NHK Symphony Orchestra Europe Tour 2025
NHK Symphony Orchestra has been scheduled to have a tour in Europe in May 2025, after a five-year absence, performing 8 concerts in 6 cities in 5 countries, specifically Belgium (Antwerp), the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Austria (Vienna and Innsbruck), the Czech Republic (Prague), and Germany (Dresden).
The tour was organized upon the invitation to the Mahler Festival 2025 held in Amsterdam. The festival attracts classical music fans from around the globe as the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of the Netherlands, perform the entire Mahler symphonies in numerical order. The orchestra will also participate in the Prague Spring Festival and the Dresdner Musikfestspiel, both with long traditions.
Fabio Luisi, who became Chief Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2022, will conduct the concerts on the tour. He has led many performances to success, including Mahler's Symphony No. 8 Symphonie der Tausend to mark the orchestra’s 2000th subscription concert (December 2023). This will be an invaluable opportunity to showcase the artistic achievements that Fabio Luisi and the NHK Symphony Orchestra have accomplished over three years to audiences at home of classical music. Other features of the tour include collaborations with the world’s renowned soloists, including Rudolf Buchbinder (piano), Ying Fang (soprano), Olesya Petrova (mezzo-soprano), Matthias Goerne (baritone), Akiko Suwanai (violin), and Jan Vogler (cello). In addition, local choirs (Women of the National Radio Choir and National Children's Choir of the Netherlands) will join the orchestra to perform Mahler Symphony No.3 in Amsterdam.
As confrontations and divisions between nations and people have become more and more intensified in many parts of the world, the NHK Symphony Orchestra hopes to help connect people through music and serve as a bridge for cultural exchange between Japan and Europe.
We would like to solicit your great attention to the Europe Tour 2025 of the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Artists and Programs
Conductor: Fabio Luisi (Chief Conductor of NHKSO)
[Program A]
Mahler / Symphony No. 3 D Minor
Olesya Petrova, mezzo soprano
Women of the National Radio Choir, female chorus
National Children's Choir, children chorus
[Program B]
Mahler / Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn)*
Mahler / Symphony No. 4 G Major**
Matthias Goerne, baritone*
Ying Fang, soprano**
[Program C]
Grieg / Piano Concerto A Minor Op. 16
Mahler / Symphony No. 4 G Major*
Rudolf Buchbinder, piano
Ying Fang, soprano*
[Program D]
Takemitsu / Three Film Scores for String Orchestra
Berg / Violin Concerto
Brahms / Symphony No. 4 E Minor Op. 98
Akiko Suwanai, violin
[Program E]
Haydn / Cello Concerto No. 1 C Major Hob. VIIb-1
Mahler / Symphony No. 4 G Major*
Jan Vogler, cello
Ying Fang, soprano*
Concert Venues and Schedule
Friday, May 9, 2025, 8:00pmQueen Elisabeth Hall (Antwerp, Belgium)
[Program C]
Sunday, May 11, 2025, 8:15pm
The Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Mahler Festival 2025
[Program A]
Monday, May 12, 2025, 8:15pm
The Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Mahler Festival 2025
[Program B]
Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 7:30pm
Wiener Konzerthaus, Großer Saal (Vienna, Austria)
[Program C]
Thursday, May 15, 2025, 8:00pm
Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall (Prague, Czech)
Prague Spring Festival 2025
[Program D]
Saturday, May 17, 2025, 7:30pm
Frauenkirchen (Dresden, Germany)
Dresdner Musikfestspiel
[Program D]
Sunday, May 18, 2025, 6:00pm
Kulturpalast Dresden, Konzertsaal (Dresden, Germany)
Dresdner Musikfestspiel
[Program E]
Tuesday, May 20, 2025: 7:30pm
Congress Innsbruck, Saal Tirol (Innsbruck, Austria)
[Program D]
