Synopsis

At the end of one of his parables, Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” That was also the spirit of a group called “Ears Open,” formed , to raise the profile of new music in Finland by Esa Pekka Salonen and Magnus Lindberg back when they were both students at the Helsinki Academy.

Years later, after Salonen became the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he gave Lindberg his first major American commission, a work called “Fresco,” which had its world premiere in Los Angeles on today’s date in 1998. 

In contrast to the chilly Northern landscapes of Finland, the title, Fresco, invokes much warmer places, and Lindberg has described it as reflecting Indonesian gamelan ensembles, exotic percussion music designed for outdoor ceremonial purposes or for intimate indoor use.

Both East and West Coast critics were impressed, The LA Times wrote: "The interplay of light and dark, of colors and textures commands attention.”  And, according to the New York Times: "Lindberg raises orchestral color to the level of line, rhythm, and counterpoint... Layers of timbre fall away and new ones are added, easing one episode smoothly into the next..."

Music Played in Today's Program

Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958) — Fresco (Philharmonia Orchestra; Esa-Pekka Salonen, cond.) Sony 89810