Mahler in Amsterdam, 10 May 2025

Day 2 of our Hayllar Music Tours visit to Amsterdam started with a morning canal cruise from our hotel to the centre of town, followed by a guided walking tour and the return canal trip afterwards. It was an utterly perfect day as I hope the attached pictures will show.

Tonight's concert in the Concertgebouw Mahler Festival gave us a magnificent performance of the second symphony (the Resurrection). The Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Choir were conducted by Iván Fischer, with soloists Christiane Karg, soprano, and Anna Lucia Richter, mezzo.

It was particularly lovely to see Australian oboist Nick Deutsch playing principal oboe - beautifully - among a mass of incredible musicians. Two nights in and we're already running out of superlatives. It was simply wonderful, with the shattering climax appropriately and brilliantly shattering.

First posted on Facebook