Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen: ; born June 30, 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Composer-In-Residence at the New York Philharmonic, and Artistic Director and cofounder of the Baltic Sea Festival...
NationalityFinnish
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth30 June 1958
CountryFinland
masters masterpiece conductor
Somehow, conductor as this superhuman conduit between the masters and the masterpieces and the immortals.
war world classical-music
The sort of commercial parameters of classical music changed after the [World War II] , and the whole industry became more backward-looking.
thinking climbing piano
Of course, if you think of a European or American household in the '50s, so what were the things that when people started climbing up the ladder, what did they buy? A fridge, a TV, I think piano was the number three item in say '53 or '54.
adventure journey satisfying
The philharmonic became such a journey and adventure in my life, and a deeply satisfying thing.
journey order years
If somebody had told me when I was starting composition in Helsinki in the '70s that I would end up in L.A. and to describe that journey, those 17 years with the philharmonic and building the hall and this and that, I would have said, "This is a fairy tale of the first order."
home artist california
I feel that this is my artistic home, and I'm very happy to be a California artist together with many others who are not from here originally but who decided to make this the center of their activities. There's something about that that I find very inspiring and satisfying.
years creative trying
I'm trying to conduct only five months a year, and the rest will be composing time. I'm trying to spend as much as I can out of those months here in L.A., because for creative work, this is a fantastic place.
cutting conducting composing
I'm composing more than before. I'm cutting down on conducting.
religious thinking ideas
I think truth as an idea should be left to the philosophers and perhaps religious leaders and politicians, and professional people who deal with that idea.
firsts hills higher
Once you get over the first hill, there is always a new, higher one lurking, of course.
giving people way
Los Angeles is just a more open place. The way L.A. functions is that people give you a forum. They say, Show us what you can do.
way looks dogma
I realized that the European dogma is not necessarily the only way to look at things.
layers orchestra clarity
Orchestras have become used to the emphasis on the separation of layers, of the ultimate precision and clarity.
player thinking people
The players never think they project enough. In a hall that seats 3,300 people, it's a very scary thing to play so quietly that you can barely hear yourself.