RACHMANINOFF
SYMPHONY NO. 2
LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA KARINA CANELLAKIS CONDUCTOR
CONTENTS
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PROGRAMME NOTE 3 KARINA CANELLAKIS 5 PLAYER LIST
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LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
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CREDITS
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SERGE RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943) SYMPHONY NO. 2 IN E MINOR, OP. 27 Thanks largely to the concertos, Rachmaninoff is usually thought of primarily as a composer for the piano, but before he left Russia for the last time in 1917, he was more widely recognised as a composer of vocal, chamber and orchestral music, and a gifted conductor active both in the concert hall and the opera house.
a symphony, it’s true!’, he wrote to one of them in February 1907. ‘It’s only ready in draft. I finished it a month ago and immediately put it aside. It was a severe worry to me and I am not going to think about it any more.’ The score was eventually completed early the following year, and the premiere took place in St Petersburg on 8 February 1908, with Rachmaninoff himself conducting.
The Third Piano Concerto came well into a period of heartening success that had served to wipe away the creatively crippling depression caused by the disastrous premiere of the First Symphony ten years earlier: 1901 had seen him return to form with the Second Piano Concerto; in 1902 he had married, his wife giving birth to a daughter the following year; and 1904 had brought a conducting post at the Bolshoi Opera in Moscow, where, early in 1906, he presided over well-received premieres of his operas Francesca da Rimini and The Miserly Knight.
The Second Symphony is both one of Rachmaninoff’s most popular orchestral compositions and one of his finest, a work of relaxed expansiveness and easy melodic flow, yet also one of great expressive power and sweep. Rachmaninoff’s talent for memorable melody is as present as ever here, but it never descends into facility; like Tchaikovsky (whose influence is unmistakable), he was able to move the listener with a big tune, but also to mould his melodies into great architectural spans with a subtlety that makes them appear totally natural. This Symphony is in fact shot through with motivic connections and links, but so organic do they seem that the listener could be forgiven for hardly noticing.
By this time, however, Rachmaninoff was beginning to feel the strain of celebrity, and made the decision to give himself more breathing space by removing himself and his family to Dresden. It was there that he composed his Second Symphony, in such secrecy that even his closest friends were unaware of the fact until they read about it in the press. ‘I have completed
Three important thematic cells are set out in the Symphony’s opening eight bars. The first, a weighty, 3
The Adagio that forms the third movement is one of Rachmaninoff’s most generous melodic creations, a worthy cousin to the slow movement of the Second Piano Concerto, to which it bears similarities. Strangely, its two main themes are presented almost on top of each other, the initial arpeggio-based string melody being immediately followed by a long and languid solo clarinet tune, but both are given ample space to breathe in the course of the ravishing movement that follows, as Rachmaninoff handles their leisurely juxtaposition with great skill and expressive control, decorating them here and there with glistening remembrances of the by-now familiar motifs.
undulating figure heard in the cellos and basses, is closely followed by a lightly syncopated stab from the woodwind and horns, and then by a downwardwinding line in the violins. All are significant to the work as a whole, but for the moment they serve to initiate a sombre slow introduction which is lengthy enough to include a powerful climax before subsiding on to a cor anglais solo. The main Allegro section of the movement features two themes, the first a dreamy transformation of the opening cello-and-bass figure, and the second (heralded by a brief clarinet solo) a romantic dialogue between wind and strings with links to the syncopated second motif. Reminders of all three motifs then continue to appear as the music drives forward through a Tchaikovskian climax in the central development section (built largely on the first motif), warm restatements of the principal themes, and on to an impassioned finish.
The Finale announces its intentions in joyously whirling, carnivalesque music whose textural complexities carry numerous thematic references to what has gone before. Rachmaninoff does not intend to let the movement run away with him, however, and before long introduces a noble violin theme to calm things down. It is an uplifting new presence, and proves even more heart-swellingly so when – following a nostalgic reminiscence of the slow movement and a mountingly exciting section built on descending scales – it makes its majestic return as the Symphony’s crowning glory.
The second movement starts out as a breezily confident Scherzo. Simpler in design than its companions, it is in three sections, the third of which is essentially a reprise of the first. The outer sections oppose a striding main theme and a lovingly lyrical second for strings, while the central one introduces a contrasting texture of closely worked, chattering counterpoint. Towards the end of the reprise, the brass interrupt with an apparition of the first movement’s second motif, and the Scherzo ends in unexpectedly ominous mood.
Programme note © Lindsay Kemp
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KARINA CANELLAKIS CONDUCTOR Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6, both recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall. Karina is also Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and her debut recording with them, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, received a Grammy nomination in 2023.
© Mathias Bothor
Since winning the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award in 2016, Karina has developed close relationships with many of the world’s leading orchestras. She was Principal Guest Conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin from 2019–23, and in 2023/24 was a featured Artist-in-Residence at Vienna’s Musikverein. Already established as a virtuoso violinist, Karina was encouraged to pursue conducting by Sir Simon Rattle while playing in the Berlin Philharmonic’s Akademie. She performed for several years as soloist, guest leader and chamber musician, spending many summers at the Marlboro Music Festival, until conducting eventually became her focus.
