London Symphony Orchestra Sunday 21 May 2017 6.30pm Trafalgar Square | lso.co.uk/openair 3 Welcome 7 Information on today’s event 8 Valery Gergiev 9 Behzod Abduraimov 10 Lucy Griffiths 12 Rachmaninov profile 14 Programme notes 20 About the LSO 24 LSO on stage today 26 LSO Discovery 28 Young Artists on stage today WELCOME LUCY GRIFFITHS PRESENTER TONIGHT’S MUSIC WELCOME TO OUR ANNUAL CONCERT Rachmaninov IN ONE OF THE CAPITAL’S GREATEST Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini LANDMARKS – TRAFALGAR SQUARE. First Movement from ‘Symphonic Dances’ * (arr Gareth Glyn) I’m Lucy Griffiths and I’ll be introducing Movements from Symphony No 2 you to the brilliant sounds of the London Symphony Orchestra, who’ll be performing TONIGHT’S PERFORMERS alongside young musicians from LSO On Track Valery Gergiev conductor and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Behzod Abduraimov piano conductor Valery Gergiev and pianist Lucy Griffiths presenter Behzod Abduraimov. We’ll be taking a London Symphony Orchestra journey through music by Rachmaninov, LSO On Track Young Musicians * so sit back and enjoy the concert. Guildhall School Musicians * IAN ROBERTSON BMW I wish you a very warm welcome to this evening’s BMW LSO Open Air Classics concert in Trafalgar Square. This event is all about exciting and inspiring you, our audience, with an unforgettable experience. The partnership between one of the world’s greatest orchestras and the BMW Group has, for six years now, enabled people to experience outstanding open-air musical performances in an iconic setting. It’s also important to us to support up-and-coming, talented young musicians by showcasing them at this event. We are looking forward to welcoming thousands of listeners from all over the world, whether they are new to classical music or seasoned enthusiasts. This year we say farewell to Maestro Valery Gergiev, who has been a big part of these concerts right from the very beginning. A passionate supporter of making the arts more popular and available to everyone, it has always been a great pleasure to see him conduct in Trafalgar Square. Thank you, Valery! For almost 50 years now, the BMW Group’s cultural engagement programme has focused on making the arts more accessible to everyone. We are honoured to be a patron of collaborations with some of the world’s leading cultural institutions and we’re extremely Dr Ian Robertson (HonDSc) proud of this concert series with the London Symphony Orchestra. Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Brand BMW I wish you a wonderful and truly memorable evening. 4 WELCOME KATHRYN MCDOWELL LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA It is a pleasure to welcome you to Trafalgar Square for the sixth BMW LSO Open Air Classics concert. Returning to this landmark is always a highlight of the Orchestra’s calendar, and each year it is wonderful to welcome thousands of people to experience the LSO. Bringing great music to everyone is the LSO’s goal, and BMW LSO Open Air Classics is one of the most exciting opportunities for us to achieve this. Over the last six years, BMW has shared and supported us in this vision, making this memorable event possible. We are very fortunate to have them as our partners, and we thank them for their ongoing support and passion. Valery Gergiev, who has conducted all six BMW LSO Open Air Classics concerts, joins us in the Square once again. We are also delighted to welcome rising-star pianist Behzod Abduraimov; presenter Lucy Griffiths; young musicians from LSO On Track, LSO Discovery’s partnership with East London Music Education Hubs; and our student partners from the Guildhall School. There have been many people involved in bringing this concert together, and we offer our sincere thanks to all of them. We are particularly grateful to Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, for giving us the opportunity to perform in this fantastic landmark. Kathryn McDowell CBE DL I hope that you enjoy the performance and that we’ll see you again soon at an LSO concert Managing Director at the Barbican Centre, the Orchestra’s London home. London Symphony Orchestra #BMWLSOopenair 5 SADIQ KHAN MAYOR OF LONDON There are few places on earth that can rival our city for its arts, culture and music, and tourists flock here in their millions every year to get a taste of our cultural riches. I’m delighted to see the LSO bringing another incredible concert to the heart of our great city in Trafalgar Square. As well as giving rising young stars from a variety of backgrounds the opportunity to play alongside world-class musicians, this top showcase of talent will entertain thousands of Londoners who may have never had the chance to experience this calibre of classical music before – all for free. Supporting the next generation of musicians is something we are passionate about at City Hall, whether it’s through the Mayor’s Music Fund or our young buskers’ competition, and I want to see even more opportunities like this for aspiring musicians across the city. Sadiq Khan Mayor of London It is these types of events that show London at its outward-looking, open and creative best. Wishing everyone a wonderful evening! 