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Home , Adrian Boult, Andrew Davis (conductor), Andrew Marriner, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Cello Symphony (Britten), Gordan Nikolitch

Symphony Living Music

Thursday 18 May 2017 7.30pm Barbican Hall

Vaughan Williams Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus Brahms INTERVAL Holst – Suite

Sir conductor Roman Simovic Tim Hugh Ladies of the London’s Symphony Orchestra chorus director

Concert finishes approx 9.45pm

Supported by Baker McKenzie

2 Welcome 18 May 2017

Welcome Living Music Kathryn McDowell In Brief

Welcome to tonight’s LSO concert at the Barbican. BMW LSO OPEN AIR CLASSICS 2017 This evening we are joined by Sir Mark Elder for the second of two concerts this season, as he conducts The London Symphony Orchestra, in partnership with a programme of Vaughan Williams, Brahms and Holst. BMW and conducted by , performs an all-Rachmaninov programme in London’s Trafalgar It is always a great pleasure to see the musicians Square this Sunday 21 May, the sixth concert in of the LSO appear as soloists with the Orchestra. the Orchestra’s annual BMW LSO Open Air Classics Tonight, after Vaughan Williams’ Five Variants of series, free and open to all. Dives and Lazarus, the LSO’s Leader Roman Simovic and Principal Cello Tim Hugh take centre stage for lso.co.uk/openair Brahms’ Double Concerto.

We conclude the concert with Holst’s much-loved LSO WIND ENSEMBLE ON LSO LIVE The Planets, for which we welcome the London Symphony Chorus and Choral Director Simon Halsey. The new recording of Mozart’s Serenade No 10 The LSO premiered the complete suite of The Planets for Wind Instruments (‘Gran Partita’) by the LSO Wind in 1920, and we are thrilled that the 2002 recording Ensemble is now available on LSO Live. To order your of the work on LSO Live with Sir has copy, please visit the website: recently achieved platinum status. lsolive.lso.co.uk I would like to take this opportunity to thank Baker McKenzie for their generous sponsorship of tonight’s concert. The LSO and Baker McKenzie A WARM WELCOME TO TONIGHT’S GROUPS celebrate 20 years of partnership this year and we thank them for their longstanding support as our Tonight we are delighted to welcome: legal partners. Thanks also go to our media partners Classic FM, who have recommended tonight’s Faversham Music Club performance to their listeners. Gerrards Cross Community Association Hertfordshire and Essex National Trust I hope that you enjoy the concert, and that you can Queen Elizabeth Girls School join us again soon. On Tuesday 23 May, Bernard King Edward VI Grammar School Haitink will join us for the first of three concerts, The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School which focus on Mahler, Bruckner and Beethoven. lso.co.uk/groups

Kathryn McDowell CBE DL Managing Director 3074MAR_LSO_Dec16.indd 2 04/04/2017 11:20:19 4 Programme Notes 18 May 2017

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus (1939)

PROGRAMME NOTE WRITER was an avid collector of ‘These variants are not exact WENDY THOMPSON studied at English folksong, which he used constantly throughout replicas of traditional tunes, but the , before his long composing career. Much of his orchestral taking an MMus in musicology at music, from the early Norfolk Rhapsody onwards, is rather reminiscences of various King’s College, London. In addition marinated in its plangent modality and characteristic versions in my own collection to writing about music she is triplet rhythmic figuration. Executive Director of Classic Arts and those of others.’ Productions, a major supplier of In 1939, while he was working on his Fifth Symphony, programmes to BBC Radio. Vaughan Williams took time off to compose Five War broke out shortly after the US premiere of Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus, scored for strings and Variants of Dives and Lazarus, and in November harp, for his champion Sir to conduct 1939 Sir Adrian Boult conducted the first British In the first few weeks of , at the New York Fair in June that year. The ancient performance in the Colston Hall in , where the the BBC made plans to evacuate to tune was one that Vaughan Williams had known and evacuated BBC Symphony Orchestra was based. Bristol after German bombs struck loved since 1893. Its origins are obscure, but it dates 19 years later, Boult directed it at the ’s several BBC buildings. Queen’s back to at least the 16th century. In it was funeral in , an occasion movingly Hall, then home to , was traditionally sung as a carol to the words ‘Come described by the writer and biographer Michael destroyed and there were several all ye faithful Christians’, but in Ireland it was known Kennedy: ‘Into the silence of the Abbey came explosions at , as ‘The star of the County Down’, and in Scotland the first notes of the Five Variants of Dives and including one in the Music Library as ‘Gilderoy’. Lazarus. It was as if Vaughan Williams himself had which killed seven people. The BBC spoken. The tune which he had loved all his life, Symphony Orchestra was evacuated Vaughan Williams also came across other variants of which came from the soil of England, ageless and to Colston Hall with the contingency the tune during his folksong-collecting expeditions: anonymous … was the perfect device to create that they could continue broadcasting in 1905 he had found a particularly gruesome one in a mood of remembrance which will haunt those from a disused railway tunnel if Norfolk, set to the words ‘The Murder of Maria Martin’, who experienced it to the end of their days.’ performance in the Hall became or ‘The Red Barn’ (referring to a notorious Victorian impossible. The tunnel was even murder case), and others in his bag included versions tested with the Orchestra at full called ‘The Thresher’ and ‘Cold blows the wind’. volume to ensure the structure All these were later put to good use: Vaughan Williams could withstand the sound. said of his orchestral piece – an introduction and theme followed by five vividly contrasted variations: lso.co.uk Composer Profile 5

