London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra
Visiting Orchestras Series

London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano, chief conductor

Thursday Performance
Janine Jansen, violin
Walker — Sinfonia No. 5
Bernstein — Serenade
Walton — Symphony No. 1

Friday Performance
Elgar — Enigma Variations
Mahler — Symphony No. 1

The London Symphony Orchestra, regarded by many as one of the world’s best, makes its Naples debut under the baton of Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano — and serves as the ultimate closer to the season’s Visiting Orchestras series.

Founded in 1904, the London Symphony Orchestra is the oldest in London. It is also believed to be the world’s most-recorded orchestra, with recordings ranging from Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet to a pair of albums by composer and rock musician Frank Zappa, as well as numerous film scores, including Star Wars, Indiana Jones and more.

The Thursday night performance begins with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 5 and concludes with Walton’s First Symphony. In between the Walker and the Walton, violinist Janine Jansen and her Shumsky-Rode Stradivarius violin from 1715 join the LSO for Bernstein’s Serenade. Known for her continuous work with the world’s most eminent orchestras and conductors, the Dutch violinist is sure to ignite Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium.

While Friday evening’s performances feature Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Mahler’s First Symphony, Mahler’s fingerprints can be found on both compositions. Almost immediately after the Enigma Variations’ successful London premiere in mid-1899, several composers, including Mahler, raced to conduct it. Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, a work the composer conducted more than any other of his symphonies, concludes the program. Often erroneously referred to as Titan — a nickname Mahler gave to the work and later dropped following a series of post-premiere revisions — Mahler instilled his Symphony No. 1 with a variety of bucolic sounds from nature including a cuckoo call depicting nature awakening in the springtime and a lively German folk dance. The work concludes with a truly epic Mahlerian finale, serving as a fitting conclusion to an extraordinary season of performances by some of the world’s finest orchestras.

Music and Museum
All Visiting Orchestras tickets include same-day admission to the The Baker Museum. Special museum hours on day of the performance: Noon-7:30pm. In addition, the doors to Hayes Hall will open 60 minutes prior to this performance. Arrive early to enjoy the exhibitions and light fare available at Heidi’s Place.