The Taipei Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has extended the contract of chief conductor Eliahu Inbal for another three years, it announced on Monday.
Despite program disruptions caused by COVID-19, the 86-year-old Israeli, who took up his post in August 2019, just completed his fourth quarantine in Taiwan and is to conduct five upcoming concerts, the orchestra told a news conference.
Inbal said that the five concerts are to include the final two of Gustav Mahler’s 10 symphonies, as part of his plans to expand the orchestra’s repertoire and enhance the depth of its performances.
Photo: CNA
Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 and Symphony No. 10 are to be performed tomorrow and on May 21 respectively at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, the orchestra said, adding that it would be performing a version of the unfinished Symphony No. 10 completed by Deryck Cooke.
Speaking about his plans for the orchestra over the next three years, Inbal said that an opera production of Othello was being planned.
“It’s good also to have a cycle,” he said. “The cycles, they are the best way to educate not only [the] orchestra, but also the public.”
TSO general director Sung Wei-te (宋威德) said that under Inbal’s tutelage the orchestra has “learned a lot,” contributing to a richer performance from the string section and smoother playing from the wind section.
Inbal is also to conduct two concerts featuring pieces to include Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie Espagnole and Daphnis et Chloe Suites No. 1 and 2 at the National Concert Hall in Taipei on Friday next week and the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts on May 1.
The Friday concert is also to feature Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with guest violinist William Wei (魏靖儀), while pianist Gwhyneth Chen (陳毓襄) is to perform Sergey Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major with the group in Kaohsiung, the orchestra said.
Inbal is to conduct a concert on May 11 at the National Concert Hall, at which Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor is to be performed with guest cellist Victor Coo (高炳坤), as well as Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11, it added.
Tickets to the concerts are available through the OpenTix ticketing service.
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