Concert programme2015/16 London Seasonlpo.org.uk

Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor VLADIMIR JUROWSKI*Principal Guest Conductor ANDRÉS OROZCO-ESTRADALeader pIETER SChOEMAN†Composer in Residence MAgNUS LINDbERgPatron hRh ThE DUKE OF KENT Kg

Chief Executive and Artistic Director TIMOThY WALKER AM

Contents

2 Welcome3 On stage tonight 4 About the Orchestra5 Principal Friends 6 Krzysztof Penderecki7 Radovan Vlatković8 Programme notes13 Riots, Rebels and Revolutionaries LPO concerts14 Sound Futures donors15 Supporters16 LPO administration

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

* supported by the Tsukanov Family Foundation † supported by Neil Westreich

CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival hallWednesday 14 October 2015 | 7.30pm

Krzysztof penderecki Adagio for Strings (UK premiere) (14’)

Krzysztof penderecki Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, 'Winterreise' (UK premiere) (16’)

Krzysztof penderecki Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima (10’)

Interval

Shostakovich Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54 (30’)

Krzysztof penderecki conductor

Radovan Vlatkovic horn

Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music Programme

Free pre-concert event 6.15–6.45pm | Royal Festival hall

Krzysztof Penderecki and Radovan Vlatković discuss Penderecki's Horn Concerto, 'Winterreise'.

2 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Welcome

Welcome to Southbank Centre

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

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

If you wish to get in touch with us following your visit please contact the Visitor Experience Team at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, phone 020 7960 4250, or email customer@southbankcentre.co.uk

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 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.

London philharmonic Orchestra2015/16 season

Welcome to Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 'May this threnody express my deep belief that the sacrifice of Hiroshima will never be forgotten and lost, and Hiroshima will become a symbol of brotherhood between people of good will,' wrote composer and tonight's conductor Krzysztof Penderecki to the mayor of Hiroshima. The profound Threnody is one of three of his own works the composer conducts this evening, before leading Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony. We also welcome soloist Radovan Vlatković, for whom Penderecki wrote his Horn Concerto 'Winterreise'. Tonight's concert is part of our Riots, Rebels and Revolutionaries series of concerts featuring a range of works which promise to explore philosophical and political themes. lpo.org.uk/events/music-to-provoke

LpO release The latest release on the LPO label is a live BBC recording of the late great Klaus Tennstedt, the Orchestra's Principal Conductor from 1983 to 1987, in a performance of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and powerful

Symphony No. 5. 'Nobody listens to Beethoven quite like Klaus Tennstedt,' wrote Hilary Finch in The Times in 1992, 'and, because he listens so acutely, his orchestra must, and we in the audience do as well. The dark glass of familiarity is swept aside and we meet the composer face to face.’

The recording is available later in the month as a CD and download, priced £6.99, number LPO-0087.lpo.org.uk/recordings

A musical jigsaw puzzleThe London Philharmonic Orchestra's new season began in September, heralding the start of a busy schedule of concerts in London, across the UK and around the world. Timothy Walker, the LPO's Chief Executive and Artistic Director, explains how this complex jigsaw puzzle of elements is solved in our latest podcast. lpo.org.uk/podcasts/podcast-sep15

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 3

On stage tonight

First ViolinsEugene Tichindeleanu

Guest LeaderVesselin Gellev

Sub-LeaderJi-Hyun Lee

Chair supported by Eric Tomsett

Thomas EisnerMartin Höhmann

Chair supported by The Jeniffer and Jonathan Harris Charitable Trust

Geoffrey LynnChair supported by Caroline, Jamie & Zander Sharp

Robert PoolTina GruenbergGalina TanneyCaroline FrenkelHelena SmartAmanda SmithNilufar AlimaksumovaKate ColeMinn MajoeGeorgina Leo

Second ViolinsHelen Cox

Guest PrincipalNancy ElanJoseph MaherDean WilliamsonSioni WilliamsJohn DickinsonAlison StrangeElizabeth BaldeyStephen StewartGuy ButtonJudith CastroAlberto VidalGavin DaviesJamie Hutchinson

ViolasCyrille Mercier PrincipalGregory AronovichSusanne MartensBenedetto PollaniEmmanuella ReiterNaomi HoltDaniel CornfordMartin FennSarah MalcolmRichard CooksonMiriam EiseleMartin Wray

