Taiwan's Taipei Symphony Extends Contract With Eliahu Inbal

The Taipei Symphony Orchestra (TSO) announced that it would sign its chief conductor Eliahu Inbal for another three more years, marking a six year partnership at the end of the contract.

TSO general director Sung Wei-te said that the orchestra has "learned a lot" under Inbal, and is excited about the continued partnership.

Due to restrictions and measures caused by COVID-19, Inbal had recently completed his fourth quarantine in Taiwan and is to conduct five upcoming concerts.

One, on April 29, will feature Maurice Ravel's Rapsodie Espagnole, M.54 and “Daphnis et Chloé” Suite No.1 & 2, plus Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, Op.46. Another, on May 21, will include Gustav Mahler's Symphony No.10 in F-Sharp Major (Completed by D. Cooke) at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, completing the Mahler cycle.

“It’s good also to have a cycle. The cycles, they are the best way to educate not only (the) orchestra, but also the public," said Inbal.

When asked about his upcoming plans with the TSO in the next years, Inbal revealed that an opera production of Verdi's Othello was being planned.

The Israeli-born conductor has previously held chief posts with orchestras such as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony (hr-Sinfonieorchester), Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Teatro la Fenice di Venezia, and Czech Philharmonic.

Appointed Conductor Laureate of Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in 2014, Inbal is known for his Mahler and Bruckner recordings with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as for his cycles of Ravel with the Orchestre National de France, Dvořák and Stravinsky with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Shostakovich with the Vienna Symphony, and Strauss with the Suisse Romande Orchestra.