Timpanist Extraordinaire

2014
/ 15
A Year in Review
The Orchestra rehearsing l’Enfant et les Sortilèges at the Royal Festival Hall © Philharmonia Orchestra
Andrew Smith
Timpanist Extraordinaire
© Philharmonia Orchestra
grandson, of a headmaster father who
insisted on daily practise at the piano, of
joining the Leicester Schools Symphony
Orchestra as a pianist, of his taking up
the oboe as a second instrument, (purely
to ingratiate himself with a particularly
gorgeous female oboist – a move which
proved a complete failure on all accounts)
and thence to the drums.
In May 2015, the Philharmonia Orchestra
said farewell to Andrew Smith, Principal
Timpanist for over 40 years. Chair of the
Friends Committee in Leicester and long-time
supporter of the Orchestra, Neil Roberts,
spoke with Andy about his experiences
growing up in Leicester and his career
at the Philharmonia.
To mark the retirement of such an iconic
figure, the Philharmonia Orchestra suggested
that Andy should be interviewed in his own
city by an incomer (who only lived there for
40 years!). Curiously, those years mirror
exactly Andy’s time with the Philharmonia.
So, over a glass of wine and a burger we
spoke of Andy’s youth in 1950’s Leicester,
of a grandmother who had encouraged
a perceived musical talent in her little
Astonishingly, it would appear that for a
number of years he worked out his own
ways of playing until he was fortunate to
have a series of lessons with Eric Pritchard,
the then timpanist of the BBC Orchestra.
No doubt spurred on by a loveable A level
English Literature teacher, who wrote of the
young Andy’s literary skills as being those of
a ‘penguin in a desert’, he then went to the
Royal College, where to this day he remains
as Professor, though characteristically he told
me that he has no documents on his walls
to prove it! Then it was out into the world
of music, a year with WNO where he forged
a close relationship with James Levine,
onto the Bournemouth Symphony and then
rapidly when he was barely in his 20’s, came
an offer from the Philharmonia. All of this,
he told me wryly, was achieved without ever
having an audition in his life; in itself, I would
have thought, a tribute to his quite obviously
rare talent as a player.
His early years in London were something
of a roller coaster. The Orchestra was going
through a bad patch. Andy recalled that the
office was then opposite Bankruptcy Court,
and how he was perturbed to find that,
instead of a full diary, he was lucky to have
more than three days occupied a week. When
called to a meeting in the office, apparently
one wondered whether the players’ venture
to keep the Orchestra going had finally
foundered. That, he said, was all changed by
Riccardo Muti agreeing to become Principal
Conductor. He became and remains a close
friend. For Andy, it was he who made the
Philharmonia once again the Rolls Royce
orchestra it is to this day.
On this topic of standards, I ventured to say
that, having heard the Orchestra often in the
50’s and 60’s, how surprising it is still to hear
that period being spoken of as its ‘hey day’
and that for me the present Philharmonia
is every bit as good and, perhaps, even
more consistently a great orchestra. Andy
agreed and, with characteristic modesty,
remarked that he could think of a number
of young players who could fill his boots
with aplomb. Indeed, he declared, having
taught players who now occupy positions
in prestigious orchestras, a major reason
for his stepping down was to make room
for the next generation.
Quite fascinatingly, he was remarkably
unforthcoming on what made him a great
timpanist. Indeed, and I believe him, he said
that his methods of playing were largely
intuitive, built up over the years and that,
unlike most instruments, there was really
no commonly accepted best way of playing
the drums. To students asking how to do
something, he always throws the question
back to them, encouraging them to find
their own way.
That struck me as typical of an artist who is
the very reverse of the stereotype of the hard
bitten orchestral player. When asked that
old chestnut about his view of conductors he
played under, what emerged was the view
that it was his duty to try to do what the
conductor asks for. After all, he said,
without conductors, every performance of a
work would sound the same. When pressed
though, he did admit to one battle royal
with a conductor who wanted the famous
timpani moment in Strauss’ Zarathrustra
played mezzo-forte. It seems that Andy did
as requested in rehearsal and then reverted
to Kubrick’s 2001 in performance. He
recounted how it paralysed the conductor,
how he stopped conducting for a moment,
and how his carefully combed hair over a bald
patch slipped entirely to the wrong side. And
why, I asked, did he make such an exception
here, especially when the score seemingly was
not on his side? Andy said that it was easy.
