“We are incredibly sad that we cannot hold the Festival in May 2021 as planned, but we are optimistic that we will host it in 2023. Maybe then, after all that we have now experienced, we will understand Mahler in his acute complexity, with all his pain and all his joy, all the more profoundly.” said Gewandhauskapellmeister, Andris Nelsons.
“The travel restrictions which would, in all probability, apply to our guest orchestras, choruses, soloists, conductors and the large proportion of our audience travelling to Leipzig from abroad in May, as well as the reduced auditorium capacity as a result of the Covid preventative measures, with which we must reckon in the coming months, prohibit the responsible realisation of this momentous festival.” explains Gewandhaus General Director, Andreas Schulz.
“The Mahler Festival is one of the world’s most illustrious music festivals and is a cornerstone of the furtherance of Mahler’s legacy, with which Leipzig reinforces its position at the forefront of the musical world. In the critical phase of the Covid pandemic, in which we currently find ourselves, it would, however, be a dereliction of the responsibility we hold to stage a festival of this magnitude. The safeguarding of the health of all participants and of our audiences must remain our highest priority. The measures we would, as a consequence, be required to undertake would subject the Festival to intolerable artistic constraints. In addition, the resulting reduction in revenue, upon which a festival of this scale is, in no small measure, dependent, is prohibitive. I am, therefore, delighted that the Gewandhaus and the participating orchestras have decided not to simply cancel this unique festival, but are, rather, resolved to move heaven and earth in order to bring this vision to fruition two years later, in 2023.” says Dr. Skadi Jennicke, Mayor of Culture of the City of Leipzig.
The essence of the Festival - the opportunity to experience Gustav Mahler’s complete symphonic canon in the space of two short weeks - has been rendered unrealisable by the hygiene regulations to which orchestras and choruses are currently required to adhere; the stage of the Great Hall of the Gewandhaus is not of sufficient dimensions to perform many of Mahler’s works - particularly the immense choral symphonies - to the artistic quality we are all entitled to expect while under the restrictions to which we can expect to remain subject over the coming months.
“The soul of the Festival is the concentrated presentation of all Mahler’s symphonies. Thus, we have, for artistic reasons, decided against omitting certain symphonies or relocating to a larger, yet acoustically inferior, space.” reinforced Andreas Schulz..
With the Mahler Festival 2023, the Gewandhausorchester will make its first contribution to the festival series Musikstadt:Leipzig, to be followed by a Shostakovich festival in 2025.
The Gewandhausorchester wishes to express its sincere gratitude to all the sponsors of the Mahler Festival 2021 for their hitherto generous financial support. Their loyalty and willingness to lend assistance during the past year of the pandemic is profoundly appreciated.
