Esa Pekka Salonen (who is still teh mang, btw) is one fearless Finn. He's a conductor, a composer and even a time traveler. Follow us for a second here.
In 1983, 25-year-old composer Esa Pekka Salonen conducts Philharmonia in Mahler 3 in London (as a late replacement for Michael Tilson Thomas); thinks he'll go back to his day job -- composer of works that leave Opera Chic a bit cold -- but then life interferes with his plans. The rest, as they say on NPR right before we doze off in a deep boredom-induced coma, is history.
In 2007 -- on June 12 -- Salonen will conduct again Philharmonia in Mahler 3, in a newly-refurbished Royal Festival Hall. Because on June 12 he will officially begin his tenure as Principal Conductor of the great Philharmonia (and no, thankfully, he won't leave his L.A. Phil job, possibly because he digs La Cañada, whatever that is, way too mucho). Opera Chic has already seen EPS at work with Philharmonia -- and a really hawt cellist -- in Parma last December, and she has become a big E-Pek fangirl. Not to mention, he will be the fifth Principal Conductor of Philharmonia, taking Otto Klemperer's, Riccardo Muti's, and Giuseppe Sinopoli's old job (the post is currently held by Christoph von Dohnányi).
When it comes to Mahler 3, OC has a weakness for Maestro Barbirolli's glorious 1969 version: but she is now tempted to get a ticket for the June concert, fly to London, stock up on Verde of Hampstead products, go sip a pre-concert Martini at the Dukes bar, then hop on a cab and enjoy the Salonen sound.
(On Thursday night, with the New York Phil, E-Pek conducted the premiere of his Piano Concerto -- dedicated to that night's soloist, the one and only Yefim "teh Phenomenon" Bronfman). But since the hawt blond Philharmonia cellist was nowhere in sight, OC had other plans.