Tokyo – It will be an Italian to head the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Maestro Andrea Battistoni has in fact been appointed new director of Japan’s oldest symphony orchestra, which in 2011 celebrated its first 100-year history. Born in Verona in 1987, Battistoni has embarked on a rapid conducting career which led him to perform with their orchestras in major theaters such as the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Royal Opera in Stockholm, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and many others. In 2012, when he was just 24 years old, he became the youngest director ever to stand on the podium of the Teatro alla Scala. The first collaboration between the teacher and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra dates back to 2012, with the execution of the “Nabucco” by Verdi, a production of the Tokyo Nikikai. (9Colonne)