Magnus Lindberg

Synopsis

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

Years later, after Salonen became the music director of the LA 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 both the ‘loud’ and ‘soft’ style of 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: "Lindberg uses the orchestra as if it were one massive instrument full of ever-changing textures... 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

On This Day

Births

• 1710 - British composer Thomas Arne, in London (Gregorian date: March 23);

• 1837 - French composer and organist Alexandre (Felix) Guilmant, in Boulogne-sur-Mer;

• 1921 - American composer Ralph Shapey, in Philadelphia;

Deaths

• 1628 - English composer John Bull, age c. 65 on March 12-13, 1628, in Antwerp;

• 1832 - Danish composer of German birth Friedrich (Daniel Rudolf) Kuhlau, age 45, in Copenhagen;

• 1937 - French composer and organist Charles Marie Widor, age 93, in Paris;

• 1955 - American be-bop composer and jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, age 34, in New York City;

Premieres

• 1726 - Handel: opera "Scipione" in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: March 23);

• 1857 - Verdi: opera "Simon Boccanegra" (1st version), in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice;

• 1898 - Kalinnikov: Symphony No. 2, in Kiev (Julian date: Feb. 28);

• 1934 - Hindemith: "Mathis der Maler" Symphony, by the Berlin Philharmonic, with Wilhelm Fürtwängler conducting;

• 1943 - Copland: "Fanfare for the Common Man," by Cincinnati Symphony, Eugene Goosens conducting;

• 1964 - Britten: Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, in Moscow with the Moscow Philharmonic conducted by the composer, with Mstislav Rostropovich the soloist;

• 1965 - Lutoslawski: String Quartet, in Stockholm (Sweden), by the LaSalle Quartet;

• 1998 - Magnus Lindberg: "Fresco" for orchestra, by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conducting;

Others

• 1909 - American premiere of Bruckner: Symphony No. 8, by the Boston Symphony, Max Fiedler conducting (no relation to Arthur Fiedler!);

• 1945 - The Vienna Opera House is damaged by Allied bombs; In the immediate post-war period, performances continued at the Theatre an der Wien and the Vienna Volksoper; The gala reopening of the rebuilt Vienna State Opera occurred on November 5, 1955, when Karl Böhm conducted a performance of Beethoven's "Fidelio."