Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic will return to Europe this summer for a five-city tour of some of the continent's most prestigious summer festivals from August 22 - September 4. The tour includes performances at the festivals of Lucerne (Aug. 23, 24, 25), Edinburgh (Aug. 27, 28), Proms (London - Aug. 30, 31), Flanders (Brussels - Sept. 2) and Helsinki (Sept. 3, 4), and is the orchestra's final tour before they take up residence in their new home, Walt Disney Concert Hall, next Fall.

(See this press release for information about special tour-related activities.)

Pianist Yefim Bronfman, a frequent collaborator with the Philharmonic, joins Salonen and the orchestra for concerts in Lucerne (Aug. 23), London (Aug. 30), and Helsinki (Sept. 4) in Bartók's First Piano Concerto, a work he has recorded (and won a Grammy for) with them. The program also includes works by Ravel and Stravinsky. In Lucerne on August 24, baritone Matthias Goerne is soloist in Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Sibelius' Seventh Symphony is also on the program. On the same program in Edinburgh (Aug. 28) a different version of Des Knaben Wunderhorn features alto Anna Larsson and baritone Thomas Quasthoff.

Two tour programs feature the Second Symphony of Shostakovich and Beethoven's famed Ninth Symphony; the BBC Symphony Chorus joins the Philharmonic in Lucerne (Aug. 25) and London (Aug 31) with soloists Melanie Diener, soprano; Paula Rasmussen, alto; Robert Gambill, tenor; and Eike Wilm Schulte, baritone. The August 31 performance will be broadcast live on BBC television.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic was the first American orchestra to perform at the famous BBC Prom Concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall; their last tour with Esa-Pekka Salonen to European Festivals was in 1998.

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, the tenth conductor to head the Los Angeles Philharmonic, began his tenure as Music Director in October 1992. Salonen made his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in November 1984, and he has conducted the Orchestra every season since. Among the many highlights of Salonen's activities with the Philharmonic have been world premieres of new works by composers John Adams, Bernard Rands, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven Stucky, and Salonen himself, well-received Ligeti and Stravinsky: Festivals, appearances at the Ojai Festival, seven critically acclaimed international tours since 1992, and his extensive discography with the Philharmonic for Sony Classical. Salonen was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1958. He made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1979, and he has been one of the world's most sought-after conductors since his debut in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra in September 1983. He served as principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia of London from 1985 to 1994 and as principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1995.

Pianist YEFIM BRONFMAN has performed solo and orchestral engagements with the world's great orchestras. In celebration of violinist Lorin Maazel's 70th birthday, Bronfman joined Maazel for the 2000/01 season on a worldwide tour performing the complete Brahms Sonatas at Carnegie Hall and in Berlin, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, and Vienna. In 1999, Bronfman joined James Levine and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London for a special tour to premiere Disney's "Fantasia 2000," on whose soundtrack Bronfman performs the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2. An artist with Sony Classical, Bronfman has won widespread praise for his solo, chamber, and orchestral recordings including a Grammy award in 1997 for his recording of the three Bartók concertos with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

EUROPEAN FESTIVALS TOUR SCHEDULE

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

Friday, August 23, 7:30 PM

Lucerne Festival

Ravel: Mother Goose Suite

Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 1

   Yefim Bronfman, piano

Stravinsky: Agon

Ravel: La valse

Saturday, August 24, 6:30 PM

Lucerne Festival

Sibelius: Symphony No. 7

Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn

   Matthias Goerne, baritone

Sunday, August 25, 7:30 PM

Lucerne Festival

Shostakovich Symphony No. 2

Beethoven Symphony No. 9

   Melanie Diener, soprano

   Paula Rasmussen, alto

   Robert Gambill, tenor

   Eike Wilm Schulle, baritone

   BBC Symphony Chorus

Wednesday, August 28, 8 PM

Edinburgh Festival

Sibelius: Symphony No. 7

Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn

   Anna Larsson, alto

   Thomas Quasthoff, baritone

Tuesday, August 27, 8 PM

Edinburgh Festival

Stravinsky: Agon

Ravel: La valse

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite

Friday, August 30, 7:30 PM

Proms (London)

Debussy: Ibéria

Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 1

   Yefim Bronfman, piano

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite

Saturday, August 31, 7:30 PM

Proms (London)

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 2

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

   Melanie Diener, soprano

   Paula Rasmussen, alto

   Robert Gambill, tenor

   Eike Wilm Schulle, baritone

   BBC Symphony Chorus

Monday, September 2, 8 PM

Flanders Festival (Brussels)

Stravinsky: Agon

Ravel: La valse

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite

Wednesday, September 4, 7:30 PM

Helsinki Festival

Debussy: Ibéria

Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 1

   Yefim Bronfman, piano

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite

Tuesday, September 3, 7:30 PM

Helsinki Festival

Ravel: Mother Goose suite

Sibelius: Symphony No. 7

Stravinsky: Agon

Ravel: La valse

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