The Royal Concertgebouw cancels Mahler Festival 2021

Amsterdam, 11 February 2021 – The Concertgebouw is cancelling the Mahler Festival 2021 due to restrictions imposed on concert halls and orchestras travelling as a result of the pandemic. From 18 to 23 May 2021, six top international orchestras were scheduled to perform symphonies by the composer Gustav Mahler in Amsterdam. The Concertgebouw organised the Mahler Festival 2021 as an alternative to the Mahler Festival in 2020, which was previously cancelled.

International tours impossible

Concerts by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Jakub Hrůša, the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Iván Fischer, the Munich Philharmonic conducted by Valery Gergiev, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden were to participate in international tours. Travel restrictions on the orchestras due to the pandemic have once again made it impossible for the festival to take place. The Concertgebouworkest will announce at a later time whether the planned performanceS of Mahler's Fifth Symphony in the week of May 17 will take place.

Managing director Simon Reinink: ‘We have our eyes on the future.’

Managing Director Simon Reinink is enormously disappointed but also realistic: ‘It would have been wonderful if we could have resumed within a year of the originally planned festival, but unfortunately this is not to be. Now we have our eyes on the future and are working on a new concert season.’ The Concertgebouw hopes to announce plans for the summer and the new concert season later this spring. Until then, The Concertgebouw is offering a wide range of concerts via radio, TV and social media.