CellosPei-Jee Ng PrincipalFrancis BucknallLaura DonoghueSantiago Carvalho†David LaleGregory WalmsleyElisabeth Wiklander

Chair supported by The Viney Family

Sue Sutherley Susanna RiddellTom Roff

Double bassesTim Gibbs PrincipalGeorge PenistonLaurence LovelleThomas WalleyKenneth KnussenLowri MorganCharlotte KerbegianLachlan Radford

FlutesKatie Bedford

Guest PrincipalSue Thomas*

Chair supported by Victoria Robey OBE

Stewart McIlwham

piccoloStewart McIlwham*

PrincipalChair supported by Friends of the Orchestra

OboesIan Hardwick* PrincipalAlice Munday

Cor AnglaisSue Böhling* Principal

ClarinetsRobert Hill* PrincipalEmily Meredith Thomas Watmough

E-flat ClarinetThomas Watmough

Principal

bass ClarinetPaul Richards Principal

bassoonsGareth Newman PrincipalLaura VincentSimon Estell

ContrabassoonSimon Estell Principal

hornsDavid Pyatt* Principal

Chair supported by Simon Robey

John Ryan* PrincipalChair supported by Laurence Watt

Martin HobbsMark Vines Co-PrincipalGareth Mollison

TrumpetsPaul Beniston* PrincipalAnne McAneney*

Chair supported by Geoff & Meg Mann

Nicholas Betts Co-Principal

TrombonesMark Templeton* Principal

Chair supported by William & Alex de Winton

David Whitehouse

bass TromboneLyndon Meredith Principal

TubaLee Tsarmaklis* Principal

TimpaniSimon Carrington* Principal

percussionAndrew Barclay* Principal

Chair supported by Andrew Davenport

Henry Baldwin Co-PrincipalChair supported by Jon Claydon

Keith MillarSarah MasonKaren Hutt

harpRachel Masters* Principal

CelesteCliodna Shanahan

* Holds a professorial appointment in London

† Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco

Meet our members: lpo.org.uk/players

Chair Supporters: The London Philharmonic Orchestra also acknowledges the following chair supporters whose players are not present at this concert: Neil Westreich; Sonja Drexler; David & Victoria Graham Fuller; Bianca and Stuart Roden; an anonymous donor,

4 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Recognised today as one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, the London Philharmonic Orchestra balances a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK’s most forward-looking ensembles. As well as its performances in the concert hall, the Orchestra also records film and video game soundtracks, releases CDs on its own record label, and reaches thousands of people every year through activities for families, schools and community groups.

The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. It has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski is currently the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, appointed in 2007. Andrés Orozco-Estrada took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor in September 2015. Magnus Lindberg is the Orchestra’s current Composer in Residence.

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

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

Outside London, the Orchestra has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and performs regularly around the UK. Each summer the Orchestra takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Sussex countryside, where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra also tours internationally, performing to sell-out audiences worldwide. In 1956 it became the first British orchestra to appear in Soviet Russia and in 1973 made the first ever visit to China by a

‘It was one of those unforgettable evenings where everything and everyone performed beautifully [with] an extraordinary performance by the London Philharmonic ... The ovation should have been standing.’Andrew Collins, The News, March 2015

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 5

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

The London Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded the soundtracks to numerous blockbuster films, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Lawrence of Arabia, East is East, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Thor: The Dark World. It also broadcasts regularly on television and radio, and in 2005 established its own record label. There are now over 80 releases available on CD and to download. Recent additions include Vaughan Williams’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 6, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 conducted by Stanisław Skrowaczewski and Messiaen’s Des Canyons Aux Étoiles.

In summer 2012 the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed as part of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and was also chosen to record all the world’s national anthems for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 it was the winner of the RPS Music Award for Ensemble.

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

Find out more and get involved!

lpo.org.uk

facebook.com/londonphilharmonicorchestra

twitter.com/LpOrchestra

youtube.com/londonphilharmonic7

Principal Friends

The London Philharmonic Orchestra acknowledges the generous support of its Principal Friends, whose valuable contributions help us to sustain our work throughout the year.

