Between classical clarity and symphonic grandeur: when Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor and Mahler's First meet, the result is an evening full of contrasts - intense, emotional and final under the direction of Svetoslav Borisov.

Just one day before the premiere, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor in 1785 - and sat down at the piano himself. The work, written in a phase of creative high tension, is considered a milestone of his Viennese period: dramatic, bold and groundbreaking. It is the first of his so-called symphonic concertos in which soloist and orchestra enter into a dialogical competition as equal partners. The celebrated pianist Saskia Giorgini, winner of the International Mozart Prize Salzburg 2016, makes her debut in Magdeburg with this concert and brings the dark, passionate sound language of the work to life.

The second part features Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1, which was premiered in Budapest in 1889 and initially caused heated debate. What was initially disturbing later became the blueprint for his symphonic oeuvre: a work that tells of nature, life, suffering and triumph - and whose powerful finale already anticipates the Mahlerian cosmos of future symphonies.

Svetoslav Borisov will conduct this impressive program, his farewell concert as 1st Kapellmeister at Theater Magdeburg - a musical evening between departure and completion.
December 18 and 19, 2025