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Home , Alexander Siloti, Gianandrea Noseda, Khatia Buniatishvili, Manfred Symphony, Oleg Maisenberg, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Sunday 29 October 2017 7–9pm Barbican Hall

LSO SEASON CONCERT RACHMANINOV AND TCHAIKOVSKY

Rachmaninov Piano No 2 Interval NOSEDA Tchaikovsky No 4

Gianandrea Noseda conductor piano Welcome Tonight’s Concert / an introduction

Having both embarked on a successful tour The two works in tonight’s programme PROGRAMME NOTE WRITERS with the over the summer to were composed in the darkest of times. Switzerland and Italy, we are delighted to be Andrew Huth is a musician, writer and able to hear these two artists perform with Rachmaninov’s Second was translator who writes extensively on French, the LSO once again at the Barbican. created in an of chaos for the , Russian and Eastern European . a period of clinical depression and writer’s A warm welcome to everyone in the block. It’s a piece born from determination; Andrew Stewart is a freelance music audience who joined us earlier for our it restored his self-belief and became one journalist and writer. He is the author Discovery Day, which explored the of his most loved works, with the opening of The LSO at 90, and contributes to connections between Tchaikovsky, chords of the concerto some of the most a wide variety of specialist classical Rachmaninov and Prokofiev through an iconic in all . music publications. Welcome to this evening’s concert, which open rehearsal, talks and . unites two significant works from the So too is Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony TONIGHT'S GROUPS Russian repertoire – Tchaikovsky’s Fourth I hope that you enjoy tonight’s performance, urgent, supercharged and violent in places, Symphony, an emotionally charged work and that you are able to join us again soon. reflecting the turmoil in which the composer Tonight we are delighted to welcome exploring the theme of fate, and, in a change We next hear the music of Tchaikovsky on found himself while composing: a disastrous group booker Erin Tschupp & Friends. to the original programme, Rachmaninov’s Thursday 7 December, as Nikolaj Znaider marriage, struggling with his sexuality and Second Piano Concerto. both plays and conducts in the final concert severe depression. of his Mozart and Tchaikovsky series. The LSO’s Principal Guest Conductor Yet it’s testament to the two – Gianandrea Noseda leads tonight’s all- and a message that seems ever more Russian programme, marking the start relevant – that there is still hope to be of the second year of his tenure. It is found, from the enduringly tender always a pleasure to work alongside him, of Rachmaninov’s concerto, to the call to and later this season we look forward to Kathryn McDowell CBE DL action of Tchaikovsky’s symphony: if within his continuation of the complete cycle Managing Director yourself you find no reason for joy, look at of Shostakovich’s 15 . He is others … find happiness in the joys of others’. joined on stage tonight by Khatia Buniatishvili, who is known to LSO audiences for her captivating performances at LSO St Luke’s as part of our BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert series.

