Salonen is my favourite conductor, has been for a while and likely always be. He became so after I saw a video of him conducting Stravinsky at the BBC Proms. Last night's set was Debussy's Iberia, Ravel's piano concerto for the left hand, a contemporary piece which frankly was an atonal mess, and the one that blew everything else out of the water: Pines of Rome. I'm going to skip the first three, although they were fine, except the third, they didn't even come close to the last spectacle of the night. For every piece they played, Salonen didn't even wait for the applause to stop, he gave the upbeat the moment his foot touched the podium. The first movement was as bright as ever, the orchestra putting out the exact same energy as the conductor, and was the cleanest performance of it I'm probably ever going to see. The second movement gave such good imagery of the catacombs Respighi had tried to convey it was like I was transported there throughout the concert. The third movement was really something special, for the piano and clarinet solos at the start, Salonen simply put his baton down and let the two musicians make it what they wanted; the offstage trumpet was hidden in the hallway adjacent to the only open door in the entire hall creating this great effect of the player being hundreds of yards away in a field. The fourth movement was the greatest thing I've ever experienced in my entire life. Towards the end of it they had a brass line spread out within the audience, two trumpets in each of the two front corners near the organ of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a number of trombones on the back of the highest rear balcony, which created this amazing stereo effect of the music simply existing around you. The part I really started to *almost* cry was when Salonen turned around towards the main audience to cue the trombones we didn't know were there until they started playing. The final chords were held out for longer than most recordings I've heard, although I wish they were longer because I didn't want the music to stop. Simply put, I think it was the greatest display of sheer virtuosity between both an orchestra and conductor I'm ever going to experience in my entire life.
Anyone know where i can listen to this or view a recording of it? (Especially with Yo-Yo Ma playing it). I can't find it anywhere on the internet, not even to purchase. Is attending a live performance the only way?
Also, it happens to be Mr. Salonen's birthday today, so happy birthday to him!
Also also, to anyone who's seen a live performance of it, what was it like?