Our grateful thanks to:

Mr Ralph AldwinckleMr Clifford BrownMr Michael ChingMs Alison Clarke & Leo PilkingtonMr Geoffrey CollensMiss Tessa CowieLady Jane CuckneyMr Roger GreenwoodMr Eric KennedyMr John LongMr David Macfarlane John MeloyMr Stephen OltonMiss Sheila PattleMr David PetersMr James PickfordMr Ivan PowellMr & Mrs Graham and Jean PughMr Christopher QuereeMr James ReeceMr Michael UrmstonMr C D Yates

6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Krzysztof Pendereckiconductor and composer

Conductor Penderecki held his massive forces together effectively ... The standard of performance bowled me over especially Penderecki’s colossal Seventh Symphony just overflowing with sacred drama, special effects and visceral power.

Michael Cookson, Seen and Heard International, June 2015

Krzysztof Penderecki received violin and piano tuition at a very early age and entered the Conservatoire in Krakow when he was 18. From 1954 he studied composition with Artur Malewski and Stanislas Wiechowicz at the Krakow Academy of Music where he was subsequently appointed as professor in 1958. After the first performance of Anaklasis at the Donaueschingen Festival in 1960, he became part of the international avant-garde. He gained wider public recognition with the premiere of the St Luke Passion in Münster Cathedral in 1966.

The Polish composer taught at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen from 1966 to 1968. His first opera The Devils of Loudon based on a book by Aldous Huxley received its premiere at the Hamburg State Opera House in 1969. In 1972, Penderecki was appointed as rector of the State Academy of Music in Krakow and also taught at Yale University in the USA from 1973 to 1978. At the same time, Penderecki achieved an international reputation as the conductor of both his own compositions and other works.

Numerous compositions from a variety of genres have originated from direct cooperation with outstanding soloists including Anne-Sophie Mutter (Metamorphosen, among others) and Mstislav Rostropovich (Second Concerto for Cello and Orchestra). The composer’s interest has also focused on large-scale musical forms, in particular the symphony: his Seventh Symphony, Seven Gates of Jerusalem (1997) demands the forces of five vocal soloists, narrator, three choirs and large orchestra, and his Eighth Symphony Lieder der Vergänglichkeit sets texts of German romantic poems related to trees and the woods to music for soloists, choir and large orchestra. The work was commissioned for the grand opening of the Philharmonie Luxembourg in 2005.

Every day, writing something, I have to fight with myself, because I’m always looking for something new. I don’t like to repeat myself. I want always to find something which is fresh. Krzysztof Penderecki

Penderecki is one of the musicians among his own generation to have received the most awards, from 1966 when he received the Grand Art Prize from the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia, to those bestowed in this century, including the Cannes Award for 'Living Composer of the Year' (2000), the Romano Guardini Prize of the Catholic Academy in Bavaria (2002) and the Praemium Imperiale (2004). Since 1990 he has been holder of the Grand Cross for Distinguished Services of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and Chevalier de Saint Georges. In 1995 he became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin and in 1998 a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. In 2006 he was made Commander of the Three Star Order in Riga, Latvia and is a member of the Order of the White Eagle in Poland. Krzysztof Penderecki is honorary doctor and honorary professor of numerous international universities.

'Notes on penderecki' written in his 80th year, revealing what links him to Salvador Dali and the composer's association with jazz: culture.pl/en/article/notes-on-penderecki

A list of works and soundclips can be found on the Schott website: lpo.uk/Schott_penderecki

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Radovan Vlatkovićhorn

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The Quintet in E flat for Horn, Violin, Two Violas and Cello was ostensibly a showcase for Radovan Vlatković, the admired French horn player, and Mr Vlatković’s work was exemplary

Steve Smith, The New York Times, May 2015

He has given first performances of works by Elliott Carter, Sofia Gubaidulina, Heinz Holliger and several Croatian composers who have written concertos for him. In May 2008 he premiered Krzysztof Penderecki's Horn Concerto 'Winterreise' written specifically for him, together with the Bremen Philharmonic and under the baton of the composer.

In 2014 Vlatković was awarded an Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon RAM), an honour bestowed upon only 300 distinguished musicians worldwide.

Radovan Vlatković plays a full double horn Model 20 M by Paxman of London.

radovanvlatkovic.com/press/

Find out exactly what is a 'full double horn Model 20 M': paxman.co.uk/

One of the leading instrumentalists of his generation, Radovan Vlatković has travelled the globe performing extensively as a soloist and popularising the horn as recording artist and teacher.

Born in Zagreb in 1962 he completed his studies with Professor Prerad Detiček at the Zagreb Academy of Music and is the recipient of many first prizes in national and international competitions, including the Premio Ancona in 1979 and the ARD Competition in Munich in 1983 – the first to be awarded to a horn player for 14 years.

