Europe Tour 2025

Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, the two greatest composers of the late Romantic period, meet for the first time in their mid-twenties and remain lifelong friends. They appreciate and admire each other despite multiple contrasts: Mahler himself is also aware of their differences: “Schopenhauer somewhere uses the image of two miners who dig a tunnel from opposite sides and then meet on their subterranean ways. That seems fittingly to characterise my relationship with Strauss.“

The song recital with Diana Damrau, Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch presents a selection of the Lied-oeuvre of the two composers and shows how close they are in this genre. The programme includes both light-hearted and serious pieces by Gustav Mahler, as well as love songs by Richard Strauss.