A triumphant return for Italian conductor Noseda as US orchestra receives rare La Scala ovation

By COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press

MILAN (AP) — Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda has made a triumphant return to Teatro alla Scala in an informal role as cultural ambassador, leading the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra. He says he has made its sound more “luminous” with his personal loan of centuries-old Italian-made instruments. Noseda’s energetic performance Monday evening marked the emotional highlight of the orchestra’s nine-city European tour, its first in nearly a decade. It’s the orchestra’s debut to the famously exacting La Scala audience. The performance included an original composition by the Kennedy Center’s in-house composer Carlos Simon and Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho playing Beethoven, and it received a rare standing ovation.