Salonen: Star of Classical Music Set

No one ever said rock musicians had cornered the market on groupies.

Esa-Pekka Salonen, with his cherubic, unlined face and lighthearted manner, was the darling of the classical music set when the board of directors of the Founders League of the Music Center officially welcomed the L. A. Philharmonic’s music director-designate at a concert, reception and dinner Thursday night. The Founders League is the association of the center’s major donors.

So what if Salonen had to conduct for his supper? His popularity is so great that by mid-reception, his face was well-marked with lipstick smears.

There is something about Salonen that makes grown women squeal like love-struck teen-agers. While his musical style has been described as adventurous and nontraditional, he may forever be known as “the cute one.”

“He’s so cute!” became the most overheard description of Salonen, who has a sort of Michael J. Fox quality about him. Oh, and everyone loved his conducting, and the Philharmonic’s playing, too. “Genius with sex appeal” was what one admirer called him. “After all,” she added, “this is show biz.”

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was about one-quarter filled for an hourlong concert that featured one Haydn and two Sibelius pieces.

Afterwards, the audience filtered into the lobby for champagne and a walk through the receiving line, which featured the conductor, Founders League President Curtis Tamkin, Philharmonic Assn. President Stanley Beyer, Philharmonic Managing Director Ernest Fleischmann and Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman.

“I feel that I more or less grasp the structure of Los Angeles now, geographically speaking,” said the Finnish-born Salonen before sitting down to dinner in the Grand Hall. “I know where the Westside is, I know where downtown is, which helps a lot. The nice thing about West Coast life, professionally speaking, is that people are very flexible. They are without prejudice and open to new things, and that helps a lot in terms of the orchestra and the audience. This is not a stuffy audience.

“In Europe,” he continued, “audiences have a very fixed view. Something has been a certain way for 300 years, why change it? And I think the social codex between Scandinavia and the United States (is very similar); we are not very formal, and you are not very formal, especially out here.”

Salonen is being touted as the Great Young Hope, the conductor who may be able to pull new blood into Philharmonic audiences. “We’re hoping that will happen,” said Beyer. “But also, the orchestra really likes and respects him and sees him as a good teacher. If they don’t grow, they get bored.”

Sitting at dinner among florist David Jones’ orange and lemon topiaries were Betty Freeman, Walter and Peggy Parker Grauman, Finnish consul Tapio Saarela and wife Ulla, Lynn Beyer, Priscilla Tamkin, Peter and Annette O’Malley, Michael and Sue Connell (he’s the chairman of the Philharmonic Assn.), Ginny and John Cushman, Miryea and Dr. Lawrence Jones and Salonen’s fiancee Jane Price, who seemed to handle the social spin with aplomb.