88th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival | 2026

It goes on stage from April 19 to July 1, 2026, presenting a wide lyrical and symphonic programme, the’88th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival signed by superintendent Carlo Fuortes.

THE WORKS

Three operatic titles are on the programme, with two new productions, The Death of Klinghoffer of John Adams, contemporary work chosen for the inauguration, and returning to the great nineteenth-century repertoire, A masked ball of Giuseppe Verdi; the trio is completed by a baroque masterpiece, Julius Caesar in Egypt of Georg Friedrich Händel.

The Inauguration | John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer

The 88th Festival opens on Sunday April 19 With The Death of Klinghoffer, an opera in a prologue and two acts with a libretto by the poet Alice Goodman, premiered in 1991 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels and only arrived in Italy in 2002, between Ferrara and Modena. This choice renews the Maggio's tradition of opening with contemporary works, often rare and of strong social impact.

The new production, on stage until April 26, bears the signature of Luca Guadagnino, one of the most successful film directors at an international level, here at his operatic debut at the Maggio. On the podium Lawrence Renes, a key interpreter of Adams' repertoire, while the Maggio Choir is trained by Lorenzo Fratini.

The cast brings together top-notch performers with a strong theatrical sensibility: Marina Comparato, Levent Bakirci is Andreas Mattersberger, already appreciated in Henze's recent Der Junge Lord, next to Daniel Okulitch in the role of Captain, Laurent Naouri in that of Leon Klinghoffer and Susan Bullock in the role of his wife Marilyn.

The work originates from the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship in October 1985 by terrorists from the Palestine Liberation Front, an event that shocked international public opinion and culminated in the murder of passenger Leonard Klinghoffer, a Jewish American citizen, who was confined to a wheelchair and then thrown overboard.

A Masked Ball, by Giuseppe Verdi

From the May 12th to 24th the festival presents A Masked Ball, in a new production by the director Valentina Carrasco, which brings back to the centre one of the most complex and fascinating titles in Verdi's catalogue, suspended between the political dimension and private drama.

He makes his debut on the podium in Maggio Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, conducting an opera for the first time; winner of the 2025 Abbiati Prize for best conductor, he is currently music director of the Milan Symphony Orchestra.

The singing company sees Antonio Poli in the role of Riccardo, Chiara Isotton like Amelia, the baritone Ariun Gambaatar – making his debut at the Maggio – in the role of Renato and Ksenia Dudnikova like Ulrica, next to Lavinia Bini in the role of Oscar.

Julius Caesar in Egypt by George Frideric Handel

From the June 14th to 25th the program opens with the Baroque with Julius Caesar in Egypt, a masterpiece by Georg Friedrich Händel first performed in 1724 at the King's Theatre, London.

On the podium Gianluca Capuano, while the staging – coming from the Monte-Carlo Opera – bears the directorial signature of Davide Livermore, which transports the action to the roaring 1920s. The story unfolds aboard the ship "Tolomeo," on a cruise down the Nile. Thanks to a complex set design and LED wall projections, ancient Egyptian landscapes and monuments flash by, while scene changes lead the viewer into the vessel's interior.

The show stands out for its fast pace, visual richness, and the presence of numerous extras, until the final twist entrusted to a cinematic solution that reveals the mystery of Ptolemy's assassination.

The cast features three countertenors: Raffaele Pe (Julius Caesar), Nicolò Balducci (Sextus Pompey) and Filippo Mineccia (Ptolemy). They complete the company Fleur Barron (Cornelia), at her debut at the Maggio, and Mariangela Sicily (Cleopatra).

THE SYMPHONIC CYCLE DEDICATED TO BEETHOVEN

Among the highlights of the Festival is the complete cycle of the nine symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, entrusted to Daniele Gatti, who takes on the role of musical director of the Maggio Musicale just as the event begins.

Four appointments: June 18 (Symphony No. 1, 4, 7), June 23 (n. 5 and 6), June 28 (n. 2 and 3) and July 1 (n. 8 and 9), the latter with the voices of Mariangela Sicily, Eleonora Filipponi, Bernard Richter is Jongmin Park, and the Choir directed by Lorenzo Fratini. The cycle anticipates the 2027 celebrations for the two hundredth anniversary of the composer's death.

THE CONCERTS

A series of programming completes the programming. ten concerts which see top-level conductors alternating on the podium – from Zubin Mehta, Myung-Whun Chung is Antonio Pappano to Michele Mariotti, Philippe Jordan, Dmitry Sinkovski, up to the youngest Diego Ceretta is Thomas Guggeis – alongside opera stars like Asmik Grigorian, Luca Salsi is Francesco Meli.

The April 23Thomas Guggeis conducts Das Lied von der Erde by Gustav Mahler, with Tanja Ariane Baumgartner is Ian Koziara. The April 29Zubin Mehta, honorary director for life of the Maggio, celebrates his ninetieth birthday with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, together with Jessica Pratt, Szilvia Vörös, Ian Koziara is Simon Lim.

The May 3Michele Mariotti, with Andrea Lucchesini, proposes Concerto No. 1 of Pëtr Il'ič Tchaikovsky and Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” by Antonín Dvořák. The May 16Myung-Whun Chung conducts Symphony no. 5 by Mahler.

The May 23Dmitry Sinkovski leads a program with Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor by Borodin, the Concerto in D major by Vivaldi and Scheherazade of Rimsky-Korsakov. The May 24Antonio Pappano conducts the Italian Youth Orchestra in Symphony No. 5 of Dmitry Shostakovich and in the Concerto No. 1 op. 15, with Alexander Lonquich soloist.

The May 28thPhilippe Jordan approaches Beethoven – with the Leonore overture op. 72b and the Concerto no. 3 performed by Jan Lisiecki – to Symphony No. 4 “Romantic” by Anton Bruckner.

The June 6 the soprano Asmik Grigorian, accompanied by Lukas Geniušas, faces a program dedicated to Tchaikovsky is Sergej Rachmaninov. The June 9Diego Ceretta directs music by Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn is Franz Schubert, with Benedetto Lupo at the piano, the Orchestra della Toscana and the Maggio Choir prepared by Lorenzo Fratini.

The June 16 close the concert festival Francesco Meli is Luca Salsi, protagonists of a Verdi programme with arias and duets from Don Carlo, La forza del destino, I vespri siciliani and Otello, accompanied on the piano by Nelson Calzi, which also offers the Lisztian paraphrase from Rigoletto (S434).