Mr. and Mrs. First-Nighter

Los Angeles Philharmonic “First Nights” concerts are designed to re-create the bustle of events around the first performances of works that later became classics. But sometimes a “First Night” program actually is a premiere of a contem-

porary work, with the audience getting a chance to hear a living composer talk about the music first. Peter Lieberson gets the “First Nights” treatment Friday when his “Neruda Songs” are played by the Philharmonic directed by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Lieberson’s inspiration was five sonnets by the 1971 Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. The composer, a devout Buddhist for about 30 years, set them to music for his wife, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who will sing the premiere. The “Neruda Songs” will be repeated Saturday and Sunday in a program that also includes Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony, widely regarded as a portrait of the Stalin years in Russia.

Los Angeles Philharmonic “First Nights,” Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $15 to $125. (323) 850-2000. www.laphil.org.