2 Welcome 29 October 2017 Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor Op 18 1900–01 / note by Andrew Huth

1 Moderato the main theme. In the first movement it The Second Piano Concerto quickly became RACHMANINOV ON LSO LIVE 2 Adagio sostenuto – PiÙ animato – is the magical wide-spread piano chords, one of the most popular works in the Tempo I increasing in intensity until they plunge repertory. The piano writing draws on all 3 Allegro scherzando into a great surging string . Here, the resources of a late Romantic keyboard as throughout the Concerto, the lasting style, ranging from dazzling bravura to Khatia Buniatishvili piano image is that of piano and orchestra playing confessional intimacy. Rachmaninov always together; for despite all the virtuosity maintained that the difficulties of the he Second Piano Concerto demanded of the soloist, the piano is rarely Second Concerto were just as great as those was the major work marking heard alone, and the two elements are blended of the formidable Third, composed nine Rachmaninov’s return to in an ever-changing symphonic texture. years later, but were of a different order: composition after the period of silence and self-doubt that followed the failure — of his First Symphony in 1897. He wrote the Here, as throughout the Concerto, the lasting image is that of piano second and third movements quickly in the summer of 1900, but ran into problems with and orchestra playing together … the two elements are blended in an the first movement and rather surprisingly ever-changing symphonic texture. he was persuaded by his cousin, the pianist — Symphony No 2 and conductor , to give a conductor public performance of the concerto in its In the slow movement, after a hushed it is not a question of the technique needed £8.99 incomplete form – surely a risky venture string introduction, it is the sound of piano to master the notes, but of judging the for a composer so sensitive to criticism. and solo wind instruments that sets the exact sonority and weight of the notes in Symphony No 3 The success of the two completed mood, the varied textures masking the close different registers to produce the gradations Valery Gergiev conductor movements at a concert in relationships between the themes of the of tone that made the composer’s own £8.99 December 1900 did much to re-establish first two movements. The introduction to the performances so outstanding. • Rachmaninov’s self-confidence, and finale hints at a march, but what emerges All-Night Vigil (Vespers) the premiere of the completed concerto after the opening orchestral gestures and a Interval – 20 minutes Simon Halsey conductor followed on 27 October 1901. brief piano is more in the nature of a London Symphony Chorus vigorous dance which alternates with a long, £ 7.99 Each of the concerto’s three movements vocal melody closely related to the big tune begins with an idea which leads subtly into of the first movement. Buy online at lsolive.lso.co.uk Download on iTunes Stream on Apple Music and Spotify

Programme Notes 3 Sergei Rachmaninov in Profile 1873–1943 / profile by Andrew Stewart

Although the young Sergei’s father • RACHMANINOV’S PIANO CONCERTO squandered much of the family inheritance, NO 2 IN POPULAR CULTURE he at first invested wisely in his son’s musical education. In 1882 the boy received a scholarship to study at the St Petersburg Conservatory, but further disasters at home hindered his progress and he moved to study at the . Here he proved an outstanding piano pupil and began to study composition. Rachmaninov’s early works reveal his debt to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky, although he rapidly forged a personal, richly lyrical musical language, clearly expressed in his Prelude in C-sharp minor for piano of 1892. — Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto is The Concerto has even influenced pop music, ‘Melody is music,’ wrote Rachmaninov, His First Symphony of 1897 was savaged perhaps best known as the soundtrack to twice quoted by singer Eric in All By by the critics, which caused the composer’s David Lean's classic 1945 film Brief Encounter, Myself (1975) and Never Gonna Fall in Love ‘the basis of music as a whole, since a confidence to evaporate. In desperation which narrates the consequences of a love Again (1976). Rock band Muse, known for perfect melody implies and calls into he sought help from Dr Nikolai Dahl, affair between two strangers after a chance their classical influences, also quoted the being its own harmonic design.’ whose hypnotherapy sessions restored meeting at a train station. But it has also piece in their 2001 song Space Dementia. Rachmaninov’s self-belief and gave him been widely quoted in popular culture over — the will to complete his Second Piano the course of the 20th century. Concerto, widely known through its later he Russian composer, pianist use as the soundtrack for the classic film The 1955 film The Seven Year Itch with and conductor’s passion for Brief Encounter •. Thereafter, his creative Marilyn Monroe – the film that gave us melody was central to his work, imagination ran free to produce a string the iconic image above right – uses the clearly heard in his Rhapsody on a Theme of unashamedly romantic works divorced first movement in a fantasy scene where of Paganini, a brilliant and diverse set from newer musical trends. He left Monroe's character is overcome by the of variations on a tune by the great shortly before the October Revolution in music (although in reality she much 19th-century violinist and composer 1917, touring as pianist and conductor and prefers Chopsticks). Niccolò Paganini. buying properties in Europe and the US. •