6 WELCOME INFORMATION GETTING IN AND OUT … WHAT TIME WILL IT FINISH? Entry and exit points are on the upper terrace at either side of the About 8.15pm. National Gallery, on the south east corner towards Charing Cross Station, with an additional exit point only on the west side of the stage WHAT IF IT RAINS? towards The Mall. There will be no readmittance once the Square is full. We’ll play on for as long as we can, but if the rain gets too heavy we’ll have to stop. There will be messages on the big screens and FEELING COMFORTABLE? announcements made, so sit tight and we’ll keep you posted. There are cushions available to rent for just £2 from carts at either We have plastic ponchos in case you haven’t got an umbrella or coat! side of the Square. The main toilets and café are located on the lower terrace at the rear of the Square, and additional toilets are ANYTHING ELSE? on the upper terrace. There are two information tents near the entry and exit points on the upper terrace. Feel free to come and ask us any questions, ACCESS or you can ask one of our roaming helpers wearing butterfly t-shirts. We have a step-free level access area in the centre of the upper If you want to get in touch with us after today’s event, all our contact terrace with wheelchair spaces and a seating bench for companions details are on the back page of this programme. and those who may have other access requirements. The area also has a hearing loop and large print programmes are available. There is a THIS IS MY FIRST ORCHESTRA CONCERT. temporary accessible toilet near this area in addition to the accessible WHAT SHOULD I GO AND SEE NEXT? toilet within the permanent toilet block on the lower terrace; there is Visit one of the two information tents near the upper entry and exit also a lift between the lower and upper terrace. Assistance dogs are points to speak to LSO staff and volunteers, who’ll be able to guide welcome. Please enter the Square via the north west entrance. you to a concert you’ll enjoy, or visit lso.co.uk/explore for a full introduction to the world of the LSO. #BMWLSOopenair 7 VALERY GERGIEV CONDUCTOR Valery Gergiev was the LSO’s Principal in Eilat, Israel. He has led numerous Conductor between 2007 and 2015, composer cycles including Berlioz, Brahms, leading performances at the Barbican, Dutilleux, Mahler, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky in New York, Festival, and tours of Europe, North America London, Paris and other international cities. and Asia. He is Artistic and General Director Gergiev also champions contemporary of the Mariinsky Theatre, Music Director Russian composers such as Rodion Shchedrin, of the Munich Philharmonic, Principal Boris Tishchenko, Sofia Gubaidulina, Conductor of the World Orchestra for Peace, Alexander Raskatov and Pavel Smelkov. Artistic Director of the Pacific Music Festival, Chair of the Organisational Committee of Gergiev’s recordings on LSO Live and the the International Tchaikovsky Competition, Mariinsky Label continually win awards in Honorary President of the Edinburgh Europe, Asia and the United States. Recent International Festival and Dean of the Faculty releases on LSO Live include works by Berlioz, of Arts at the St Petersburg State University. Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Stravinsky and Bartók. Valery Gergiev is founder and Artistic Director Valery Gergiev’s many awards include of the Stars of the White Nights Festival and the People’s Artist of Russia, the Dmitri New Horizons Festival in St Petersburg, Moscow Shostakovich Award, the Polar Music Prize, Easter Festival, Rotterdam Philharmonic Netherland’s Knight of the Order of the Dutch Gergiev Festival, Mikkeli Music Festival, Lion, Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun and and the Red Sea Classical Music Festival the French Order of the Legion of Honour. 8 VALERY GERGIEV ~ BEHZOD ABDURAIMOV BEHZOD ABDURAIMOV PIANO Behzod Abduraimov has received international Philharmonic Orchestra and at the National praise for his performances. In recent seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing, he has worked with orchestras including the and embarks upon a recital tour of Australia. Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, NHK Symphony and Leipzig Gewandhaus, An award-winning recording artist – and prestigious conductors including his debut recital CD won both the Choc Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred de Classica and the Diapason Découverte Honeck, Vasily Petrenko, James Gaffigan, awards – Behzod released his first concerto Jakub Hru˚ša, Thomas Dausgaard and disc in 2014 on Decca Classics, featuring Vladimir Jurowski.