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  • MUSIC DIRECTOR ESA-PEKKA SALONEN AND THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC OPEN THE 2008/2009 SEASON AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL WITH FRENCH AND SPANISH PROGRAM
  • Oct. 3, 2008
  • FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 - 4, 2008, AT 8 PM;
    SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2008, AT 2 PM

    Oct. 5 Media Sponsor: KCET

    Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in its first weekend of the 2008/09 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall in three concerts featuring music by Falla and Ravel on Friday and Saturday, October 3 and 4, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, October 5, at 2 p.m. The Friday performance, a Casual Fridays concert, presents Falla’s Three Dances from El amor brujo, Ravel’s Mother Goose and Ravel’s Bolero. The Saturday and Sunday concerts offer the same lineup and also include Debussy’s La Mer.

    All three concerts open with Falla’s Three Dances from El amor brujo, which tells the story of a young widow who is ultimately freed from the possessive nature of her husband’s ghost by exchanging a kiss of perfect love with her new lover. Ravel’s Mother Goose was originally written as a five-piece suite for four hands at one piano for the young children of the composer’s good friends. After it was introduced, Ravel was persuaded to orchestrate the music for ballet purposes; he added the Prelude, a Spinning Wheel Dance and Scene and four Interludes. Ravel’s Bolero was created as a ballet for dancer Ida Rubenstein. Ravel’s best-known work experiments with a single melody that focused on a basic dance rhythm and involved the constant evolution of orchestral timbre. The Saturday and Sunday concerts also include Debussy’s vivid and dynamic orchestral showpiece, La Mer.

    2008/09 marks Esa-Pekka Salonen’s 17th and final season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The season, themed “Celebrate Salonen,” is dedicated to his legacy and accomplishments.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Russell Steinberg, composer, conductor and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra and faculty member at UCLA, hosts.

    The LA PHIL’s Casual Fridays series encourages audience and orchestra members to attend attired in comfortable clothes. These shorter programs – without intermission – feature free post-concert activities for all ticket-holders to enjoy. These activities include a TalkBack discussion with musicians held on stage after the performance and a chance to mingle with members of the orchestra in the Concert Hall Café.

    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 for this season, his last with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. 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 3, 2008, at 8 PM (Casual Fridays concert)

    SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2008, at 8 PM

    SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2008, at 2 PM


    WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

    111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles



    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor



    FALLA Three Dances from El amor brujo

    DEBUSSY La mer (except Friday)

    RAVEL Mother Goose (complete)

    RAVEL Bolero



    Oct. 5 Media Sponsor: KCET



    Upbeat Live
    pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Russell Steinberg, composer, conductor and performer, as well as Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra and faculty member at UCLA, hosts.

    Tickets ($17 - $125) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card by phone at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($17), 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 information, please call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Lisa White, 213.972.3408, lwhite@laphil.org; Photos: 213.972.3034