I have, strangely, rarely conducted Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony. Maybe because I have been asked so many times, and I regularly refused. It seemed to me, as an Italian conductor, to be invited to conduct an “Italian” symphony (which, in reality, doesn’t have so much to do with Italy, although Mendelssohn allegedly wrote it after his “Grand Tour” to Italy in 1830 and 1831), a bit of a cliché, like being asked to conduct “Fontane di Roma” or any Respighi, or “Capriccio Italien” by Tchaikowsky. Of course, all these works are great music (with some doubts from my part about “Capriccio Italien”). After a very long hiatus – the last time I conducted Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony was in Geneva with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in 2000 or 2001 – I accepted the request from the NHK Orchestra in Tokyo. Therefore, this week we will be playing this symphony, together with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and my first collaboration with María Dueñas, which I am very pleased and excited about.

Of course, I love ALL Mendelssohn, I conducted all his major symphonies (and even some string symphonies), and his great Choral works “Elijah” and “Paulus,” so this is a real pleasure to do the “Italian” symphony with this wonderful orchestra!