4 Composer Profile 29 October 2017 in Profile 1840–93 / profile by Andrew Stewart

orn in Kamsko-Votkinsk in the Tchaikovsky’s hasty decision to marry an Vyatka province of Russia on 7 May almost unknown admirer in 1877 proved 1840, Tchaikovsky grew up with his a disaster, his homosexuality combining father, a mining engineer, and his mother, strongly with his sense of entrapment. who was of French extraction. He began to By now he had completed his Fourth study the piano at five, benefiting also from Symphony, was about to finish his the mus­ical instruction of his elder brother’s Eugene , and had attracted the French governess. In 1848 the family moved considerable financial and moral support of to the imperial capital, St Petersburg, , an affluent widow. She where Pyotr was enrolled at the School of helped him through his personal crisis and Jurisprudence. He overcame his grief at his in 1878 he returned to com­position with the mother’s death in 1854 by composing and Concerto, although his work remained performing, although music was to remain inhibited until the completion in 1885 of the a diversion from his job – as a clerk at the Byron-inspired Symphony. Ministry of Justice – until he enrolled as a full-time student at the St Petersburg Tchaikovsky claimed that his Sixth Symphony Conservatory in 1863. represented his best work. The mood of crushing despair heard in all but the work’s His First Symphony was warmly received third move­ment reflected the composer’s at its St Peters­­burg premiere in 1868 and troubled state of mind. He died nine days he completed an opera on a melodrama after its premiere on 6 November 1893. • by Ostrovsky, which he later destroyed. , the first of his three great ballet scores, was written in 1876 for Moscow’s . Between 1869 and the year of his death Tchai­kovsky composed over 100 songs, cast mainly in the impassioned Romance style and textually preoccupied with the frustration and despair associated with love, con­ditions that characterised his personal relationships.

Composer Profile 5 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No 4 in Op 36 1877–78 / note by Andrew Huth

1 Andante sostenuto – her: ‘I am now absorbed in a symphony which For all his protestations to friends, relatives willing to explain the meaning of both the Moderato con anima I began to compose as far back as the winter, and to Antonina herself, Tchaikovsky whole and of the separate movements’. 2 Andantino in modo di canzona and which I very much want to dedicate to found his new wife utterly repugnant, both 3 : Allegro you because I think you will find in it echoes personally and sexually. Less than three The introductory fanfare, we learn from this 4 Finale: Allegro con fuoco of your innermost thoughts and feelings’. months later, after attempting suicide, letter, represents Fate, which Tchaikovsky he ran away from her, and was taken abroad grimly described as ‘the fatal force which chaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, The composition of the Fourth Symphony by his brother Anatoly. It was in Venice and prevents our hopes of happiness from being like his opera •, was then well advanced, with the first three San Remo that the Fourth Symphony was realised, and which watches jealously to is closely associated with the great movements fully sketched out. By mid-June completed in December and January. see that our bliss and happiness are never crisis in his life which ended in attempted the finale, too, was fully drafted – but other The first performance took place in Moscow complete and unclouded … it is inescapable suicide and mental breakdown. But in events interrupted the symphony’s completion. on 22 February under . and it can never be overcome’. The first fact the symphony is not an expression movement is based on a contrast between of the crisis itself, rather it reflects the — the harsh reality of inevitable fate and emotional states that led up to it. It was Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, like his opera Eugene Onegin, passing visions of happiness. begun early in 1877, at a time when he was much occupied with teaching duties at the is closely associated with the great crisis in his life which ended in The second movement conveys the Moscow Conservatoire, and when the first attempted suicide and mental breakdown. melancholy, both sad and pleasant, that performances of Swan Lake, the Second — comes from recalling the past. The third and the movement is emotionally more neutral, added to his growing In May Tchaikovsky was approached by a 28- Tchaikovsky was absent, as he was from consisting of ‘elusive images which rush reputation. His personal life, though, was year-old stranger called Antonina Milyukova, the more successful St Petersburg premiere past in the imagination when you have spiralling towards disaster as he persisted who said she had fallen in love with him when later that year. drunk a little wine and experience the first in the idea that marriage would provide she was a student at the Conservatoire. stage of intoxication’. As for the finale, the answer to his terrible loneliness. By a fateful coincidence, this was around Composers’ own comments on their ‘if within yourself you find no reason for joy, the time that he began to consider Pushkin’s music are often unhelpful and misleading, look at others. Get out among the people … At the end of 1876 there began – hesitantly Eugene Onegin as an operatic subject, particularly when too much weight is given find happiness in the joys of others’. at first – a strange 13-year correspondence and he was tormented by the thought of to casual or self-critical remarks made on with Nadezhda von Meck •, another lonely Onegin’s cruel and cynical rejection of the the spur of the moment. In the case of the This was written sometime after the and passionate character, and between the love offered by the naïve and romantic Fourth Symphony, however, Tchaikovsky Symphony had been completed, and when two there developed an emotional intimacy young girl Tatiana. Tchaikovsky and Antonina did do his best to tell Nadezhda von Meck Tchaikovsky’s frame of mind was very which depended on their never meeting in Milyukova first met on 1 June and were something of what the work might represent: different; and at the end of this letter he person. On 13 May 1877 Tchaikovsky wrote to married just seven weeks later, on 18 July. ‘… to you, and only to you, I am able and tried to minimise its significance, for he

