María Dueñas lets Beethoven breathe at Suntory Hall

María Dueñas and the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo

Fabio Luisi

By SangKwon Lee, 21 September 2025

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“historically alert in its priorities yet frankly lyrical in its rhetoric”

Reviewed at Suntory Hall: Main Hall, Tokyo on 19 September 2025

Takemitsu, Three film scores

Beethoven, Violin Concerto in D major, Op.61

Mendelssohn, Symphony no. 4 in A major "Italian", Op.90

María Dueñas, Violin

NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo

Fabio Luisi, Conductor

Luisi opens NHKSO's new season with Franz Schmidt

Nahoko Gotoh, 13th September

As a leading exponent of Franz Schmidt's music, conductor Fabio Luisi leads the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo in a rare performance of his Fourth Symphony for the orchestra's season opener.

****1

A versatile NHK shines at Prague Spring

Frank Kuznik, 15th May

Conducted by Fabio Luisi, Japan's premier orchestra serves up a superb blend of Eastern and Western music and influences.

****1

Joyful Mozart from Ton Koopman and the NHK Symphony

Nahoko Gotoh, 21st September

At Suntory Hall, Ton Koopman and the NHK Symphony Orchestra bring elegance and exuberance to an all-Mozart programme including a flute concerto featuring its principal flautist.

****1

Luisi and the NHK SO begin partnership with a Requiem for our times

Nahoko Gotoh, 11th September

For whatever reason Fabio Luisi chose Verdi's Requiem for his inauguration concert with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo, it turned out to be an apt and poignant choice.

****1

Radiant Szymanowski from Isabelle Faust in Tokyo

Nahoko Gotoh, 13th February

One of the few upsides to the current Covid-19 pandemic for the classical music world in Japan is that it has given opportunities to young home-grown talent.

****1

Passionate, ebullient Rachmaninov from Paavo Jarvi and the NHK

Mark Pullinger, 24th February

Igor Stravinsky once described Sergei Rachmaninov as "a six-and-a-half foot scowl". His Second Symphony – often a lugubrious affair – was here turned into something urgent and vital.

****1

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SangKwon Lee

SangKwon Lee is a Seoul-based classical music critic whose writing focuses on concert performances and recordings. A contributor to Gramophone and a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, he covers the classical music scene in Korea and internationally.

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