Program Also Features Webern's Iconic Five Pieces for Orchestra

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2007 AT 8 PM

SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, AT 8 PM

SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, AT 2 PM

Media sponsor of the Friday performance is K-Mozart 105.1 FM

Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program of Mahler's Symphony No. 7 and Webern's Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10 on Friday and Saturday, January 12 and 13, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, January 14, 2007 at 2 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Mahler's Seventh, the least-performed of his symphonies, was a favorite of modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg, who considered it Mahler's best work at the time it was written. Webern's iconic Five Pieces, all considered models of compressed perfection, were written between 1911 and 1913. His plans for the group at various times encompassed other numbers, including a song.

The program originally announced for these concerts was changed due to the withdrawal of soprano Dawn Upshaw, who is undergoing treatment for early-stage breast cancer. (The prognosis for Upshaw's return to full health is excellent.)

Upbeat Live, a free event open to all ticket holders, is held in BP Hall one hour before each of these concerts featuring Christopher Russell, conductor and music educator.

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, the tenth conductor to head the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is currently in his 14th season as Music Director. He made his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in November 1984, and he has conducted the orchestra every season since. His current tenure is the second-longest in Philharmonic history, and he recently extended his contract through the 2007/08 season. Alongside his activities as a conductor, Salonen has also won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's activities with the Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, William Kraft, Witold Lutoslawski, Magnus Lindberg, Bernard Rands, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven Stucky, Tan Dun, and Augusta Read Thomas, as well as his own works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of music by Ligeti, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Berlioz, and has served as Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival. He and the Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992, including extended residencies at the Salzburg Festival and at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Salonen's latest orchestral work, Wing on Wing, received its world premiere in June 2004 as part of the Philharmonic's Building Music Festival. In March 2003 Salonen signed an exclusive four-year recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon; in February 2005, the label released Wing on Wing, a disc devoted to his recent works. Before signing with DG, Salonen recorded regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Sony Classical. A Sony disc of Salonen's compositions, including LA Variations, Five Images After Sappho, Giro, Gambit, and Mania, has garnered critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and in Europe. Salonen and the Philharmonic's discography also includes the debut recording of John Adams' Naive and Sentimental Music - a work that the orchestra premiered - for the Nonesuch label. Salonen was born in Helsinki in 1958, and after studies at the Sibelius Academy in Finland and with private teachers Franco Donatoni and Niccolò Castiglioni in Italy, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1979. He is the recipient of many major awards including the Siena Prize from the Accademia Chigiana in 1993, the first conductor ever to receive the prize; the Royal Philharmonic Society's Opera Award in 1995; and their Conductor Award in 1997. In 1998 he was awarded the rank of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government; in 2003 he received an honorary doctorate from the Sibelius Academy in Finland.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music - Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association's involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2007 AT 8 PM

SATURDAY, JANUARY 13 AT 8PM

SUNDAY, JANUARY 14 AT 2 PM

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

WEBERN Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10

MAHLER Symphony No. 7

The concert will be presented without intermission.

Upbeat Live, a free event open to all ticket holders, is held in BP Hall one hour before each performance featuring Christopher Russell, conductor and music educator.

Media Sponsor of the Friday, January 12 Performance is K-Mozart 105.1 FM

Tickets ($15- $135) are on sale now online at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($15) will be released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances beginning at noon on the Tuesday of the second week prior to the concert. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office two hours prior to the performance. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person; cash only. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For all information, please call 323.850.2000.

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