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Home , Edo de Waart, Hans Graf, London Symphony Chorus, Michael Tilson Thomas, Music director, Nicolas Courjal

: 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH THE LSO

Sunday 10 November 2019 7–8.55pm Barbican

Berlioz

Michael Tilson Thomas conductor Alice Coote mezzo-soprano Nicholas Phan tenor Nicolas Courjal bass Guildhall Singers London Chorus TILSON chorus director Supported by LSO Patrons Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3

Thursday 14 November 2019 7.30–9.40pm Barbican

THOMAS Michael Tilson Thomas Agnegram Tchaikovsky Concerto Interval ProkofievSymphony No 5

Michael Tilson Thomas conductor violin

Supported by The Atkin Foundation Welcome On Our Blog Coming Up

superb line-up of soloists and the London ELGAR’S CONCERTO: Saturday 16 November 7.30pm Symphony Chorus, with whom Michael 100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY Milton Court Concert Hall Tilson Thomas has had a long relationship. It is entirely fitting that this anniversary On 27 October 1919, the LSO performed the MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS concert is supported by LSO Patrons, and we world premiere of Elgar’s . It EXPLORES STRAVINSKY are delighted so many long-standing friends received a lukewarm reception at its first are in the audience. Thanks also to our performance, but today it is a beloved work. Orchestral Artistry Workshop-Performance: media partner BBC Radio 3, who will record this performance for future broadcast. Marking the centenary, the LSO has made Stravinsky of Wind Instruments a new recording to be released on Decca Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements Thursday night’s concert opens with Classics in January 2020, with Sir Simon elcome to this week’s LSO Agnegram, a tribute written for the San Rattle and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Michael Tilson Thomas conductor concerts at the Barbican. This is Francisco Symphony’s patron Agnes Read more on our blog. Guildhall School Musicians a very special occasion, marking Albert on her 90th birthday, followed by LSO Musicians 50 years since Michael Tilson Thomas first Tchaikovsky’s performed by • lso.co.uk/blog conducted the . He made his debut Nicola Benedetti, who we are delighted to Thursday 28 November 7.30pm in 1970 and became Principal Conductor work with again. Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony Barbican from 1988–1995. Over the years, there have completes the concert, which is generously WELCOME TO OUR GROUP BOOKERS been many extraordinary artistic projects supported by Edward and Celia Atkin. TCHAIKOVSKY FIFTH SYMPHONY and . Affectionately known as MTT, he We are delighted to welcome groups from: has been incredibly loyal and committed to I hope that you enjoy these performances The British Emunah, Gerrards Cross Rimsky-Korsakov The Legend of the the LSO, always interested in the individual and that you will join us again soon. Community Association, Malvern College, Invisible City of Kitezh – Suite musicians and supportive of the Orchestra’s In December the LSO explores Baroque Mill Hill School, Music in Secondary Schools Bruch Violin Concerto No 1 Friends and Patrons. Today he is the LSO’s music at Milton Court Concert Hall, Trust, Adele Friedland and Friends, and Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 Conductor Laureate and his annual projects with Emmanuelle Haïm a Linda Diggins and Friends. with the LSO are a highlight of every season. programme of Purcell, Rameau and Handel. Gianandrea Noseda conductor Janine Jansen violin In these two programmes, Michael Tilson Thomas shares his musical passions with Recommended by Classic FM the Orchestra and our audiences. On Sunday he conducts Berlioz’s spectacular Romeo Kathryn McDowell CBE DL and Juliet, when the LSO is joined by a Managing Director

2 Welcome 10 & 14 November 2019 The Concerts in Brief Sunday 10 November 2019

erlioz’s Romeo and Juliet is a PROGRAMME NOTE AUTHORS LSO SEASON CONCERT symphony on an epic scale ROMEO AND JULIET and the ’s response to David Cairns is author of Berlioz (2010), Shakespeare given a musical form. It’s one the most detailed biography of the Berlioz Romeo and Juliet of Berlioz’s three symphonies (the other two composer in existence. He helped to produce are the and Harold in important Berlioz recordings and has Part I Italy), each of which is based on ideas from variously written for The Musical Times, Part II outside the world of symphonic music. The Sunday Times and the New Statesman. Part III

In Romeo and Juliet, Berlioz brings together Andrew Huth is a musician, writer and Michael Tilson Thomas conductor theatrical writing for orchestra with translator who writes extensively on French, Alice Coote mezzo-soprano Beethoven’s concise symphonic style, adding Russian and Eastern European music. Nicholas Phan tenor soloists and a chorus portraying the principal Nicolas Courjal bass characters, omniscient narrator and feuding David writes, lectures and broadcasts Guildhall Singers families of Shakespeare’s play. on music, notably for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Music Magazine. His books include short Simon Halsey chorus director Thursday night’s concert opens with Michael studies of Strauss, Elgar, Tchaikovsky and Tilson Thomas’ Agnegram, a piece written as Stravinsky, and a Prokofiev biography, Supported by LSO Patrons a tribute to his friend Agnes Albert. Agnes’ From Russia to the West 1891–1935. Recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio 3 name is transformed into a musical theme on 19 November which plays out in a piece that is -like Andrew Stewart is a freelance music and cacophonous, leading to a noisy finish. journalist and writer. He is the author of The LSO at 90 and contributes to a variety Tchaikovsky’s characteristic Violin Concerto of specialist publications. is rich in tunes for the soloist to shine through. It is followed by Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, premiered when Russia was locked in bloody combat with Germany. Rather than ruminating on the agonies of war, the piece is optimistic and a stirring Please ensure all phones are switched off. tribute to the strength of the human spirit. Photography and audio/video recording are not permitted during the performance.

Tonight’s Concert 3 Romeo and Juliet 1839 / note by David Cairns

PART I Michael Tilson Thomas conductor THE REVELATION OF BEETHOVEN The project occupied Berlioz for a long Introduction: Alice Coote mezzo-soprano time. In Italy, in 1831–32, he discussed with Fighting – Tumult – Nicholas Phan tenor Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet comes out of Mendelssohn a possible orchestral scherzo Intervention of the Prince Nicolas Courjal bass Beethoven as much as from Shakespeare – on Queen Mab (a fairy that Mercutio refers Prologue – Strophes – Scherzetto Guildhall Singers after hearing Beethoven in symphony to in a famous speech), and – under the London Symphony Chorus concerts at the Paris Conservatoire in 1828, impact of Bellini’s 1830 The Capulets PART II Simon Halsey chorus director Berlioz recognised the symphony as a and the Montagues – he imagines an ideal Romeo alone: Artist biographies from page 16 dramatic medium every bit as vivid and scenario for a dramatic work: Distant music and dancing lofty as opera, and the symphony orchestra The Capulets’ feast lmost from the moment that as a vehicle of unimagined expressive ‘To begin, the dazzling ball at the Capulets, the 23-year-old Berlioz saw an power and subtlety, of infinite possibility. where amid a whirling cloud of beauties Love Scene: English company’s performance From then on, his aspirations turned young Montague first sets eyes on ‘sweet The Capulets’ garden, silent of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the towards the dramatic concert work, Juliet’; then the furious battles in the streets and deserted Odéon Theatre in Paris in September 1827, culminating in Romeo and Juliet. of Verona, the ‘fiery Tybalt’, the spirit of rage Capulets leaving the banquet ideas for a musical response began to crowd and revenge; the indescribable night scene into his mind. But the article in an English For Berlioz, Beethoven’s variety of on Juliet’s balcony, the lovers’ voices ‘like The Queen Mab Scherzo newspaper which reported that Berlioz left compositional procedures and the clearly softest music to attending ears’ uttering the theatre exclaiming, ‘I shall write my distinct character of each work reinforced a love as pure and radiant as the smiling PART III grandest symphony on the play!’ could not the lessons of Shakespeare, of always moon; the dazzling Mercutio and his sharp- Juliet’s Funeral Procession have been more wrong. adapting form in response to the demands tongued, fantastical humour; the naïve old of the poetic material. Each of Berlioz’s cackling nurse; the stately hermit, striving Romeo at the Capulets’ Tomb: Writing a symphony of any kind was the last three symphonies has its own form and in vain to calm the storm of love and hate Invocation: Juliet awakens thing Berlioz would have been thinking of at adopts a different solution to the problem whose tumult has carried to his lowly cell; Delirious joy – Death of the two lovers that stage of his career. His musical education, of communicating dramatic content: in and then catastrophe, ecstasy and despair since coming to Paris from the provinces six Symphonie fantastique there is a written contending for mastery, passion’s sighs Finale: years before – a boy of 17 who had never heard programme; in Harold in Italy movement turned to choking death; and, at the last, the The crowd rushes to an orchestra – had been largely devoted to titles; in Romeo and Juliet choral recitative, solemn oath sworn by the warring houses, the cemetery – Brawl the and sacred music of the French setting out – as in Shakespeare’s ‘Two too late, on the bodies of their star-crossed Friar Lawrence’s recitative, aria classical school. The crucial discovery of houses, both alike in dignity’ – the action children, to abjure the hatred through which and oath of reconciliation Beethoven, and of the symphony as a major that follows. so much blood, so many tears, were shed.’ art-form, lay several months ahead.

