Maestro Chung Myung-whun in home quarantine

Maestro Chung Myung-whun has canceled performances in Italy after going into home quarantine in France upon returning from a trip to Tokyo.

Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, based in the Italian city of Florence, announced that Daniele Gatti, music director of Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, would conduct the orchestra’s Saturday concert instead of Chung.

Chung was to lead the orchestra in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor on Saturday.

The orchestra explained that Chung had decided to quarantine himself at home for 14 days after traveling to Tokyo for three performances of Bizet’s opera “Carmen” with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra from Feb. 19-23. Chung is the honorary music director of the Japanese orchestra.

Chung has no symptoms of COVID-19 at the moment, but took preventive measures in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization, Chung’s PR person told The Korea Herald.

More than 900 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Japan, including some 700 from the cruise ship the Diamond Princess. Italy is the hardest-hit country in Europe, with more than 2,000 confirmed cases and a death toll of over 50.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)