| Fabio Luisi’s fall 2026: Yo-Yo Ma and Karen Gomyo perform with DSO; NHK 100th anniversary season features Mahler “Resurrection” and concert Tosca; Verdi Requiem with DNSO; guest conducting in Hamburg, Amsterdam, and Leipzig; more |
 Fabio Luisi (photo: courtesy of DNSO) (September 2026) — Grammy- and ECHO Klassik Award-winning conductor Fabio Luisi is now in his seventh season as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO), where he leads four sets of performances this fall, with highlights including Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony (Oct 16–18), Schubert’s Eighth Symphony (Oct 22–24), Yo-Yo Ma performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto (Nov 20), Karen Gomyo in Samy Moussa’s Violin Concerto (Nov 21 & 22), and an all-Tchaikovsky program (Nov 27–29). Luisi begins his fall schedule leading numerous programs in Tokyo as Chief Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, as it celebrates its 100th anniversary season. Highlights include Franz Schmidt’s towering oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (Sep 12 & 13), Brahms’s Violin Concerto featuring Augustin Hadelich (Sep 17–21), Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony (Oct 3 & 4), and a concert performance of Tosca that also recognizes the 40th anniversary of the orchestra’s Suntory Hall venue (Oct 10 & 12). In his tenth season as Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DNSO) – with his contract recently extended through 2032 – Luisi conducts two programs this fall, including performances of Verdi’s Requiem (Oct 29–31) and Brahms’s Fourth Symphony (Nov 5 & 6). Finally, in December Luisi looks forward to European guest conducting engagements with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra (Dec 6), the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Dec 9–12), and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Dec 17 & 18). Dallas Symphony Orchestra Luisi kicks off his fall season with the DSO in a program pairing Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony – which the composer thought to be one of his best works – with Richard Strauss’s Second Horn Concerto, featuring DSO principal horn Daniel Hawkins. Strauss wrote the work in 1942 in a war-torn Vienna amid worries about the safety of his Jewish daughter-in-law and grandchildren, yet the tone of the piece is notably carefree, dedicated in the autograph score to his father, a famous horn soloist, and hearkening back to the happier days of his youth (Oct 16–18). The following weekend, Luisi welcomes pianist Lise de la Salle to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the DSO, on a program with Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8 and Alan Hovhaness’s mystical Symphony No. 2, subtitled “Mysterious Mountain,” one of the composer’s most successful and frequently recorded works (Oct 22–24). In November, Luisi conducts three concerts anchored by Mozart’s “Paris” Symphony No. 31. The symphony is complemented on the first concert by a one-night-only performance featuring Paris-born cellist Yo-Yo Ma in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto (Nov 20). Two more renditions of the “Paris” Symphony on subsequent days are paired with Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Debussy’s La mer, and the DSO premiere of Canadian composer Samy Moussa’s Violin Concerto, “Adrano,” performed by Karen Gomyo. Inspired by the Sicilian town of the same name, Moussa’s concerto evokes the ancient rituals thought to summon Adranus, the god of fire (Nov 21 & 22). At the end of the same month, Luisi conducts the DSO in an all-Tchaikovsky program, featuring pianist Tom Borrow’s performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 along with the Suite from Swan Lake (Nov 27–29). Danish National Symphony Orchestra Luisi celebrates his tenth anniversary as Principal Conductor of the DNSO this season, where his contract now extends through 2032. Kim Bohr, Director of DR Koncerthuset, comments:“When Fabio Luisi was appointed Chief Conductor, we found an exceptional artistic and personal match between orchestra and conductor – something rare in the international orchestral world. Together, they have developed the Orchestra and brought Danish music into a wider international context. They have done so by performing Danish music on some of the world’s most important concert stages, making critically acclaimed recordings and collaborating with some of the biggest international names in classical music. All of this has benefited Danish musical life as well as our audiences, listeners and viewers. It gives us an exceptionally strong foundation for continuing our partnership.”Following their presentation of Rued Langgaard’s Music of the Spheres last season during the orchestra’s centennial celebrations, the conductor turns to another large-scale choral work this fall: Verdi’s Requiem. Joining the DNSO for the performance are tenor Saimir Pirgu, soprano Maria Agresta, mezzo-soprano Deniz Uzun, the Danish National Concert Choir, and the BBC Singers (Oct 29–31). The year 2024 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arnold Schoenberg. To honor that milestone, Luisi and the DNSO performed several of the composer’s large works last season, and a Deutsche Grammophon recording of Schoenberg’s complete orchestral works is in progress. This season they explore a different aspect of Schoenberg’s creativity: his love for the music of Johannes Brahms, particularly the Piano Quartet in G minor. His appreciation of the work was compromised, however, by the fact that the piano often drowned out the violin, viola, and cello, so Schoenberg completely rewrote the score, transforming the work into a showpiece for orchestra. Luisi leads Schoenberg’s orchestral arrangement of the work on a program with Brahms’s Fourth Symphony – his last symphonic work (Nov 5 & 6). NHK Symphony Orchestra The NHK Symphony Orchestra, where Luisi is Chief Conductor, celebrates its 100th anniversary this season, and Luisi will be on hand for a host of large-scale performances. He starts off with a piece he has long championed and performed around the world: Franz Schmidt’s magnum opus oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln. Soloists include tenor Michael Laurenz in the role of Johannes and bass David Steffens as the Voice of God (Sep 12 & 13). Celebrated violinist Augustin