Leipzig: Ten world-class orchestras in twelve days

From May 13 to 24, 2021, the Gewandhaus Orchestra invites you to the Mahler Festival in Leipzig. All symphonies and other orchestral works will be interpreted by ten world-class orchestras in just twelve days.

Leipzig and the Gewandhaus Orchestra promise an authentic setting, because it was in Leipzig that Mahler became the man we know today - the composer of fascinating symphonies. Gustav Mahler spent two crucial years of his life in Leipzig from 1886 to 1888.

During this time, the course was set for his future career. As second conductor at the Leipzig City Theater, Gustav Mahler conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra in almost 200 performances and familiarized himself intensively with the possibilities of one of the leading symphony orchestras. In Leipzig, he also composed his 1st Symphony and realized that this calling would shape the rest of his life: "I just have to compose."

In Leipzig, Mahler was first noticed as a composer by a prominent audience and important music critics when he conducted his completion of Carl Maria von Weber's opera "The Three Pintos". Mahler himself considered the supra-regional impact of his work in Leipzig to be particularly career-enhancing.

“I have suddenly become a famous personality – not only in Germany, but throughout the world,” he wrote to his parents.

The Gewandhaus Orchestra and Gewandhauskapellmeister Andris Nelsons will interpret the 2nd and 8th symphonies. Fabio Luisi and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will bring the 5th Symphony and the Kindertotenlieder to Leipzig, while Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra will play the 6th Symphony (“Tragic”).

The Berlin Philharmonic and Kirill Petrenko will perform the 9th Symphony. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mariss Jansons will perform the 3rd Symphony in Leipzig.

Daniele Gatti and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra have the 10th Symphony (completed by Deryck Cooke) in their program. Under the direction of Verly Gergiev, the Munich Philharmonic will play the 4th Symphony and the Song of the Earth. Thomas Hampson is the soloist of Rückert songs, which he will interpret together with the Vienna Philharmonic and Daniel Harding. The latter will also play the 1st Symphony.

The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden performs the 7th Symphony under the direction of Sir Antonio Pappano. The plaintive song, the funeral celebration and the songs of a traveling journeyman are interpreted by the MDR Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Markus Stenz.

In addition to the concerts, film and song evenings, thematic city tours “Gustav Mahler in Leipzig” and much more will frame the Mahler Festival 2021.

For further information, please visit mahlerfestival.de and leipzig.travel/travel-offers.

© Photo: Leipzig Tourism and Marketing GmbH, Andreas Schmidt