Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer - Mahler's Symphony No. 5

Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra

'The beauty of Mahler always hurts,' conductor Iván Fischer once said. At the Mahler Festival, he conducts both the Second Symphony and, today, the Fifth. It is a powerful work from a heyday in Mahler's life. Turbulent, full of life and passion. Having just met his great love, Alma, Mahler seems to express his feelings in the beloved Adagietto.

Mahler's Symphony No. 5

'Each part has its friends and its enemies', Mahler wrote of his Fifth Symphony. He was thrilled that this work raised such extremes of emotions. After three partly vocal symphonies, the Fifth is purely instrumental. But therefore, no less intense: sometimes jubilant, sometimes gloomy, always fiery. 'The work has come to represent the total of all the suffering that life brought to me.'

Mahler Festival

From 9 to 18 May 2025, Het Concertgebouw is organizing a major Mahler Festival for the third time. After the Mahler Festivities in 1920 and 1995, all of Mahler's symphonies will be heard again in the Main Hall. Among others, they will be performed by the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, which was once conducted by Mahler himself. A selection of top soloists and choirs, led by conductors such as Iván Fischer and Jaap van Zweden, devote themselves to these monumental works. More information about the Mahler Festival can be found here.

Amsterdam 750

On 27 October 2025, Amsterdam will celebrate its 750th anniversary, marking a year-long celebration. Starting on 27 October 2024, a jubilee year full of activities for all Amsterdammers begins.