Ralph Vaughan Williams Composer Profile SUMMER 2017 HIGHLIGHTS

Born in on 12 October 1872, Ralph Vaughan Williams moved to Dorking in Surrey at the age of two, following the death of his father. Here, his maternal grandparents, Josiah Wedgwood – of the pottery family – and his wife Caroline, who was the sister of Charles Darwin, encouraged a musical upbringing.

Vaughan Williams attended Charterhouse School, and in 1890 he enrolled at the Royal College of Music, becoming a pupil of Sir . Weekly lessons at the RCM continued when he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1892. Vaughan Williams’ (8 Jun) first composition to make any public impact, the song Linden Lea, was published in 1902. Sun 28 May 7pm Bruckner Symphony No 9 COMPOSER PROFILE WRITER His ‘discovery’ of folk song in 1903 was a major conductor STEPHEN CONNOCK influence on the development of his style. A period of study with in 1908 was also very Sun 4 Jun 7pm successful, with Vaughan Williams learning, as he put Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 (‘Pathétique’) it, ‘how to orchestrate in points of colour rather than conductor in lines’. The immediate outcome was the song-cycle On Wenlock Edge. The Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Thu 8 Jun 7.30pm Tallis, using a tune he had studied while editing the Brahms Concerto No 2 English Hymnal, was first performed in Yuja Wang piano Cathedral in 1910. With these works he established Michael Tilson Thomas conductor a reputation which subsequent compositions, such as the Symphony No 3 (‘Pastoral’), and Sun 25 Jun 7pm the Mass in G minor, served to consolidate. Mahler Symphony No 3 Daniel Harding conductor In 1921 he became conductor of , alongside his Professorship at the RCM. Over his Sun 9 Jul 7pm long life, he contributed notably to all musical forms, Andrew Norman A Trip to the Moon including film music. It is in his nine symphonies Sir conductor however, spanning a period of almost 50 years, that Supported by the Fund for Music the greatest range of musical expression is evident. Vaughan Williams died on 26 August 1958, just a few 020 7638 8891 months after the premiere of his Ninth Symphony. lso.co.uk 6 Programme Notes 18 May 2017

Johannes Brahms (1833–97) Double Concerto for Violin and Cello Op 102 (1887)

1 ALLEGRO The combination of violin and cello with orchestra 2 ANDANTE was original, perhaps unprecedented. Brahms 3 VIVACE NON TROPPO certainly had in mind such works as Bach’s Concerto for Two , Mozart’s Concertante for ROMAN SIMOVIC VIOLIN Violin and , and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for TIM HUGH CELLO Violin, Cello and Piano, but writing to Clara in August 1887 he spoke of his difficulties. ‘After all it is quite PROGRAMME NOTE WRITER Brahms was 20 when he first met the violinist Joseph different to write for instruments whose character ANDREW HUTH is a musician, Joachim, and the friendship that grew between the two and sound is only approximate in one’s ear, which writer and translator who writes was perhaps the closest in Brahms’ life, comparable one hears only in the mind – instead of writing for extensively on French, Russian (though very different in character) to his love for an instrument whose character and sound one and Eastern European music. . In 1863 Joachim married the singer knows through and through, as I know the piano’. Amalie Schneeweiss and the birth of their first son in 1864, named Johannes in honour of the composer, This was a strange admission from the composer, (1831–1907) was marked by the composition of Brahms’ Geistliches who the previous year had composed his Second was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, Wiegenlied, his tender lullaby for voice, viola and , Second and Third Piano composer and teacher. He is noted piano. Unfortunately, the marriage ended bitterly Trio (though admittedly the string writing in the for reviving interest in the Violin in 1880. Brahms took Amalie’s side in the dispute Double Concerto is far more challenging than in any Sonatas and Partitas of J S Bach, and Joachim broke off relations with him, although of the , and the orchestral writing is as well as Beethoven’s Violin never ceasing to perform and promote his music. richer and more varied than any of the piano parts). Concerto, both now key pieces in the repertoire. Joachim’s close Then in July 1887, after seven years of estrangement, Brahms conducted the first performance in collaboration with Brahms produced Joachim received a postcard from Brahms, followed Cologne on 18 October 1887, and gave several the in D major, and by a letter in which he explained: ‘I was of late unable further performances with Joachim and Hausmann several other major violin works to resist ideas of a concerto for violin and violoncello, over the next two years. It was often greeted with were written for him, including however much I tried again and again to talk myself more respect than enthusiasm. It is still the least Schumann’s Concerto in D major out of it. Now I am indifferent to all sorts of things performed of Brahms’ four concertos; the practical and Dvorˇák’s Concerto in A minor. about it except for the question of your attitude’. problems of finding two compatible soloists may be one reason, the concentrated style another. One has Brahms went on to ask Joachim to play through the impression of great compositional virtuosity, the new concerto with him and Robert Hausmann, but also of a density that does not instantly reveal the cellist of the Joachim Quartet. The three musicians its beauties. It is in a sense intimate chamber music, met up in Baden-Baden, and rehearsed it in the but laid out on an orchestral scale. presence of Clara, who wrote delightedly in her diary, ‘Joachim and Brahms have at last spoken to each other after many years’. lso.co.uk Programme Notes 7

