Passing the baton

As Esa-Pekka Salonen's final season as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic draws nearer, the excitement surrounding the man named his replacement - Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel - is growing like a firestorm. This weekend, Dudamel will conduct his first series of concerts with the L.A. Phil since his appointment. The performances will open with Dudamel conducting Salonen's brooding study, "Insomnia," an homage to his predecessor, followed by Sergei Prokofiev's flamboyant Piano Concerto No. 1, with Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski as soloist.

The program will conclude with Dudamel leading a piece that should provide an ideal showcase for his talents - the panoramic tapestry of the "Symphonie fantastique" by Hector Berlioz, a piece driven by obsessive desire, rejected passion and descent into
madness.

Dudamel conducts the L.A. Phil: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave. Tickets $40 to $142; Sunday is sold out. An Upbeat Live lecture will be presented in the Disney Hall lobby an hour before each concert. (323) 850-2000, www.laphil.com.