Universally acclaimed for her symphonic and operatic performances characterised by their emotional impact, interpretive depth and technical command, Karina Canellakis is welcomed by the finest musical institutions across the globe. She has been Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021, when her performances with the Orchestra led to one critic marvelling at the ‘explosive chemistry between this conductor and orchestra’. She recently extended her LPO contract to the end of the 2029/30 season.
Karina was born and raised in New York City. Karina Canellakis’s position with the London Philharmonic Orchestra is generously supported by Richard Buxton.
This is Karina’s second album release on the LPO Label: October 2025 saw the release of Tchaikovsky’s
Karina Canellakis appears courtesy of Pentatone, with whom she records exclusively. 5
ON STAGE
FIRST VIOLINS
Pieter Schoeman Leader Alice Ivy-Pemberton Co-Leader Lasma Taimina Minn Majoe Thomas Eisner Yang Zhang Nilufar Alimaksumova Sylvain Vasseur Amanda Smith Daniel Pukach Camille Buitenhuis Eve Kennedy Grace Lee Tayfun Bomboz Martin Höhmann Eleanor Bartlett
SECOND VIOLINS
Tania Mazzetti Principal Claudia Tarrant-Matthews Joseph Maher Nancy Elan Marie-Anne Mairesse Ashley Stevens Sophie Phillips Sioni Williams
Vera Beumer Emma Crossley Sheila Law Olivia Ziani Nynke Hijlkema Sarah Thornett
Francis Bucknall Iain Ward Helen Thomas Laura Donoghue
DOUBLE BASSES
Sebastian Pennar Principal Hugh Kluger George Peniston Laura Murphy Tom Walley Charlotte Kerbegian Sam Rice Antonia Bakewell
VIOLAS
Vicki Powell Guest Principal Stephanie Block Martin Wray Katharine Leek Benedetto Pollani Alistair Scahill Shiry Rashkovsky Rachel Robson Luca Casciato Jill Valentine Laura Vallejo Toby Warr
Frederico Paixão Guest Principal Anna Kondrashina Marta Santamaria
CELLI
PICCOLO
FLUTES
Henry Shapard Principal David Lale Leo Melvin Sibylle Hentschel Sue Sutherley Tom Roff
Marta Santamaria
OBOES
Ian Hardwick Principal Alice Munday Max Spiers 6
COR ANGLAIS
Max Spiers
CLARINETS
Benjamin Mellefont Principal Thomas Watmough
BASS CLARINET
James Maltby
BASSOONS
Will Kidner Guest Principal Stuart Russell
HORNS
Annemarie Federle Principal Martin Hobbs Mark Vines Co-Principal Gareth Mollison Elise Campbell
TRUMPETS
Paul Beniston Principal Anne McAneney Juan Martínez
Mark Templeton Principal David Whitehouse
LPO-0132
TROMBONES
LPO-0137
ALSO ON THE LPO LABEL
BASS TROMBONE
Lyndon Meredith Principal
TIMPANI
Simon Carrington Principal
Canellakis conducts Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6
Gardner conducts Rachmaninoff: The Bells/Symphonic Dances LPO-0088
Lee Tsarmaklis Principal Archie McVicar
LPO-0111
TUBAS
PERCUSSION
Jurowski conducts Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3/Ten Songs LPO-0036
Jurowski conducts Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1/The Isle of the Dead LPO-0004
Andrew Barclay Principal Karen Hutt Co-Principal Oliver Yates Feargus Brennan
Jurowski conducts Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead/Symphonic Dances
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Vänskä conducts Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3/Bax: Tintagel
LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with its present-day position as one of the most dynamic and forward-looking ensembles in the UK. This reputation has been secured by the Orchestra’s performances in the concert hall and opera house, its many award-winning recordings, trailblazing international tours and wide-ranging educational work.
The Orchestra is based at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has been Resident Orchestra since 1992. Each summer it takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for 60 years. The Orchestra performs at venues around the UK and has made numerous international tours, performing to sell-out audiences in America, Europe, Asia and Australasia.
Founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, the Orchestra has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors, including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. In September 2021 Edward Gardner became the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor, succeeding Vladimir Jurowski, who became Conductor Emeritus in recognition of his transformative impact on the Orchestra as Principal Conductor from 2007–21.
The LPO made its first recordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after its first public performance. It has recorded and broadcast regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its own record label. These recordings are taken mainly from live concerts given by conductors including those with LPO Principal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, through Haitink, Solti, Tennstedt and Masur, to Jurowski and Gardner. lpo.org.uk
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© Mark Allan
SERGE RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943)
58:39
Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27
01 22:00 02 10:02 03 13:29 04 13:05
Largo – Allegro moderato Scherzo: Allegro molto Adagio Finale: Allegro vivace
Recorded live at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on 25 October 2025 Producer: Matthew Bennett, Floating Earth Engineer: Mike Hatch, Floating Earth 2027 London Philharmonic Orchestra Ltd © 2027 London Philharmonic Orchestra Ltd LPO–0142D lpo.org.uk
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