Johannes Brahms Composer Profile

The minor mode is not tragic here but mellow, and Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, the son of the rich harmonies are enhanced by a rhythmic an impecunious musician; his mother later opened subtlety and a technique of continuous variation that a haberdashery business to help lift the family out of gives at times a sense of improvisation. After a brief poverty. Showing early musical promise he became a orchestral gesture the concerto actually begins with pupil of the distinguished local and composer a cadenza – first for the cello alone, and then for the Eduard Marxsen and supplemented his parents’ violin joined by the cello. There are many passages meagre income by playing in the bars and brothels in this first movement where the two soloists seem of Hamburg’s infamous red-light district. to become a single stringed instrument with an enormous range of five octaves. In 1853 Brahms presented himself to in Düsseldorf, winning unqualified approval from the The slow movement and finale balance the long older composer. Brahms fell in love with Schumann’s opening movement both in weight and duration. wife, Clara, supporting her after her husband’s illness The and woodwind call that opens the Andante and death. The relationship did not develop as Brahms establishes a twilit romantic atmosphere, and the wished, and he returned to Hamburg; their close soloists play together in octaves, a texture only friendship, however, survived. In 1862 Brahms moved fleetingly heard in the course of the first movement. COMPOSER PROFILE WRITER to Vienna where he found fame as a conductor, pianist It is the type of melody of which only Brahms knew ANDREW STEWART and composer. The premiere of his German the secret, combining strength and tenderness. in 1869 was a triumph, with subsequent performances establishing Brahms as one of the The finale is full of references to the gypsy style that emerging German nation’s foremost . Brahms so loved (it features prominently in the finale Following the long-delayed completion of his First of the Violin Concerto, written nine years earlier, Symphony in 1876, he composed in quick succession also for Joachim). The movement’s elaborate rondo the Violin Concerto, the two piano Rhapsodies, Op 79, structure contains a wealth of material, including the First Violin Sonata and the Second Symphony. a slowed down autumnal episode – perhaps His subsequent association with the much-admired a celebration of friendship and reconciliation – court orchestra in Meiningen allowed him freedom to before the closing flourishes of what was to be experiment and de­velop new ideas, the relationship Brahms’ last orchestral work. crowned by the Fourth Symphony of 1884.

In his final years, Brahms composed a series of INTERVAL – 20 minutes profound works for the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld, There are bars on all levels of the Concert Hall; ice cream and explored matters of life and death in his can be bought at the stands on Stalls and Circle level. Four Serious Songs. He died at his modest lodgings Why not tweet us your thoughts on the first half of the in Vienna in 1897, receiving a hero’s funeral at performance @londonsymphony? the city’s central cemetery three days later. 8 Programme Notes 18 May 2017

Gustav Holst (1874–1934) The Planets – Suite Op 32 (1914–16)