From 1982 until 1990 he served as Principal Horn with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin. For six years he held the post of Horn Professor at the Stuttgart Musikhochschule and in 1998 became Horn Professor at the renowned Mozarteum in Salzburg. He has held the Horn Chair 'Canon' at the Queen Sofia School in Madrid for 15 years.

Playing the horn has been a life long passion of mine and has been both rewarding and demanding. It has kept me on the road and enabled me to meet wonderful people from all walks of life as well as great musicians and artists who have been truly inspiring. Radovan Vlatković

As a soloist, Radovan Vlatković has appeared with many distinguished symphony and chamber orchestras around the world and is very much in demand as a chamber musician. Vlatković has also been Artistic Director of the September Chamber Music Festival in Maribor, Slovenia.

8 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Thank you very much for the record of your excellent music. I’ve listened to this record several times already. Your music has made a great impression upon me. I wish you from the bottom of my heart all further success.

In January 1975, a few months before his death, Dmitri Shostakovich wrote an encouraging letter to Krzysztof Penderecki. He may or may not have known that Penderecki was forging a successful career as a conductor, with Shostakovich’s symphonies at the heart of his repertoire. What he can’t have failed to grasp from that LP of Penderecki’s music was that here – like him – was a composer wrestling with both

the means, and the ends, of what it meant to create art at the sharp end of 20th-century history.

Today, Penderecki continues to help us make sense of the 21st century too. He’s chosen this programme himself, beginning with a slow movement that both belongs and doesn’t belong in a symphony of his own, and ending with a Shostakovich symphony from 1939 that begins with a slow movement and ends with a bitter joke. The parallels and paradoxes are numberless. Neither Penderecki nor Shostakovich offer easy answers; both composers would probably ask, simply, that we take time to listen to the question.

Speedread

'It all began with the violin,' writes Krzysztof Penderecki. 'As a young boy I always dreamt of becoming a violin player, I wanted to be a virtuoso. It was the violin, not the piano, that inspired me to write my first pieces … I primarily write string music, it is omnipresent in my creation. I even transcribe my orchestral pieces for string instruments.'

And that’s exactly what he’s done here. Penderecki’s Adagio for Strings is simply the third movement of his Third Symphony (1995), skilfully and lovingly transcribed for string orchestra (in 2013). It’s not a radical reworking: Penderecki rarely divides his string ensemble into more than the traditional ten parts. Plucked notes and quiet shudders emulate the gentle

shimmer of percussion; a muted cello suggests the chime of a celeste. And solo string instruments take the place of the long, haunted wind and horn solos that give this music its deep, romantic sense of endless longing and boundless space. The searching string paragraphs (marked dolce – 'sweetly') that open the movement and recur throughout are completely unchanged.

Serious concertgoers aren’t entirely comfortable, these days, with the idea of pulling single movements out of symphonic works. Penderecki has no such qualms: 'I take what I can use, and make something new out of it'. And a composer with his sense of musical history will be more than aware of how the strings-only Adagietto

Adagio for Strings (UK premiere)Krzysztofpenderecki

born 1933

Programme notes

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 9

Concerto for horn and Orchestra, 'Winterreise' (UK premiere)

Radovan Vlatkovic horn

Passacaglia (Lento assai) –Rondo (Allegro Vivace)

Krzysztofpenderecki

Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise ('Winter Journey') (1828) is the pinnacle of German romantic song. It takes a simple tale of a jilted lover fleeing the scene of his heartbreak through a winter landscape, dresses it in all the nature symbolism of German romanticism – mists, frozen streams, distant post-horns – and weaves in hints of the supernatural to portray, with shattering power, a soul at the end of its tether. No Central European composer since Schubert has been unaware of it; few can ignore it.

Well, Krzysztof Penderecki has – or so he says. It’s right there in black and white on his publisher’s website: his Horn Concerto Winterreise, composed in 2008 for the Bremen Philharmonic Society in fulfilment of a promise to his friend Radovan Vlatković (tonight's soloist), is, apparently, 'nothing to do with Schubert'. Commentators have suggested that the title comes from the fact that over the winter of 2007–8, when it was composed, Penderecki was travelling a lot – in

this case, to China and South America. The composer himself locates his inspiration at the lovely 18th-century manor house and park that he’s restored at Lusławice near Tarnow. He calls the music that he writes there his musica domestica. 'Nature’s seasons make me alter my style; it is different in spring, autumn and winter […] The changing landscape in Lusławice makes me reminisce a lot. It is the past: hunting rooted in my family tradition reflected in Concerto for Horn and Orchestra.'

