Conductor Gianandrea Noseda made a triumphant return to Teatro alla Scala in an informal role as cultural ambassador, leading the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra that he has made more “luminous” with his personal loan of centuries-old Italian-made instruments. Noseda’s energetic performance Monday evening marked the emotional highlight of the NSO’s nine-city European tour, its first in nearly a decade.

It was both a homecoming for the 59-year-old and the orchestra’s debut to the famously exacting La Scala audience. The concert, which included an original composition by the Kennedy Center’s in-house composer Carlos Simon and Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho playing Beethoven, received a rare standing ovation.