For immediate release:
March 28, 2023
Contact: Julie Goetz, Director of Communications
(412) 905-9058
jgoetz@pittsburghsymphony.org
Conductor Daniele Rustioni to Replace Elim Chan in Pittsburgh Symphony Concerts This Weekend
PITTSBURGH— The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announced today that it is with great regret that Elim Chan must withdraw from this weekend’s concerts due to illness. This weekend’s concerts will now be led by highly acclaimed conductor Daniele Rustioni, and the program will remain as published. This weekend will mark Daniele Rustioni’s debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Daniele Rustioni, 39, was recently awarded “Best Conductor of the Year” at the International Opera Awards 2022. He is considered one of the most compelling conductors of his generation, both in opera and symphonic works. Rustioni is currently conducting the Metropolitan Opera’s production of “Falstaff” and made his critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut on February 11, 2023, leading the Met Orchestra in one of its coveted Carnegie Hall concerts.
Daniele Rustioni has been Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon since September 2017 and is Music Director of the Ulster Orchestra in the United Kingdom. He also serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Germany. Rustioni is Conductor Emeritus of the Orchestra della Toscana, where he served as Music Director between 2014 and 2020. In addition to his responsibilities in Lyon and Munich, this summer he will return to the Berlin State Opera to lead performances of Verdi’s “Don Carlo” replacing Daniel Barenboim.
BNY Mellon Grand Classics: Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances
Friday, March 31 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 2 at 2:30 p.m.
Daniele Rustioni, conductor (Pittsburgh debut)
Francesco Piemontesi, piano
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1
CHIN: subito con forza (Pittsburgh premiere)
RACHMANINOFF: Symphonic Dances
About Daniele Rustioni
Daniele Rustioni, recently awarded as “Best Conductor of the Year” at the International Opera Awards 2022, is one of the most compelling conductors of both opera and symphonic works of his generation. Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon since September 2017 he is at the helm of the Ulster Orchestra in the UK as Music Director starting from the season 2022/23 after three seasons as Chief Conductor. In September 2021 he started the tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Bavarian State Opera. Daniele Rustioni is also Conductor Emeritus of the Orchestra della Toscana, where he served as Music Director between 2014 and 2020.
Rustioni is in-demand worldwide as a versatile conductor of symphonic music. In January 2022 he made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, having already conducted all major Italian symphony orchestras, including the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra and the Filarmonica della Scala and international orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Conducting the MET Orchestra, in February 2023 he will make his first appearance at the Carnegie Hall.
Despite the pandemic, Daniele Rustioni has been able to develop a significant activity with the Ulster Orchestra, including an EU tour in May 2022 and an acclaimed presence at the PROMS in August 2022. Future plans during his tenure include recording on Chandos label and more touring activities.
As Music Director of the Opéra National de Lyon, Daniele Rustioni conducts two new productions each season in addition of symphonic programs and is regular guest of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris as well as of the Aix-en-Provence Summer Festival, where he has presented operas on stage as well as in concert version. The season 2022/23 just opened with Tannhäuser, the first episode of a three-year survey on German repertoire.
Maestro Rustioni has been engaged by all the major international opera houses including La Scala, the Opernhaus Zürich, the Opéra Bastille in Paris and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, as well as with the MET, where he made his debut in April 2017 and plans are consolidating his presence for the years to come.
Maestro Rustioni has made regular appearances in Japan since his debut conducting Madama Butterfly at the Nikkikai Opera in 2014, including performances with the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In May 2018, he returned to Japan for concerts with the Osaka Philharmonic and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
Daniele Rustioni’s extensive and varied discography includes Bellini’s Adelson e Salvini for Opera Rara with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Wolf-Ferrari’s Violin Concerto on Deutsche Grammophon with Francesca Dego and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. For Sony Classical has recorded works by Federico Ghedini, Goffredo Petrassi and Alfredo Casella with the Orchestra della Toscana. The highly successful production of “The golden cockerel” with the Opéra National de Lyon staged by Barry Kosky has been recently released on DVD on Naxos label.
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