But still, the composer of Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima understands the power of a name. Clearly, it would be pointless to listen for non-existent Schubert quotes. What is present – unmistakably – is a debt to another musical tradition: the galloping rhythm and ebullient spirit of the hunting horn, as transfigured in the finales of Mozart’s and Strauss’s horn concertos. Of course, it’s filtered through a moody romanticism: the offstage horns of Wagner and Mahler, the Alpine vistas of Bruckner’s and Schubert’s symphonies,

from Mahler’s Fifth led an independent life for much of the 20th century. From 1988, Penderecki wrestled for over seven years with the material of his Third Symphony – he actually completed and premiered both his Fourth and Fifth symphonies first. In the process, is it any surprise that movements managed to break away? With this string transcription of the Adagio, premiered by the Czech Philharmonic in September 2013, the symphony merely begins a new stage in its already remarkable life.

What I see now and for about 30 years, nothing has moved in the avant-garde. We pushed music so far in the 60s that even for myself, for me, I closed the door behind me, because there was no way to do anything more than I have done. The pieces like Polymorphia, like Fluorescences, like Threnody, and since that time, nobody did music which is more progressive. Nobody wrote something fresh and new for the strings.Krzysztof penderecki: interview with bruce Duffie, 2000

10 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Programme notes continued

A scream that keeps screaming. Another, and another: a beam of searing aural pain that grows, swells, and suddenly drops away to a quiet, wailing throb. Now a clatter, a twang, a sharp inhuman screech; and a sudden, thickening swarm of sound that begins quietly and within seconds fills the whole ear with black, prickling, unendurable noise. There’s nothing in 20th-century music – not by Stravinsky, not by Stockhausen, not by Cage – that wrenches your sensibilities quite as brutally as the opening of Penderecki’s Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. The 'scream' is the dissonance created when an entire group of instruments plays together at the highest possible pitch each individual player can find (the actual note is up to the player). Those swarming noises are musicians playing on or beneath the bridge of their instruments, and plucking their strings so hard that they snap against the wood.

And yet none of this means anything without the devastating, unignorable emotional impact that those sounds create. Penderecki was the first to recognise

that. Following his earlier experiments in sound with Emanations (1958) and Strophes (1959), he initially meant to emphasise the experimental credentials of this new work by calling it 8’37” – a direct homage to the composer of 4’33” (John Cage). And experimental it certainly was: Penderecki has described how he tried to recreate with string orchestra the sounds that his avant-garde contemporaries were making using electronics. One account has him changing its title to impress a UNESCO awards panel – and without question, when it won that award in 1961, it brought its composer international fame. But his own account rings more true. As he explains:

'The piece existed only in my imagination, in a somewhat abstract way. When Jan Krenz recorded it and I could listen to an actual performance, I was struck with the emotional charge of the work. I thought it would be a waste to condemn it to such anonymity, to those “digits”. I searched for associations and, in the end, I decided to dedicate it to the Hiroshima victims.'

and occasionally – amidst all the energy and colour – just a hint of something eerie. Few horn concertos revel in the instrument’s dark lower notes quite as thoroughly as Penderecki does here. And listen to how, in each of its short solo cadenzas, the horn finds a shadowy double in the lower reaches of the woodwinds: bassoon, cor anglais or bass clarinet. A doppelgänger? Penderecki isn’t saying. But he isn’t not saying.

The Concerto is in one movement, playing for around 16 minutes, but in two distinct sections. The Passacaglia

opens in darkness, with the solo horn echoing three offstage colleagues as the strings rustle and shimmer. A drum roll, a brief cadenza and we’re off into the Rondo that makes up a good three quarters of the Concerto. After the spirited first section, some episodes recur (a misty, dream-like interlude surrounded by swirling strings; a melancholy Adagio); some pass in the night (a trudging funeral march); others – like the recurring cadenza that signals each new phase of the movement – change and grow. There’s a distant reminiscence of the Passacaglia before, in a last flurry of horn calls, the Concerto rushes headlong to its end.

