Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra from Japan Set to Tour 8 European Cities; Principal Conductor Sebastian Weigle ‘Excited’ to Perform in Birthplace

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, October 10, 2024

The Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (YNSO) will tour eight cities in Europe from Sunday through Oct. 24.

The final concert before the orchestra goes on tour was held Wednesday at Suntory Hall in Tokyo’s Akasaka district. The concert featured the same program as the upcoming European tour, and an audience of about 2,000 people came to send them off.

This will be the first time the YNSO will tour Europe since 2015. The orchestra will play in five cities in Germany, including Berlin and Hamburg, and then head to the United Kingdom to play in London, Birmingham and Basingstoke.

Under the baton of Sebastian Weigle, who has been the orchestra’s principal conductor since 2019, Wednesday’s concert featured “Dance of the Seven Veils” from Akira Ifukube’s ballet “Salome,” Brahms’ Violin Concerto and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2.

World-famous German violinist Christian Tetzlaff, who will accompany the tour, was the soloist for the Violin Concerto.

“This tour will be a valuable experience that will be very musically rewarding,” Weigle said. “I’m excited and happy because we’ll also be performing in Berlin, my birthplace.”

Yusuke Hayashi, who will serve as concertmaster during the tour, said: “I felt the members’ strong enthusiasm. I also want to keep giving my best during the tour.”

Popular pianist Mao Fujita, who resides in Germany, will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 for two concerts in Germany.