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  • WDCH
  • ESA-PEKKA SALONEN LEADS THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC IN THREE PERFORMANCES OF MAHLER'S DAS LIED VON DER ERDE
  • May. 9, 2008
  • Mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi and Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey Featured; Program also Includes Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony

    FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, MAY 9 AND 10, 2008 AT 8 PM

    SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008, AT 2 PM

    The May 10 Concert is Generously Sponsored by Brequet, Official Timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
    KCET is the Media Sponsor for the May 11 concert

    Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances of Mahler's epic song-symphony Das Lied von der Erde at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 11, at 2 p.m. Mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey are featured in the large-scale Mahler work. Also on the program is Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony.

    Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (“The Song of the Earth”) sets to music six verses taken from a volume of ancient Chinese poetry that had been translated into German. The result of Mahler’s work was the “song-symphony” hybrid that occupied much of the composer’s creative life. It was the first work of its kind - a complete integration of song cycle and symphony – and the form was later imitated by other composers such as Shostakovich and Zemlinsky.

    Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony, completed well before his opera by the same name, is a fictional account of the life of painter Mathias Grunewald who lived during the time of the Peasant’s War in Germany. Each movement of the Symphony is based on Grunewald’s vivid Isenheim altarpiece paintings. The piece received a triumphant premiere by the Berlin Philharmonic in March 1934, but was banned a month later because of reports that Hindemith had made critical remarks about Hitler. The composer gradually severed ties with Germany and moved to the U.S. in 1940.

    Finnish mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi is in demand for concerts at the highest level, and her notable performances have included Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; the world premiere of Shchedrin’s The Enchanted Wanderer with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Lorin Maazel; and The Dream of Gerontius with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Vladimir Ashkenazy.

    Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has captured critical and popular acclaim for his performances with opera companies and symphony orchestras worldwide. He created the role of Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire at the work's 1998 world premiere with San Francisco Opera (recorded on CD, video, and DVD, and aired on national television by PBS), and he has also performed the role with the Washington National Opera and the San Diego Opera as well as the London and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. Additional operatic appearances include leading roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera and Opera Bastille. Griffey has also made notable symphonic appearances with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Müncher Symphoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Recently he sang the title role in Peter Grimes at the Metropolitan Opera that was also broadcast in movie theaters throughout the country.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, who was born in Helsinki in 1958, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. In 1979, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. He was recently appointed Principal Conductor of London's Philharmonia. In addition, Salonen has won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's career with the Los Angeles Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, Anders Hillborg, William Kraft, Magnus Lindberg, Witold Lutoslawski, Bernard Rands, Kaija Saariaho, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven Stucky, Tan Dun and Augusta Read Thomas, as well as his own works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of music by Sibelius, Ligeti, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Berlioz and Beethoven, as well as the Tristan Project. He and the Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992. In October of 2003, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. In March 2003, Salonen signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The following year, DG released a disc devoted to his recent orchestral works, featuring Foreign Bodies, Insomnia and Wing on Wing. In January 2006, Salonen and the Philharmonic recorded their first CD together for DG, the first live recording at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Salonen and the Philharmonic also have four live concert recordings available for download on iTunes from DG Concerts. Before signing with DG, Salonen recorded regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Sony Classical. Salonen is the recipient of several major awards including the Siena Prize from the Accademia Chigiana in 1993, the first conductor ever to receive the prize; the Royal Philharmonic Society's Opera Award in 1995; and their Conductor Award in 1997. In 1998, he was awarded the rank of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Musical America named him 2006 Musician of the Year.

    LILLI PAASIKIVI has performed Kindertotenlieder with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Mariss Jansons, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi. Her performance of Fricka in Das Rheingold with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle prompted this praise from the Financial Times: “Vocal honours are shared between Gambill and Lilli Paasikivi’s Fricka, whose lovely lyric timbre matches her gentle stage personality” (Andrew Clark, July 2006). Paasikivi made her BBC Proms debut in 2007 with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä; the all-Sibelius programme included solo songs with orchestra and The Tempest. As principal soloist at Finnish National Opera, roles have included Carmen, Angelina (La cenerentola), Marguerite (La damnation de Faust), Marchesa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims); Varvara (Katya Kabanova) and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier). Elsewhere Paasikivi has sung The Pilgrim in Saariaho’s L’amour de loin at Théâtre du Châtelet; the role of Jitsuko Honda in the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo at the Aix Festival; The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Opéra de Lyon, Fricka (Das Rheingold and Die Walküre) in Aix, and Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) at La Monnaie. Paasikivi’s recordings include Sibelius’ Kullervo Symphony; Sibelius’ Maiden in the Tower; Mahler Symphony No. 3; Alma Mahler’s Complete Songs; Sandström’s High Mass with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Herbert Blomstedt; and Stravinsky’s Mavra with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Peter Eötvös. Future highlights include Elgar’s Sea Pictures and The Dream of Gerontius with Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Leipzig Gewandhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly and Die Walküre at the Hamburg State Opera.

