Esa Pekka's Last L.A. Hurrah

If he were single and if he wore a proper white tie instead of those bad black Nehru jackets he inexplicably favors as concert attire, E-Pek (for those of you who didn't use to babysit his kids, Maestro Esa Pekka Salonen) would come dangerously close to being a perfect man: really talented, really smart, with a sense of humor, rich, famous, and seriously handsome (for an older guy). He also speaks really good Italian.

Then, props to Deborah Borda, who paid hommage to Esa-Pekka Salonen's impossible-to-overstate influence on the LA Phil:

We have a season and a half to go. But more importantly, it's a celebration of one hell of a guy, a man who has led us on amazing excursions and will continue to do so

The 2008-09 season, Salonen's last as Music Director, since he chose to concentrate on composing (blonde moptop and boyish smile and all, he'll nevertheless turn a secksy 50 in June), will include seven world premieres and residencies by John Adams, Yefim Bronfman, Peter Sellars and Dawn Upshaw. The Wiener Philharmoniker (led by Zubin Mehta) will make their Disney Hall debut. Kaija Saariaho's "La Passion de Simone" will receive its U.S. premiere. András Schiff will complete his Beethoven piano sonatas cycle.

Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct the SFO in "The Thomashefsky Project". Salonen's last hurrah will take place on April 19, 2009.

Then our Dudi, Gustavo Dudamel, will step in as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and for all his monster talent, his hype, and the obvious love audiences worldwide have poured over his cute wild bushy hair, he will have to demonstrate that he is worthy of the directorship once held, among others, by Carlo Maria Giulini and Otto Klemperer.

Dudi does not need to be afraid; he will only need, every once in a while, to remember the giants who came before him. Salonen's one of them.

Comments

[coccodrillo]

His wife is a MILF

[CrewMantle]

I can't express my complete pleasure enough as to the suitability of this new conductor for L.A.

His hair is perfectly permed, and he has an ego that would be a credit to any aspiring senior Scientologist. Vacuous, silly, inane, unimportant L.A. requires nothing more.... No, this pleases me to no end.

[Willym]

What is it with conductors these days - Antonio Pappano wears this black pajama outfit, Gunter Neuhold conducted Rusalka here the other night in a pair of black pajamas, our own beloved GianLuigi Gelmetti wears black pjs... are they not paying them enough to afford at the least smoking or at the most a set of Stokowski tails???