QUICK TAKES - Feb. 11, 2009

In April, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its admirers will bid a sad farewell to music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, who after 17 seasons is passing the baton to Gustavo Dudamel. But come November, Salonen seems likely to receive a warm welcome at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

In announcing its new season Tuesday, the Met confirmed that Salonen will be making his company debut next fall conducting Leos Janacek’s “From the House of the Dead.”

Also of interest to Angelenos on the Met schedule: Los Angeles Opera general director Placido Domingo, who achieved his fame as a tenor but has long said he wanted to return to his baritone roots at the end of his career, will sing the title role -- one of Verdi’s greatest for baritone -- in a revival of “Simon Boccanegra.”