 lpo

c minor

f minor

following chair supporters

duke of kent kgchief

asa guide

macquarie groupconcert