DSO’s Fabio Luisi adding a Japanese orchestra, new recordings

As if conducting combined musicians of the Dallas Symphony and Metropolitan Opera orchestras in two Dallas concerts isn’t newsy enough, DSO music director Fabio Luisi is adding a new job — and new recordings are on the way.

Starting in September 2022, he’ll be chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, one of the premier Asian orchestras. That’s filling in time being freed up after this summer, when he steps down as music director of Zurich Opera.

Major-league conductors commonly hold two or more positions at the same time, on different continents. Luisi recently extended his DSO contract through the 2028-29 season, and his contract as principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra runs through 2026.

Luisi and the Danish orchestra are recording the complete symphonies of Danish composer Carl Nielsen, to be released next year by the international record label Deutsche Grammophon.