London Orchestra Living Music

Tuesday 23 May 2017 7.30pm Barbican Hall

London’s Symphony Orchestra SYMPHONY NO 9

Bernard Haitink conductor

Concert finishes approx 9pm

Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3

2 Welcome 23 May 2017

Welcome Living Music Kathryn McDowell In Brief

A warm welcome to this evening’s LSO concert. LSO PLATFORMS: GUILDHALL ARTISTS Tonight we are joined by conductor for the first of three performances with the Orchestra Before today’s concert we welcomed artists at the Barbican this season. from the Guildhall School to the stage, performing Mahler’s in A minor and Webern’s Bernard Haitink is a great friend of the LSO and Piano Quintet. These performances take place our relationship with him spans many years, before certain LSO concerts and are free to attend. with his extraordinary music-making a joy for LSO musicians and audiences alike. Most recently lso.co.uk/lsoplatforms the Orchestra was honoured to perform Mahler’s Third Symphony with him at the 2016 BBC Proms. LSO LIVE NEW RELEASE This evening we perform the last symphony that Mahler completed, his Ninth, a deeply reflective The new recording of Mozart’s Serenade No 10 and emotional work written in the wake of the for Wind Instruments (‘Gran Partita’) by the LSO death of his youngest daughter and at the onset Wind Ensemble is now available on LSO Live. of his declining health. To order your copy, please visit the website:

Thank you to our media partners, BBC Radio 3, lsolive.lso.co.uk who are broadcasting tonight’s concert live on air.

I hope you enjoy the performance and that you can A WARM WELCOME TO TONIGHT’S GROUPS join us again soon. On Sunday 28 May Bernard Haitink continues his exploration of late works with Bruckner’s Groups of 10+ receive a 20% discount on standard Ninth Symphony and choral , before being tickets to LSO concerts, plus other exclusive benefits. joined by pianist Mitsuko Uchida on Thursday 1 June. Tonight we are delighted to welcome:

British Emunah Entertains Marjorie Wilkins & Friends University of Wisconsin

Kathryn McDowell CBE DL lso.co.uk/groups Managing Director London Symphony Orchestra Season 2016/17

The LSO’s Family of Conductors Summer 2017

Michael Tilson Thomas (4 & 8 Jun)

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS: : SIR : CONDUCTOR LAUREATE 10 YEARS WITH THE LSO MUSIC DIRECTOR DESIGNATE

Sun 4 Jun 7pm Daniel Harding concludes his 10-year Sun 9 Jul 7pm Stravinsky Scènes de ballet tenure as Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Norman Prokofiev Concerto No 1 with Mahler’s Third Symphony. A Trip to the Moon (UK premiere) Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 (‘Pathétique’) Sibelius Symphony No 2 Sun 25 Jun 7pm Michael Tilson Thomas conductor Mahler Symphony No 3 Sir Simon Rattle conductor Lisa Batiashvili violin Guildhall School Musicians Daniel Harding conductor LSO Discovery Thu 8 Jun 7.30pm Anna Larsson alto LSO Community Brahms Piano Concerto No 2 Ladies of the chorus director Nielsen Symphony No 5 London Symphony Chorus Supported by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Simon Halsey chorus director Michael Tilson Thomas conductor Tue 11 & Wed 12 Jul 7.30pm Yuja Wang piano Wagner Prelude and Liebestod from ‘Tristan and Isolde’ Bartók Piano Concerto No 2 Haydn An imaginary orchestral journey

Yuja Wang and Lang Lang’s appearances Sir Simon Rattle conductor with the LSO are generously supported by Lang Lang piano 12 July supported by LSO Music Director Donors 4 Programme Notes 23 May 2017

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) Symphony No 9 in D major (1908–09)