4 Programme Notes 10 & 14 November 2019 THE FORM The fugal Introduction depicts the feud The use of chorus thus follows what Berlioz again over the bodies of their children, the of the two families, before a bridge of (in an essay on the Ninth Symphony) called return of the opening fugato unites the two The work was performed in the Paris instrumental recitative (as in Beethoven’s ‘the law of crescendo’. extremes of the vast score. Conservatoire Hall in November 1839, Ninth) introduces a choral Prologue, stating with the title ‘Romeo and Juliet, Dramatic the argument which a choral Finale will It also works emotionally: having begun as No Berlioz score is more abundant in lyric Symphony, with chorus, vocal solos, resolve, and prepares for the symphony’s onlookers, the voices become participants, poetry, in a sense of the magic and brevity of and prologue in chanted recitative, after dramatic and musical themes. In addition, just as the anonymous contralto and the love, in ‘sounds and sweet airs’ of so many Shakespeare’s tragedy, dedicated to Niccolò the adagio (Love Scene) and the scherzo Mercutio-like tenor give way to an actual kinds: the flickering, fleet-footed scherzo, Paganini’. Berlioz’s later preface had an ironic are prefigured; one in a contralto person, the saintly Friar Lawrence. At the which stands not only for Mercutio’s Queen edge: ‘There will doubtless be no mistake celebrating the rapture of first love, the same time the two movements preceding Mab speech but for the comic-fantastical, as to the genre of this work.’ In fact there other in a scherzetto for tenor and semi- the Finale take on an increasingly descriptive fatally irrational aspect of the play, and in has been a great deal. Yet (as the preface chorus which introduces Queen Mab. At the character, the funeral dirge merging into an which strings and winds seem caught up continues), ‘although voices are frequently end, the Finale brings the drama into the insistent bell-like tolling. In this way the in some gleeful yet menacing game; the employed, it is neither a concert opera nor open in an extended choral movement that fully dramatic Finale evolves out of what noble swell of the great extended melody a cantata but a choral symphony’. culminates in the abjuring of the hatreds has gone before. which grows out of the questioning phrases depicted orchestrally at the outset. of ‘Romeo alone’; the awesome unison THEMES of cor anglais, horn and four bassoons in — Romeo’s invocation in the Capulets’ tomb; No Berlioz score is more abundant in lyric poetry, in a sense of the magic and Echoes of themes constantly link the the haunting beauty of Juliet’s funeral different sections. The Introduction’s procession (an addition to the play by David brevity of love, in ‘sounds and sweet airs’ of so many kinds. trombone recitative, representing the Garrick, whose edited version Berlioz saw at — Prince’s rebuke to the warring families, the Odéon Theatre); the adagio’s deep-toned uses notes from the angry fugato; the ball harmonies and spellbound melodic arcs, Nowadays, Mahler’s multi-movement THE CHORUS music is transformed to give the departing conjuring the moonlit night and the passion vocal-orchestral constructions are accepted guests their dreamlike song; in the tomb that flowers beneath it. • as symphonies, but they were long disputed. Through the middle of the story, the chorus scene, Juliet wakes (clarinet) to the identical In Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet the balance is heard in fragments, in preparation for notes of the rising cor anglais phrase in between the symphonic and the narrative their full deployment. In the Love Scene the opening section of the adagio, and this is exactly calculated (with the wordless love the songs of revellers on their way home is followed by the great love theme, now scene at the heart of the work, structurally from the ball float across the Capulets’ blurred and torn apart as the dying Romeo Please note that there is no interval in and emotionally). garden. Two movements later, in the Funeral relives it in distorted flashback. And in the this performance Procession, the Capulet chorus is heard. Finale, as the families’ vendetta breaks out

Programme Notes 5 Hector Berlioz in Profile 1803–69 / profile by David Cairns

inaugurated in 1828, that was the decisive receipts from his concerts paid off the debt BERLIOZ SOCIETY event in his apprenticeship, turning his art from the Parisian failure of The Damnation in a new direction: the dramatic concert of ), in Vienna, Prague, Budapest and • Join the Berlioz Society for more about work, incarnating a ‘poetic idea’ that is London. These years of travel produced less music’s great original. The Society promotes ‘everywhere present’, but subservient to music. In 1849 he composed the , the music, writings and life of the composer, musical logic. which had to wait six years to be performed. with activities including an annual Study But the unexpected success of L’enfance Weekend in London in November, regular His first large-scale orchestral work, the du Christ in Paris in 1854 encouraged him meetings, and the publication three times a autobiographical Symphonie fantastique, to embark on a project long resisted: the year of a Bulletin including essays, articles followed in 1830. After a year in Italy he composition of an epic opera on The Aeneid and reviews, all for an annual membership returned to Paris and began what he later which would assuage a lifelong passion and fee of £30. David Cairns CBE, renowned called his ‘Thirty Year War against the pay homage to two great idols, Virgil and author and expert on the composer, is the routineers, the professors and the deaf’. Shakespeare. Society’s Chairman. The 1830s and early 1840s saw a series of major works, including Harold in Italy Although Béatrice et Bénédict (1860–62) For further information contact the ector Berlioz was born in south- (1834), Benvenuto Cellini (1836), the Grande came later, the opera The Trojans (1856–58) Society’s Membership Secretary Peter east in 1803, the son of a Messe des Morts (1837), the Shakespearean was the culmination of his career. It was Payne at [email protected] or visit doctor. At the age of 17 he was sent dramatic symphony Romeo and Juliet (1839), also the cause of his final disillusionment theberliozsociety.org.uk to Paris to study medicine, but had already the Symphonie funèbre et triomphale (1840) and the reason, together with the onset conceived the ambition to be a musician and Les nuits d’été (c 1841). Some were of ill-health, why he wrote nothing of and soon became a pupil of the composer well-received; but he soon discovered that consequence in the remaining six years of Jean-François Le Sueur. he could not rely on his music to earn him a his life. The work was cut in two, and only living. He became a prolific and influential part performed in 1863, in a theatre too small Within two years he had composed the critic – a heavy burden for a composer but and poorly equipped. Berlioz died in 1869. • Messe solennelle, successfully performed one that he could not throw off. in 1825. In 1826 he entered the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome In the 1840s he took his music abroad and four years later. Gluck and Spontini were established a reputation as one of the important influences on the formation of leading and conductors of the his musical style, but it was his discovery of day. He was celebrated in Germany (where Beethoven at the Conservatoire concerts, Liszt championed him), in Russia (where

