FYI Salonen to London Philharmonia as Principal Conductor By Martin Kettle The Guardian November 17, 2006 LONDON -- Esa-Pekka Salonen is to succeed Christoph von Dohnanyi as principal conductor of London's Philharmonia Orchestra next year; Dohnanyi makes his exit after ten years in the post. Salonen is Musical America's 2006 Musician of the Year. It was a last-minute podium appearance at the Philharmonia that first put the conductor on the international map in 1983, when, in his London debut, he took over conducting Mahler's Symphony No. 3. It appears now that he is returning to his launch pad. The new appointment is a "coup" for the Philharmonia, reports the Guardian, because the New York Philharmonic has "made little secret of wanting" his services. The Finnish conductor/composer will remain at the helm of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. "His wide-ranging, non-traditional approach to his orchestras make him the closest thing ...to Sir Simon Rattle. Short of tempting Rattle back from the Berlin Philharmonic, it is hard to think of a more exciting appointment for the Philharmonia to have made." Karl