A European tour will follow from September 5 to 13, with stops in Verona and Merano

The famous hammer blows with which Gustav Mahler sought to portray humanity’s collapse in the face of fate will inaugurate the Staatskapelle Dresden’s 2026/2027 Season. On August 30, with repeat performances on August 31 and September 1, Daniele Gatti will take the podium of the Saxon capital’s orchestra — of which he has been Principal Conductor since 2024 — to conduct Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. The concerts form part of the first complete cycle of Mahler’s symphonies in the history of the Staatskapelle Dresden, launched by the Milanese conductor in 2024.

Just a few days after the final performance on September 1, Gatti and the Staatskapelle Dresden will embark on a European tour from September 5 to 13, pairing Mahler’s Sixth Symphony with a second program. The latter features Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, with Beatrice Rana as soloist, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 2.

The tour will begin on September 5 at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival with the Beethoven-Brahms program and Beatrice Rana at the piano, before continuing to the Ljubljana Festival, where Mahler’s Sixth Symphony will be performed on September 7. The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, as part of the “Il Settembre dell’Accademia” festival, will host two concerts featuring both programs: Mahler’s Sixth Symphony on September 8, followed by the Beethoven-Brahms program with Beatrice Rana on September 9. The latter program will also be presented at the Merano Festival on September 10 and at the Carmen Würth Forum in Künzelsau on September 12. The tour will conclude with Mahler’s Sixth Symphony on September 13 at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław.

The Milanese conductor’s commitments will continue in October with another season opening and a second European tour. On October 4, he will conduct the first new operatic production of the Semperoper Dresden’s 2026/27 Season: Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, directed by Angela Denoke. From October 24 to November 2, he will once again tour Europe with the Staatskapelle Dresden, appearing in Basel, Freiburg, Frankfurt, Lugano, Turin (Auditorium Giovanni Agnelli), Dortmund, Cologne, and Paris. The tour will feature three different programs, including Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with August Hadelich as soloist and Mahler’s Symphony No. 10.

Photo credits: Daniele Gatti © Marco Borggreve