The audience had paid money to hear it
done thrillingly and he was not about to
disappoint them.
And that concern for others typifies the man.
When asked why he had stayed with the
Orchestra for virtually his whole working life,
an involuntary tear came into his eye. For
him it was not simply a matter of musical
standards, which inevitably can vary from
time to time in even the best of orchestras.
For him, it was above all the incredible
camaraderie of an orchestra which has had
to fight for its very existence. For him, it
was unthinkable to walk away from that.
Well he is walking away now, having
been musically and metaphorically the
Orchestra’s bedrock. Of course, he may
have a resurrection from time to time but
particularly in De Montfort Hall, where
cheers for him, our local lad, have so often
drowned those for the conductor, life will not
be quite the same. We can only wish him all
the joys of retirement with his canal boat,
his air shows and his trains.
RESIDENCY
UPDATE
The Philharmonia’s commitment to
bringing the very best orchestral music
to venues across the UK continued with
performances this season from Edinburgh
to Truro, and Swansea to Norwich.
Esa-Pekka Salonen’s flagship project
City of Light: Paris 1900-1950 travelled to
Cardiff, Leicester and Basingstoke, and
other artists we toured with included
Steven Isserlis and Frank Peter
Zimmermann. 2015 also marked the
Philharmonia’s 20th Anniversary as
Orchestra in Residence at Bedford Corn
Exchange with a special gala concert
led by Philharmonia’s Conductor
Laureate, Vladimir Ashkenazy.
FILM IN THE
STUDIO AND
ON STAGE
Each year, the Philharmonia is heard by
millions of people worldwide, performing
on soundtracks for some of the world’s
highest-grossing movies. 2015 saw the
release of Marvel’s Avengers: The Age
of Ultron, hotly tipped to be this year’s
most successful film, with soundtrack by
composer Brian Tyler. In addition, the
Philharmonia has recorded film scores
for Indian and French cinema, in addition
to a new British film The Lady in the Van,
an adaptation of Alan Bennett’s play of
the same name and with music by
composer George Fenton. On stage, we’ve
undertaken a number of live film and
orchestra events including The Godfather,
BBC Blue Planet in Concert and the iconic
movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, all events
attracting sell-out audiences, as part of
our Philharmonia at the Movies series.
WULIANGYE
On 23 February 2015, the Philharmonia
was delighted to welcome the Chinese
company Wuliangye as its new Principal
International Partner at a signing
ceremony at No. 10 Downing Street in the
presence of the Prime Minister, David
Cameron. At the event, Concert Master
Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay, and Timothy
Walden, Principal Cello, performed a
specially arranged composition of a
Chinese folksong with Professor Weiliang
Zhang, the pre-eminent Bamboo flutist
from Beijing. Wuliangye have become the
first Chinese company to sponsor a
UK Arts Organisation, and will support
the Orchestra’s work in the UK and
internationally. The company is based in
Yibin, Sichuan Province and are China’s
premier drinks manufacturer, producing
China’s national drink, Baijiu.
City
of
Light
Paris 1900–1950
Natasha Riordan-Eva
Manager, London Season
This season Esa-Pekka Salonen led a major series
of concerts exploring the cultural history of Paris
between 1900 and 1950. The series opened in
November with a rare opportunity to hear Debussy’s
groundbreaking 1902 opera Pelléas et Mélisande.
Here Natasha Riordan-Eva, our Manager of the
London Season, talks us through the process of
planning and executing such a huge undertaking.
I have a very clear memory of my first day at the
Philharmonia in 2012. After a whistle stop tour of the
office I watched a presentation about the Orchestra’s
plans for the future and on the final slide there was a
reference to a possible performance of Debussy Pelléas
et Mélisande. I couldn’t believe my luck, this was a
work I had become mildly obsessed with at university,
and I was desperate to find a performance in the
UK. At that point I had no idea that I would be lucky
enough to help bring the performance together and
that this would be the first concert of our spectacular
2014/15 series City of Light: Paris 1900–1950.
Our Pelléas cast had been confirmed a few months in
advance but unfortunately the evening before the first
rehearsal our Mélisande fell ill. We were very lucky
that Sandrine Piau was available to step in the next
day. No sooner had she taken off her coat at the first
rehearsal, she started singing so effortlessly that it
would be very easy to forget that the first time she
had heard of the performance was late the previous
evening. This production was the first time that
David Edwards (director) and Colin Grenfell (lighting
designer) had worked together, and fortunately a
symbiosis of ideas led to a fruitful partnership. The
Royal Festival Hall was transformed into Allemande,
the gloomy kingdom of Maeterlinck’s play and thus
began our journey.
