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Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Online Concert Programme | Fri 17 May 2024

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Bristol Beacon presents 

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Emilia Hoving

Fri 17 May 2024, 7.30pm

This evening’s performance:

Emilia Hoving Conductor
Zlatomir Fung Cello
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Grieg Peer Gynt: Suite No. 1
Saint-Säens Cello Concerto No. 1
Interval
Sibelius Symphony No. 2

Pre-concert talk hosted by music educator Jonathan James

Welcome

Welcome to Bristol Beacon and to our 2023/24 Reopening Orchestral Season, bringing symphonic orchestral music back home to Bristol. Whether this is your first experience of live orchestral music or your one hundred and first, I hope you can take this opportunity to sit back, relax and let the music pull you in. We are proud that the improved acoustics and 21st century levels of audience comfort, access and stage technology in the transformed Beacon Hall are now worthy of the world-class musicians you will see on stage.

This season we are delighted to welcome back many great orchestras, some celebrating their own milestones, and all playing some of the world’s greatest and best-loved classical works. We also have three brand new pieces of music to look forward to across the season, so please enjoy delving into all of the thrilling music on offer.

Have a wonderful evening and do come back soon.

Louise Mitchell CBE
Chief Executive, Bristol Beacon

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907): Peer Gynt: Suite No. 1

1. Morning Mood
2. Åse’s Death
3. Anitra’s Dance
4. In the Hall of the Mountain King

‘Composers such as Bach and Beethoven erected churches and temples on the heights,’ Edvard Grieg observed sagely, ‘whereas I want only to build dwellings for men in which they might feel happy and at home.’ So saying, he set the seal on a career that saw him synthesise homegrown, Nordic inspiration with Western composing techniques, putting Norway on the musical map once and for all.

Grieg’s main realm of fantasy was the miniature, exemplified by his enchanting series of 66 Lyric Pieces for solo piano and more than 170 songs, which evoke the sights and sounds of his homeland with almost tactile precision. Yet, his constant struggles with depression led him to despair at one point that ‘many a time I go and stare up at the clouds as if I could find there the Norwegian drama in Norwegian music which I have dreamt of, which I have always believed I could create one day, but which I now begin to believe is fated to come from another.’

Indeed, when in 1874 the celebrated playwright Henrik Ibsen invited Grieg to compose the incidental music for his groundbreaking five-act drama Peer Gynt, the composer was initially less than enthusiastic. However, as he began making sketches, it dawned on him that this might be the masterwork that he had struggled for so long to achieve. In a letter to his friend, Franz Beyer, he announced, excitedly: ‘I’ve done something about the Hall of the Old Man of Dovre!’

Despite its seemingly endless flow of spontaneous invention, Peer Gynt caused Grieg endless problems – especially the theatre-band orchestration. Indeed, following the death of his parents within a fortnight of one another, he even began to wonder whether he had lost his creative facility. His struggles were compounded by having to compose to the precise timings provided by the theatre management. Yet he eventually produced around 90 minutes of music, encouraged by the fact that Ibsen had advanced him a generous fifty percent of his fee. The international acclaim achieved by the two orchestral suites he later extracted from the finished score – presented in a different order to the play – left the remainder (much to Grieg’s frustration) languishing on the outer fringes of the repertoire.

Tonight’s selection opens with Morning Mood, originally the opening section of the third act, which evokes a glorious sunrise over the Arabian Desert. There follows a heart-rending depiction of the death of Gynt’s beloved mother, Åse, and a sultry dance, whose exotic sensuality captures the beguiling charms of the Bedouin’s daughter, Anitra. The finale of this Suite sees Gynt trying desperately to escape the troll-infested terrors of the Hall of the Mountain King.

© Julian Haylock

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921): Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor

Allegro non troppo – Allegretto con moto – Un peu moins vite – Molto allegro

Camille Saint-Saëns was born in Paris and received his early musical tuition from his great-aunt, who taught him the basics at the age of just two. His precocious musical talents were revealed almost at once; he was found to have perfect pitch, composed a little piano piece before his fourth birthday, and gave his first public concert, accompanying a Beethoven violin sonata, at the age of five. Five years later, he performed a Beethoven piano concerto and a movement from a Mozart concerto from memory, supplying his own cadenza for the latter. These remarkable gifts developed as he grew older, some of his contemporaries putting him on a par with Mozart and Mendelssohn, and no less an authority than Wagner paying tribute to his extraordinary musicality. After a period of study at the Paris Conservatoire, Saint-Saëns embarked on a successful career as a church organist, securing a position at the renowned Église de la Madeleine (1857-1877), and teaching piano at the École Niedermeyer, where his pupils included Messager and Fauré.

