Mahler Festival in Leipzig

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Gewandhaus Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Gewandhaus (© Jens Gerber)

The Mahler Festival is a music event in Leipzig that is dedicated to the work of Gustav Mahler .

For the first time, the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig organized the “International Mahler Festival” from May 17 to 29, 2011 on the 100th anniversary of the composer's death. From May 13th to 24th, 2021, the 2nd Mahler Festival will take place under the name "Mahler Festival 2021" on the 110th anniversary of Gustav Mahler's death . Gustav Mahler stayed in Leipzig from 1886 to 1888, worked as the second conductor at the Stadttheater, in this role conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra in almost 200 performances and composed, among other things, his 1st symphony in Leipzig.

International Mahler Festival 2011

All of Gustav Mahler's symphonies were performed in a total of fourteen concerts by ten international orchestras. In addition, the monograph “Mahler in Leipzig” by Claudius Böhm was published as part of a musicological symposium .

In the two weeks around 25,000 guests from Europe, China, the USA and South America attended the concerts in the Gewandhaus . The events were almost sold out. In addition to the city of Leipzig, the main sponsors of the festival were Sparkasse Leipzig and DHL . The Mahler Festival was broadcast by MDR and ARTE on television and via live stream. The MDR Figaro radio program broadcast the “Mahler Lounge” daily from the Steigenberger Grandhotel Handelshof . At the end of 2011, the 2nd and 8th symphonies were released on DVD with the Gewandhaus Orchestra.

orchestra

Mahler Festival 2021

During the twelve-day festival, all symphonies and other orchestral works will be performed by ten orchestras in a total of fourteen concerts.

orchestra

Gustav Mahler in Leipzig

Gustav Mahler (1892)

Thanks to the engagement of Gewandhauskapellmeister Arthur Nikisch , the Gewandhausorchester turned increasingly to the symphonic works of Gustav Mahler from the end of the 19th century . During Riccardo Chailly's tenure , the importance of Leipzig for the composer's development was raised internationally and the reputation of the Gewandhaus Orchestra as a genuine Mahler orchestra was established.

Mahler, who stayed in Leipzig for two years (1886–1888), was employed as second conductor at the Leipzig City Theater for the first time in a major music metropolis. Here he conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra in almost 200 performances, where he was able to familiarize himself intensively with the possibilities of one of the leading symphony orchestras.

So it was no coincidence that he composed his 1st symphony in Leipzig and he realized that this vocation would shape his future path: "I just have to compose" . In Leipzig he was first noticed by a prominent audience and important music reviewers as a composer when he conducted his completion of the opera " The Three Pintos " by Carl Maria von Weber . Mahler himself assessed the supraregional effect of his work in Leipzig as being particularly good for a career: "I became a famous personality at one stroke, not just in Germany but all over the world," he wrote to his parents.    

The Mahler reception in Leipzig and its supraregional perception was essentially influenced by the commitment of the Gewandhaus Kapellmeister Arthur Nikisch , Bruno Walter and Riccardo Chailly .

Arthur Nikisch (1895–1922), who was first Kapellmeister at the Leipzig Theater during Mahler's stay in Leipzig, laid the cornerstone for the Mahler reception of the Gewandhausorchester shortly after taking office as Gewandhauskapellmeister in 1895: Nikisch conducted most of the Leipzig premieres (1. , 2nd, 4th and 6th symphonies as well as "Das Lied von der Erde") and often interpreted excerpts from his former colleague's four great orchestral song cycles. It is also thanks to the international radiance of Nikisch, who was Music Director in Boston shortly before taking office in Leipzig, that Mahler's music quickly found its way into the repertoire of orchestras worldwide.

Bruno Walter (1929–1933), who before his post in Leipzig was assistant to Mahler in Hamburg and conductor at the Vienna State Opera in the Mahler era and described himself as a Mahler student, is of particular importance in terms of Mahler interpretation with the Gewandhaus Orchestra . A high level of authenticity can therefore be ascribed to his performances. When he was forced to emigrate in 1933 after the National Socialists came to power, the lasting reception of Mahler in Leipzig was initially interrupted. Owing to his long tenure in office, most Mahler performances and the first Mahler cycle of the Gewandhaus Orchestra were on the program in the Kurt Masur era (1970–1996). The majority of the performances, however, were conducted by guest conductors. His successor, Herbert Blomstedt (1998–2005), opened his term in office with Mahler's 1st Symphony and initiated the second Mahler cycle in the orchestra's history.

Riccardo Chailly (2005–2016) has performed sensational Mahler interpretations with the Gewandhausorchester worldwide. With the "International Mahler Festival 2011", Chailly made the music world aware of the importance of Leipzig for the symphonist Mahler. The complete recording of all symphonies on DVD and Blu-ray (published so far: 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th symphonies) sets standards for Mahler's interpretation and has the reputation of Gewandhausorchester established as a Mahler orchestra in the music world.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ EVIS event database (Gewandhaus-internal)
  2. ↑ Mahler Festival, 13.-24. May 2021, Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Retrieved April 3, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c Böhm, Claudius: Mahler in Leipzig. Published on behalf of the Gewandhaus Orchestra . Kamprad, Altenburg 2011.
  4. ↑ a b McClatchie, Stephen, Brenner, Helmut (ed.): Gustav Mahler "Dearest Justi!" Letters to the family . Weidle, Bonn 2006.