1 MARS, THE BRINGER OF WAR A Great War is enough to depress anyone, but Holst 2 VENUS, THE BRINGER OF PEACE does seem to have been suffering from a certain mid- 3 MERCURY, THE WINGED MESSENGER life crisis during the 1910s: his compositions of the 4 JUPITER, THE BRINGER OF JOLLITY time were not well received, bringing disappointment, 5 SATURN, THE BRINGER OF OLD AGE and his health was poor. He found solace through 6 , THE MAGICIAN his interest in , introduced to him through 7 , THE MYSTIC his great friend (brother of composer Arnold). This, in turn, could have been the catalyst PROGRAMME NOTE WRITER The Planets was written during the first two years that reignited his interest in theosophy and it is these SARAH BREEDEN regularly of , making a public premiere impossible. two influences, Greek mythology and astrology (and contributes to BBC Proms family The first performance was a private occasion on presumably a little help from some fortuitous star concert programmes, has written 29 , given by the Queen’s Hall alignment), that inspired The Planets. on film music for the LPO as well Orchestra conducted by the great Sir Adrian Boult. as the LSO, school notes for The score had the following inscription: Each movement is given a planet’s moniker, named the London and the after a Roman god and its corresponding astrological booklet notes for the EMI Classical ‘This copy is the property of personality, some of which were also attributes of Clubhouse series. She worked for Adrian Boult, who first caused Holst’s own character: the exuberance of Jupiter with BBC Proms for several years. a dash of humour of Uranus. All planets of the solar The Planets to shine in public system are represented except for Earth and Pluto and thereby earned the gratitude (which hadn’t been discovered at the time). Composer THE PLANETS ON LSO LIVE , on request, wrote a movement for of .’ Pluto in 2000, causing some controversy, but this is not being performed this evening. The work has been shining ever since and is Holst’s most glittering and well-known piece. Its composition MARS, THE BRINGER OF WAR took two frustrating years to complete. It was no The ‘violent’ planet in astronomy is in full evidence. easy task: he was writing it in his spare time, fitting The strings’ use of bows (using the wood of it around his duties as a teacher at St Paul’s Girls’ the bow rather than the hair), surges on the brass and School, , and gigging as a professional metallic sounds of the unrelenting march certainly trombonist. Years later, Holst had to give up teaching, conjure up a battle cry of sounds. In his notes to Boult partly because of ill health. This meant that he could after the first performance, Holst requested that Mars Hear Sir Colin Davis’ blazing concentrate on composing, but frustration continued ‘must sound more unpleasant and far more terrifying’ performance on LSO Live, recorded as he was ‘expected’ to compose in a similar style to and that the qualities he wanted represented were over three evenings in June 2002. that of The Planets, which had achieved immediate ‘violence, fierceness, but above all the stupidity … success. He grew to despise his work’s fame – of men and animals who take pleasure in fighting’. lsolive.lso.co.uk rather like Saint-Saëns’ disdain for his own popular If this is your first foray with The Planets you may be Carnival of the Animals. surprised to have a vague recollection of hearing this movement before, most likely because drew on it heavily in his score for . lso.co.uk Programme Notes 9

VENUS, THE BRINGER OF PEACE is Saturn raging against the fate that comes to us all? In complete opposition to angry Mars, Venus restores Exhausted, it ends with a moment of acceptance. calm and rubs a restorative balm. Contemplative Holst’s favourite movement, he wrote that Saturn woodwind respond to the horns’ simple rising theme, ‘must begin from another world and gradually lush muted strings and a solo violin offer a musical overwhelm this one’. olive branch. Holst wrote that this movement is ‘pervaded by a serenity of a world which nothing URANUS, THE MAGICIAN seems able to disturb’. Representing the stars are Uranus is of the psychopathic, fire-and-brimstone SANDRO BOTTICELLI’s the heavenly harp, and celeste that school of magicians. Four mighty notes on brass that The Birth of Venus dates from has a suitably ‘celestial’ sound, most famously used open the movement both cast a spell but also spell the late 15th century and is the to accompany the Sugar Plum Fairy in Tchaikovsky’s out the musical equivalent of Holst’s name on the best known representation of the ballet . , his own instrument, implying that he is Roman goddess in Classical art. the magician here. The four-note theme is heard MERCURY, THE WINGED MESSENGER throughout the movement against a contrasting, THE FIRST PERFORMANCE Skittish and lively, Mercury flies hither and thither. increasingly manic march, interrupted by sinister in public of the complete suite Bells announce his arrival; the celeste and scurrying descending flutterings on flutes. Although The Planets was given by the LSO and strings chase after him. The complicated rhythms takes astrology as its foundation, it has been suggested conductor on suggest he’s saying ‘catch me if you can!’, in this, that the lumbering off-kilter tune represents Uranus’ 15 November 1920. the shortest of the movements. unique axis that rotates on its side. recounted that ‘the beauty of the smaller movements grows with JUPITER, THE BRINGER OF JOLLITY NEPTUNE, THE MYSTIC familiarity. Indeed, the ‘Mercury’ Fat, happy Jupiter! And why not? He is, after all, king The far reaches of the solar system are given an Scherzo, which was played of the gods, astrologically benevolent and kind. Big, out-of-this-world quality with shimmers from harps with extraordinary brilliance, bold chords are followed by and strings, and the celeste. It may have been written over 100 produced such an effect that heralding Jupiter’s avuncular march. He has an air of years ago but Neptune retains a futuristic mood, and the composer had to come from pomposity but there’s a twinkle in his eye. The central Hollywood composers still take their cue from Holst the stalls to the platform to theme is the stirring tune adopted in 1921 for the for sci-fi soundtracks. The last word should be given exchange congratulations with hymn tune (‘I Vow to Thee My Country’), to Holst’s inspired trump card: the off-stage women’s the conductor and the orchestra.’ which was the village where Holst lived. chorus offers a truly ethereal finale as Neptune serenely drifts into infinity. SATURN, THE BRINGER OF OLD AGE Old and wizened, slow but sure, Saturn marks the inexorable steady ticking of passing time. Heavy chords accompany the theme on lower strings until the movement eventually turns into a ponderous march led by , traditionally associated with religious music, perhaps suggesting a funeral procession. The music swells until ominous bells and brass rage. Are supernatural forces at work here or 10 Composer Profile 18 May 2017