Threnody to the Victims of hiroshimaKrzysztofpenderecki

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 11

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

Emotions weren’t fashionable amongst post-war experimental composers, but here, they are powered through regardless. How could they not, with a composer as determined to communicate as Penderecki, who’d grown up in Nazi-occupied Poland, and lived his adult life under the shadow of the Bomb? Maybe this Threnody wasn’t originally 'about' Hiroshima; on the other hand, what art created since August 1945 on some level isn’t? You can hear it as raw emotion, or as the superbly constructed exercise in sonority that Penderecki originally thought he’d written. But either way, once heard the Threnody can’t be unheard. 'I decided that there was no way I could move on,' says Penderecki, explaining how he travelled from its apocalyptic sound-world to works like the Third Symphony and the Horn Concerto. 'Of course, I could write a hundred Threnodies, and I didn’t want to. There was no way to do anything more than I had done.'

Penderecki notes © Richard Bratby

Krzysztof Penderecki composed several of his works in remembrance of catastrophes in the 20th century. As well as Threnody, the piano concerto Resurrection was composed as a reaction to the terror attacks of 11 September 2001. For Penderecki, these associations in content are not merely an abstract concept, but also in their instrumental tonal colouring and dramatic sounds emotionally comprehensible for listeners. Extensive political-social associations can also be found in the Polish Requiem which he began in 1980 with the composition of the Lacrimosa which is dedicated to Lech Walesa. The composer dedicated other movements of this work to the Polish victims of Auschwitz and the Warsaw uprising in 1944. This was supplemented by the Ciaccona in memoriam Johannes Paul II (2005) which commemorated the Polish Pope.

Recommended recordings of tonight’s works

penderecki: Threnody to the Victims of hiroshimaPolish National Radio Symphony Orchestra | Krzysztof Penderecki [EMI]

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6London Philharmonic Orchestra | Vladimir Jurowski [LPO label: LPO-0080]

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Programme notes continued

Symphony No. 6 in b minor, Op. 54

1 Largo2 Allegro 3 Presto

DmitriShostakovich

1906–75

When Shostakovich began his Sixth Symphony in 1939, a huge weight of public and official expectation lay on his shoulders. His previous symphony, the Fifth, had not only been a sensational success, it also had brought him back from the brink of disaster. The crushing denunciation of his half-satirical, half-tragic opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in the official newspaper Pravda 1936 had put Shostakovich in a dangerous position: the article in question – almost certainly approved by Stalin himself – had ended with the ominous words, ‘Things could end very badly’. But with the Fifth Symphony (1937) Shostakovich had triumphantly brought off a near-impossible balancing act: the Symphony’s apparently ‘optimistic’ ending had satisfied the authorities, but for those with ears to hear there was searing tragedy in the first and third movements and caustic mockery in the second. With time those darker emotions have struck more and more listeners, both in Russia and in the West, as the true heart of the Fifth Symphony’s message.

Naturally, when Shostakovich announced that he was working on a successor there was keen interest in the Soviet press and in public. Shostakovich himself fanned the flames by announcing that the Sixth Symphony was to be a grandiose choral work in memory of the revolutionary hero Lenin. But when the Sixth Symphony appeared it turned out to be startlingly different from anything anyone had expected. Despite the premiere’s resounding success (the finale was encored!), the press were baffled. In form it was unlike any symphony in the repertoire: a huge, elegiac first movement followed by a brilliant, demonic scherzo, and then a wild, exhilarating, gallop-like finale that seemed to have no logical connection with what went before – one writer compared it to a depiction of a football match. How could this be an adequate finale for a symphony with such a challengingly serious beginning? Before long, critics were referring to it as a ‘symphony without a head’.

The truth is that many of Shostakovich’s most important works contain such surprising dramatic reversals. As in the symphonies of Tchaikovsky, or the novels of Dostoyevsky, the mood and tone of his music can turn radically in an instant. In such moments Shostakovich seems to say, ‘You want a logical, orderly emotional sequence, but life’s just not like that’ – especially, one might add, in such a bewildering, terrifyingly illogical place as Stalin’s Communist Russia. And although the sudden change at the start of the Sixth Symphony’s finale can be initially disconcerting, there is something about its tremendous, uninhibited release of energy that in performance can defy resistance. The Ancient Greeks used to follow their tragedies with comedic ‘satyr plays’ – why shouldn’t a great Russian symphonist attempt the same thing in a single work?