After Pélleas, our next semi-staged venture was Ravel’s
l’Enfant et les Sortilégès; forty five minutes in a land
of pure magic where cats flirt, trees talk and the most
horrifying arithmetic lesson comes to life. The days
leading up to the performance were gruelling; long
days for the soloists, and early starts and late nights
for the creative and backstage teams meant that tea
© Philharmonia Orchestra
news
and biscuits were in constant supply. My dreams
at the end of long days were narrated by talking
animals whilst I waltzed with enormous tea cups.
The dress rehearsal was on Tuesday evening and
as the London Philharmonic Orchestra were in
the hall the next day, we had to go through the
agonising process of dismantling our extensive set
piece by piece and carefully storing everything until
Wednesday evening when it would be put back during
an overnight get-in. When I got back to the Royal
Festival Hall early on Thursday morning, I crept
into the hall with bated breath, but quickly sighed
with relief when I saw the incredible work that the
backstage team had carried out; it was as if the set
hadn’t been touched since Tuesday evening. Irina
Brown’s direction was the perfect complement to
Esa-Pekka Salonen’s reading of the score, and when
the Philharmonia Voices quietly began the final
chorus, the atmosphere in the hall was electric.
You could have heard a pin drop as the audience
savoured each moment of this glorious music.
One of the highlights of this series has been the
chance to attend chamber music concerts presented
by students of the Royal College of Music. Rarely
heard repertoire was performed with enthusiasm
and great flair. To top it all off the RCM Symphony
Orchestra and Chorus performed their own concert
in the Royal Festival Hall under conductor Jac van
Steen. A programme of orchestral heavyweights
including Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring allowed
the students to show their mettle to a packed hall.
To finish this series we performed Messiaen’s
dazzling Turangalîla-symphonie, a love song of epic
proportions, and the perfect way to close a series
that has been so close to my heart.
To relive the highlights of our City of Light series,
please go to philharmonia.co.uk/paris to explore
the Paris of the past and present.
City of Light: Paris 1900–1950 conceived and supported
by Vincent Meyer, President Philharmonia Orchestra
70TH
ANNIVERSARY
GALA
Richard
III
Since the discovery of King Richard III’s remains
underneath a car park in September 2012, the world’s
media has been focussed on Leicester, providing
unprecedented coverage for the city around this
extraordinary find. As Orchestra in Residence at
De Montfort Hall, the Philharmonia has been involved
in two key events marking this unique chapter in history.
On Thursday 26 March, the Philharmonia’s horn section
led by Principal Horn, Nigel Black, performed at Richard
III’s reinterment ceremony held at Leicester Cathedral.
The service, featuring two new commissioned works
by Philip Moore and Judith Weir, was broadcast live on
Channel 4 and was relayed to TV networks across the world.
The Last Plantagenet, composed by John Webb, is a major
new commissioned vocal and instrumental work that
the Philharmonia’s Education Department devised, in
SOUTH AMERICA
TOUR
83 musicians
two
soloists
seven
concerts
Pieces of
repertoire
partnership with Darbar Arts Cultural Heritage Trust
and Leicester-Shire Music Education Hub. The work
received its première in front of a hugely appreciative
sold out audience at De Montfort Hall on 18 April and
featured over 200 performers, including a junior chorus
from more than 12 local schools, a youth choir, Indian
musicians, and players from Leicestershire Schools
Symphony Orchestra performing side by side with members
of the Philharmonia Orchestra. The new work sees King
Richard reappearing somewhat bewildered in present
day Leicester. Bumping into a party of schoolchildren,
he begins to understand the misconceptions surrounding
his life and legacy, and attempts to set the record
straight. The piece reflects the multiculturalism and
hustle bustle of the modern city of Leicester and
provided all vocal and instrumental performers with
a real challenge.
JAPAN & TAIWAN
TOUR
13 14
days
days
4
hospital
visits
Visits to
the Drs
travelled
18,000 miles
7
© Philharmonia Orchestra
and The Last
Plantaganet
6
100 musicians
2 time zones
nine concerts
6
flights
7
flights
8
Pieces of
repertoire
On the 26 March 2015, the
Philharmonia Orchestra hosted a
Gala Evening at Lancaster House
to raise funds for the forthcoming
70th Anniversary season and
the Orchestra’s education work
throughout the UK. The evening
featured a performance from
acclaimed young pianist Martin
Helmchen, and a live and silent
auction hosted by Adrian Biddell
from Sotheby’s. We are pleased to
announce that the evening raised
over £35,000. This support will ensure
that the Orchestra can continue to
reach the widest possible audience
through its education programme,
and regional residency programme.