Gustav Holst Composer Profile

‘The enormity of the universe Holst’s commitment to music education remained revealed by science cannot readily at the heart of his career for many years, but he devoted his spare time to composition and managed be grasped by the human brain, to craft his large-scale orchestral work The Planets but the music of The Planets during the early years of the First World War. Although unfit for active service, Holst journeyed enables the mind to acquire to the Middle East in 1918 to organise the music some comprehension of the programme of the YMCA’s army education scheme.

vastness of space where His reputation as a composer was established thanks rational understanding fails.’ to the popular and critical success of The Planets and of works premiered shortly after the war such as Gustav Holst The Hymn of Jesus and his operas and At the Boar’s Head. Passions for astrology, Hindu Born in in 1874, Holst was the first literature and philosophy, English , Thomas child of the pianist and organist Adolph von Holst. Hardy and amateur music-making influenced his COMPOSER PROFILE WRITER He attended Cheltenham Grammar School from work, which was curtailed in the final years of his ANDREW STEWART 1887 to 1891, crafting short compositions and slowly life by ill health. He died in London in 1934. learning the rudiments of harmony and . In 1892 he was appointed organist and choirmaster of the parish church in the village of Wyck Rissington. The following year he enrolled at the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford and became close friends with his fellow student Ralph Vaughan Williams.

In 1901 he married Isobel Henderson, supporting their early years together by playing trombone in the Scottish Orchestra and through teaching. Holst became director of music at St Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith in 1905 and two years later assumed responsibility for music-making at . lso.co.uk Artist Biographies 11

Sir Mark Elder Conductor

Sir Mark Elder has been of the Hallé launched its own CD label and releases have since September 2000. He was Music Director of met with universal critical acclaim, culminating (1979–93), Principal Guest in Gramophone Awards for Elgar’s The Dream of Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Gerontius in 2009, and Wagner’s Götterdämmerung Orchestra (1992–5) and Music Director of Rochester and Elgar’s Violin Concerto in 2010. Elgar’s The Philharmonic Orchestra, US (1989–1994). He has held Apostles also won Recording of the Year in the positions as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC 2013 BBC Music Magazine Awards. Other Hallé CD Symphony Orchestra and the . releases include complete recordings of Wagner’s Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung. A live recording Sir Mark Elder has worked with many of the world’s of Lohengrin has recently been released by the Royal leading symphony including the Orchestre Concertgebouw Orchestra. de Paris, , Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw and Munich TV appearances include a two-part film on the life Philharmonic. He is a Principal Artist of the Orchestra and music of Verdi for BBC TV in 1994 and a similar of the Age of Enlightenment and works regularly project on Donizetti for German television in 1996. with the LSO. He has appeared annually at the BBC In November 2011 he co-presented the BBC’s four- Music Director Proms for many years, including the internationally part TV series Symphony, and in 2012 fronted BBC Hallé Orchestra televised Last Night of the Proms in 1987 and 2006, Two’s Maestro at the Opera series. He presented and with the Hallé Orchestra from 2003. a series of TV programmes on BBC Four during Principal Artist the 2015 Proms in which he talked about eight Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment He works regularly in the most prominent symphonies ranging from Beethoven to James international opera houses, including the Royal MacMillan, featuring performances from the Artistic Director Opera House Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera season’s concerts. New York, Opéra National de Paris, Lyric Opera Chicago and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Other In April 2011, he took up the position of Artistic SIR MARK ELDER IN 2017/18 guest engagements have taken him to the Bayreuth Director of Opera Rara, for whom recording projects Festival (where he was the first English conductor have included Donizetti’s Dom Sebastien, Imelda di Thu 8 Feb 2018 7.30pm to conduct a new production), Munich, Amsterdam, Lambertazzi, Linda di Chamounix, Maria di Rohan JANÁCˇ EK, BARTÓK AND ELGAR Zürich, Geneva, Berlin and the Bregenz Festival. and a multi-award-winning release of Les Martyrs. with Sir Mark Elder has made many recordings with Sir Mark Elder was knighted in 2008 and was Sun 11 Feb 2018 7pm orchestras including the Hallé, London Philharmonic, awarded the CBE in 1989. He won an Olivier Award DVORˇ ÁK, BRUCH AND ELGAR Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, City of Birmingham in 1991 for his outstanding work at ENO and in with Nikolaj Znaider Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, the OAE, May 2006 he was named Conductor of the Year by Orchestra of House and ENO, the Royal Philharmonic Society. He was awarded alwaysmoving.lso.co.uk in repertoire ranging from Verdi, Strauss and Honorary Membership of the Royal Philharmonic Wagner to contemporary music. In 2003 the Hallé Society in 2011. 12 Artist Biographies 18 May 2017

