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  • WDCH
  • MUSIC DIRECTOR ESA-PEKKA SALONEN OPENS THE 2007/2008 PHILHARMONIC SEASON AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL WITH MUSIC BY BACH, STRAUSS AND BEETHOVEN
  • Oct. 5, 2007
  • Concert Program is a Change from Previously Announced

    FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 AND SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6 AT 8:00 PM;

    SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2:00 PM

    October 6 concert generously sponsored by Acura

    Media support for October 7 concert provided by KCET

    Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in its first weekend of the 2007/2008 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall in a program of Bach, Strauss and Beethoven on Friday, October 5 and Saturday, October 6 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 7 at 2 p.m. The concert performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association's commissioned work, La Passion de Simone by Kaija Saariaho (featuring soprano Dawn Upshaw) originally planned for the weekend were recently postponed until the 2008/2009 season in order to present a more fully staged version.

    The performances begin with Bach's Contrapunctus XIX from his unfinished work Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of the Fugue). This arrangement by Luciano Berio was created in 2000 honoring the 250th anniversary of Bach's death. The program continues with Strauss' Metamorphosen (Transformations), which was premiered in January 1946 after Germany's defeat in World War II. Appalled by the war's destruction of humanity and Germany's opera houses, Strauss scored the piece for 23 string instruments and included thematic references to the funeral march from Beethoven's Third Symphony (Eroica). The concerts conclude with Beethoven's rousing Seventh Symphony, every movement of which is dominated by a characteristic rhythmic pattern.

    Christopher Russell, faculty member at CSU Fullerton and Azusa Pacific University, and Director of Instrumental Music at Orange County High School of the Arts, discusses the concert program at "Upbeat Live." Open to all ticket holders, this free event is held in BP Hall one hour before each performance.

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, who was born in Helsinki in 1958, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. In 1979, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. He was recently appointed Principal Conductor of London's Philharmonia. In addition, Salonen has won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's career with the Los Angeles Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, Anders Hillborg, William Kraft, Magnus Lindberg, Witold Lutoslawski, Bernard Rands, Kaija Saariaho, 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, Berlioz, and Beethoven, and the Tristan Project. He and the Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992. In October of 2003, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. In March 2003, Salonen signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The following year, DG released a disc devoted to his recent orchestral works, featuring Foreign Bodies, Insomnia, and Wing on Wing. In January 2006, Salonen and the Philharmonic recorded their first CD together for DG, the first live recording at Walt Disney Concert Hall. (Salonen and the Philharmonic also have four live concert recordings available for download on iTunes from DG Concerts.) Before signing with DG, Salonen recorded regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Sony Classical. Salonen is the recipient of several 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. Musical America named him 2006 Musician of the Year.

    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, OCTOBER 5, 2007, 8:00 PM

    SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 8:00 PM

    SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2:00 PM

    WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

    BACH (arr. BERIO) Contrapunctus XIX

    STRAUSS Metamorphosen

    BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7

    Christopher Russell, faculty member at CSU Fullerton and Azusa Pacific University, and Director of Instrumental Music at Orange County High School of the Arts, discusses the concert program at "Upbeat Live;" open to all ticket holders this free event is held in BP Hall one hour before each performance.

    Tickets ($15 - $142) 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) are released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital, and Baroque Variations performances two weeks 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 10 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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  • Contact:

    Adam Crane, 213.972.3422, acrane@laphil.org; Rachelle Roe, 213.972.7310, rroe@laphil.org; Photos, 213.972.3034