Mahler Festival: Concertgebouw Orchestra and Klaus Mäkelä in Mahler's Symphony No. 8

Upcoming principal conductor Klaus Mäkelä leads the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Mahler's Eighth Symphony. They are joined in this monumental work by an impressive cast of soloists and no fewer than four choirs.

Concertgebouw Orchestra and four choirs

Klaus Mäkelä has been artistic partner of the Concertgebouw Orchestra since 2022 and will become chief conductor in 2027. Earlier in this festival he already conducted the First Symphony, today the Eighth. The Concertgebouw Orchestra shares the stage with no fewer than four vocal ensembles. In addition to the Grand Omroepkoor, Laurens Symphonic, the Choeur de l'Orchestre de Paris and the National Children's Choir sing.

Mahler's Symphony No. 8

Mahler wrote to his friend Willem Mengelberg that his Eighth Symphony was his greatest work ever. 'All others anticipated this.' Moreover, he experienced it as if the piece of music had been dictated to him in a vision. In two monumental movements, Mahler said he sings of the entire universe. 'There are no longer human voices. They are planets and suns, revolving in their orbits.' Practically speaking, it is also a rather voluminous work. Mahler often needed very many performers, and in this Mahler's "symphony of a thousand," there are close to four hundred. Or more: in 1912 Mengelberg conducted a version with two thousand musicians and singers.

Mahler Festival

From May 9 through May 18, 2025, The Concertgebouw will host a grand Mahler Festival for the third time. After Mahler Festivals in 1920 and 1995, all of Mahler's symphonies will once again be heard in the Great Hall. They will be performed by the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others, which was once conducted by Mahler himself. A host of top soloists and choirs devote themselves to these monumental works, led by conductors such as Iván Fischer and Jaap van Zweden. More information about the Mahler Festival can be found here.