“He has held musical soirees at National Sawdust in Williamsburg, Brooklyn,” writes Michael Cooper in Monday’s (4/25) New York Times. “He led the New York Philharmonic in Messiaen’s boffo ‘Turangalîla-Symphonie’ in March at David Geffen Hall, where, a week later, Alan Gilbert conducted the New York premiere of his Dada piece, ‘Karawane,’ Now he is next door, conducting Strauss’s ‘Elektra’ at the Metropolitan Opera.” Conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen “likened his extended New York sojourn this year to the relationship he had formed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic since stepping down as its music director in 2009, after 17 years, to devote more time to composing, other projects and his family…. In one of the biggest musical events of the fall, Mr. Salonen will conduct the New York Philharmonic in October at the Park Avenue Armory in works by Kaija Saariaho … an example of the kind that the Philharmonic has increasingly embraced under the tenure of Mr. Gilbert…. Salonen … is finishing the first of three seasons as the New York Philharmonic’s composer in residence.” Says Salonen of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie, “I have been at concerts where more than half the audience left…. And now it’s like a hip cult piece.’ ”
Posted April 27, 2016