6 Composer Profile 10 & 14 November 2019 Michael Tilson Thomas in Conversation

Michael Tilson Thomas’s LSO debut … orchestra. Many members wanted to go on hold of the sense of wonder in what music doing that and some wanted to turn toward does is difficult. If you can keep that for 50 I was conducting in the United States with contemporary and , and or 60 years, you’re a big winner. • the Boston Symphony and I had some good toward standard repertoire. breaks and was suddenly thrust into public Interview by Matthew Gibson, double bass notice. The LSO reached out to me. It was I was aware of the Orchestra’s chameleon- the first major concert I had done outside like abilities to sound and be many different the United States. The programme was things, such as a particular character Beethoven and Stravinsky. from Star Wars. So I was trying to get the Orchestra to imagine those same qualities of One of the pieces was Stravinsky’s character in a piece by Debussy or Brahms. Symphony in Three Movements, which I That was very natural, maybe because I’d had done a lot and even under Stravinsky’s played so many encores, accompanying supervision. I came in. I gave this upbeat Heifitz masterclasses. An encore has to and the Orchestra played with the most instantly convey a mood. astonishing energy and organisation and brilliance and I thought, ‘Goodness, what Advice to a younger Michael … do I have to say about this?’ I wish I’d asked some of the players That’s the thing that one comes back to about their own traditions and how they again and again, the energy of the Orchestra accomplished some of their magic. And and the speed it works at. There was a time what they did to maintain the spontaneity Backstage at his first LSO concert when I tried to rehearse more rapidly and and love for music they had. I work with in more detail than the orchestra could young musicians now and I try and get them manage … and I never could do it. to recognise that the spirit they feel so powerfully as young musicians is something Becoming Principal Conductor … that they have to cherish.

In 1988 the LSO was well known for being a As musicians, all of us do many different fabulous orchestra and very well known for things. Some of them are transporting and With the Orchestra in the 1990s being a fabulous recording orchestra – a film ennobling and some are frustrating. To keep

Artist Biographies 7 Michael Tilson Thomas Tributes

Thomas!?), seems gloriously undimmed – In short, thank you from our hearts for the Sir as though little time, if any, had passed first part – we now look forward to the of the LSO since your first ever appearance with the next part! LSO when you were in your twenties. Equally MTT has been part of the LSO family for undimmed are your joie-de-vivre, lightning- Andrew Marriner longer than I have been a professional fast humour, and sheer delight at music- LSO Principal Clarinet (1986–2019) musician, a vital part of the beating heart making which are as much to be treasured of the Orchestra. Even from the outside now as ever they have been. Our enduring friendship spans the full 50 the connection was palpable, but now that years of your association with the LSO. I know the band so much better, they have Inevitably we look back, to savour for a made it clear how much they value not moment the long relationship the Orchestra Your years at the helm transformed the LSO only Michael’s extraordinary musicianship, has had with you. For me our journey with into an all-embracing Orchestra, enjoying but also how much his personal care and you has been marked not only by superb not only your high-octane and deeply-felt generosity has meant to everyone. The With Sir music-making: your kindness and generosity performances of Strauss tone poems and mixture of respect and affection is a rare to the orchestra have always been, and Mahler Symphonies (amongst all the rest one: long may this wonderful relationship David Alberman remain, unparalleled. To take one example of your enormous repertoire) but also your last, and given MTT’s youthfulness, at least LSO Principal Second Violin and from many: the unforgettable days out virtuosic playing and lecture concerts. another 50 years … Chair of the LSO Board which you arranged for the whole orchestra at Knebworth Park in the early nineties, You brought in addition a civilising With Diana Princess of Wales and Dear Michael, for instance, are still very much the stuff influence, making it permissable to be seen Lennox Mackenzie in 1989 of LSO legend. More recently in 2015, we to be enjoying the music and our chosen It is with no little disbelief that I find had the honour and pleasure of an unusual profession, all with good humour. Your myself writing a tribute to you on the 50th and exciting coast-to-coast tour of the achievements beyond the LSO have been anniversary of your first appearance with the US which took place only because of your equally astounding. Congratulations on your LSO. While true, that chronology completely vision and generosity. decades with Symphony and misses what really matters … the founding and development of the Even more importantly, the countless New World Symphony. Namely that your enthusiasm for re- small and huge kindnesses which you have examining known repertoire and exploring shown to individual musicians in good times Many thanks for everything, with gratitude the new (who else has taken the LSO from and bad have been a gift of tremendous and affection. Mozart to Carter, from Morton Feldman humanity to our somewhat eccentric but to Tchaikovsky, and indeed to Tilson very grateful family.

8 Michael Tilson Thomas 10 & 14 November 2019 Thursday 14 November 2019 Michael Tilson Thomas Agnegram 1998

LSO SEASON CONCERT gnegram was written to ‘Agnes Albert.’ Then, the instruments in PROKOFIEV SYMPHONY NO 5 celebrate the 90th birthday of F are heard playing the same tune. But the ’s as these instruments are transposing Michael Tilson Thomas Agnegram extraordinary patron and friend Agnes instruments, although the notes they play Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Albert, and is a portrait of her sophisticated read A – G – N – E – S etc, the notes that and indefatigably enthusiastic spirit. It is are heard are completely different. They Interval entirely composed of themes derived from are followed by instruments in E-flat and the spelling of her name. B-flat until a jungle-like cacophony is built ProkofievSymphony No 5 up – punctuated by alternately elegant and A – G – E are obviously the notes that they goofball percussion entrances. The jazzy 6/8 Michael Tilson Thomas conductor name. B is B-flat (as this note is called in tune reappears now in canon and the piece Nicola Benedetti violin German). S is E-flat, also a German musical progresses to a jubilant and noisy ending. • term. T is used to represent one note, Generously supported by B-natural, the ‘ti’ of the solfege scale. Note by Michael Tilson Thomas The Atkin Foundation From these arcane, but not unprecedented manipulations (Bach, Schumann and 6pm Barbican Hall Brahms amongst others often did this kind LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists of thing), a basic scale of eight unusually Musicians from the Guildhall School perform arranged notes emerges, from which all a free pre-concert recital of Russian songs the themes are drawn. The piece itself is a march for large orchestra. The first part of the march is in 6/8 and is almost a mini- concerto for orchestra, giving brief sound- bite opportunities for the different sections of settling into a jazzy and hyper-rangy tune.