The Sixth Symphony’s opening Largo is unique in Shostakovich’s symphonic output. Other symphonies – Nos. 8 and 13 for example – begin with big, anguished slow movements, but those also have grand, cathartic climaxes. At its heart the Largo of the Sixth is still, contemplative, and charged with desolate, seemingly timeless woodwind solos. The long pent-up tension is released in the terrific scherzo that follows: again there are plenty of ear-catching woodwind solos, but now the tone is often wickedly playful. There are subtle echoes of some of the first movement’s themes – just enough to indicate that the Largo’s tragedy isn’t forgotten – but on the whole they remain on the fringes of consciousness. The final deft flourish (skirring woodwind scales and a last tiny touch on the xylophone) suggests that the music is able to smile at last. Then comes the finale. Life goes on, it seems to say – it has to. A mournfully tinged bassoon and a solo violin later on could be heard as a momentary glance back over the shoulder to previous events, but the gallop returns, and the end is unabashed raucous fun.

© Stephen Johnson

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Wednesday 28 October 2015 7.30pm

The Rite of Springbeethoven Symphony No. 1Thomas Larcher Violin ConcertoStravinsky The Rite of Spring

Markus Stenz conductorpatricia Kopatchinskaja violin

When Stravinsky set his vision of a young pagan girl dancing herself to death to music, the result was one of the most controversial and consistently electrifying pieces of music in history – a piece in which rhythm suddenly took priority over melody in a terrifying example of musical brutality, which sparked riots at its premiere in Paris, 1913.

Wednesday 25 November 2015 7.30pm

In the beginning ...Dvořák Cello ConcertoMahler Symphony No. 1

Andrés Orozco-Estrada conductorJohannes Moser cello

It all began here: Mahler’s journey through a series of symphonies that represents his own spiritual biography. In his amazingly confident First Symphony of 1889 Mahler sought to lay his experiences and suffering out for all to hear. This opening to Mahler’s extraordinary world is heard here after Dvořák’s bewitching Cello Concerto.

lpo.org.uk/rebels

Tickets £9–£39 (premium seats £65)

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

at Royal Festival Hall

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14 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Sound FutureS donorS

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

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

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

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

Solti patronsAgeas John & Manon AntoniazziGabor Beyer, through BTO

Management Consulting AGJon ClaydonMrs Mina Goodman & Miss

Suzanne GoodmanRoddy & April GowThe Jeniffer & Jonathan Harris

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

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

The Rothschild FoundationTom & Phillis SharpeThe Viney Family

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

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

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

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

Charitable TrustTimothy Walker AMChristopher WilliamsPeter Wilson SmithMr Anthony Yolland

And all other donors who wish to remain anonymous

London Philharmonic Orchestra | 15

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following Thomas beecham group patrons, principal benefactors and benefactors:

Thomas beecham group

The Tsukanov Family Foundation

Neil Westreich

William and Alex de Winton Mrs Philip Kan* Simon Robey Victoria Robey OBE Bianca & Stuart Roden Laurence Watt

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

John & Manon Antoniazzi Jane Attias John & Angela Kessler Guy & Utti Whittaker

* BrightSparks Patrons: instead of supporting a chair in the Orchestra, these donors have chosen to support our series of schools’ concerts.

principal benefactorsMark & Elizabeth AdamsDavid & Yi Yao BuckleyDesmond & Ruth CecilMr John H CookDavid EllenMr Daniel GoldsteinDrs Frank & Gek LimPeter MacDonald EggersDr Eva Lotta & Mr Thierry SciardMr & Mrs David MalpasMr & Mrs G SteinMr & Mrs John C TuckerMr & Mrs John & Susi UnderwoodLady Marina VaizeyGrenville & Krysia WilliamsMr Anthony Yolland

benefactorsMr Geoffrey BatemanMrs A BeareMs Molly BorthwickDavid & Patricia BuckMrs Alan CarringtonMr & Mrs Stewart CohenMr Alistair CorbettMr Bruno de KegelMr David EdgecombeMr Timothy Fancourt QCMr Richard FernyhoughWim and Jackie Hautekiet-ClareTony & Susan HayesMichael & Christine Henry

