February 2, 2025
Kaija Saariaho: Adriana Mater features Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, director Peter Sellars, and vocalists Fleur Barron, Axelle Fanyo, Nicholas Phan, and Christopher Purves alongside the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus
To stream Kaija Saariaho: Adriana Mater, visit dgt.link/salonen-mater
To stream Kaija Saariaho: Adriana Mater, visit dgt.link/salonen-mater
Download a PDF of this Press Release 
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony’s Deutsche Grammophon-released live concert recording of Adriana Mater, conducted by Salonen, directed by Peter Sellars, and featuring the SF Symphony, SF Symphony Chorus, and vocal soloists Fleur Barron, Axelle Fanyo, Nicholas Phan, and Christopher Purves, won the 2025 Grammy® award for Best Opera Recording during the 67th annual Grammy Awards today. This is the 17th Grammy award for the San Francisco Symphony and marks Salonen and the Symphony’s first Grammy award together.
Kaija Saariaho: Adriana Mater was recorded live in concert in June 2023. This world premiere recording of the work was released digitally by Deutsche Grammophon in August 2024; a physical edition will follow in 2025. The recording captures a performance of a staged production of Adriana Mater conducted by Saariaho’s lifelong friend Esa-Pekka Salonen and directed by Peter Sellars, delivered mere days after the composer’s passing; mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron sings the title role, in a cast that also includes Axelle Fanyo (Refka), Nicholas Phan (Yonas), and Christopher Purves (Tsargo) alongside the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, directed by Jenny Wong. The composer’s second opera—and second collaboration with Lebanese-born French writer Amin Maalouf—Adriana Mater is an intensely moving work exploring the relationship between a mother and her son in a war-torn country as they navigate the violence that defines their past and present, and threatens to claim their future. Read more about Adriana Mater.
Kaija Saariaho: Adriana Mater was produced, edited, and mixed by Jason O’Connell. Jon Johannsen and Jason O’Connell were recording engineers; Thomas Adams, Dunning Butler, Ryan Napoli, and Denise Woodward were assistant engineers; and Timo Kurkikangas was additional engineer and mixer. Mark Willsher was the mastering and mixing engineer.
Special thanks to Bernard & Barbro Osher for lead support, with additional support provided by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Jean-Baptiste Barrière.
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