1 ANDANTE COMODO (A LEISURELY WALKING PACE) circulation: Mahler had known he was going to die, 2 IM TEMPO EINES GEMÄCHLICHEN LÄNDLERS – and the Ninth Symphony was his ‘Farewell to Life’ – ETWAS TÄPPISCH UND SEHR DERB (IN A LEISURELY the title his teacher Bruckner had given to the last LÄNDLER TEMPO – RATHER AWKWARD AND COARSE) movement of his own (incomplete) Ninth Symphony. 3 RONDO-BURLESKE: ALLEGRO ASSAI – SEHR TROTZIG (VERY FAST – DEFIANT) But we should be careful about accepting this 4 ADAGIO – SEHR LANGSAM (VERY SLOW) reading unconditionally. Mahler may have been shaken by the discovery of his heart problem, PROGRAMME NOTE WRITER When died in 1911, not quite 51 years but it wasn’t until the last year of his life that he STEPHEN JOHNSON is the author old, he left two works complete but unperformed: began to slacken the pace of his frantically busy of Bruckner Remembered (Faber). the symphonic song-cycle life. In 1909, the year after the ominous diagnosis, He also contributes regularly to BBC (The Song of the Earth) and the purely orchestral he accepted a three-year contract to conduct the Music Magazine and , Ninth Symphony. When these works were heard for New York Philharmonic (his first season included an and broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 the first time, in the year following Mahler’s death, astonishing 46 concerts). And in 1910 he had begun, (Discovering Music), BBC Radio 4 listeners were struck by their intense preoccupation and very nearly completed, a Tenth Symphony – and the BBC World Service. with mortality – clear enough in the texts of Das Lied another big orchestral symphony, beginning where von der Erde, and unmistakable in the expressive the Ninth left off, but finding its way to a very tone of the Ninth Symphony. Alban Berg, who different, more affirmative conclusion. It could be adored Mahler, described the first movement as that Mahler thought that his days in the shadow of ‘the expression of an exceptional fondness for death were over, for the moment at least, and that this earth, the longing to live in peace on it, to he could now look forward to exploring new musical enjoy nature to its depths – before death comes. directions. The Tenth Symphony is full of pointers to For he comes irresistibly. The whole movement possible ways ahead. DAS LIED VON DER ERDE is permeated with premonitions of death’. is an orchestral cycle of six songs Still, when Berg wrote of the presence of death in sung by two alternating singers. A FAREWELL SYMPHONY? the Ninth Symphony, he wasn’t simply giving voice The texts are taken from a book There were good reasons why Mahler should have to a personal interpretation; the music is full of of 8th-century Chinese poetry been possessed by thoughts of death at this time. details that reinforce his words. From very early on, rendered in German by Hans Bethge He was approaching 50 when he completed his almost from the opening bars, the first movement and were chosen because their Ninth Symphony, and a 50th birthday is an important is dominated by a two-note falling figure, like a sigh themes reflected Mahler’s weighty milestone on the road from birth to death. But Mahler (first heard on ). In the finale this figure returns, preoccupations throughout this final also had serious health worries. In 1908, a doctor had but it now falls by two steps – clearly spelling out period of his life. The music balances diagnosed a heart lesion, a condition which could the leading motif from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata the grand scale of a symphony only get worse. The previous year his elder daughter, ‘Les adieux’ (The Farewells), a work Mahler had with the intimacy required by song, Maria, had died of scarlet fever. All this was well- played in his student days. Beethoven marked his which made it difficult for even the known in musical Vienna when the Ninth Symphony motif ‘Lebe wohl’ (Farewell). composer himself to categorise. was first performed. Before long, a story was in lso.co.uk Programme Notes 5

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO 9 FIRST MOVEMENT THIRD MOVEMENT ON LSO LIVE In the first movement the two-note sigh emerges after All this is brusquely thrust aside by the Rondo – a short passage in which and low horn spell or ‘Burleske’ as Mahler subtitled it. Brilliantly, out a strange, faltering rhythm, which the conductor sometimes garishly scored, this is the movement compared to Mahler’s faltering in which Mahler shows off his contrapuntal skills; heartbeat. The exquisite long violin melody, which but a lot of it has a sarcastic tone: confirmed by grows from the first sighing figures, returns many Mahler’s dedication of this movement ‘To my times during the course of this long movement. brothers in Apollo’– a raspberry directed at the Between its appearances there are contrasting academics who found fault with his compositional episodes: impassioned, frantic, resigned, eerie by techniques. At the heart of this movement is an turns. One passage introduced by the ‘faltering heart’ extraordinary bittersweet episode, introduced rhythm on horns, followed by sinister drum taps, by a syrupy slow tune on a solo trumpet. But the is clearly a funeral march. movement ends as it began, full of sound and fury. £7.99 conductor Towards the end of the movement comes a sinister, FINALE skeletally scored passage, in which Mahler treats Finally comes the Adagio. In placing the slow ‘Nothing can detract from the his large orchestra as though it were a much movement last, Mahler may have been thinking of excellence of this disc: it is quite smaller chamber ensemble. But it is the sense Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’ symphony, or again of outstanding in every respect.’ of the sweetness of life which prevails in the final Bruckner’s Ninth – both works are overshadowed by International Record Review bars, the wonderfully delicate and thoughts of death. But what he achieves is utterly imaginative to the very last note. personal. The first theme (full strings) spells out Buy now | lsolive.lso.co.uk Beethoven’s ‘Farewell’ theme in full, and there’s also SECOND MOVEMENT a passing echo of the once-popular funeral hymn After this, the second movement is a surprise. ‘Abide with me’, which Mahler might have heard on Suddenly we are transported to an Austrian beer- one of his visits to New York. This richly sonorous garden, with coarse, heavy-footed dance tunes. music for the full strings alternates with weird, In fact three kinds of Ländler (country cousin to sparsely scored passages – more skeletal sounds. the sophisticated Viennese Waltz) alternate in this Eventually the ‘Farewell’ theme builds to a massive, movement: the ‘leisurely’ first theme, a faster, desperate climax, which seems to be striving for the rough-edged dance tune, and a gentle, sentimental transcendent glory of the Eighth Symphony (there’s slow waltz, leading off with a return of the first even a quotation from it on horns). The striving is movement’s ‘two-note sigh’. Comical though a in vain, and the rich textures thin out into the near- lot of this music is, there is something disquieting emptiness of the final bars: the silences between the about it, especially so in the coda, where the first slow, quiet phrases are almost unbearably poignant. Ländler tune takes on a more sinister expression. At last the music fades into nothingness. 6 Mahler the Man 23 May 2017