Roman Simovic Violin

Roman Simovic’s virtuosity and musicality have taken A sought-after artist, Roman Simovic has been him all over the world, where he has performed on invited and continues to perform at various many of the leading stages, including the Bolshoi Hall distinguished festivals such as the , of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Mariinsky Hall in in St Petersburg, Easter Festival St Petersburg, Grand Opera House in Tel Aviv, Victoria Valery Gergiev in Moscow, Dubrovnik Summer Hall in Geneva, Rudolfinum Hall in , Barbican Festival in Croatia, Kotor Art in Montenegro, the Hall in London, Art Centre in Seoul, Grieg Hall in BEMUS and NOMUS Festivals in Serbia, Sion Valais Bergen, Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow and more. Switzerland, Norway’s Bergen Festival, Moscow Winter Festival in Russia, Portogruaro Festival in Italy Roman Simovic has been awarded prizes at numerous and Granada Music Festival in Spain, collaborating international competitions, including the Premio Rodolfo with , Yuja Wang, Gautier Capuçon, Lipizer (Italy), Sion-Valais (Switzerland), Yampolsky Tabea Zimermann, , Shlomo Mintz, Violin Competition (Russia) and the François Leleux, , Simon Trpcˇeski, Violin Competition (Poland), placing him among the and . foremost violinists of his generation. Aside from being an active soloist, Roman Simovic is Leader As a soloist, Simovic has appeared with many an avid chamber musician, and is a founding member London Symphony Orchestra orchestras throughout the world – the Mariinsky of the distinguished Rubikon String Quartet. As an Theatre Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Regio Torino, educator, he has presented masterclasses in the Symphony Nova Scotia, Chamber US, UK, South Korea, Serbia, Montenegro and . Orchestra, Camerata Bern, Camerata Salzburg, CRR Chamber Orchestra, Poznan Philharmonia, Roman Simovic plays a 1709 Stradivarius violin, Prague Philharmonia and North Brabant Orchestra generously loaned to him by Jonathan Moulds CBE. in Holland. He has worked with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Sir , Daniel Harding, He has been Leader of the London Symphony Gianandrea Noseda, Kristjan Järvi, Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek, Orchestra since 2010. Pablo Heras-Casado and Nikolaj Znaider. lso.co.uk Artist Biographies 13

Tim Hugh Cello

Following his success at the Tchaikovsky Competition Hugh has also performed the cello concertos of in Moscow, Tim enjoys an international career as a Elgar, Shostakovich, Haydn, Dvorˇák, Messaien and soloist alongside his official position as Principal Cello Walton, and Strauss’ Don Quixote, with the LSO. He of the LSO. He has worked and recorded with many has given recitals with , Hélèn Grimaud, of the greatest conductors including Valery Gergiev, Nikolaj Znaider and Andrew Marriner at the Barbican. André Previn, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Sir , , Yehudi He recently played the Elgar and Brahms concertos Menuhin, Daniel Harding, François-Xavier Roth, with the Moscow Philharmonic on tour in the UK Myung-Whun Chung and . and in Spain with the LSO at the Alhambra Palace, Granada and Almeria. He has performed Saint- Tim studied at Yale with Aldo Parisot and afterwards Saëns’ with the Pamplona Symphony; with Pleeth and Jacqueline du Pré while gaining his Tabakov and Saygun’s concertos in Ankara, Turkey MA in Medicine and Anthropology at St John’s College, and Rousse, Bulgaria; and given recitals in Beirut, Cambridge. His developing interest in contemporary Dubai, New York and Portugal. His recordings of music led to performances of Boulez’s Messagesquisse the Saygun and Tabakov concertos with the Ankara with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and LSO, Dutilleux’s Symphony Orchestra have just been released. Principal Cello Tout un monde lointain, Britten’s Cello Symphony London Symphony Orchestra and ’s Concerto, all at the BBC Proms. Hugh gave the UK premiere of Tishchenko’s Cello Concerto with the LSO and Valery Gergiev at the He has recorded the three Britten Suites twice Barbican, with further premieres at the Berlin (on Hyperion and Naxos), the latter being a live Philharmonie and Rotterdam Festival. He opened the performance. Other recordings include concertos Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra’s season playing by Walton, Bliss, Finzi, Boccherini, Hoffman, Holst the Walton Concerto with their Principal Conductor and CPE Bach. His recording of the Bach Suites Alexander Shelley. Future performances include the was released in 2006 and reviewed by BBC Music Dvorˇák concerto in Sofia, and the Elgar Concerto Magazine as ‘the best performance on a modern with Howard Griffiths in Frankfurt and Brandenburg, cello’. He recorded the Brahms Double and Beethoven with further performances in Bath and Montenegro. Triple Concertos with Bernard Haitink, Gordan Nikolitch and Lars Vogt, and he will return to Beethoven’s Triple Tim plays a cello made by Zanoli in 1743. Concerto with and , recording it again as part of Shelley’s Beethoven cycle.

