Intown’s Classical Music Critic, the Hon. Philip Berquist Honorary Consul of the Republic of Croatia for Texas
Classical Music Update
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International Star Conductor to Lead
opened an email from the Houston Symphony Orchestra recently and was very pleasantly surprised. Despite the limitations that we are all so well aware of as a result of COVID-19, HSO is bringing in a major international talent to be guest conductor for a series of concerts at the end of March, 2021. Esa-Pekka Salonen is that star conductor. In my opinion this is the first guest conductor of that status in many seasons. Salonen, from Finland, has enjoyed a very successful career, both as conductor and composer. Now in his first year as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, he also is Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. He is also Conductor Laureate of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which he led from 1992 until 2009. In March, 2019 I got to hear him in person conducting the Philharmonia in New York at the David Geffen Hall, formerly known as Avery Fisher Hall. It was a mixed program, beginning with Oceanides by the Finnish master, Jean Sibelius, Salonen’s own Cello Concerto and Anton Bruckner’s majestic Symphony 7. It was a wonderful experience. By the way, what is there about Finland? It is a country with a population of 5.5 million, about the size of Harris County. It has produced not only Jean Sibelius, perhaps my favorite composer, but also Einojuhani Rautavaara. Notable conductors include Leif Segerstam, Pavo Berglund, Osmo Vanskä, Magnus Lindberg, Susanna Mälkki, and Jukka-Pekka Saraste among many others. An article about Segerstam (also a composer with over 350 symphonies) will be featured in INTOWN later this year. Finland also has produced some of the greatest bass opera singers of our time such as Martii Tavella, and Matti Salminen, two of the greatest Wagnerian basses ever. Let’s not forget Formula One driving champions, Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen (Rosberg’s son, Nico, was born in Germany but holds dual citizenship and also won the F1 championship recently), and Vattali Bottas. Finland is simply an amazing country with a very diverse and talented populous. Back to Salonen. He was born in Finland in 1958. A talented horn player, he went on the study conducting with Jorma Panula. Some of his classmates include Vänka, Sarasate and Lindberg, each mentioned above. His list 8 | Intown | March + April 2021
of recordings with major orchestras from around the world is immense. One of my favorite recording of his, with the LA Phil, is Bernard Herrmann - The Film Scores for several Alfred Hitchcock collaborations such as “Vertigo,” “Psycho,” and “North by Northwest,” “Taxi Driver” and several others. With Maestro Salonen on the podium, the program is especially varied featuring Bach, Salonen himself and Beethoven. The first three Bach selections are particularly interesting, as they are transcriptions by twentieth century masters in their own right, conductor Otto Klemperer, and composers Anton Webern and Luciano Berio. As to his composition, FOG, it was written as a 90th birthday tribute to famed architect Frank Gehry. It is a ten minute fantasy based on the Bach E major Prelude from Partita in E, written in 2019.