6 Programme Notes 29 October 2017 realised how commonplace the words were • EUGENE ONEGIN • NADEZHDA VON MECK TCHAIKOVSKY ON LSO LIVE compared with the originality of the musical images he had created. He does reveal, Eugene Onegin is a novel-in-verse written however, a clear progression from interior by . The title character to exterior, from the self-obsessed first is the archetypal ‘superfluous man’: young, movement, through images of the past and wealthy and concerned only with trivial the outer world, to images of ‘the people’ matters and the pursuit of a genteel in the finale – which may very well reflect idleness. One of its central themes is the something of his current admiration for inhumanity of the rigid social conventions Tolstoy, whose had recently that defined Russian society at the time, been serialised. which both Tchaikovsky and Pushkin famously fell victim to (the former with his When he was composing the Symphony, torturous love-life, and the latter, who died Tchaikovsky was desperately trying to following a duel). Tchaikovsky’s opera based escape from his own nature and find on the novel was first performed in 1879. fulfilment outside his own obsessions, and if he failed miserably in practice, Nadezhda von Meck (1831–94), a wealthy Symphonies Nos 1–3 he succeeded remarkably in his music. businesswoman and widow of a Russian Valery Gergiev conductor After the Fourth Symphony and Eugene railway tycoon, was Tchaikovsky’s most £12.99 Onegin it would be several years before important and trusted patron. Although he would again be able to compose with the pair never met, Tchaikovsky referred for Strings in C such overwhelming emotional conviction. • to her in letters as his ‘best friend’ and Roman Simovic leader revealed to her many of the personal LSO String Ensemble thoughts and inspirations that lay behind £ 7.99 his compositions. Buy online at lsolive.lso.co.uk Download on iTunes Stream on Apple Music and Spotify