As a keen chamber musician, he plays with the Nash Ensemble regularly and has recorded a large part of the repertoire with the Solomon Trio. Earlier recordings include Fauré’s piano quartets as a member of Domus and numerous recital discs, the latest being Hands on Heart in memory of his brother Steve, which features a live performance of the Kodály Sonata. 14 Artist Biographies 18 May 2017

Simon Halsey CBE Choral Director

Simon Halsey occupies a unique position in classical In June 2016, the LSC, LSO Discovery Choirs and music. He is the trusted advisor on choral singing Community Choir performed the world premiere of to the world’s greatest conductors, orchestras and The Hogboon, the late Sir ’ new choruses, and also an inspirational teacher and children’s opera, with Sir Simon Rattle and students ambassador for choral singing to amateurs of every from the Guildhall School of Music. In summer age, ability and background. Making singing a central 2017 the LSO Discovery and Community Choirs will part of the world-class institutions with which he is premiere a new opera by Andrew Norman, which associated, he has been instrumental in changing Rattle and Halsey will also take to Berlin to perform the level of symphonic singing across Europe. with the Berlin Philharmonic and their youth choir, of which he is Artistic Director. He is also a highly respected teacher and academic, nurturing the next generation of choral conductors Born in London, Simon Halsey sang in the choirs on his post-graduate course in Birmingham and of New College, Oxford, and of King’s College, through masterclasses at Princeton, Yale and Cambridge, and studied at the Royal elsewhere. He holds three honorary doctorates College of Music in London. In 1987, he founded the from universities in the UK, and in 2011 Schott Music City of Birmingham Touring Opera with . published his book and DVD on choral conducting, He was Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chorleitung: Vom Konzept zum Konzert. Choir from 1997 to 2008 and Principal Conductor of the Northern Sinfonia’s Choral Programme Halsey has worked on nearly 80 recording projects, from 2004 to 2012. From 2001 to 2015 he led the many of which have won major awards, including Rundfunkchor Berlin (of which he is now Conductor the Gramophone Award, Diapason d’Or, Echo Klassik, Laureate); under his leadership the chorus gained and three Grammy Awards with the Rundfunkchor a reputation internationally as one of the finest Berlin. He was made Commander of the British professional choral ensembles. Halsey also initiated Empire in 2015, was awarded The Queen’s Medal for innovative projects in unconventional venues and Music in 2014, and received the Officer’s Cross of the interdisciplinary formats. Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to choral music in Germany.

Since becoming Choral Director of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in 2012, Halsey has been credited with bringing about a ‘spectacular transformation’ (Evening Standard) of the LSC. Highlights with the LSO in 2016/17 have included Verdi’s Requiem in London and at the Lincoln Center White Lights festival with Gianandrea Noseda; El Niño with in London and Paris; and Ligeti’s with Sir Simon Rattle. lso.co.uk Artist Biographies 15

London Symphony Chorus On stage

The London Symphony Chorus was formed in 1966 to complement SOPRANOS ALTOS the work of the London Symphony Orchestra, and last year celebrated Anneke Amalie Alison Ryan Hetty Boardman-Weston Erika Stasiuleviciute Faith Baxter Jasmine Spencer Liz Boyden Jane Steele its 50th anniversary. The partnership between the LSC and LSO was Evaleen Brinton Deborah Staunton Lizzy Campbell Linda Thomas strengthened in 2012 with the appointment of Simon Halsey as joint Anna Byrne Smith Giulia Steidl Sarah Clowry Claire Trocme Chorus Director of the LSC and Choral Director for the LSO. Jessica Collins Winnie Tse Linda Evans Kathryn Wells Harriet Crawford Tabitta van Nouhuys Rachel Green Rebecca Dent Rebecca Vassallo Yoko Harada The LSC has partnered many other major orchestras and has performed Saskia Edwards Lizzie Webb Kate Harrison Lucy Feldman Olivia Wilkinson Ella Jackson nationally and internationally with the Berlin and Naomi Fletcher Christine Jasper orchestras, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Championing the Elisa Franzinetti Jill Jones musicians of tomorrow, it has also worked with both the NYO and the Joanna Gueritz Vanessa Knapp Isobel Hammond Gilly Lawson EUYO. The Chorus has toured extensively throughout Europe and has Emily Hoffnung Belinda Liao* also visited North America, Israel, Australia and South East Asia. Debbie Jones Anne Loveluck* Debbie Lee Susannah Priede* Hannah McNaboe Lucy Reay Much of the LSC’s repertoire has been captured in its large catalogue Gill O’Neill Emma Recknell of recordings, which have won nine awards including five Grammys. Andra Patterson Maud Saint-Sardos Andrea Persman Anneliese Sayes In June 2015 the recording of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Symphony Louisa Prentice Lis Smith * denotes No 10, commissioned by the LSO and recorded by the LSO and the Liz Reeve LSC Council Member LSC with Sir Antonio Pappano, won a prestigious South Bank Sky Arts award in the Classical category.

