There's
a great article in yesterday's NYTimes about the L.A. Philharmonic and its music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen. Called "Continental Shift", the article pretty much admits the L.A. Phil kicks New York's ass and not simply because of our swanky concert hall. Inside it, Salonen has created a musical program that focuses on contemporary composers and works and has somehow managed to fill the house in the process.
In New York, I starved for new music (which I'm a geek about- I own everything John Adams has recorded and I list "20th Century American Opera" as a music interest on my Friendster page). There's only so many
Mostly Mozart Festivals a kid can take. I'll take L.A.'s
Minimalist Jukebox any day.
