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  • ESA-PEKKA SALONEN CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEBUT WITH LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC IN PROGRAM OF DEBUSSY, STRAVINSKY, AND RACHMANINOFF
  • Nov. 26, 2004
  • Pianist Alexander Toradze is Soloist in Beloved Third Piano Concerto of Rachmaninoff

    FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, at 8 PM;

    SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27 AND 28, at 2 PM

    AT WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL


    Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen marks the 20th anniversary of his first performances with the orchestra on November 26, 27, and 28 in a program of favorite late-Romantic and early 20th-century masterworks: Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Stravinsky's Petrushka, and Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto with renowned pianist Alexander Toradze as soloist. Salonen has been associated with this repertoire via recording and performing it numerous times throughout his career, and the programming serves as a fitting tribute to his tenure with the orchestra.

    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, critically acclaimed international tours, 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 Orchestra from 1985 to 1994 and as principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1995.

    ALEXANDER TORADZE is universally recognized as a masterful virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition. He has enriched the great Russian pianistic heritage with his own unorthodox interpretative conceptions, deeply poetic lyricism, and intensely emotional excitement. Mr. Toradze's recent recording of all five Prokofiev concertos with Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra for the Philips label is acclaimed by critics as definitive. In this set, Toradze's recording of Concerto No. 3 was named by the prestigious International Piano Quarterly as "historically the best on record" (from among over 70 recordings). Other highly successful recordings have included recital albums of the works of Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Ravel and Prokofiev for the Angel/EMI label. Mr. Toradze continuously appears with every
    major North American orchestra, including those of New York, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minnesota, Houston, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Seattle, Toronto and Washington D.C. Overseas, he appears regularly with the Kirov Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, La Scala Philharmonic, Bayerische Rundfunk Orchester, Orchestre National de France, City of Birmingham Symphony, London's Symphony, Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras, Israel Philarmonic, and the radio orchestras of the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Italy. Mr. Toradze has collaborated with such leading conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Mikko Franck, Valery Gergiev, Neeme and Paavo Järvi, Zdenek Macal, Zubin Mehta, Roberto Minczuk, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Gerard Schwarz, Yuri Temirkanov, Klaus Tennstedt, and Edo de Waart. Among the summer festivals at which Mr. Toradze frequently appears are the White Nights in St. Petersburg, Hollywood Bowl, Saratoga, Blossom, Mann's Music Center, Concertgebouw, Mikkeli (Finland) and the Salzburg Festival. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Alexander Toradze graduated in 1978 from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and soon became a professor there. In 1983, he moved permanently to the United States and in 1991, was appointed as the Martin Professor of Piano at Indiana University South Bend. Mr. Toradze has created a teaching environment that is unparalleled in its unique concept. The members of the multinational Toradze Piano Studio have developed into a worldwide touring ensemble that has gathered great critical acclaim on an international level.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    Friday, November 26, at 8 PM

    Saturday, November 27, at 2 PM

    Sunday, November 28, at 2 PM

    Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

    Alexander Toradze, piano

    DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

    STRAVINSKY Petrushka

    RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place one hour prior to each concert in BP Hall at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and are free to all ticket holders. Pianist and composer Paul Romero hosts.

    Tickets ($15 - $125) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, 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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  • Contact:

    Rachelle Roe 213.972.7310; photos: 213.972.3034