The middle section of the march, or trio, is in 2/4 and settles into a kind of sly circus atmosphere. Different groups of instruments in different keys make their appearance in an aural procession. First, the winds in C play a new march tune saying

Programme Notes 9 Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major Op 35 1878 / note by David Nice

1 Allegro moderato Crucial to his sense of stability was the It is hard to see what Auer and Kotek found brows of the development are entirely the 2 Canzonetta new-found patronage, and its attendant so problematic about the work, since unlike orchestra’s, not the violinist’s, concern. 3 Finale: Allegro vivacissimo financial security, of the wealthy Nadezhda the colossal First Piano Concerto, which von Meck, to whom he unfolded the progress caused its dedicatee Nikolay Rubinstein Even the melancholy of the central Nicola Benedetti violin of his tormented Fourth Symphony. Equally such problems, the Violin Concerto’s lyrical Canzonetta is that of the conventional important was the mutual friend who had flow of inspired material is very much in Russian romance, scored with extreme chaikovsky has long been typecast introduced them. Josef Kotek, Meck’s house the central European tradition. Not that refinement. Tchaikovsky wrote it as an as the bard of unhappy love and violinist and a one-time pupil of Tchaikovsky Tchaikovsky is without his originalities; afterthought, prompted by Modest’s suicidal despair. Even his ballet at the Moscow Conservatory, travelled with the smiling graciousness of the piece is criticisms of the original Andante molto scores, the greatest ever composed, have the composer – whose former infatuation something he derived from two French cantabile which resurfaces as the Meditation been conveniently labelled as escapist. with him had changed, Tchaikovsky told his scores he had come to adore just before of his Op 42 pieces for violin and piano, Yet as his finest critic, Hermann Laroche, brother Anatoly, into a ‘different kind of composing the concerto, Delibes’ ballet Souvenir d’un lieu . Like the movement wrote around the time of The Sleeping love’ – and along with another Tchaikovsky Sylvia and Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole. it replaces, the substitute Canzonetta Beauty’s premiere, the composer may have brother, Modest, played godfather to the offers a pensive woodwind introduction, been an ‘elegist by nature’ but the ‘other masterpiece Tchaikovsky completed so Clever, too, is the way the introductory a melancholy song for the violin and a Tchaikovsky’ was just as real – ‘nice, happy, rapidly at Clarens that spring. collective engage what is to become central consolation. Yet it goes one further brimming with health, inclined to humour’. the principal theme in anticipatory dialogue by linking both poetically and literally to The Violin Concerto is indebted to with the woodwind – a subtle hallmark the concluding folk-festival, which is also Tchaikovsky even managed to tap into Kotek’s demonstration of the possible in throughout, close to the world of the connected to the first movement by virtue that side after the biggest crisis of his life. instrumental technique – the concerto’s pastoral first act in the recently completed of its bucolic exchanges between soloist, The collapse of his disastrous marriage to Spielbarkeit, as Tchaikovsky later put it; in opera – before the soloist strings and woodwind. Few listeners, the unfortunate Antonina Milyukova in spite of which the young man did nothing launches into it from a soulful cadenza. however, will have the time or the inclination 1877 sent him abroad to escape wagging to champion the work in St Petersburg or to mull over such subtleties, so brilliant and Russian tongues. He attempted to shuck Moscow. Nor did its first dedicatee, the The opening movement has been criticised intoxicating is Tchaikovsky’s most genuinely off his depression in Paris, Montreux, Rome much more experienced virtuoso Leopold for its lack of , but wholesome, vivacious finale. • and Florence. He succeeded by degrees, Auer. Tchaikovsky was to be eternally improvisatory charm is Tchaikovsky’s aim until a heavenly spring by the lakeside at grateful to Adolf Brodsky, who gave the here, with violin fireworks coming as an Interval – 20 minutes Clarens in Switzerland rekindled his creative European premiere in the face of scurrilous afterthought. The second lyrical subject, There are bars on all levels. inspiration. He returned to Russia in April abuse from top Viennese music critic Eduard even more expressive than the first, Visit the Barbican Shop to see our 1878 as ‘a perfectly sound and healthy man, Hanslick, and first performed it in Russia. embraces fleeting sadness and the furrowed range of Gifts and Accessories. full of new powers and energy’.

10 Programme Notes 10 & 14 November 2019 Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky in Profile 1840–93 / note by Andrew Huth

Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony was warmly received at its St Peters­­burg premiere in Already very interested in symphonic 1868. , the first of his three repertoire, Laure moved to Amsterdam great ballet scores, was written in 1876 for to be part of the Royal Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. Between 1869 Orchestra Academy for the 2014/15 and the year of his death, he composed over season, and the year after travelled to 100 songs, cast mainly in the impassioned , where she performed with the Romance style and textually preoccu­­pied Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra for with the frustration and despair associated one year. During this time, she continued with love, con­ditions that characterised his her studies and started a second personal relationships. Masters course at the Musikhochschule with Troels Svane. Tchaikovsky’s hasty decision to marry an almost unknown admirer in 1877 proved Laure is also passionate about chamber a disaster, his homosexuality combining Welcome to LSO Cello music and plays in ensembles of all sorts strongly with his sense of entrapment. Laure Le Dantec with the Camerata RCO, formed by players chaikovsky was born in Kamsko- By now he had completed his Fourth in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Votkinsk in the Vyatka province of Symphony, was about to finish his opera A warm welcome to our new Member Amsterdam, and performing in festivals in Russia on 7 May 1840; his father Eugene Onegin, and had attracted the Laure, who joined the LSO in August 2019. Italy, Spain, France, Netherlands, Russia, was a mining engineer and his mother was considerable financial and moral support of Colombia, Canada, and even Hawaii. • of French extraction. In 1848 the family Nadezhda von Meck, an affluent widow. Laure was seven when she started moved to the imperial capital, St Petersburg, She helped him through his personal crisis and playing the cello. After studying with where Pyotr was enrolled at the School of in 1878 he returned to com­position with the Marc Coppey and Raphael Pidoux at the — Juris­prudence. After his mother’s death in Violin Concerto and later the Sixth Symphony, Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, she ‘Joining the LSO, I couldn’t have 1854, he overcame his grief by composing which Tchaikovsky claimed represented his began studies at the Paris Conservatoire and performing, and music remained a best work. The mood of crushing despair at the age of 16. There, she spent five dreamt of anything more inspiring diversion from his job – as a clerk at the heard in all but the work’s third move­ment years learning with Jéröme Pernoo and and fulfilling than being surrounded Ministry of Justice – until he enrolled as reflected the composer’s troubled state of passed her Masters Diploma with the by such great artists every day.’ a full-time student at the St Petersburg mind. He died nine days after its premiere on highest distinction. Conservatory in 1863. 6 November 1893. • —

Composer Profile 11 Sergei ProkofievSymphony No 5 in B-flat major Op 100 1944 / note by Andrew Huth