    Tenor ANTHONY DEAN GRIFFEY has been most closely identified with three of the major roles of contemporary opera. In addition to his work as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, he has sung Lennie in Of Mice and Men with the Houston Grand Opera, New York City, Glimmerglass, San Diego, and Florentine Operas and at Austria's Bregenz Festival. He has sung the title role in Peter Grimes at Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Glyndebourne Festival and under Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood and Saito Kinen Festivals, and he makes his Santa Fe Opera debut in that role this season. Other key operatic roles include Sam in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah (Metropolitan & Lyric Opera of Chicago); Le Fils in Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Saito Kinen Festival/Ozawa); and the title roles in Kurka's Good Soldier Schweik (Glimmerglass Opera), Mozart's Idomeneo (Mostly Mozart Festival), Deems Taylor's Peter Ibbetson (Seattle Symphony), and Weber's Oberon (Collegiate Chorale/Carnegie Hall). Griffey can be heard on Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire (Deutsche Grammophon), Les Mamelles de Tirésias conducted by Seiji Ozawa (Philips), I Lombardi, led by James Levine (Decca), and Amy Beach's Cabildo (Delos). Of Mice and Men, a live recording from the Houston Grand Opera, was released in January 2004 on the Albany label. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program, Griffey initially appeared with the company in April 1995 as the First Knight in Parsifal. He has since performed in Met productions of Manon, Don Carlo, Boris Godunov, The Queen of Spades, Aida, Billy Budd, Salome, Der fliegende Holländer, Die Zauberflöte, Peter Grimes (1998), Susannah opposite Renée Fleming (1999), and Tristan und Isolde (1999). A native of North Carolina, he holds degrees from Wingate University, the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School.

    The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music — Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association’s involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008, at 8 PM

    SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008, at 8 PM

    SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008, at 2 PM

    WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles



    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

    LILLI PAASIKIVI, mezzo-soprano

    ANTHONY DEAN GRIFFEY, tenor



    HINDEMITH Mathis der Maler Symphony

    MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde



    The May 10 concert is generously sponsored by Breguet, Official Timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. KCET is the media sponsor of the May 11 concert.


    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.

    Tickets ($40 - $142) are on sale now online at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($15) are released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital and Baroque Variations performances two weeks 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 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For information, please call 323.850.2000.

    # # #

    Mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi and Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey Featured; Program also Includes Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony

    FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, MAY 9 AND 10, 2008 AT 8 PM

    SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008, AT 2 PM

    The May 10 Concert is Generously Sponsored by Brequet, Official Timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
    KCET is the Media Sponsor for the May 11 concert

    Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances of Mahler's epic song-symphony Das Lied von der Erde at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 11, at 2 p.m. Mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey are featured in the large-scale Mahler work. Also on the program is Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony.

    Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (“The Song of the Earth”) sets to music six verses taken from a volume of ancient Chinese poetry that had been translated into German. The result of Mahler’s work was the “song-symphony” hybrid that occupied much of the composer’s creative life. It was the first work of its kind - a complete integration of song cycle and symphony – and the form was later imitated by other composers such as Shostakovich and Zemlinsky.

    Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony, completed well before his opera by the same name, is a fictional account of the life of painter Mathias Grunewald who lived during the time of the Peasant’s War in Germany. Each movement of the Symphony is based on Grunewald’s vivid Isenheim altarpiece paintings. The piece received a triumphant premiere by the Berlin Philharmonic in March 1934, but was banned a month later because of reports that Hindemith had made critical remarks about Hitler. The composer gradually severed ties with Germany and moved to the U.S. in 1940.

    Finnish mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi is in demand for concerts at the highest level, and her notable performances have included Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; the world premiere of Shchedrin’s The Enchanted Wanderer with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Lorin Maazel; and The Dream of Gerontius with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Vladimir Ashkenazy.

    Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has captured critical and popular acclaim for his performances with opera companies and symphony orchestras worldwide. He created the role of Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire at the work's 1998 world premiere with San Francisco Opera (recorded on CD, video, and DVD, and aired on national television by PBS), and he has also performed the role with the Washington National Opera and the San Diego Opera as well as the London and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. Additional operatic appearances include leading roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera and Opera Bastille. Griffey has also made notable symphonic appearances with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Müncher Symphoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Recently he sang the title role in Peter Grimes at the Metropolitan Opera that was also broadcast in movie theaters throughout the country.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, who was born in Helsinki in 1958, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. In 1979, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. He was recently appointed Principal Conductor of London's Philharmonia. In addition, Salonen has won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's career with the Los Angeles Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, Anders Hillborg, William Kraft, Magnus Lindberg, Witold Lutoslawski, Bernard Rands, Kaija Saariaho, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven Stucky, Tan Dun and Augusta Read Thomas, as well as his own works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of music by Sibelius, Ligeti, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Berlioz and Beethoven, as well as the Tristan Project. He and the Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992. In October of 2003, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. In March 2003, Salonen signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The following year, DG released a disc devoted to his recent orchestral works, featuring Foreign Bodies, Insomnia and Wing on Wing. In January 2006, Salonen and the Philharmonic recorded their first CD together for DG, the first live recording at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Salonen and the Philharmonic also have four live concert recordings available for download on iTunes from DG Concerts. Before signing with DG, Salonen recorded regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Sony Classical. Salonen is the recipient of several major awards including the Siena Prize from the Accademia Chigiana in 1993, the first conductor ever to receive the prize; the Royal Philharmonic Society's Opera Award in 1995; and their Conductor Award in 1997. In 1998, he was awarded the rank of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Musical America named him 2006 Musician of the Year.

    LILLI PAASIKIVI has performed Kindertotenlieder with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Mariss Jansons, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi. Her performance of Fricka in Das Rheingold with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle prompted this praise from the Financial Times: “Vocal honours are shared between Gambill and Lilli Paasikivi’s Fricka, whose lovely lyric timbre matches her gentle stage personality” (Andrew Clark, July 2006). Paasikivi made her BBC Proms debut in 2007 with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä; the all-Sibelius programme included solo songs with orchestra and The Tempest. As principal soloist at Finnish National Opera, roles have included Carmen, Angelina (La cenerentola), Marguerite (La damnation de Faust), Marchesa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims); Varvara (Katya Kabanova) and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier). Elsewhere Paasikivi has sung The Pilgrim in Saariaho’s L’amour de loin at Théâtre du Châtelet; the role of Jitsuko Honda in the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo at the Aix Festival; The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Opéra de Lyon, Fricka (Das Rheingold and Die Walküre) in Aix, and Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) at La Monnaie. Paasikivi’s recordings include Sibelius’ Kullervo Symphony; Sibelius’ Maiden in the Tower; Mahler Symphony No. 3; Alma Mahler’s Complete Songs; Sandström’s High Mass with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Herbert Blomstedt; and Stravinsky’s Mavra with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Peter Eötvös. Future highlights include Elgar’s Sea Pictures and The Dream of Gerontius with Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Leipzig Gewandhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly and Die Walküre at the Hamburg State Opera.

    Tenor ANTHONY DEAN GRIFFEY has been most closely identified with three of the major roles of contemporary opera. In addition to his work as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, he has sung Lennie in Of Mice and Men with the Houston Grand Opera, New York City, Glimmerglass, San Diego, and Florentine Operas and at Austria's Bregenz Festival. He has sung the title role in Peter Grimes at Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Glyndebourne Festival and under Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood and Saito Kinen Festivals, and he makes his Santa Fe Opera debut in that role this season. Other key operatic roles include Sam in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah (Metropolitan & Lyric Opera of Chicago); Le Fils in Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Saito Kinen Festival/Ozawa); and the title roles in Kurka's Good Soldier Schweik (Glimmerglass Opera), Mozart's Idomeneo (Mostly Mozart Festival), Deems Taylor's Peter Ibbetson (Seattle Symphony), and Weber's Oberon (Collegiate Chorale/Carnegie Hall). Griffey can be heard on Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire (Deutsche Grammophon), Les Mamelles de Tirésias conducted by Seiji Ozawa (Philips), I Lombardi, led by James Levine (Decca), and Amy Beach's Cabildo (Delos). Of Mice and Men, a live recording from the Houston Grand Opera, was released in January 2004 on the Albany label. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program, Griffey initially appeared with the company in April 1995 as the First Knight in Parsifal. He has since performed in Met productions of Manon, Don Carlo, Boris Godunov, The Queen of Spades, Aida, Billy Budd, Salome, Der fliegende Holländer, Die Zauberflöte, Peter Grimes (1998), Susannah opposite Renée Fleming (1999), and Tristan und Isolde (1999). A native of North Carolina, he holds degrees from Wingate University, the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School.

