Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra will return to Europe for a 9-concert, 8-city European tour, May 3-12, to include stops in major musical cities in Austria, Germany, and Luxembourg, following their highly acclaimed first tour to Europe together this past August-September. The tour will feature Nelsons and the BSO in performances at Frankfurt’s Alte Oper (5/3), Essen’s Philharmonie (5/4), Leipzig’s Gewandhaus (5/5), Dresden’s Frauenkirche (5/6), Munich’s Gasteig Philharmonie (5/8), Vienna’s Musikverein (5/9&10), Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle (5/11), and Luxembourg’s Philharmonie (5/12). The tour marks the orchestra’s debut performances in Leipzig, Dresden, and Luxembourg, as well as the BSO’s first returns to Frankfurt since September 1991, Vienna and Munich since March 1998, and Essen and Hamburg since August 2007.

Renowned soprano Kristine Opolais will join the tour for concerts in Essen, Munich and Vienna, performing the Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Rachmaninoff’s Zdes’ khorosho (How fair this place). These three concerts will also feature Mr. Nelsons leading the BSO in Shostakovich’s Suite from the incidental music to Hamlet, Debussy’s La Mer, and Ravel’s La Valse. In Frankfurt, Leipzig, Dresden, Vienna, Hamburg, and Luxembourg, Nelsons and the orchestra will perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, which Mr. Nelsons conducted in his BSO debut in 2011 at Carnegie Hall. The Dresden performance will also feature acclaimed cellist Jan Vogler in Bruch’s Kol Nidrei.

In connection with the upcoming BSO tour, Nelsons and the BSO will release a new CD on Deutsche Grammophon, which will be exclusively offered to concertgoers at tour venues in Germany and Austria, prior to the international release on May 27. This new double-length album features Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 5, 8, and 9, along with the incidental music from Hamlet, and it comes on the heels of the BSO’s and Mr. Nelsons’ recent Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for their recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. It is the second in a series of three releases under the moniker Shostakovich Under Stalin’s Shadow, with a special focus on the music Shostakovich composed during the years of his difficult relationship with Joseph Stalin and the Soviet regime. The third and last installment, also a double-length album, will feature Shostakovich’s Sixth and Seventh Symphonies and is scheduled for release in summer 2017.

“As we embark on our second tour  together to Europe, it is an honor for me to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in its first-ever performances in the extremely cultured cities of Leipzig, Dresden, and Luxembourg, and in its long-awaited return to Frankfurt, Essen, Hamburg, Munich and particularly to the extraordinary Musikverein in Vienna,” said BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons.

“With performances of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony—the first piece I ever conducted with the BSO that started me on the wonderful journey of where I am today —and the compelling Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, with the exceptional artistry of Kristine Opolais—as well as works by Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Ravel—the repertoire, with which the BSO have such a strong tradition, chosen for this tour is sure to give the fantastic audiences of these great musical capitals a glimpse into the BSO’s unique spectrum of musical gifts that inspire all of us that know and love the orchestra.”

Please see the press release by the BSO here.