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Symphony no. 8

This listing is in the past
Concertgebouw: Main HallConcertgebouwplein 10, Amsterdam, North Holland, 1071 LN, Netherlands
Dates/times in Amsterdam time zone
Festival: Mahler Festival

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: the National Radio Choir, Laurens Symphonic, the Choeur de l'Orchestre de Paris and the National Children's Choir.

Mahler's Symphony No. 8

Mahler wrote to his friend Willem Mengelberg that his Eighth Symphony was his greatest work ever. 'All the other symphonies were anticipating this.' Moreover, he experienced it as if the piece of music was dictated to him in a vision. In two monumental movements, Mahler says he sings of the entire universe. 'There are no longer human voices sounding. They are planets and suns, revolving in their orbits.' Practically speaking, it is also a rather voluminous work. Mahler did often need 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.

Single ticket sales for the 2024-2025 season will start on Saturday 1 June 2024. You can then order the concerts from the Mahler Festival as a single ticket.