In a celebration of Gustav Mahler’s enduring legacy, The Royal Concertgebouw is set to host the eagerly anticipated third Mahler Festival from May 9 to 18, 2025. This remarkable ten-day event is a grand tribute to the renowned composer, bringing top orchestras from around the globe to the heart of Amsterdam, exactly 105 years after the inaugural Mahler Festival.
The festival will be inaugurated by the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Klaus Mäkelä’s baton, featuring Mahler’s First Symphony and later the monumental Eighth Symphony. Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, will perform the Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, while the illustrious Berliner Philharmoniker, led by principal conductor Kirill Petrenko and guest conductor Daniel Barenboim, will also grace the stage with their remarkable talents. The NHK Symphony Orchestra from Tokyo, led by chief conductor Fabio Luisi, will journey to Europe to perform Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, and Iván Fischer will conclude the Festival’s lineup with his Budapest Festival Orchestra.
Gustav Mahler, who had an enduring connection to The Concertgebouw, referred to Amsterdam as his “second musical homeland”. He conducted his own symphonies multiple times with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and was deeply moved by the passion and enthusiasm of Amsterdam’s audiences. In 1920, conductor Willem Mengelberg organized the first Mahler Festival as a tribute to the composer on the occasion of his 25th anniversary conducting.
Amsterdam’s love for Mahler’s music has only grown over the years. In 1995, The Concertgebouw organized another Mahler Festival, uniting the world’s finest orchestras to perform the complete symphonic works of the composer in chronological order.
As Marina Mahler, the granddaughter of Gustav Mahler, expressed, “It’s very special to see The Concertgebouw paying tribute to Mahler’s universe in Amsterdam, a city Mahler truly loved and that honored him in his lifetime and continues to do so today.”
The Mahler Festival is set to be a historic and harmonious journey through the timeless works of one of classical music’s greatest composers.
Passe-partouts for the complete Mahler Festival will be available for purchase from 14 November via the Mahler Festival website. Single ticket sales will begin on 1 June 2024.