(Credit: Matthias Creutziger)

The Teatro alla Scala has announced that German conductor Christian Thielemann will replace Esa-Pekka Salonen for the inaugural concerts of the 2021-22 season.

The company noted that Salonen is indisposed and was forced to cancel.

Thielemann will conduct the Filarmonica della Scala in three consecutive evenings featuring soprano Camilla Nylund. The repertoire for the concerts includes Richard Strauss’ Vier Lieder op. 27 and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 in A major.

Thielemann is currently Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden and Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival. He is scheduled to conduct Verdi’s “Aida” at the Semperoper Dresden in March and July 2022, and Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Osterfestspiele Salzburg in April 2022.

Salonen is slated to return to the stage for concert performances of Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” starring Nina Stemme and Gerald Finley at the Philharmonie de Paris in December 2021.

The concerts at the Teatro alla Scala will take place between Nov. 25 and 27, 2021.