Hadelich joins Luisi and the NHK Symphony Orchestra a few days later, performing Brahms’s Violin Concerto. Luisi also conducts the orchestra in Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 and Weber’s Overture to the opera Oberon (Sep 17–21). The following weekend, Luisi conducts an all-Beethoven program comprising Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3, “Eroica,” the latter famously dedicated to Napoleon while the composer still believed him to embody the democratic ideals of the French Revolution (Sep 25 & 26). The anniversary celebration continues the following weekend, when soloists Ying Fang and Tamara Mumford are featured in Mahler’s Second “Resurrection” Symphony, a defiant affirmation of hope from a composer who was emerging from one of the most difficult periods of his life (Oct 3 & 4). Luisi’s extensive work in opera, which includes six years as Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and a Grammy Award for his leadership of the last two operas of the Met’s Ring cycle, is often on display in concert settings as well. The finale of his NHK Sympony Orchestra 100th anniversary performances is a concert presentation of Tosca that features Elena Stikhina in the title role, Riccardo Massi as Cavaradossi, and Ambrogio Maestri as Scarpia. The performance is simultaneously a celebration of the 40th anniversary year of Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, where the concerts take place (Oct 10 & 12). Guest conducting engagements In December, Luisi has three major European guest conducting engagements, the first two continuing his many performances of the major works of Brahms this fall. In Hamburg, Luisi leads the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Brahms’s Fourth Symphony, paired with Dvořák’s sole Piano Concerto, performed by Francesco Piemontesi. The pairing is apt: the two composers were friends, and Brahms was able to open the door to an international career for the younger composer by introducing him to his publisher (Dec 6). A few days later, Luisi will be in Amsterdam for a performance with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Brahms’s Second Symphony, along with violinist Julia Fischer’s performance of Hans Werner Henze’s Baroque-inspired Il Vitalino raddoppiato and Danish composer Sophie Meyer’s Fleur de verre (Dec 9–12). Luisi’s final concert of the year is in Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducting Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 with soloist Rudolf Buchbinder, Weber’s Oberon Overture, and Strauss’s tone poem Ein Heldenleben (Dec 17 & 18).  Instagram WebsiteFabio Luisi: fall 2026 engagements Sep 12 & 13 Tokyo, Japan NHK Hall NHK Symphony Orchestra Michael Laurenz, tenor (Johannes) David Steffens, bass (Voice of God) Miho Sakoda, soprano Asami Fujii, mezzo-soprano Tatsundo Ito, tenor Hirotaka Kato, bass Eri Niiyama, organ New National Theatre Chorus (Kyohei Tomihira, chorusmaster) SCHMIDT: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (“The Book with Seven Seals”) Sep 17–21 Tokyo, Japan Sep 17 & 18: Suntory Hall Sep 20: Ashikaga Flower Park Plaza / Culture Hall Sep 21: Takasaki City Theatre, Grand Theatre NHK Symphony Orchestra Augustin Hadelich, violin WEBER: Overture to Oberon BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77 SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120 (revised version) Sep 25 & 26 Tokyo, Japan NHK Hall NHK Symphony Orchestra BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21 BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 3 E-flat, Op. 55, “Eroica” Oct 3 & 4 Tokyo, Japan NHK Hall NHK Symphony Orchestra Ying Fang, soprano Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano New National Theatre Chorus (Kyohei Tomihira, chorusmaster) MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 C minor, “Resurrection” Oct 10 & 12 Tokyo, Japan Suntory Hall NHK Symphony Orchestra Elena Stikhina (Tosca) Riccardo Massi (Cavaradossi) Ambrogio Maestri (Baron Scarpia) Hidekazu Tsumaya (Angelotti) Soshiro Ide (Sacristan) Shuhei Itoga (Spoletta) Tokyo Opera Singers (Junya Nakata, chorusmaster) NHK Tokyo Children’s Chorus PUCCINI: Tosca (in concert) Oct 16–18 Dallas, Texas Meyerson Symphony Center Dallas Symphony Orchestra Daniel Hawkins, horn R. STRAUSS: Concerto No. 2 in E-flat for Horn and Orchestra BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 in A Oct 22–24 Dallas, Texas Meyerson Symphony Center Dallas Symphony Orchestra Lise de la Salle, piano HOVHANESS: Symphony No. 2, “Mysterious Mountain” RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, “Unfinished” Oct 29–31 Copenhagen, Denmark DR Koncerthuset Danish National Symphony Orchestra The Danish National Concert Choir BBC Singers Saimir Pirgu, tenor Maria Agresta, soprano Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano VERDI: Requiem Nov 5 & 6 Copenhagen, Denmark DR Koncerthuset Danish National Symphony Orchestra BRAHMS (orch. Schoenberg): Piano Quartet in G minor BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4 Nov 20 Dallas, Texas Meyerson Symphony Center Dallas Symphony Orchestra Yo-Yo Ma, cello MOZART: Symphony No. 31 in D, K. 297, “Paris” DVOŘÁK: Concerto in B minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 104 Nov 21 & 22 Dallas, Texas Meyerson Symphony Center Dallas Symphony Orchestra Karen Gomyo, violin MOZART: Symphony No. 31 in D, K. 297, “Paris” Samy MOUSSA: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, “Adrano” DUKAS: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice DEBUSSY: La mer Nov 27–29 Dallas, Texas Meyerson Symphony Center Dallas Symphony Orchestra Tom Borrow, piano TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 TCHAIKOVSKY: Suite from Swan Lake, Op. 20a Dec 6 Hamburg, Germany NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra Francesco Piemontesi, piano DVOŘÁK: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 33 BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 Dec 9–12 Amsterdam, Netherlands Concertgebouw Orkest Julia Fischer, violin Sophie MEYER: Fleur de verre HENZE: Il Vitalino raddoppiato BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 Dec 17 & 18 Leipzig, Germany Gewandhaus Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Rudolf Buchbinder, piano WEBER: Overture to Oberon MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat, K. 595 R. STRAUSS: Ein Heldenleben |