NEW OFFICE
On 20 April 2015, the Philharmonia
Orchestra moved to exciting new
premises just south of the Thames in
Southwark. With ownership of the
building, it has allowed for the office
to be custom designed. This provides
additional departmental office space,
an onsite library, an archive room and
a performance and rehearsal space
for members to rehearse, able to
house up to 50 people.
As a result of the move, please
use the following correspondence
address: Philharmonia Orchestra,
6 Chancel Street, London, SE1 0UX
In addition there have been a number
of Development Department staff
changes this season. For an updated
list of contact details please visit
the Philharmonia website at
philharmonia.co.uk/management
FOREVER:
WHAT A
LEGACY
The Philharmonia was very sad to
learn of the passing of a number
of its loyal audience members and
supporters over the past season.
Several of our supporters decided to
leave the Philharmonia a gift in their
Wills. These gifts provide an
important and ongoing source of
income for the Orchestra, preserving
its heritage and helping to safeguard
its work for the enjoyment of future
generations.
If you are interested in leaving a
gift to the Philharmonia in your
Will, further information can
be found at philharmonia.co.uk/
support/legacies, or by contacting
Sarah Atkinson (Individual
Giving Manager) 020 7921 3921 or
[email protected]
© Simon Jay Price
David Whelton, Managing Director, and James Williams, Director,
UK Programme and Creative Projects, receiving the Royal
Philharmonic Society Award.
The Philharmonia Orchestra’s award winning large-scale
audience development and education project based in the
South West, iOrchestra, is now in its second year.
Having reached over 45,000 people in 2014, iOrchestra
returned in Spring 2015 to Plymouth, Torbay and Cornwall
with a programme of digital, live and creative projects to
inspire new audiences for orchestral music. Our mobile
digital education centre, MusicLab, has provided thousands
of school children in socially deprived communities with the
opportunity to learn and interact with the Philharmonia, while
playing real instruments, as well as singing and composing.
This was complemented by an outdoor presentation of our
digital installation Universe of Sound in Plymouth, Torquay
and Truro, which attracted tens of thousands of visitors,
giving them the opportunity to ‘step-inside’ and explore
a performance of Holst’s The Planets by the Philharmonia.
Finally, numerous creative participation projects in
partnership with local arts organisations and education
providers, in addition to live concerts by the Philharmonia,
marked the culmination of Year 2 in all regions.
The Philharmonia is proud that iOrchestra has been awarded
the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Audiences and Engagement
Award, in addition to the National Music Teachers’ Award
for Best Musical Initiative. iOrchestra is widely recognised
as one of the most ambitious and successful outreach projects
every undertaken by a UK orchestra.
Backstage Pass
To celebrate the start of the 2014/15 season,
the Philharmonia Orchestra launched
Backstage Pass, the Orchestra’s first audio
podcast. Jessie Rodger (Assistant Producer)
gives us an insight into this new medium.
Backstage Pass takes you behind the scenes of
the Orchestra, giving you exclusive access to
the players and a glimpse at the hard work that
goes on before each concert. The podcast brings
laughter and a few unexpected discoveries along
the way, as well as interviews with conductors,
soloists and players as they prepare to perform.
Backstage Pass is an opportunity to reach a
dynamic and musical community harnessing
© Philharmonia Orchestra
iOrchestra
the use of the digital technology that defines the
Orchestra. So far we’ve looked behind the curtain
for the season opening of Berlioz’ Requiem with
Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen, heard all about
recording the Avengers: Age of Ultron soundtrack
from Abbey Road Studios with composer Brian
Tyler, taken a journey to the ocean with BBC
Blue Planet Live and followed the production
team as they prepared for Ravel’s playful opera,
l’Enfant et les Sortilèges.
And that’s just the first season of Backstage
Pass. Join us online to hear a different
side of the Philharmonia Orchestra –
soundcloud.com/philharmonia
iOrchestra Live concert in Truro’s Lemon Quay
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
TEL
020 7921 3903
EMAIL
[email protected]
WEB
philharmonia.co.uk/support
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