1 Andante THE SOVIET COMPOSER would bring with it a new sense of freedom or two-octave doublings. Another notable 2 Allegro marcato within Russia. That freedom was not to feature of the scoring is the use of the lower 3 Adagio The change that came over Prokofiev’s come for many more years, but a desire and instruments, especially the contra bassoon 4 Allegro giocoso music after his permanent return to Russia hope for it must have been in the minds of and tuba. Despite the weightiness of the in the mid-1930s was to some extent due everyone who attended the premiere of the music, percussion is used sparingly until ntil the appearance of his Fifth to the demands that the Soviet State made Fifth Symphony in Moscow in January 1945. it comes imposingly to the fore in the very Symphony in 1945, Prokofiev was on its artists, but it also reflects Prokofiev’s loud coda. known chiefly as a composer for sense of belonging, of being at home. He The symphony’s character was inevitably the stage and for his own instrument, the was politically naive, and this was to lead determined by the time and circumstances SECOND MOVEMENT piano. No one thought of him primarily as a him into grave trouble during the post- of its composition. It would be a patriotic symphonist. Abstract formal thinking played war period; but he was never the type of work, big, heroic and ultimately optimistic. The music of the quick second movement is little part in his style: musical architecture alienated artist at odds with society, and It would be a symphony of mass appeal, and driven forward by ostinato motor-, served simply as the best means of bringing gladly and with complete sincerity adopted if it could rival or even surpass the impact and is full of quirky twists in the melody together the ideas that came to him so the role of ‘Soviet Composer’. of Shostakovich’s ‘Leningrad’ Symphony, and odd harmonic sideslips. Prokofiev’s spontaneously and in such profusion. so much the better. balletic gestures actually derive from music intended to be danced to: some of this Prokofiev’s First Symphony dates from 1917, — material had been sketched a decade earlier and there could hardly have been a greater It would be a patriotic work. Big, heroic and ultimately optimistic. and was originally destined for use in Romeo contrast between the turbulent events in the and Juliet. For all its directness, the music world outside and this witty re-creation of — displays a certain ambiguity. Underlying the 18th century. His next three symphonies the high spirits there is frequently a feeling come from the years when he was based in The Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941 brought FIRST MOVEMENT of menace, a sense of something sinister Western Europe. Even the composer had almost a sense of relief. In contrast to the lurking just in the background. doubts about the effectiveness of nightmarish atmosphere of the late 1930s, a The first movement has a moderately slow the complex and dissonant Second (1924– time of furtive and arbitrary denunciations, , allowing the ideas to unfold in a THIRD MOVEMENT 25); the Third, which followed three years arrests and deportations, there was now an spacious, unhurried manner. Prokofiev later, draws much of its material from his external and very tangible enemy. By the assumes something of the epic quality Where the lyrical impulse of the first opera The Fiery Angel; the Fourth (1930) is summer of 1944, when Prokofiev composed sought by the 19th-century Russian movement was tempered by an epic closely related to his last ballet for Diaghilev, the Fifth Symphony, victory over the nationalist composers. The , as sternness, the adagio is all melody. The The Prodigal Son. retreating Germans was only a few months one would expect from him, is always clear flexible time signature (3/4 – 9/8), the away and many Russians hoped that the and incisive, but a particular sense of depth sumptuous orchestration and the rich war would clear the air, that a Soviet victory is achieved by the frequent use of octave variety of accompaniment figures enhance

12 Programme Notes 10 & 14 November 2019 Sergei Prokofievin Profile 1891–1953 the long-drawn lines that rise to moments Before he left for exile, Prokofiev completed of a yearning passion that might almost his ‘Classical’ Symphony, a bold and appealing invite comparison with the music of RUSSIAN work that revived aspects of 18th-century Prokofiev’s exiled fellow-countryman ROOTS musical form, clarity and elegance. He Rachmaninov (though neither composer received commissions from arts organisations would have relished the comparison). in the United States and France, composing his sparkling opera The Love for Three FINALE Oranges for the Chicago Opera Company in 1919–20. His engagements as a recitalist After an introduction recalling the and concerto soloist brought Prokofiev to symphony’s opening, the main body of the a wide audience in Europe and the US, and finale begins with a perky clarinet tune over he was in great demand to perform his own a quaver ostinato – a procedure that recalls Piano Concerto No 3. The ballet Romeo and the character of the second movement. Juliet and the score for Feinzimmer’s film This is not, however, a regressive move. Lieutenant Kijé were among Prokofiev’s The finale gradually gathers weight and rokofiev was born in Ukraine and first Soviet commissions, dating from the momentum in its course, and eventually was encouraged to study music early 1930s. Both scores were subsequently spills over into a powerful coda which from an early age by his mother, cast as concert suites, which have become manages to convey optimism without GIANANDREA NOSEDA CONDUCTS a keen amateur pianist. The young Sergei cornerstones of the orchestral repertoire. ignoring any of the more serious issues THE LSO AT THE BARBICAN showed prodigious ability as both composer the work has raised. and pianist, gaining a place at the St ‘The Fifth Symphony was intended as a Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Petersburg Conservatory at the age of 13 and hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty Prokofiev wrote of the symphony: ‘I thought 28 November 2019 shortly thereafter acquiring a reputation for powers, his pure and noble spirit.’ Prokofiev’s of it as a work glorifying the human spirit. the uncompromising nature of his music. comments, written in 1944 as the Russian I wanted to sing of mankind free and happy: Shostakovich’s Seventh According to one critic, the audience at the army began to march towards Berlin, his strength, his generosity and the purity 5 December 2019 1913 premiere of the composer’s Second reflected his sense of hope in the future. of his soul.’ The words have an unfortunate Piano Concerto were left ‘frozen with fright, Sadly, his later years were overshadowed by flavour of Soviet orthodoxy, but the music Shostakovich’s Ninth hair standing on end’. He left Russia after illness and the denunciation of his works as of the Fifth Symphony does in fact live up to 30 January & 9 February 2020 the 1917 Revolution, but decided to return ‘formalist’ by the Central Committee of the these ideals, and Prokofiev considered it to to Moscow with his wife and family 19 Communist Party in 1948. • be among his finest achievements. • years later, apparently unaware of Stalin’s repressive regime. Composer Profile by Andrew Stewart

Composer Profile 13 2019/20 with the London Symphony Orchestra Gianandrea Noseda François-Xavier Roth Sir Simon Rattle Artist Portrait:

Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Elgar’s Cello Concerto Berg & Beethoven’s Seventh Antoine Tamestit 28 November 2019 with Alisa Weilerstein 16 January 2020 19 December 2019 Jörg Widmann’s Concerto Shostakovich’s Seventh Beethoven: with 5 December 2019 Half Six Fix: Bartók Christ on the Mount of Olives 19 April 2020 18 March 2020 19 January & 13 February 2020 Shostakovich’s Ninth Berio Voci with François-Xavier Roth 30 January & 9 February 2020 Bartók & Stravinsky Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony 11 June 2020 with Isabelle Faust 16 February 2020 James MacMillan: St John Passion 19 March 2020 Walton 5 April 2020 Bartók: Duke Bluebeard’s Castle with Dukas 23 April 2020 14 June 2020 22 March 2020 LSO Chamber Orchestra Mahler’s Fourth Symphony BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts: Panufnik Composers Workshop 26 April 2020 Antoine Tamestit & Friends Rameau, Purcell, Handel 26 March 2020 8 & 15 May, 5 & 26 June 2020 15 December 2019 Percy Grainger LSO St Luke’s Milton Court Concert Hall 4 June 2020 Produced by the LSO and Barbican. Part of the LSO’s 2019/20 Season and Barbican Presents.