Mahler the Man by Stephen Johnson

obsession with mortality in Mahler’s music. Few of his major works do not feature a funeral march: in fact Mahler’s first composition (at age ten) was I am … a Funeral March with Polka – exactly the kind of three times homeless extreme juxtaposition one finds in his mature works. a native of Bohemia in Austria For most of his life Mahler supported himself by conducting, but this was no mere means to an end. an Austrian among Germans Indeed his evident talent and energetic, disciplined commitment led to successive appointments a Jew throughout the world. at Prague, Leipzig, Budapest, Hamburg and climactically, in 1897, the Vienna Court Opera. In the midst of this hugely demanding schedule, Mahler composed whenever he could, usually during his summer holidays. The rate at which he composed during these brief periods is astonishing. The workload in no way decreased after his marriage Mahler’s sense of being an outsider, coupled with to the charismatic and highly intelligent Alma Schindler a penetrating, restless intelligence, made him an in 1902. Alma’s infidelity – which almost certainly acutely self-conscious searcher after truth. For Mahler accelerated the final decline in Mahler’s health in the purpose of art was, in Shakespeare’s famous 1910/11 – has earned her black marks from some phrase, to ‘hold the mirror up to nature’ in all its biographers, but it is hard not to feel some sympathy bewildering richness. The symphony, he told Jean for her position as a ‘work widow’. Sibelius, ‘must be like the world. It must embrace everything’. Mahler’s can seem almost Nevertheless, many today have good cause to over-full with intense emotions and ideas: love and be grateful to Mahler for his single-minded devotion hate, joy in life and terror of death, the beauty of to his art. T S Eliot – another artist caught between nature, innocence and bitter experience. Similar the search for faith and the horror of meaninglessness – themes can also be found in his marvellous songs wrote that ‘humankind cannot bear very much reality’. and song-cycles, though there the intensity is, But Mahler’s music suggests another possibility. With if anything, still more sharply focused. his ability to confront the terrifying possibility of a purposeless universe and the empty finality of death, Gustav Mahler was born the second of 14 children. Mahler can help us confront and endure stark reality. His parents were apparently ill-matched (Mahler He can take us to the edge of the abyss, then sing remembered violent scenes), and young Gustav us the sweetest songs of consolation. If we allow grew dreamy and introspective, seeking comfort ourselves to make this journey with him, we may in nature rather than human company. Death was find that we too are the better for it. a presence from early on: six of Mahler’s siblings died in infancy. This no doubt partly explains the lso.co.uk Artist Biographies 7

Bernard Haitink Conductor

Bernard Haitink’s conducting career began 62 years He is committed to the development of young ago with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in his musical talent, and gives an annual conducting native Holland. He went on to be Chief Conductor masterclass at the Lucerne Easter Festival. This of the Concertgebouw Orchestra for 27 years, season in addition he gives conducting classes as well as Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival to students at the Hochschule der Kunst, Zurich, Opera, , Covent Garden, and and leads performances with the orchestra of Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic, the Royal College of Music. the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is Patron of the Radio Philharmonic, Bernard Haitink has an extensive discography and Conductor Emeritus of the Boston Symphony, for Phillips, Decca and EMI, as well as the many as well as an honorary member of both the Berlin new live recording labels established by orchestras Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. themselves in recent years, such as the London Symphony, Chicago Symphony and Bayerischer 2016 marked the 50th anniversary of Bernard Haitink’s Rundfunk. He has received many awards and first appearance at both the BBC Proms and the honours in recognition of his services to music, Lucerne Festival. These occasions were celebrated including several honorary doctorates, an honorary Conductor Emeritus with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Proms, Knighthood and Companion of Honour in the United Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and both the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Kingdom, and the House Order of Orange-Nassau Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Lucerne. He also in the Netherlands. Honorary Conductor toured with the European Union Youth Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of which he is Conductor Laureate, marking the 40th anniversary of their creation. The 2016/17 season Honorary Member began with the Berlin Philharmonic and has seen Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra him continuing his close association with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra Honorary Member of Europe, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, L’Orchestre Chamber Orchestra of Europe National de France, Orchestra Mozart, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the London and Conductor Laureate Boston Symphony Orchestras. He will also revisit European Union Youth Orchestra and conduct Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the orchestra and chorus of La Scala, Milan. This summer he appears at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic, and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at the BBC Proms and Lucerne Festival. 8 The Orchestra 23 May 2017