    The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music — Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association’s involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008, at 8 PM

    SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008, at 8 PM

    SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008, at 2 PM

    WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles



    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

    LILLI PAASIKIVI, mezzo-soprano

    ANTHONY DEAN GRIFFEY, tenor



    HINDEMITH Mathis der Maler Symphony

    MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde



    The May 10 concert is generously sponsored by Breguet, Official Timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. KCET is the media sponsor of the May 11 concert.


    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.

    Tickets ($40 - $142) are on sale now online at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($15) are released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital and Baroque Variations performances two weeks 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 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For information, please call 323.850.2000.

    # # #

    Mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi and Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey Featured; Program also Includes Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony

    FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, MAY 9 AND 10, 2008 AT 8 PM

    SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008, AT 2 PM

    The May 10 Concert is Generously Sponsored by Brequet, Official Timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
    KCET is the Media Sponsor for the May 11 concert

    Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in three performances of Mahler's epic song-symphony Das Lied von der Erde at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, May 11, at 2 p.m. Mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey are featured in the large-scale Mahler work. Also on the program is Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony.

    Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (“The Song of the Earth”) sets to music six verses taken from a volume of ancient Chinese poetry that had been translated into German. The result of Mahler’s work was the “song-symphony” hybrid that occupied much of the composer’s creative life. It was the first work of its kind - a complete integration of song cycle and symphony – and the form was later imitated by other composers such as Shostakovich and Zemlinsky.

    Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony, completed well before his opera by the same name, is a fictional account of the life of painter Mathias Grunewald who lived during the time of the Peasant’s War in Germany. Each movement of the Symphony is based on Grunewald’s vivid Isenheim altarpiece paintings. The piece received a triumphant premiere by the Berlin Philharmonic in March 1934, but was banned a month later because of reports that Hindemith had made critical remarks about Hitler. The composer gradually severed ties with Germany and moved to the U.S. in 1940.

    Finnish mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi is in demand for concerts at the highest level, and her notable performances have included Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; the world premiere of Shchedrin’s The Enchanted Wanderer with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Lorin Maazel; and The Dream of Gerontius with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Vladimir Ashkenazy.

    Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has captured critical and popular acclaim for his performances with opera companies and symphony orchestras worldwide. He created the role of Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire at the work's 1998 world premiere with San Francisco Opera (recorded on CD, video, and DVD, and aired on national television by PBS), and he has also performed the role with the Washington National Opera and the San Diego Opera as well as the London and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. Additional operatic appearances include leading roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera and Opera Bastille. Griffey has also made notable symphonic appearances with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Müncher Symphoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Recently he sang the title role in Peter Grimes at the Metropolitan Opera that was also broadcast in movie theaters throughout the country.

    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, who was born in Helsinki in 1958, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. In 1979, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. He was recently appointed Principal Conductor of London's Philharmonia. In addition, Salonen has won acclaim for his work as a composer. Among the many highlights of Salonen's career with the Los Angeles Philharmonic have been world premieres of works by composers John Adams, Franco Donatoni, Anders Hillborg, William Kraft, Magnus Lindberg, Witold Lutoslawski, Bernard Rands, Kaija Saariaho, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven Stucky, Tan Dun and Augusta Read Thomas, as well as his own works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of music by Sibelius, Ligeti, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Berlioz and Beethoven, as well as the Tristan Project. He and the Philharmonic have toured extensively since 1992. In October of 2003, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. In March 2003, Salonen signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. The following year, DG released a disc devoted to his recent orchestral works, featuring Foreign Bodies, Insomnia and Wing on Wing. In January 2006, Salonen and the Philharmonic recorded their first CD together for DG, the first live recording at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Salonen and the Philharmonic also have four live concert recordings available for download on iTunes from DG Concerts. Before signing with DG, Salonen recorded regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Sony Classical. Salonen is the recipient of several major awards including the Siena Prize from the Accademia Chigiana in 1993, the first conductor ever to receive the prize; the Royal Philharmonic Society's Opera Award in 1995; and their Conductor Award in 1997. In 1998, he was awarded the rank of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Musical America named him 2006 Musician of the Year.