Gershwin, Ives, Harris & Bernstein 6 June 2020

Explore the season at lso.co.uk/201920season

The Orchestra 15 Michael Tilson Thomas conductor

ichael Tilson Thomas is Music until 1974. He was later Music Director of anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Director of the San Francisco the Buffalo Philharmonic and a Principal His vocal music includes settings of poetry Symphony, Co-Founder and Guest Conductor of the by Walt Whitman and , and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony Philharmonic. In 1988, he co-founded and was premiered by and and Conductor Laureate of the London became Artistic Director of the New World Renée Fleming. Symphony Orchestra. Born in Los Angeles, Symphony. That same year, he was appointed he is the third generation of his family to Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Tilson Thomas co-founded the New pursue an artistic career. His grandparents Orchestra before becoming Music Director of World Symphony in Miami Beach as an were founding members of the Yiddish the San Francisco Symphony in 1995. He is orchestral academy dedicated to preparing Theater in America; his father was a Conductor Laureate of the LSO and becomes gifted graduates of distinguished music producer at the Mercury Theater Company in Music Director Laureate of the SFS in 2020. programmes for leadership roles in classical New York; and his mother was the head of music. As Artistic Director, he works with research for Columbia Pictures. A winner of eleven Grammy Awards, he NWS Fellows to further their artistic and appears on more than 120 recordings. His professional development. Of the more than Michael Tilson Thomas began his formal discography includes The Mahler Project and 1,100 alumni of the New World Symphony, studies at the University of Southern recordings of music by , Steve 90% maintain careers in music, often . At the age of 19 he was named Reich, , Morton Feldman, George as musicians or administrators in major Music Director of the Young Musicians Gershwin and . His television . The New World Symphony has Foundation Debut Orchestra. During this work includes broadcasts of the New York long been at the forefront of developments same period, he worked with Stravinsky, Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts, in the arts and education. Since 2011, the Boulez, Stockhausen and Copland on productions on PBS and campus of the New World Symphony has premieres of their compositions at multi-tiered media project Keeping Score been the technologically advanced, Frank Los Angeles’ Monday Evening Concerts. with the San Francisco Symphony. Gehry-designed .

In 1969, after winning the Koussevitzky He has been an active composer throughout Tilson Thomas is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Prize at Tanglewood, he was appointed his career and in 1991 presented a series Arts et des Lettres of France and a member Assistant Conductor and pianist of the of benefit concerts for UNICEF featuring of the American Academy of Arts. He was Boston Symphony Orchestra. That year Audrey Hepburn as narrator of his work awarded the and he also made his New York debut with the From the Diary of Anne Frank. In August was recently inducted into the California Boston Symphony. He was later appointed 1995, he led the Hall of Fame. For his lifetime artistic Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Orchestra in the premiere of his composition achievements, he was selected to receive Symphony Orchestra, a position he held Showa/Shoah, commemorating the 50th the 2019 . •

16 Artist Biographies 10 & 14 November 2019 Alice Coote mezzo-soprano Nicholas Phan tenor

Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon, with Philharmonia Baroque and Nicholas Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina and the title role McGegan, and gives the world premiere of in Handel’s Ariodante. Antoine Plante’s arrangement of Schubert’s Winterreise for full orchestra, with Houston- Alice Coote’s career has taken her from her based orchestra Mercury. In January beginnings in the north of , where 2020, Phan curates and performs with she sang in local festivals and played oboe in the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society the Cheshire Youth Orchestra, to becoming a in Emerging Voices, a series of concerts highly regarded artist. The recital platform is celebrating Paris and art song’s role as a central to her musical life, and she performs medium for understanding identity and throughout the UK, Europe and the US: forging connections during times of social, at (where she has been a political and cultural change. Also in January resident artist), the BBC Proms, Amsterdam 2020, Phan releases his sixth solo album, Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Clairières, a recording of songs by Lili and ezzo-soprano Alice Coote is Lincoln Centre NY and , among merican tenor Nicholas Phan Nadia Boulanger. regarded as one of the great artists many other prestigious venues. Recently, performs regularly with the world’s of our day. Equally famed on the she debuted Schubert’s Winterreise at leading orchestras and opera Phan’s solo album, Gods and Monsters, was great operatic stages as in concert and ‘The Stars of the White Nights’ Mariinsky companies. An avid recitalist, he is also nominated for the 2017 Grammy Award for recital she has been named the ‘superlative Festival in St Petersburg. the artistic director of the Collaborative Best Classical Vocal Solo Album. In addition British Mezzo’ (San Francisco Chronicle). Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC), which he to four other critically-acclaimed solo She is acclaimed in particular for co-founded in 2010 to promote art song and albums, Phan’s growing discography also In her operatic engagements in the UK and Strauss, Mahler, Berlioz, Mozart, Handel vocal chamber music. Phan launches his new includes a Grammy-nominated recording aroad, Alice interprets both male and female and Bach with orchestras such as the London season in Chicago, curating CAIC’s eighth of Stravinsky’s with roles, such as Dejanira in Handel’s Hercules, Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony annual Collaborative Works Festival. and the Chicago Symphony and the world Charlotte in Massenet’s , Dorabella Orchestra, , Chicago premiere recordings of two orchestral in Mozart’s Così fan Tutte, Marguerite in Symphony Orchestra, OAE, The English Highlights of his 2019/20 season include song cycles: The Old Burying Ground by Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust, Octavian Concert, Kammerphilharmonie Bremen returns to the New York Philharmonic Evan Chambers and ’s in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Idamante and the Hallé. • and San Francisco Symphony, as well A Sunbeam’s Architecture. • in Mozart’s , both Poppea and debuts with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Orchestra and London Symphony Poppea, Hänsel in Humperdink’s Hänsel und Orchestra. He makes his role debut in the Gretel, Sesto in Handel’s , title role of Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus

Artist Biographies 17 Nicolas Courjal bass Simon Halsey chorus director

Monte Carlo, at the Chorégies d’Orange and Artistic Adviser of Palau de la Orange and at House. Other Música, Barcelona, Artistic Director of Berlin recent performances include productions Philharmonic Youth Choral Programme, of Bizet’s and Enescu’s Oedipus, Director of BBC Proms Youth , Artistic Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Rameau’s Zoroastre Advisor of Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and Offenbach’sThe Tales of Hoffmann. Choir, Conductor Laureate of Rundfunkchor Berlin, and Professor and Director of Choral He has performed alongside Europe’s most Activities at the University of Birmingham. prestigious orchestras and in major concert He is also a highly respected teacher and venues, including the Tchaikovsky Symphony academic, nurturing the next generation of Orchestra of Moscow, the RTVE Madrid, choral conductors on his post-graduate course Rome’s Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale in Birmingham and through masterclasses di Santa Cecilia, L’Orchestre National de at Princeton, Yale and elsewhere. and L’Orchestre National de France. orn in France, Nicolas started his In the coming season he will appear with imon Halsey occupies a unique Halsey has worked on nearly 80 recording career in the of the Opéra the Orchestra della Scala, the Gulbenkian position in classical music. He projects, many of which have won major Comique in Paris and Wiesbaden Orchestra and at the Theatre du Capitole is the trusted advisor on choral awards, including a Gramophone Award, and currently studies with Jane Berbié. in . • singing to the world’s greatest conductors, Diapason d’Or, , and three He regularly sings at opera houses across orchestras and choruses, and also an Grammy Awards with the Rundfunkchor Europe in Lyon, Nice, Toulouse, , inspirational teacher and ambassador for Berlin. He was made Commander of the Tours and Nantes, and at the Sferisterio choral singing to amateurs of every age, British Empire in 2015, was awarded Macerata in Metz, the Maestranza in Seville ability and background. Making singing a The Queen’s Medal for Music in 2014, and and the . central part of the world-class institutions received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of with which he is associated, he has been Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recent performances include roles in instrumental in changing the level of in 2011 in recognition of his outstanding Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable at the Royal symphonic singing across Europe. contribution to choral music in Germany. Opera House and La Monnaie in Brussels and Berlioz’s in Strasbourg. He He holds positions across the UK and Europe Born in London, Simon Halsey sang in the has also played Mephistopheles in Berlioz’s as Choral Director of the London Symphony choirs of New College, Oxford, and of King’s The Damnation of Faust , König Marke in Orchestra and Chorus, Chorus Director of the College, Cambridge, and studied conducting Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde in Bordeaux City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the Royal College of Music in London. • and Gessler in Rossini’s in Chorus, Artistic Director of Orfeó Català

