ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

MUSIC

Salonen on the Life of ‘Foreign Bodies’

Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct the U.S. premiere of his orchestral composition “Foreign Bodies” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Thursday. The piece, he says, is a reflection of the effect of Los Angeles on him and his work.

After a decade here, the Finnish-born conductor still sees himself as a “misplaced, shy Northerner amidst extroverted and confident Californians”--a “foreign body,” so to speak. But he says he’s also changed during his California stint, becoming less “cerebral.”

“As the title suggests, the piece is very physical in nature--almost athletic,” he says. “I’m playing around with ideas such as moving very heavy masses of sound at unlikely speeds. You can’t separate the intellectual from the physical and emotional when it comes to aesthetics. I’m also becoming more direct--interested in arrows that go straight to the bull’s-eye rather than making arabesques along the way.”

The 21-minute piece, conceived during Salonen’s sabbatical in 2000, had its world premiere in Germany with the Finnish Radio Orchestra last August--eliciting good reviews. When it was performed in London, he recalls, the reaction was far more mixed (“Five papers, five opinions--that’s the fun of having several newspapers”).

To celebrate its American debut, actor Dennis Hopper is throwing a star-studded, Cuban-themed bash at his Venice home Friday night.

“Composing and conducting use very different muscles--one’s a marathon and the other is a sprint,” Salonen says. “And both take up a lot of space; sometimes it feels as if one head is too small.”

POP/ROCK

Springsteen and E Street Band to Release Album

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band are set to release their first studio album in 15 years this summer. It was previewed for retailers, distributors and record company representatives Tuesday in New York.

The storied alliance’s last studio collection of new material was “Tunnel of Love” in 1987. Springsteen broke ties with his longtime group in 1989 and reunited with it a decade later.

Bob Feterl, Tower Records’ Southwest territory director, expects the record to be a big seller. “His audience is still there as long as his label can get the word out,” said the executive, who was invited to Tuesday’s unveiling. “I think that’s one older rocker that’s gonna continue to sell.”

Aaliyah’s Parents Sue Over Daughter’s Death

Virgin Records, Blackhawk International Airways and several video production companies are among those accused of negligence in a suit filed by the parents of Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in August. The 22-year-old R&B; singer was in the Bahamas shooting a video for her album “Rock the Boat” when the twin-engine Cessna went down, killing all aboard.

In papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, Michael and Diane Haughton allege that the plane was “not an appropriate aircraft for the entourage” and was loaded in a “dangerous and unsafe configuration.” To make matters worse, the pilot, Luis Morales III, was “inexperienced and unqualified” and should not have been at the controls, they said.

There was no immediate comment from Virgin or the other defendants.

MOVIES

Spielberg Belatedly Dons Cap and Gown

Steven Spielberg, one of the most accomplished filmmakers in the world, is adding “college degree” to his credits

The director of such blockbusters as “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” and “Schindler’s List,” started taking courses in film and electronic arts at Cal State Long Beach in 1965 but left the university three years later to pursue a movie career. Determined to demonstrate his regard for higher education, he re-enrolled in spring 2001. He plans to participate in commencement exercises on May 31.

Minnelli Stepmom Drops Abuse Suit

Liza Minnelli’s 94-year-old stepmother has dropped her lawsuit accusing the entertainer of elder abuse and breach of contract. “I can’t sue Liza,” Lee Anderson Minnelli told Superior Court Judge Gregory O’Brien Jr. on Monday.

In the action filed last month, Anderson Minnelli claimed that her late husband, Vincente Minnelli, guaranteed her housing in his will, but her stepdaughter recently sold the Beverly Hills home where she’d lived for 40 years and instructed representatives to remove her stepmother by “whatever means necessary.” Tamara Green, attorney for the plaintiff, said her client had been influenced by a recent phone call from Liza, suggesting they have dinner at Spago. The elder Minnelli maintained she had never wanted to sue. “I love her,” she said.

Liza Minnelli declined to comment. But her spokesman, Warren Cowan, said previously she has treated her stepmother generously, paying her expenses and offering to buy her a condominium to replace the home.

QUICK TAKES

Bernadette Peters and Gregory Hines were named Tuesday to host the 56th annual Tony Awards, to be broadcast on CBS June 2....HBO is bringing back “The Sopranos” for a fourth season on Sept. 15--nearly a year and a half after the third season ended in May 2001....Jason Alexander has been named the first George Burns Distinguished Visiting Professor in Performance at USC’s School of Theater. He’ll teach acting and musical theater starting in the fall.