Malcolm HerringJ. Douglas HomeIvan HurryMr Glenn HurstfieldPer JonssonMr Gerald LevinWg. Cdr. & Mrs M T Liddiard OBE JP RAFPaul & Brigitta LockMr Peter MaceMs Ulrike ManselMr Brian MarshAndrew T MillsDr Karen MortonMr & Mrs Andrew NeillMr Michael PosenAlexey & Anastasia ReznikovichMr Konstantin SorokinMartin and Cheryl SouthgateMr Peter TausigSimon and Charlotte WarshawHoward & Sheelagh WatsonDes & Maggie WhitelockChristopher WilliamsBill Yoeand others who wish to remainanonymous

hon. benefactorElliott Bernerd

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

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

Corporate Members

Silver: Accenture BerenbergCarter-Ruck We are AD

bronze: Appleyard & Trew LLPBTO Management Consulting AGCharles Russell SpeechlysLazardLeventis Overseas

preferred partners Corinthia Hotel London Heineken Sipsmith Steinway Villa Maria

In-kind SponsorsGoogle Inc

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

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

The Ann and Frederick O’BrienCharitable Trust

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

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

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

and all others who wish to remain anonymous

16 | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Administration

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

Advisory CouncilVictoria Robey OBE Chairman Christopher Aldren Richard Brass David Buckley Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG Andrew Davenport Jonathan Dawson William de Winton Edward Dolman Christopher Fraser OBE Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE Rehmet Kassim-Lakha Jamie Korner Clive Marks OBE FCA Stewart McIlwham Sir Bernard Rix Baroness ShackletonLord Sharman of Redlynch OBE Thomas Sharpe QC Julian Simmonds Martin SouthgateSir Philip Thomas Sir John TooleyChris VineyTimothy Walker AMElizabeth Winter

American Friends of the London philharmonic Orchestra, Inc.Jenny Ireland Co-ChairmanWilliam A. Kerr Co-ChairmanKyung-Wha ChungAlexandra JupinDr. Felisa B. KaplanJill Fine MainelliKristina McPhee Dr. Joseph MulvehillHarvey M. Spear, Esq.Danny Lopez Hon. ChairmanNoel Kilkenny Hon. DirectorVictoria Robey OBE Hon. DirectorRichard Gee, Esq Of Counsel Jenifer L. Keiser, CPA,EisnerAmper LLP

Stephanie Yoshida

Chief Executive

Timothy Walker AM Chief Executive and Artistic Director

Amy SugarmanPA to the Chief Executive / Administrative Assistant

Finance

David BurkeGeneral Manager and Finance Director

David GreensladeFinance and IT Manager

Dayse GuilhermeFinance Officer

Concert Management

Roanna Gibson Concerts Director

Graham WoodConcerts and Recordings Manager

Jenny Chadwick Tours Manager

Tamzin Aitken Glyndebourne and UK Engagements Manager

Alison JonesConcerts and Recordings Co-ordinator

Jo CotterTours Co-ordinator Orchestra personnel

Andrew CheneryOrchestra Personnel Manager

Sarah Holmes Sarah ThomasLibrarians ( job-share)

Christopher AldertonStage Manager

Damian Davis Transport Manager

Madeleine Ridout Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

Education and Community

Isabella Kernot Education Director (maternity leave)

Clare Lovett Education Director (maternity cover)

Talia LashEducation and Community Project Manager

Lucy DuffyEducation and Community Project Manager

Richard MallettEducation and Community Producer

Development

Nick JackmanDevelopment Director

Catherine Faulkner Development Events Manager

Kathryn HagemanIndividual Giving Manager

Laura Luckhurst Corporate Relations Manager

Anna Quillin Trusts and Foundations Manager

Rebecca FoggDevelopment Co-ordinator

Helen Yang Development Assistant

Kirstin PeltonenDevelopment Associate

Marketing

Kath TroutMarketing Director

Libby Northcote-GreenMarketing Manager

Rachel WilliamsPublications Manager (maternity leave)

Sarah BreedenPublications Manager (maternity cover)

Samantha CleverleyBox Office Manager(Tel: 020 7840 4242)

Anna O’ConnorMarketing Co-ordinator

Natasha Berg Marketing Intern

Digital projects

Alison Atkinson Digital Projects Director

Matthew Freeman Recordings Consultant public Relations

Albion Media (Tel: 020 3077 4930) Archives

Philip StuartDiscographer

Gillian Pole Recordings Archive professional Services

Charles Russell SpeechlysSolicitors

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPAuditors

Dr Louise MillerHonorary Doctor

London philharmonic Orchestra89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TPTel: 020 7840 4200Box Office: 020 7840 4242Email: admin@lpo.org.uklpo.org.uk

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

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

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