18 Artist Biographies 10 & 14 November 2019 COMMUNITY CHOIRS & SINGING DAYS

Singing Days Join a Choir

Spend a day at LSO St Luke’s getting to Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Immortal Bach LSO Community Choir know some of the most fantastic music Sunday 15 March 2020 11am–4.30pm Sunday 10 May 2020 11am–4.30pm Made up of people who live and work written for voices with LSO Choral Director in the local area, the Community Choir Simon Halsey. Whether you sing in a choir Beethoven’s Ninth really explodes when Bach made a big mark on choral music is a sociable and diverse group, singing regularly, or haven’t sung since school, you’ll the singing starts, and as Mahler wrote his with works like the St John Passion and repertoire ranging from show tunes to discover new music and learn about the craft Second Symphony he too decided to bring St Matthew Passion and over 200 cantatas. opera choruses, folk-songs and more. of choral singing in a friendly environment. out the big guns with a choral finale. Join a scratch choir to sing movements from London Symphony Chorus We’ll be singing from the score – so Nicknamed ‘Resurrection’, the work JS Bach’s Magnificatand Bach-inspired Under the leadership of Simon Halsey, experience of reading music and some culminates as the choir sings a poignant pieces by Mendelssohn and Rutter, along the London Symphony Chorus has knowledge of sight-singing will help! prayer penned by Mahler himself about with Knut Nystedt’s Immortal Bach, which received acclaim for its concerts, death and his hopes for the afterlife. spins out one of Bach’s chorales into a time- recordings and tours. The LSC is always stopping rumination on sound and harmony. interested in recruiting new members, welcoming applications from singers of all backgrounds. lso.co.uk/sing

Artist Biographies 19 London Symphony Chorus on stage

President he London Symphony Chorus was five Grammys. Gramophone included the The Chorus is an independent charity run by Sir Simon Rattle om cbe formed in 1966 to complement recordings of Berlioz’s The Damnation of its members. It is committed to excellence, the work of the London Symphony Faust and Romeo and Juliet on LSO Live with to the development of its members, to Vice President Orchestra and is renowned internationally Sir Colin Davis as two of the Top 10 Berlioz diversity and engaging in the musical life of Michael Tilson Thomas for its concerts and recordings with recordings. Recent LSO Live recordings with London, to commissioning and performing the Orchestra. Their partnership was the Chorus include Bernstein’s Wonderful new works, and to supporting the musicians Patrons strengthened in 2012 with the appointment Town and Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust of tomorrow. For more information please cbe of Simon Halsey as joint Chorus Director both with Sir Simon Rattle. visit lsc.org.uk. • Howard Goodall cbe of the LSC and Choral Director for the LSO, and the Chorus now plays a major role in Highlights of the 2018/19 season included Chorus Director furthering the vision of LSO Sing, which also Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortiléges with Simon Halsey cbe encompasses the LSO Community Choir, Sir Simon Rattle at the 2018 BBC Proms LSO Discovery Choirs for young people and and at the , Bernstein’s Associate Director Singing Days at LSO St Luke’s. with Marin Alsop, Puccini’s Matthew di Gloria with Sir , Nia Llewelyn Jones The LSC has worked with many leading performances of Mahler’s Symphony No international conductors and other 8 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam Associate Conductors major orchestras, including the Berlin with the Netherlands Philharmonic and Lucy Griffiths Philharmonic, , Marc Albrecht, David Lang’s the public David Lawrence Gewandhaus, , domain with Simon Halsey, and Walton’s New York Philharmonic, the National Youth Belshazzar’s Feast with Sir Simon Rattle. Chorus Accompanist Orchestra of Great Britain and the European Benjamin Frost Union Youth Orchestra. It has also toured The Chorus looks forward to the 2019/20 extensively in Europe and has visited the season, which will include Bartók’s The Chairman US, Israel, Australia and South East Asia. Miraculous Mandarin with François-Xavier Owen Hanmer Roth, performances of Beethoven’s Christ on The partnership between the LSC and LSO, the Mount of Olives in Europe with Sir Simon Concert Manager particularly under in the Rattle, James MacMillan’s St John Passion Robert Garbolinski 1980s and 1990s, and later with Sir Colin with Gianandrea Noseda, and Tippett’s Child Davis, led to its large catalogue of recordings of Our Time with Alan Gilbert. LSO Choral Projects Manager which have won numerous awards, including Sumita Menon

20 London Symphony Chorus 10 & 14 November 2019 Guildhall Singers on stage

Sopranos Gabrielle Curzon Tussaund Malcolm Taylor Rod Stevens Lydia Haynes Anna Byrne-Smith Walton-Green Hannah Wisher Simon Wales Richard Tannenbaum Eleanor Oldfield Louise Blankson Lizzie Webb* James Warbis Dan Thompson Liza Lozica Laura Catala-Ubassy Olivia Wilkinson Tenors Robert Ward* Gordon Thomson Alexandra Meier Jessica Collins Rachel Wilson Jorge Aguilar Paul Williams-Burton Robin Thurston Eve Commander Paul Allatt* Jez Wareing Kamil Bien Shelagh Connolly Altos Matteo Anelli Basses Archie Buchanan Imogen Coutts Ayesha Akkari Erik Azzopardi Simon Backhouse* Language Coach George Curnow Harriet Crawford Gina Broderick* Joaquim Badia Roger Blitz Sonja Nedrum Jack Dolan Barbara de Matos Jo Buchan* Paul Beecham Angus Ellisse Dixon Liz Cole Philipp Boeing Bruce-Gardyne Vocal Coaches Patrick Keefe Joanna Gueritz Maggie Donnelly Peter Bridgwood Gavin Buchan Norbert Meyn Liam McNally Hidemi Hatada Linda Evans Oliver Burrows Steve Chevis Anita Morrison Thomas Mole Denise Hoilette Tina Gibbs Michael Delany Matt Clarke Rebecca Outram Benjamin Reason Claire Hussey Rachel Green Ethem Demir Ian Fletcher Robert Rice Alice Jones Jo Houston Colin Dunn Robert Garbolinski* Debbie Jones Elisabeth Iles John Farrington Josue Garcia Assistant Chorus Esther Kippax Ella Jackson* Andrew Fuller* Rupert Gill Master Ruth Knowles-Clark Vanessa Knapp Michael Harman Daniel Gosselin David Lawrence Luca Koscsmarszky Freja Leveritt Jude Lenier John Graham Christina Long Anne Loveluck Kameron Locke Bryan Hammersley *Denotes LSC Jane Morley Jane Muir John Marks Owen Hanmer* Council member Doris Nikolic Caroline Mustill Alastair Mathews Elan Higueras Calvo Gill O’Neill Dorothy Nesbit Matthew McCabe Rocky Hirst Maggie Owen Helen Palmer Daniel Owers Anthony Howick Janina Pescinski Susannah Priede Chris Riley Alex Kidney Louisa Prentice Lucy Reay Michael Scharff George Marshall Carole Radford Lis Smith Peter Sedgwick Hugh McLeod Deborah Staunton Erika Stasiuleviciute Chris Straw Tim Miles Giulia Steidl Linda Thomas Richard Street* William Nicholson Olivia Tait Claire Trocmé Stephan Sykora Alan Rochford