London Symphony Orchestra Your views On stage Inbox

FIRST VIOLINS FLUTES HORNS SUN 7 MAY – SIR MARK ELDER & ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER Roman Simovic Leader Edward Vanderspar Gareth Davies Timothy Jones George Tudorache Gillianne Haddow Alex Jakeman Angela Barnes Lennox Mackenzie Malcolm Johnston Patricia Moynihan Jonathan Lipton Mary Heyler Mark Elder/Anne-Sophie Mutter/Tchaikovsky – Clare Duckworth Regina Beukes Fiona Paterson Philip Woods delicious combination @londonsymphony Nigel Broadbent Anna Bastow Tim Ball Ginette Decuyper Julia O’Riordan PICCOLO Jörg Hammann Robert Turner Sharon Williams TRUMPETS Luís The Shostakovich was AMAZING. Maxine Kwok-Adams Jonathan Welch David Elton OBOES Claire Parfitt Samuel Burstin Phil Cobb Olivier Stankiewicz Laurent Quenelle Stephanie Edmundson Gerald Ruddock Rosie Jenkins Harriet Rayfield Maya Meron Niall Keatley SUN 14 MAY – NIKOLAJ ZNAIDER Maxwell Spiers Sylvain Vasseur Claire Newton TROMBONES Rhys Watkins COR ANGLAIS Peter Moore Eleanor Fagg CELLOS Martin Glancy Wonderful concert tonight by Christine Pendrill James Maynard Julia Rumley Rebecca Gilliver @londonsymphony. Sublime. Alastair Blayden Alain Petitclerc CLARINETS BASS TROMBONE Jennifer Brown Andrew Marriner Christian Jones SECOND VIOLINS Noel Bradshaw Sarah Thurlow Chris Baraniuk INCREDIBLE performance of Tchaikovsky’s David Alberman Eve-Marie Caravassilis Chris Richards TUBA Fifth Symphony tonight by @londonsymphony. Just wonderful. Thomas Norris Daniel Gardner Leslie Neish Sarah Quinn Hilary Jones E-FLAT CLARINET Miya Väisänen Miwa Rosso Chi-Yu Mo TIMPANI Daniel Shao Greatly enjoyed Mozart and Tchaikovsky David Ballesteros Hester Snell Antoine Bedewi BASS CLARINET Richard Blayden Deborah Tolksdorf tonight @londonsymphony – two kindred spirits! Katy Ayling PERCUSSION Matthew Gardner DOUBLE BASSES Neil Percy Julian Gil Rodriguez BASSOONS Colin Paris David Jackson Naoko Keatley Rachel Gough Patrick Laurence Sam Walton Belinda McFarlane Joost Bosdijk Matthew Gibson Paul Stoneman William Melvin Lois Au Thomas Goodman Iwona Muszynska HARPS Joe Melvin Andrew Pollock CONTRA BASSOON Bryn Lewis Jani Pensola Paul Robson Dominic Morgan Ruth Holden Hugh Sparrow Marco Behtash

LSO STRING EXPERIENCE SCHEME

Established in 1992, the LSO String Experience The Scheme is supported by London Symphony Orchestra Cover Photography Scheme enables young string players at the Help Musicians UK, The Polonsky Foundation, Barbican Ranald Mackechnie, featuring LSO start of their professional careers to gain Fidelio Charitable Trust, N Smith Charitable Silk Street Members with 20+ years’ service. work experience by playing in rehearsals Settlement, Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust, Barbara London Visit lso.co.uk/1617photos for a full list. and concerts with the LSO. The scheme Whatmore Charitable Trust and LSO Patrons. EC2Y 8DS auditions students from the London music Photography conservatoires, and 15 students per year Performing in tonight’s concert are Registered charity in England No 232391 Ranald Mackechnie, Chris Wahlberg, are selected to participate. The musicians Ting-Ru Lai (), Yaroslava Trofymchuck Clive Barda Details in this publication were correct are treated as professional ’extra’ players () and Salvador Morera Ortells at time of going to press. Print Cantate 020 3651 1690 (additional to LSO members) and receive fees (Double Bass). for their work in line with LSO section players. Editor Edward Appleyard Advertising Cabbell Ltd 020 3603 7937 [email protected]