Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen emerged as one of the most exciting major conductors of the late 20th century and has continued his illustrious career into the 21st. While best known for his conducting, Salonen views composition as his main career. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Philharmonia and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras.
Salonen was born June 30, 1958, in Helsinki, Finland. He entered the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 1973, studying horn with Holgar Fransman. Having graduated in 1977, Salonen remained to study composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara and conducting with Jorma Panula. He later continued his composition studies with Franco Donatoni and Niccolò Castiglioni and also attended the summer course at Darmstadt. Salonen's first large-scale orchestral work was the Concerto for alto saxophone & orchestra "...Auf den esten Blick und ohne zu wissen" (1980-1981), based on Kafka's novel The Trial. His second orchestral work, Giro, dates from 1981. The following year, he composed Floof (revised in 1990), a bright work for soprano and ensemble based on texts by science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, and he started appearing as a horn soloist and guest conductor.
Salonen's conducting career took off in 1983, following his sensational London debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra. He made his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1984. Following these successful debuts, he received a record contract with CBS Masterworks (now Sony Classical), as well as the position of principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia (1985-1994). One of his early projects with CBS was a recording of Messiaen's Turangalîla and Lutoslawski's Symphony No. 3, the latter a world-premiere recording that won a Gramophone Award for Best Contemporary Record in 1985. He won a second award in 1989 for a recording of Sibelius and Nielsen violin concertos, featuring Cho-Liang Lin. Salonen won further awards with the complete Stravinsky works for piano and orchestra with Paul Crossley. As a result of his highly successful performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in 1989, he was invited to become the orchestra's music director. He assumed that post in 1992, becoming, at that time, the orchestra's youngest music director (since supplanted by Gustavo Dudamel) and a successor to such luminaries as Zubin Mehta and Carlo Maria Giulini.
During the '80s, Salonen composed tape music, as well as music with electronics and instruments combined. Works written during this period include Baalal, a radiophonic piece, and Yta (Surface), a series of experimental compositions. He won the UNESCO Rostrum Prize in 1992 for Floof. His 1996 orchestral piece, LA Variations, received its triumphant premiere by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1997. The following year, he wrote Gambit, an orchestral work dedicated to Magnus Lindberg. In 1999, Salonen completed Five Images after Sappho, a song cycle for soprano and small ensemble. Other significant works include Wing on Wing for orchestra and two sopranos (2004), a Piano Concerto (2007) written for Yefim Bronfman, and a Cello Concerto (2017), which was premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Salonen's music employs up-to-date compositional techniques within a central tonality.
In 2003, he co-founded the Baltic Sea Festival, serving as music director from its founding until 2018. He led the Los Angeles Philharmonic on major tours and made a series of highly acclaimed recordings before stepping down from his position in 2009. In 2006, Salonen was named principal conductor and, in 2008, the artistic director of the Philharmonia. He remained in both posts with the Philharmonia until 2021; he now holds the post of conductor laureate with both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philharmonia. In 2020, Salonen became the music director of the San Francisco Symphony.
Salonen is known for his 20th century music performances, though he is also praised for his interpretations of Haydn, Mahler, and Beethoven. In addition to established modern composers such as Bartók, Messiaen, and Stravinsky, he also frequently performs more recent masters such as Lutoslawski, Ligeti, and Corigliano, whose concerto from the film The Red Violin he recorded with violinist Joshua Bell. Salonen is a teacher of conducting at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. In 2022, he wrote a Concerto for organ and orchestra on commission from several major organizations, took up the composer in residence position with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and led the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra on a recording of music by Jesper Nordin with clarinetist Martin Fröst.
© Joseph Stevenson & Keith Finke /TiVo
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James Matheson: String Quartet, Violin Concerto & Times Alone
Color Field Quartet, Baird Dodge, Laura Strickling, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Thomas Sauer, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Yarlung Records on Sep 30, 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Réflexions
Hélène Grimaud, Staatskapelle Dresden, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Flute Concerto & Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57 & Springtime on Funen, Op. 42
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on May 4, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Prologue to 'Orango'; Symphony No.4
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Symphony No. 2, Op. 16, Pan & Syrinx, Op. 49 & Aladdin Suite, Op. 34
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Dec 28, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók & Stravinsky: Violin Concertos
Viktoria Mullova, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Nov 21, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4, Op. 29, & Helios Overture, Op. 17
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Jan 1, 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Deutsche-Grammophon Concerts (2006 - 2007) (Live)
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Symphony No. 5 & Masquerade Excerpts
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Jan 1, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
DG Concert LA 2006/2007 - Shadow of Stalin - Ligeti: Concerto Romanesc / Husa: Music for Prague / Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Nov 6, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shadow of Stalin - Ligeti: Concert Romanesc / Husa: Music for Prague / Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra (DG Concerts LA 2006/2007)
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Nov 6, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on May 4, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carl Nielsen : The 6 Symphonies
Symphonic Music - Released by Sony Classical on Oct 14, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 & Piano Quintet in G Minor
Yefim Bronfman, Juilliard String Quartet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Nov 15, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reger: Variations and Fugue, Op. 132 - Romantic Suite - Works for Organ
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sinfonie Orchester Des Südwestfunks Baden-Baden
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Esa-Pekka Salonen - A Nordic Festival
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Jul 26, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hindemith | Wagner (DG Concerts)
Bryn Terfel, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dallapiccola: Il Prigioniero & Canti di prigionia
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Oct 24, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Symphony No. 1, Op. 7 & Little Suite in A Minor, Op. 1
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on May 4, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 / Hillborg: Eleven Gates
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 & Piano Sonata in B Minor
Emanuel Ax, Esa-Pekka Salonen, The Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Oct 24, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo