Gianandrea Noseda Makes Walt Disney Concert Hall Debut Leading Pianist Lise de la Salle and LA Phil, Now thru 2/2

Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda makes his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut, leading the LA Phil in three performances, tonight through Saturday, January 31 through February 2, at 8 pm. The all-Rachmaninoff evenings feature the composer's rarely heard Symphony No. 3 and 24-year-old French pianist Lise de la Salle playing his popular Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The Thursday and Saturday programs also include The Isle of the Dead.

The Friday concert is part of the LA Phil's Casual Fridays series, which features a shorter program, is presented without intermission and encourages audience members to attend in comfortable attire. These Casual Fridays concerts also feature a free TalkBack discussion with musicians held on stage after the performance and a chance to mingle with members of the orchestra in the Concert Hall Café.

Born in Milan, Gianandrea Noseda is considered one of the leading conductors of his generation. As Music Director of the Teatro Regio Torino he has propelled that opera house into the international ranks. He has toured the orchestra and entire opera company internationally with residencies in Japan, Spain and at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris. Noseda is a regular guest conductor of many of the world's great orchestras and opera houses, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and is a favorite at the Metropolitan Opera House where he has led five Verdi operas over the last decade. He and his Teatro Regio Torino will bring a highly anticipated Verdi Requiem to the Konzerthaus in Vienna in May 2013 celebrating Verdi's 200th birthday. He is the Chief Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, Victor De Sabata Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Laureate Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic where he served as Principal Conductor for nearly a decade. He became the first foreign Principal Guest Conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1997, and held that post for a decade. An exclusive Chandos artist since 2002, Noseda's discography includes music byProkofiev, Karlowitz, Dvo?ák, Smetana, Shostakovich, Liszt's symphonic works, Rachmaninoff (the operas and the symphonies), Mahler and Bartók.

Lise de la Salle has emerged as one of the most acclaimed artists of her generation, praised for inspired performances of virtuosity and depth. The Washington Post wrote, "For much of the concert, the audience had to remember to breathe...the exhilaration didn't let up for a second until her hands came off the keyboard." Ms. de la Salle began playing piano at the age of 4 and gave her first concert at 9 in a live broadcast on Radio-France. At 13, she made her concerto debut with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 in Avignon and her Paris recital debut at the Louvre before going on tour with the Orchestre National d'Ile de France. At 16, she came to international attention with her Bach/Liszt recording for Naive which was selected by Gramophone as "Recording of the Month." She made her LA Phil debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2008, performing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto, which she played again at Walt Disney Concert Hall during the 2009/10 season.