Programme Notes 7 THE 2017/18 SEASON CONTINUES …

Gianandrea Noseda continues his cycle of Shostakovich’s 15 symphonies

Symphony No 8 8 April 2018

Symphony No 10 24 June 2018

lso.co.uk/201718season 020 7638 8891 Gianandrea Noseda conductor

idely recognised as one of Noseda works with the leading opera houses underappreciated Italian repertoire of the the leading conductors of his and in the world, including the 20th century and brought to light many generation, Gianandrea Noseda , La Scala, Munich masterpieces. He has also recorded opera was named the National Symphony Philharmonic, , albums with celebrated vocalists such as Orchestra’s seventh Music Director in January NHK Symphony, Orchestra dell’Accademia Ildebrando d’Arcangelo, Rolando Villazón, 2016. He has served as Music Director of Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Philadelphia and . Critics the Teatro Regio Torino since 2007, his Orchestra, and the Royal Opera House. have also received recordings of Britten's visionary leadership and ambitious global He also continues to work with institutions War Requiem and Verdi's Requiem for the touring ushering in a transformative era for where he has previously held posts, including LSO Live label with huge acclaim. the company. Noseda has taken the Teatro the BBC Philharmonic, which he led from Regio Torino on two major residencies in 2002–11; the Pittsburgh Symphony, where Noseda is dedicated to the next generation recent months: two weeks at the the Victor de Sabata Chair was created for of artists, through his masterclasses and Festival in August 2017; and one week in him as Principal Guest Gonductor; and the work with youth orchestras, including the Muscat, Oman earlier this month. The , which appointed him its European Union Youth Orchestra. Edinburgh residency was among the longest first foreign Principal Guest Conductor in 1997, by a visiting company in the Festival’s history. a position he held for a decade. A native of Milan, Noseda is Cavaliere Ufficiale al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, Noseda also serves as Principal Guest Gianandrea Noseda has a cherished marking his contribution to the artistic life Conductor of the London Symphony relationship with the Metropolitan Opera of Italy. In 2015 he was honoured as Musical Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic dating back to 2002. In the 2016/17 season America’s Conductor of the Year, and was Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the he conducted a new production of Gounod’s named the 2016 International Opera Awards Orquestra de Cadaqués, and Artistic Roméo et Juliette, which received its premiere Conductor of the Year. In December 2016 he Director of the Stresa Festival in Italy. at the New Year’s Eve Gala; he also led a was honoured to conduct the Nobel Prize critically acclaimed new production of Bizet's Concert in Stockholm. • Highlights of his 2017/18 season include Les pêcheurs de perles which premiered at the weeks with the Israel Philharmonic, New Year’s Eve Gala in 2015. New York Philharmonic, and a tour of the Far East with the London Noseda’s intense recording activity includes Symphony Orchestra in addition to concerts more than 50 CDs, many of which have been in London. In May 2018 he will lead the celebrated by critics and received awards. Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie His Musica Italiana project, which he initiated Hall for the first time. more than ten years ago, has chronicled

Artist Biographies 9 Khatia Buniatishvili piano

orn in , Khatia Buniatishvili Placido Domingo, Semyon Bychkov, as Kissine, Tchaikovsky: Piano Trios with Gidon discovered piano at the early age Myung-Whun Chung and Philippe Jordan. Kremer and Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė (2011) and of three. She gave her first concert Orchestras she has collaborated with Franck, Grieg, Dvořák: Violin Sonatas (2014) with the Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra when she include the Israel Philharmonic, Los with violinist Renaud Capuçon. She also was six and was subsequently invited to tour Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco collaborated with the band Coldplay on their internationally with them. Throughout her Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Philadelphia latest album A Head Full of Dreams. career, she has performed at venues around Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, São Paulo the world, such as (New York), State Symphony, China Philharmonic, She has won two ECHO Klassik Awards, in 2012 Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), NHK Symphony, London Symphony, for and in 2016 for Kaleidoscope. Royal Festival Hall (London), Musikverein BBC Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, and Konzerthaus (), Orchestre National de , Filarmonica Khatia studied in Tbilisi with Tengiz Amiredjibi (Amsterdam), Berlin Philharmonie, Paris della Scala, , Rotterdam and in Vienna with . • Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic. (Paris), La Scala (Milan), Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Palau de la Música Catalana Khatia has been involved in numerous social (Barcelona), Victoria Hall (Geneva), Tonhalle rights projects, such as the DLDwomen13 (Zurich), Rudolfinum (Prague), Grand Conference (2013) in Munich, To Russia Theater (Shanghai), Beijing NCPA (Beijing), with Love (2013), a concert in Berlin to speak NCPA (Mumbai), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), and out against the violation of human rights Esplanade Theatre (Singapore). Khatia has in Russia, Charity Concert in Kiev (2015) participated in the , Verbier, Gstaad for wounded people in the Anti-Terrorist Menuhin, La Roque d’Anthéron, and iTunes Operation Zone, and the United Nation’s festivals, as well as LA’s Hollywood Bowl, 70th Anniversary Humanitarian Concert BBC Proms, Klavier-Festival Ruhr and (2015) in Geneva, which benefited Syrian Progetto Martha Argerich. refugees. In July 2017, Khatia performed at the Global Citizen Festival at the start Among Khatia’s musical partners are some of the G20 Summit in Hamburg. of the world’s leading conductors and orchestras. She has performed under Her discography includes Franz Liszt the batons of , Kent Nagano, (2011), Chopin (2012), Motherland (2014), Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, , Kaleidoscope (2016), and Rachmaninoff Yannick Nézet-Séguin, , (2017) under the SONY Classical label, as well