In addition to several shorter pieces for solo instrument and orchestra, Saint-Saëns composed ten full-scale concertos: five for piano, three for violin and two for cello. He composed the first of the two cello concertos in 1872, and in it explored the Lisztian technique of cyclic structure, the work’s main theme returning throughout the Concerto’s single movement and serving to punctuate individual episodes, much of the thematic material being progressive transformations of earlier themes. With its structural cohesion, melodic spontaneity and felicitous orchestration, the A minor Cello Concerto has all but eclipsed its successor, and, along with the same composer’s ravishing The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals), has become an essential part of the cello repertoire.

The Concerto’s opening section, marked Allegro non troppo, begins abruptly with a single orchestral chord, immediately ushering in the principal theme for the soloist. This theme, consisting of a series of running quaver triplets punctuated by a yearning semi-tonal figure, will go on to provide much of the linking material that unites the Concerto as a single musical structure, finding contrast here in a calmer, lyrical F major theme. The second distinct section, one of the composer’s most charming and delicate creations, is a slow, gentle minuet (Allegretto con moto), scored initially for muted strings and subsequently enhanced by the cello’s enchanting countermelody.

The mood of the opening Allegro returns as its material is developed into a short bridge-passage, leading to what is effectively the Concerto’s slow movement, described somewhat misleadingly in the score as Un peu moins vite. The expressive melody, derived from the first movement’s semi-tonal idea, is developed twice into lively scherzando passages, this curious hybrid movement involving rapid octave passages and stratospheric harmonics for the soloist. The Concerto concludes with a brief Molto allegro finale, its theme derived from a phrase in the foregoing section.

© Brendan Beales

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Symphony No.2 in D major

1. Allegretto
2. Tempo Andante, ma rubato
3. Vivacissimo
4. Finale: Allegro moderato

Jean Sibelius’ long life coincided with a politically volatile period in Finnish history during which a wave of national pride swept across the country in defiance of Russian oppression and occupation. Little wonder that his rousing symphonic poem Finlandia (1899) was eagerly adopted as a popular rallying cry for Finnish independence, nor that Russia banned any further performances. His symphonic music captures the way the passing of time in Finland plays tricks with the mind, underpinning surfaces teeming with bustling activity and strange rustlings with granitic tonal fundamentals. Just as surely as his tone poems gave expression to his proud belief in his country’s legends and traditions, so his symphonies revitalised a genre that was close to collapsing under its own expressive weight. Feeling increasingly like a lone voice in the musical wilderness, Sibelius fell creatively silent (at least publicly) during the late 1920s, with 30 years of his life still remaining. He died in Järvenpää just two months short of his 92nd birthday.

While is easy when listening to the Second Symphony to conjure up images of Sibelius communing with nature in Finland’s icy, rugged landscapes, the music’s constant fluctuating between cool contentment, vibrant optimism and impassioned lyricism was inspired originally by a protracted working holiday in Florence and sun-drenched Rapallo (on the north-western coast of Italy) during the winter and early spring of 1901. The music’s spontaneous sense of ease and structural inevitability are also deceptive as some of the material (most notably the slow movement) was derived from other abandoned projects he started around this time, including a setting of Dante’s Divine Comedy and a planned tone poem entitled Festival, based on the Don Juan legend. Premiered in March 1902, the Symphony scored an overwhelming success, playing to another three packed houses during its first week.

Although Sibelius insisted that his latest masterwork was entirely free of extra-musical associations, the reaction of his conductor friend Robert Kajanus accurately sums up the feelings of those present on the premiere night. ‘The Andante,’ he conjectured, ‘strikes one as the most broken-hearted protest against all the injustice that threatens at the present time to deprive the sun of its light and the flowers of their scent… The scherzo gives a picture of frenetic preparation. Everyone piles his straw on the haystack, all fibres are strained and every second seems to last an hour. One can sense in the oboe motif of the central trio section exactly what is at stake… The Finale develops towards a triumphant conclusion, intended to rouse in the listener a picture of a brighter and more confident future.’

At a more fundamental level, the Symphony demonstrates, particularly during the opening Allegretto, a marked tendency towards more concise thematic inspiration than its predecessor. Sibelius appears determined to extract the maximum impact from the most economical of musical means, as in the first movement’s kaleidoscopic reappropriations of nine subtly interrelated motifs. So too in the inconsolable melodic strands of the Andante, which ends in total despair, the bustling obsessiveness of the scherzo and the same movement’s dreamy central oboe solo, which grows effortlessly out of a single note repeated several times over – a reworking of the Symphony’s opening, composed in response to his sister-in-law’s recent suicide. This striking movement links directly into a finale whose rousing combination of indelible melody and stoic resilience culminates in a bracingly optimistic coda.

© Julian Haylock

Emilia Hoving
Conductor

Winner of the Finnish Critics’ Prize 2021 for the Best Newcomer in the Arts, Emilia Hoving (born 1994) has emerged as one of most exciting young Finnish conductors of today. Her positions as Assistant Conductor to Hannu Lintu at the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2019) and to Mikko Franck at the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (2020–22) both led to significant stand-ins that catapulted her to the next stage in her career. She appears internationally with orchestras such as the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony orchestras, as well as Philharmonia Orchestra where she has become a regular guest.