    LILLI PAASIKIVI has performed Kindertotenlieder with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Mariss Jansons, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi. Her performance of Fricka in Das Rheingold with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle prompted this praise from the Financial Times: “Vocal honours are shared between Gambill and Lilli Paasikivi’s Fricka, whose lovely lyric timbre matches her gentle stage personality” (Andrew Clark, July 2006). Paasikivi made her BBC Proms debut in 2007 with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä; the all-Sibelius programme included solo songs with orchestra and The Tempest. As principal soloist at Finnish National Opera, roles have included Carmen, Angelina (La cenerentola), Marguerite (La damnation de Faust), Marchesa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims); Varvara (Katya Kabanova) and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier). Elsewhere Paasikivi has sung The Pilgrim in Saariaho’s L’amour de loin at Théâtre du Châtelet; the role of Jitsuko Honda in the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo at the Aix Festival; The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Opéra de Lyon, Fricka (Das Rheingold and Die Walküre) in Aix, and Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) at La Monnaie. Paasikivi’s recordings include Sibelius’ Kullervo Symphony; Sibelius’ Maiden in the Tower; Mahler Symphony No. 3; Alma Mahler’s Complete Songs; Sandström’s High Mass with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Herbert Blomstedt; and Stravinsky’s Mavra with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Peter Eötvös. Future highlights include Elgar’s Sea Pictures and The Dream of Gerontius with Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Leipzig Gewandhausorchester under Riccardo Chailly and Die Walküre at the Hamburg State Opera.

    Tenor ANTHONY DEAN GRIFFEY has been most closely identified with three of the major roles of contemporary opera. In addition to his work as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, he has sung Lennie in Of Mice and Men with the Houston Grand Opera, New York City, Glimmerglass, San Diego, and Florentine Operas and at Austria's Bregenz Festival. He has sung the title role in Peter Grimes at Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Glyndebourne Festival and under Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood and Saito Kinen Festivals, and he makes his Santa Fe Opera debut in that role this season. Other key operatic roles include Sam in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah (Metropolitan & Lyric Opera of Chicago); Le Fils in Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Saito Kinen Festival/Ozawa); and the title roles in Kurka's Good Soldier Schweik (Glimmerglass Opera), Mozart's Idomeneo (Mostly Mozart Festival), Deems Taylor's Peter Ibbetson (Seattle Symphony), and Weber's Oberon (Collegiate Chorale/Carnegie Hall). Griffey can be heard on Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire (Deutsche Grammophon), Les Mamelles de Tirésias conducted by Seiji Ozawa (Philips), I Lombardi, led by James Levine (Decca), and Amy Beach's Cabildo (Delos). Of Mice and Men, a live recording from the Houston Grand Opera, was released in January 2004 on the Albany label. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program, Griffey initially appeared with the company in April 1995 as the First Knight in Parsifal. He has since performed in Met productions of Manon, Don Carlo, Boris Godunov, The Queen of Spades, Aida, Billy Budd, Salome, Der fliegende Holländer, Die Zauberflöte, Peter Grimes (1998), Susannah opposite Renée Fleming (1999), and Tristan und Isolde (1999). A native of North Carolina, he holds degrees from Wingate University, the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School.

    The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable places anywhere to experience music — Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association’s involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational programs, community concerts and children's programming, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008, at 8 PM

    SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008, at 8 PM

    SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008, at 2 PM

    WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, 111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles



    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

    ESA-PEKKA SALONEN, conductor

    LILLI PAASIKIVI, mezzo-soprano

    ANTHONY DEAN GRIFFEY, tenor



    HINDEMITH Mathis der Maler Symphony

    MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde



    The May 10 concert is generously sponsored by Breguet, Official Timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. KCET is the media sponsor of the May 11 concert.


    Upbeat Live pre-concert events take place in BP Hall one hour prior to each concert, and are free to all ticket holders. Eric Bromberger, violinist, Fulbright nominee and recipient of a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship at Yale University, hosts.

    Tickets ($40 - $142) are on sale now online at LAPhil.com, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000. When available, choral bench seats ($15) are released for sale to selected Philharmonic, Colburn Celebrity Recital and Baroque Variations performances two weeks 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 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For information, please call 323.850.2000.

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  • Contact:

    Adam Crane, 213.972.3422, acrane@laphil.org; Photos: 213.972.3034