Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen Returns to Conduct The MET Orchestra, 5/31

Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage after nearly 20 years to conduct The MET Orchestra in three concerts this May and June. The first concert in the series, on Wednesday, May 31, at 8:00 p.m., features an all-Mahler program with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and tenor Matthew Polenzani singing selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn alongside Symphony No. 1 in D Major. On Saturday, June 3 at 3:00 p.m., Maestro Salonen leads the orchestra in Schumann's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 97, "Rhenish" alongside Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, featuring mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill and tenor Stuart Skelton. For the final concert in The MET Orchestra series, on Tuesday, June 6 at 8:00 p.m., Mr. Salonen conducts Mahler'sBlumine and Kindertotenlieder, featuring mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. Also on the program is Sibelius's Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105 and his Violin Concerto in D Minor, featuring guest soloist Christian Tetzlaff. Mr. Salonen last conducted in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage in 1998.

About the Artists
Esa-Pekka Salonen's restless innovation drives him constantly to reposition classical music in the 21st century. He is currently the Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor for London's Philharmonia Orchestra and the Conductor Laureate for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he was Music Director from 1992 until 2009. This season marks his second of three as the Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic, and his first of five years as Artist-in-Association at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. Additionally, Mr. Salonen is Artistic Director and Co-founder of the annual Baltic Sea Festival, which invites celebrated artists to promote unity and ecological awareness among the countries around the Baltic Sea.

During the 2016-2017 season, Mr. Salonen conducts the premieres of a piano concerto by Icelandic composer Haukur Tómasson with the NDR Symphony Orchestra during their opening weeks at the new Elbphilharmonie and a concerto for four horns by English composer Tansy Davies with the Philharmonia. In addition, he conducts the horn concerto at the New York Philharmonic, with whom he performs a celebration of his friend and long-time colleague Kaija Saariaho's music earlier in the season. This season, he brings Strauss's Elektra, one of the most critically-praised productions of the MET's 2015-2016 season, to his own Baltic Sea Festival and to the Finnish National Opera, where he will conduct his first full Ring Cycle in future seasons.

As the Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for seventeen years, Mr. Salonen is widely credited with revitalizing the organization. He was instrumental in helping the orchestra to open the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, presided over countless premieres of contemporary work, began the Esa-Pekka Salonen Commissions Fund, and made the orchestra one of the best attended and funded in the country. This season, Mr. Salonen returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic to curate and conduct a festival of Icelandic music.

Mr. Salonen is the recipient of many major awards, including the UNESCO Rostrum Prize for his work Floof in 1992 and the Siena Prize, given by the Accademia Chigiana in 1993; he is the first conductor to receive it. To date, Salonen has received seven honorary doctorates in four different countries.Musical America named him its Musician of the Year in 2006, and he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010.

The MET Orchestra is today regarded as one of the world's finest orchestras. From the time of the company's inception in 1883, the ensemble has worked with leading conductors in both opera and concert performances and has developed into an orchestra of enormous technical polish and style. The orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall in 1894 and has since performed at the Hall 90 times. The Metropolitan Opera's 2016-2017 season, the 50th anniversary of its home at Lincoln Center, has featured 26 operas, including six new productions and 20 revivals, showcasing the talents of the finest singers, conductors, and theater artists in the world. For the 2017-2018 season, The MET Orchestra returns to Carnegie Hall with three concerts that feature three conductors. Mirga Gražinyt?-Tyla leads the orchestra in her Carnegie Hall debut with Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. James Ehnes plays Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5, "Turkish," on a program led by Gianandrea Noseda that also includes Mahler's Symphony No. 5. Music Director Emeritus James Levine concludes the three-concert series in his return to Carnegie Hall, leading the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen's Eros and Nemesis on a program that also includes Mahler's Symphony No. 4 and soprano Pretty Yende singing Mozart's Exsultate, Jubilate.

Program Information
Wednesday, May 31 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
THE MET ORCHESTRA
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor
Susan Graham, Mezzo-Soprano
Matthew Polenzani, Tenor

ALL- MAHLER PROGRAM
Selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
·· "Der Schildwache Nachtlied"
·· "Verlor'ne Müh"
·· "Trost im Unglück"
·· "Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht"
·· "Das irdische Leben"
·· "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt"
·· "Rheinlegendchen"
·· "Lied des Verfolgten im Turm"
·· "Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen"
·· "Lob des hohen Verstandes"
Symphony No. 1 in D Major
________________________

Saturday, June 3 at 3:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
THE MET ORCHESTRA
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor
Karen Cargill, Mezzo-Soprano
Stuart Skelton, Tenor

ROBERT SCHUMANN Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 97, "Rhenish"
GUSTAV MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde
________________________

Tuesday, June 6 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
THE MET ORCHESTRA
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, Violin
Anne Sofie von Otter, Mezzo-Soprano

GUSTAV MAHLER Blumine
JEAN SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
GUSTAV MAHLER Kindertotenlieder
JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105

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Ticket Information Tickets, priced at $55-$176, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org. For Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m.Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance or until supply lasts. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer. In addition, for all Carnegie Hall presentations in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage a limited number of partial view (seats with obstructed or limited sight lines or restricted leg room) will be sold for 50% of the full price. For more information on this and other discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visitcarnegiehall.org/discounts. Artists, programs, and prices are subject to change.

Image at top of release by Clive Barda.

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