10 Artist Biographies 29 October 2017 London Symphony Orchestra on stage tonight

Leader Second LSO String Experience Scheme Carmine Lauri Thomas Norris Rebecca Gilliver Gareth Davies Philip Cobb Since 1992, the LSO String Experience Sarah Quinn Alastair Blayden Alex Jakeman Gerald Ruddock Scheme has enabled young string players First Violins Miya Väisänen Jennifer Brown Niall Keatley from the London music conservatoires at Lennox Mackenzie Matthew Gardner Noel Bradshaw Piccolo the start of their professional careers to gain Clare Duckworth Belinda McFarlane Eve-Marie Caravassilis Sharon Williams work experience by playing in rehearsals Nigel Broadbent Iwona Muszynska Daniel Gardner Dudley Bright and concerts with the LSO. The musicians Ginette Decuyper Andrew Pollock Hilary Jones James Maynard are treated as professional ‘extra’ players Gerald Gregory Paul Robson Amanda Truelove Gordon Hunt (additional to LSO members) and receive Maxine Kwok-Adams Caroline Frenkel Miwa Rosso Rosie Jenkins Bass fees for their work in line with LSO section Claire Parfitt Victoria Irish Deborah Tolksdorf Paul Milner players. The Scheme is supported by The Harriet Rayfield Hazel Mulligan Polonsky Foundation, Lord and Lady Lurgan Colin Renwick Katerina Nazarova Double Basses Andrew Marriner Trust, Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust Sylvain Vasseur Philip Nolte Colin Paris Chris Richards Ben Thomson and The Thistle Trust. Takane Funatsu Robert Yeomans Patrick Laurence Chi-Yu Mo William Melvin Thomas Goodman Hilary Jane Parker Joe Melvin Nigel Thomas Alain Petitclerc Edward Vanderspar Jani Pensola Daniel Jemison Erzsebet Racz Malcolm Johnston Hugh Sparrow Nina Ashton Percussion Anna Bastow Simo Väisänen Neil Percy Lander Echevarria Nicholas Worters Horns David Jackson Julia O’Riordan Alexander Edmundson Sam Walton Editor Robert Turner Angela Barnes Edward Appleyard | [email protected] Jonathan Welch James Pillai Fiona Dinsdale | [email protected] Cameron Campbell Jonathan Lipton Editorial Photography Stephen Doman Jason Koczur Ranald Mackechnie, Ronald Grant Archive, Stephanie Edmundson Esther Haase / Sony Classical Caroline O’Neill Print Cantate 020 3651 1690 Felicity Matthews Advertising Cabbells Ltd 020 3603 7937

Details in this publication were correct at time of going to press.

The Orchestra 11 THE 2017/18 SEASON CONTINUES …

with the LSO at the Barbican

Alice Sara Ott plays Liszt 26 November 2017 Cédric Tiberghien plays Debussy 25 January 2018 Francesco Piemontesi plays Bartók 8 February 2018 lso.co.uk/201718season 020 7638 8891