Get ready for Disney Hall
By Juliet Schoen/Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Philharmonic has announced the program for the 2002-2003 season at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center. Better get in your subscription now if you want to get into the new Disney Hall which, really and truly, will be opening next year. The Disney will have fewer seats than the Pavilion and the message is that those who have subscribed the longest and contributed the most will get first dibs. The Pavilion has 3,086 seats while the Disney, a theater in the round, will accommodate 2,290.
The new venue, designed by Frank Gehry, is taking form across the street from the Music Center and will immediately become a tourist attraction. Those who have seen it take shape are already awed by the modernistic edifice with its shiny, soaring curves.
Good news is that the contract of conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen has been extended through the 2005/06 season, the second longest tenure in the Philharmonic’s history. Entering his eleventh season, he is the tenth conductor to head the local orchestra. During the oncoming season, he will be conducting 14 weeks of subscription concerts. He recently conducted the orchestra in a sublime rendition of Mahler’s First Symphony, which had the entire audience standing and applauding wildly the minute it concluded. The orchestra’s reputation as one of the finest in the world was justified.
The season ends this weekend, with performances tonight at 8 p.m., Friday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Salonen will offer the premiere of his own work, “Foreign Bodies,” as well as Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4.
The upcoming 84th season of the Philharmonic will begin on October 3, 2002, and run through May 25 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The residency program will continue with composer John Adams and violinist Midori. Two major works by Adams will be performed. One is “El Nino” a multimedia presentation for orchestra, with film, chorus and dancers, produced by Peter Sellars. The other is “Naive and Sentimental Music.” Other premieres are scheduled and the five-year symphony and quartet cycle focusing on the work of Dmitri Shostakovich will continue.
In tribute to the past era, Salonen will conduct the orchestra in a black tie “Farewell” gala on Dec. 13. Then it’s looking ahead to Disney Hall while the still beautiful Pavilion will be able to present an extended opera season and various music and dance programs.