London Symphony Chorus & Guildhall Singers 19 Nicola Benedetti violin

icola Benedetti’s ability to In the 2019/20 season, Nicola makes partnership projects and school visits. This captivate audiences with her her debut with the Vienna Symphony commitment to supporting the UK’s music innate musicianship and spirited Orchestra and tours Asia with the Deutsches practitioners was underlined in July 2018, presence, coupled with her wide appeal as Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Robin when Nicola took over as President of the an advocate for classical music, have made Ticciati. She also reunites with Vladimir European String Teachers Association. She her one of the most influential classical Jurowski and the London Philharmonic is formalising her vision and expanding her artists of today. Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony commitment to the education of young Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra people and the supporting of music teachers With concerto performances at the heart of and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and by establishing a charitable organisation: her career, Nicola is in demand with major will tour with the Royal Scottish National The Benedetti Foundation. orchestras and conductors across the globe. Orchestra led by Thomas Søndergård. She Nicola has worked with conductors including joins Karina Canellakis with the Rundfunk- Winner of Best Female Artist at both the , Jiří Bělohlávek, Sinfonieorchester Berlin and later with the 2012 and 2013 Classical BRIT Awards, Nicola Stephane Denève, , Los Angeles Philharmonic. Nicola has also records exclusively for Decca (Universal James Gaffigan, Hans Graf, , been appointed as the Melbourne Symphony Music). Her most recent recording features Alan Gilbert, Jakub Hrůša, Kirill Karabits, Orchestra’s Artist in Residence for 2020. premiere recordings of two works written Andrew Litton, Kristjan Jarvi, Vladimir especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Jurowski, Cristian Măcelaru, , With her regular duo partner pianist Alexei Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Andrea Marcon, Peter Oundjian, Vasily Grynyuk, Nicola performs recitals in the for Solo Violin. Petrenko, Juraj Valčuha, , world’s leading concert halls and festivals Pinchas Zukerman and . with recent highlights including Wigmore Born in Scotland of Italian heritage, Nicola Hall and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. began violin lessons at the age of five with with orchestras include Nicola is a devoted chamber musician Brenda Smith. In 1997, she entered the the London Symphony Orchestra, London and collaborates with cellist Leonard School, where she studied Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Elschenbroich and pianist Alexei Grynyuk, with Natasha Boyarskaya. Upon leaving, Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Mariinsky performing as a trio since 2008. she continued her studies with Maciej Theatre, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Rakowski and then Pavel Vernikov, and Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Los Angeles Nicola has continued her role as an continues to work with acclaimed teachers Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, ambassador and leader in music education. and performers. • Chicago Symphony Orchestra and National She has reached thousands of young Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC. people through workshops, masterclasses,

22 Artist Biographies 10 & 14 November 2019 London Symphony Orchestra on stage Sunday 10 November

Leader Second Violins Flutes Horns Timpani Roman Simovic David Alberman Alice Neary Gareth Davies Timothy Jones Nigel Thomas Thomas Norris Alastair Blayden Julian Sperry Alexander Paul Stoneman First Violins Sarah Quinn Jennifer Brown Edmundson Carmine Lauri Miya Väisänen Noel Bradshaw Piccolos Jonathan Durrant Percussion Ginette Decuyper Matthew Gardner Eve-Marie Caravassilis Sharon Williams Meilyr Hughes Sam Walton Gerald Gregory Julián Gil Rodríguez Daniel Gardner Patricia Moynihan James Pillai David Jackson Maxine Kwok-Adams Naoko Keatley Hilary Jones Matthew Farthing William Melvin Belinda McFarlane Victoria Harrild Oboes Trumpets Benedict Hoffnung Elizabeth Pigram Iwona Muszynska Victoria Simonsen Olivier Stankiewicz Niall Keatley Rachel Gledhill Harriet Rayfield Csilla Pogany Peteris Sokolovskis Rosie Jenkins Simon Cox Colin Renwick Andrew Pollock Alec Harmon Kaitlin Wild Harps Sylvain Vasseur Louise Shackelton Double Basses Bryn Lewis Rhys Watkins Hazel Mulligan Colin Paris Cor Anglais Trombones Morris Julian Azkoul Helena Smart Patrick Laurence Christine Pendrill Mark Templeton Eleanor Fagg Matthew Gibson James Maynard Mariam Nahapetyan Thomas Goodman Clarinets Erzsebet Racz Edward Vanderspar Joe Melvin Timothy Orpen Bass Trombone Jan Regulski Gillianne Haddow José Moreira Chi-Yu Mo Paul Milner German Clavijo Jani Pensola Thomas Watmough Stephen Doman Siret Lust Elizabeth Drew Tuba Julia O’Riordan Sasha Koushk-Jalali Ilona Bondar Bassoons Corentin Bordelot Rachel Gough Michelle Bruil Joost Bosdijk Luca Casciato Dominic Tyler Stephanie Dominic Morgan Edmundson Nancy Johnson Sofia Silva Sousa

The Orchestra 23 London Symphony Orchestra on stage Thursday 14 November

Leader Second Violins Cellos Flute Horns LSO String Experience Scheme Roman Simovic David Alberman Rebecca Gilliver Gareth Davies Timothy Jones Since 1992, the LSO String Experience Sarah Quinn Alastair Blayden Angela Barnes Scheme has enabled young string players First Violins Miya Väisänen Jennifer Brown Piccolo Alexander Edmundson from the London music conservatoires at Carmine Lauri Julián Gil Rodríguez Noel Bradshaw Patricia Moynihan Meilyr Hughes the start of their professional careers to gain Ginette Decuyper Naoko Keatley Eve-Marie Caravassilis Tim Ball work experience by playing in rehearsals Laura Dixon Alix Lagasse Daniel Gardner Oboes and concerts with the LSO. The musicians Matthew Gardner Iwona Muszynska Hilary Jones Juliana Koch Trumpets are treated as professional ‘extra’ players Gerald Gregory Csilla Pogany Laure Le Dantec Rosie Jenkins Philip Cobb (additional to LSO members) and receive fees Maxine Kwok-Adams Andrew Pollock Judith Fleet Niall Keatley for their work in line with LSO section players. Elizabeth Pigram Paul Robson Peteris Sokolovskis Cor Anglais Robin Totterdell Laurent Quenelle Louise Shackelton Christine Pendrill The Scheme is supported by: Harriet Rayfield Hazel Mulligan Doubles Basses Trombones The Polonsky Foundation Colin Renwick Helena Smart Colin Paris Clarinets Mark Templeton Derek Hill Foundation Sylvain Vasseur Robert Yeomans Patrick Laurence Chris Richards James Maynard Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust Rhys Watkins Thomas Goodman Elizabeth Drew Thistle Trust Eleanor Fagg Violas Joe Melvin Bass Trombone Lyrit Milgram Rachel Roberts José Moreira E-Flat Clarinet Paul Milner Mariam Nahapetyan Gillianne Haddow Jani Pensola Anna Hashimoto Malcolm Johnston Benjamin Griffiths Tuba German Clavijo Jeremy Watt Bass Clarinet Ben Thomson Editor Carol Ella Katy Ayling Fiona Dinsdale | [email protected] Michelle Bruil Timpani Editorial Photography Fiona Dalgliesh Bassoons Nigel Thomas Ranald Mackechnie, Spencer Lowell, May Dolan Daniel Jemison Jiyang Chen, Andy Gotts, Marco Borggreve, Errika Horsley Joost Bosdijk Marine Cessat-Begler Nancy Johnson Print Cantate 020 3651 1690 Felicity Matthews Contra Bassoon Advertising Cabbells Ltd 020 3603 7937 Heather Wallington Dominic Morgan Details in this publication were correct at time of going to press.

24 The Orchestra 10 & 14 November 2019