Review: Esa-Pekka Salonen takes lead as conductor of San Francisco Symphony

San Francisco Symphony audiences at Davies Symphony Hall gave a loud and lengthy welcome to Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director-designate of the orchestra, who will take the reins in the fall of 2020.

Little wonder, given the quality of the performances Jan. 18-20 and Salonen’s reputation as an innovative and exciting conductor — one critic has described him as “a fixed point of cerebral cool.”