This spring, Fabio Luisi tours with NHK Symphony to Amsterdam’s Mahler Festival and other European destinations; leads Norma at La Scala in first house performance of opera since 1977
(March 2025) — Grammy- and ECHO Klassik Award-winning conductor Fabio Luisi tours in Europe this spring with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, of which he is Chief Conductor (May 9–20). After two sets of concerts at home in Tokyo that include Mahler’s Third and Fourth Symphonies respectively (April 26, 27; May 1, 2), the tour is highlighted by two dates at the Third International Mahler Festival in Amsterdam, where Luisi will lead the orchestra – the first from Asia to participate in the festival – in both symphonies, as well as songs from the composer’s song cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Soloists for the performances are mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova, soprano Ying Fang and baritone Matthias Goerne (May 11, 12). The tour also makes stops in Antwerp, Vienna, Prague, Dresden, and Innsbruck, with varying repertoire that includes the Mahler symphonies and Grieg’s Piano Concerto featuring acclaimed Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. This summer, Luisi looks forward to helming a milestone production at Teatro alla Scala of Bellini’s Norma, an opera that has not been heard on the La Scala stage for almost 50 years (June 27–July 17). Also coming up this spring, Luisi conducts the world premiereof Sean Shepherd’s Quadruple Concerto for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and orchestra with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO), where he is in his fifth season as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director; all four featured soloists for the work are DSO Principals (April 17–19). Luisi closes out his DSO season with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection” (May 30–June 1).
The Third International Mahler Festival in Amsterdam follows widely spaced previous iterations of the festival in 1920 and 1995. As the first Asian orchestra to participate, the NHK Symphony is continuing a long tradition of advocacy of the composer’s music. Luisi comments:
“The NHK Symphony Orchestra was the first orchestra to make an electrical recording of a Mahler symphony. In 1930, it captured the Fourth Symphony. That moment marked the beginning of a long and profound connection with the composer.”
The eleven-day festival will feature a complete cycle of Mahler’s symphonies and songs. Performing the Third and Fourth Symphonies, the NHK Symphony joins an international roster of orchestras – each with its own special relationship to the composer and his music – that also includes the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and Budapest Festival Orchestra.
When Luisi helms La Scala’s new production of Norma this summer, it will feature Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka – winner of the 2020 International Classical Music Award (ICMA) for artist of the year – in the title role. First performed at La Scala in 1831, the opera has not been heard there since 1977, when the production featured Montserrat Caballé. Joining Rebeka under Luisi’s baton are British-Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso, Italian bass Michele Pertusi, Russian mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, and Italian tenor Paolo Antognetti (June 27–July 17).
Fabio Luisi: spring 2025 engagements
April 17–19
Dallas, TX
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
David Buck, flute
Erin Hannigan, oboe
Gregory Raden, clarinet
Ted Soluri, bassoon
Sean SHEPHERD: Quadruple Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon and Orchestra (world premiere)
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, “Scottish”
April 26 & 27
Tokyo, Japan
NHK Hall
Olesya Petrova, mezzo-soprano
Tokyo Opera Singers, female chorus
NHK Tokyo Children’s Chorus
MAHLER: Symphony No. 3 in D minor
May 1 & 2
Tokyo, Japan
Suntory Hall
Akiko Suwanai, violin
Maki Mori, soprano
BERG: Violin Concerto
MAHLER: Symphony No. 4 in G
May 9–20
European tour with NHK Symphony Orchestra
May 9
Antwerp, Belgium
Queen Elisabeth Hall
Rudolf Buchbinder, piano
Ying Fang, soprano
NHK Symphony Orchestra
GRIEG: Concerto for Piano in A minor, Op. 16
MAHLER: Symphony No. 4 in G
May 11
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mahler Festival
Olesya Petrova, mezzo-soprano
Women of the National Radio Choir
National Children’s Choir
NHK Symphony Orchestra
MAHLER: Symphony No. 3 in D minor
May 12
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mahler Festival
Ying Fang, soprano
Matthias Goerne, baritone
NHK Symphony Orchestra
MAHLER: Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
MAHLER: Symphony No. 4 in G
May 14
Vienna, Austria
NHK Symphony Orchestra
May 15
Prague, Czech Republic
NHK Symphony Orchestra
May 17 & 18
Dresden, Germany
NHK Symphony Orchestra
May 20
Innsbruck, Austria
NHK Symphony Orchestra
May 30–June 1
Dallas, TX
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Sofia Fomina, soprano
Catriona Morison, mezzo-soprano
Dallas Symphony Chorus
Anthony Blake Clark, chorus director
MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection”
June 27, 30, July 4, 8, 11, 14, 17
Milan, Italy
Teatro alla Scala
Norma