FACES ’93 : Some Names to Be Reckoned With in the New Year : CLASSICAL

Ahhh, a new year and so many unknowns: Will Jay, Dave and Johnny be genetically spliced to produce the Ultimate Talk Show Host? Will the Yuppie-in-Chief name Stevie Nicks to run the NEA? Who will Sinead pick as her tag team partner against Madonna and the Pope? Will the activist group AWOE (Actresses With One Eyebrow) demand that one of them be chosen to play Frida Kahlo? Oh well, frivolity aside, one thing is certain: You’ll be hearing these names and seeing these faces in the next 365.

Christof Perick

Los Angeles managed to acquire two compelling music-directors this season, but Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Philharmonic whiz kid-in-residence, seems to have gotten most of the attention. That isn’t fair to Perick, the new maestro of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In his less flashy, equally enlightened way, he has been impressing this city since 1985, when he led the Berlin Opera (stylishly) in Mozart’s “Figaro” at the Pavilion. Since then, he has appeared with the Philharmonic, the Music Center Opera and, of course, the ensemble that now claims his services for recordings and tours as well as concerts in a variety of venues. Born in Hamburg in 1946, Perick intends to return an essentially symphonic perspective to the Chamber Orchestra, conducting a broad spectrum of Romantic and modern works in addition to the Classical and Baroque repertory favored by his predecessor, Iona Brown.