She has conducted at the Wiener Konzerthaus and made her German debut whilst Assistant Conductor at the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, conducting a concert at the Berlin Philharmonie at only a few hours’ notice. She will return to conduct the Orchestra in Paris this season with the world premiere of Jean-Louis Agobet’s Nucleus.

In the 2023–24 Season, Emilia will make her debuts with the Swedish Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Norwegian Radio, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Tonkuenstler Wien, Bournemouth Symphony and Tenerife Symphony orchestras. She also joins the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in their efforts to revive works by neglected Finnish composers from the last century.

Emilia studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Professors Sakari Oramo and Atso Almila, having begun conducting studies in 2015 with Jorma Panula. She previously studied piano (from the age of six) as well as the clarinet and cello.

Zlatomir Fung
Cello

As the youngest cellist ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, Zlatomir Fung is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of our time.

As Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2023–24 Season, Zlatomir appears at London’s Cadogan Hall and tours the UK with the Orchestra. Performance highlights further afield include his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra, appearances with the Baltimore and Shanghai Symphony orchestras, and a tour to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Recent concerto highlights include his debuts with the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille, BBC Philharmonic and Dallas Symphony orchestras. Zlatomir made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2021.

Of Bulgarian and Chinese heritage, Zlatomir began playing cello at age three and earned fellowships at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Heifetz International Music Institute, MusicAlp, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. A proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship, he studied at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy. Zlatomir was announced as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Winner in 2022. He plays a 1717 cello by David Tecchler of Rome, kindly loaned to him through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous benefactor.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s (RPO) mission to enrich lives through orchestral experiences that are uncompromising in their excellence and inclusive in their appeal, places it at the forefront of music-making in the UK and internationally. Performing around 200 concerts a year and with a live and online audience of more than 60 million people, the Orchestra is proud to embrace a broad repertoire and reach a diverse audience. The RPO is unafraid to push boundaries and is at home recording video game, film and television soundtracks, working with pop stars, and touring the world performing great symphonic repertoire.

Throughout its history, the RPO has collaborated with inspirational artists and in August 2021, the Orchestra was thrilled to welcome Vasily Petrenko as its new Music Director. A landmark appointment in the RPO’s history, Vasily’s opening two seasons with the RPO have been lauded by audiences and critics alike.

As well as a busy schedule of international concerts, the Orchestra performs regularly at London’s Royal Albert Hall (where it is Associate Orchestra), the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall and Cadogan Hall, where it is celebrating its 20th Season as Resident Orchestra. The RPO tours extensively around the UK and through collaboration with creative partners, fosters deeper engagement with communities to ensure that live orchestral music is accessible to as inclusive and diverse an audience as possible. To help achieve this goal, the Orchestra launched RPO Resound in 1993, which has grown to become the most innovative and respected orchestral community and education programme in the UK and internationally.

Orchestra Credits

Violin 1
Emily Davis

Tamás András
Shana Douglas
Mark Derudder
Andrew Klee
Kay Chappell
Anthony Protheroe
Erik Chapman
Adriana Iacovache-Pana
Rosemary Wainwright
Joanne Chen
Marciana Buta
Maya Bickel
Caroline Frenkel

Violin 2
Andrew Storey

Elen Hâf Rideal
Charlotte Ansbergs
Jennifer András
Peter Graham
Stephen Payne
Sali-Wyn Ryan
Clare Wheeler
Lucy McKay
Susan Evans
Sheila Law
Elspeth Macleod

Viola
Tetsuumi Nagata

Liz Varlow
Joseph Fisher
Ugne Tiškuté
Esther Harling
Jonathan Hallett
Rebecca Carrington
Helen Picknett
Raymond Lester
Kate Correia De Campos

Cello
Jonathan Ayling

Chantal Webster
Roberto Sorrentino
Jean-Baptiste Toselli
William Heggart
Rachel van der Tang
Deborah Chandler
Jacqueline Phillips

Double Bass
Benjamin Cunningham
David Gordon
Ben Wolstenholme
David FC Johnson
Martin Lüdenbach
Ben Havinden-Williams

Flute
Emer McDonough

Joanna Marsh

Piccolo
Diomedes Demetriades

Oboe
Timothy Watts
Jennifer Brittlebank

Clarinet
Katherine Lacy
Katy Ayling

Bassoon
Matthew Kitteringham

Fraser Gordon

Horn
Alexander Edmundson

Ben Hulme
Finlay Bain
Hayley Tonner
Max Garrard

Trumpet
Mike Allen
Juliette Murphy
Benjamin Jarvis

Trombone
Rupert Whitehead
Ryan Hume

Bass Trombone
Adam Crighton

Tuba
Kevin Morgan

Timpani
Adam Jeffrey

Percussion
Stephen Quigley
Martin Owens