Highlights from the 2015/16 season included Haydn’s The Seasons with The London Symphony Chorus is generously supported by: Sir Simon Rattle, Elgar’s with Sir Mark Elder, The John S Cohen Foundation, The Helen Hamlyn Trust, The Revere Charitable Trust, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Hogboon. Last year, the LSC gave The Welton Foundation, LSC Friends, Members of the LSC performances of Verdi’s Requiem in London and New York as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. In 2017 they have performed Ligeti’s LSO Sing is generously supported by: Le grand macabre with Rattle, Brahms’ German Requiem with Fabio Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement, Barnett & Sylvia Shine No 2 Luisi and go on to perform Bruckner’s with Bernard Haitink. Charitable Trust, John S Cohen Foundation, Slaughter and May Charitable Trust, LSO Friends, Garfield Weston Foundation and The Patron’s Fund. President Sir Simon Rattle OM CBE President Emeritus André Previn KBE Neil Ferris LSC Associate Director for Holst’s The Planets Vice President Michael Tilson Thomas Patrons Simon Russell Beale CBE and Howard Goodall CBE Chorus Director Simon Halsey CBE Assistant Directors Neil Ferris and Matthew Want to sing with the LSC? Find out more about life in one of London’s Chorus Accompanist Benjamin Frost leading choirs, and how to apply, at lsc.org.uk/join-us Chairman Owen Hanmer 16 The Orchestra 18 May 2017

London Symphony Orchestra Your views On stage Inbox

FIRST VIOLINS FLUTES TRUMPETS Carmine Lauri Leader Rachel Roberts Gareth Davies Philip Cobb SUN 23 APR – FRANÇOIS-XAVIER ROTH & ANTOINE TAMESTIT Lennox Mackenzie Gillianne Haddow Alex Jakeman Gerald Ruddock Clare Duckworth Malcolm Johnston Patricia Moynihan Neil Fulton Nigel Broadbent Anna Bastow Simon Cox The 80s Boy What a stunning concert and great to PICCOLO Ginette Decuyper Regina Beukes Sharon Williams hear #Bruckner played so beautifully by the brilliant Jörg Hammann Julia O’Riordan TROMBONES Dudley Bright Maxine Kwok-Adams Robert Turner @londonsymphony and @fxrroth. Peter Moore Claire Parfitt Jonathan Welch Juan Pechuan Ramirez James Maynard Laurent Quenelle Stephen Doman Rosie Jenkins Harriet Rayfield Claire Newton Anna Jordan Watching @londonsymphony and the amazing Maxwell Spiers BASS TROMBONE Colin Renwick Cynthia Perrin Robert O’Neill @Flutelicious Gareth Davies playing the beautiful Debussy Sylvain Vasseur Stephanie Edmundson live! Stunning. Shlomy Dobrinsky Christine Pendrill Alain Petitclerc Sasha Koushk-Jalali BASS Hazel Mulligan Tim Hugh Adrian Rowlands Takane Funatsu Alastair Blayden Jennifer Brown SUN 7 MAY – SIR MARK ELDER & ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER Nigel Thomas SECOND VIOLINS Noel Bradshaw Andrew Marriner Harvey Mason David Alberman Eve-Marie Caravassilis Chi-Yu Mo Luchinlucho The Shostakovich was AMAZING Thomas Norris Daniel Gardner PERCUSSION Sarah Thurlow Sarah Quinn Hilary Jones Neil Percy Miya Väisänen Miwa Rosso BASS David Jackson David Ballesteros Penny Driver Katy Ayling Sam Walton Richard Blayden Judit Berendschot Antoine Bedewi Mary Heyler Mark Elder/Anne-Sophie Mutter/Tchaikovsky – Matthew Gardner delicious combination HARPS Julian Gil Rodriguez DOUBLE BASSES Daniel Jemison Bryn Lewis Naoko Keatley Colin Paris Susan Frankel Helen Sharp Belinda McFarlane Patrick Laurence Lois Au Matthew Gibson Paul Robson CELESTE Thomas Goodman CONTRA Louise Shackelton Dominic Morgan Elizabeth Burley Csilla Pogany Joe Melvin Stephen Rowlinson Jani Pensola HORNS ORGAN Nicholas Worters Timothy Jones Catherine Edwards Ivan Rubido Gonzalez Jonathan Durrant Philip Woods Jonathan Lipton Chris Gough Andrew Sutton Tim Ball

LSO STRING EXPERIENCE SCHEME The Scheme is supported by: London Symphony Orchestra Cover photography Help Musicians UK Barbican Ranald Mackechnie, featuring LSO Established in 1992, the LSO String Experience Charitable Trust Silk Street Members with 20+ years’ service. Scheme enables young string players at the N Smith Charitable Settlement London Visit lso.co.uk/1617photos for a full list. start of their professional careers to gain The Lefever Award EC2Y 8DS work experience by playing in rehearsals Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Photography and concerts with the LSO. The scheme Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust Registered charity in England No 232391 Benjamin Ealovega, Ranald Mackechnie, auditions students from the London music Polonsky Foundation Ian Douglas, Matthias Heyde Details in this publication were correct conservatoires, and 15 students per year LSO Patrons are selected to participate. The musicians at time of going to press. Print Cantate 020 3651 1690 are treated as professional ’extra’ players Taking part in tonight’s concert are: Editor Advertising Cabbell Ltd 020 3603 7937 (additional to LSO members) and receive fees Lyrit Milgram (first violin) Edward Appleyard for their work in line with LSO section players.. Jin Wook Suk (second violin)