Salonen hopes for more time to compose
Print Edition
AS one of the leading lights in contemporary classical music, Esa-Pekka Salonen is in an enviable position where he can pick and choose at will.
The 57-year-old Finn is in New York conducting the Metropolitan Opera’s triumphant production of “Elektra,” the challenging Strauss work that Salonen said was on a list he jotted down in his 20s of operas he hoped to perform.
But Salonen, who led the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 17 years, during which he was hailed for putting the orchestra on the cutting edge, said he hoped to devote more time to composing.
“I’m thinking of further reducing my conducting schedule to some degree just to strike the right balance,” he said in an interview at the Metropolitan Opera.
“I’m in a very good situation in terms of my work that I don’t have to do anything I really don’t have to do, and I’m grateful to be able to choose things that really matter,” he said.
“It took me a long time to get to this point, but I’m enjoying it,” he said.
Declines US top jobs
Salonen is spending a three-year stint as composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic and had been considered a frontrunner to succeed the retiring Alan Gilbert as music director of the most prestigious US orchestra.
But Salonen — who is also the principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, which is known for its contemporary selections — indicated he was not interested and the job went to Jaap van Zweden, a Dutch conductor known for his mastery of the classical canon.
Salonen would have another strong chance to stay in New York. James Levine, one of the world’s most identifiable conductors, is stepping down as music director at the Metropolitan Opera at the end of the season for health reasons, ending a 40-year tenure.
Salonen was recently announced as Levine’s replacement for three Met concerts next year at Carnegie Hall. But he indicated he was not interested in taking over permanently.
“If one takes music directorship of an opera house seriously, as one should, it would mean a massive commitment. And to get results, one has to spend at least half the year physically in the house,” Salonen said.
He hailed Levine’s talents but said the maestro also succeeded because he “worked tirelessly, 24/7, for decades.”
“So it’s something that would not be even thinkable in my case, because I have this other life that is equally demanding, although less spectacular because it happens in my private room,” he said with a laugh.
Salonen’s best-known compositions include “Los Angeles Variations,” a complex but audience-accessible work that the Finn conceived of in a burst of happiness while sipping coffee in the sunshine of Santa Monica.
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