Gewandhaus celebrates Beethoven with world stars and jazz formats

The Gewandhaus Leipzig is focusing on the Beethoven Festival in its 246th concert season. To mark the 200th anniversary of the composer's death, Ludwig van Beethoven will not be celebrated as a monument, but as a radically contemporary artist and a living source of inspiration, said Director Andreas Schulz at the presentation of the new program for the 2026/2027 season in Leipzig.

From 9 to 23 May 2027, world stars such as Lang Lang, Igor Levit, Leonidas Kavakos and Tobias Moretti will meet new perspectives from jazz, crossover and experimental formats. To begin with, Beethoven's incidental music to Goethe's "Egmont" will be presented in a new version by renowned author Michael Lentz. Against the backdrop of current global conflicts, social tensions and democratic trials and tribulations, this material takes on a particular urgency, according to the statement.

Democracy Weekend and Opening Concert

The new season of 222 events begins with the Democracy Weekend from September 4 to 6, 2026 under the motto "Reading Signs", which combines music and social reflection. The Gewandhaus Orchestra's opening concert will be conducted by Andris Nelsons, and the "FreeƎroica" project with the Stegreif Orchester will bring Beethoven's idea of freedom to life.

In the coming season, the Gewandhaus will once again be taking part in the "Year of Jewish Culture in Saxony". The focus will be on the diversity of Jewish musical creativity. One central aspect is the performance of Hans Gál's cantata "De profundis" on September 19, 2026. The work was composed in exile in 1936 and combines texts from the time of the Thirty Years' War with a highly concentrated, expressive musical language.