On Saturday, 18 October 2025, at 8 p.m., in the Mehta Hall, maestro Marc Minkowski returns to conduct the Maggio Orchestra and Choir.

The programme features one of Franz Joseph Haydn's most famous symphonic-choral compositions: “Die Jahreszeiten” (The Seasons).

Soloists include soprano Ana Maria Labin, tenor Kieran Carrel and bass Samuel Hasselhorn.

Florence, 16 October 2025 – On Saturday 18 October, at 8 p.m., maestro Marc Minkowski returns to conduct the Maggio Orchestra and Choir for a new symphonic event as part of the Teatro del Maggio's autumn programme.

The programme features Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons), one of Franz Joseph Haydn's most famous compositions, which Maestro Minkowski will perform for the first time in his career. The soloists are soprano Ana Maria Labin, tenor Kieran Carrel and bass Samuel Hasselhorn, all making their debut at the theatre. The Maggio choir is conducted by Donato Sivo.

Haydn's composition is divided into four parts corresponding to the seasons: each part is marked by an instrumental prelude at the beginning and a grand choral piece at the end. The task of describing and “commenting” on the events that mark the rhythm of the seasons themselves is entrusted to the three solo voices of the farmers Hanne (soprano), Lukas (tenor) and Simon (bass), while the choir acts as the voice of hunters, farmers, young people and villagers. With this composition, Haydn sets the cycle of the seasons to music, a metaphor for life itself, celebrated through a bright and optimistic view of the world.

Maestro Minkowski, who returns to Maggio after his successful debut concert in March 2022, was general director of the Opéra National de Bordeaux from 2016 to 2021. He also founded the Ré Majeure festival in 2011 and was artistic director of the Mozartwoche in Salzburg from 2013 to 2017. He is also artistic advisor to the Kanazawa Orchestra in Japan. A constant presence on the programmes of numerous internationally renowned theatres and festivals, in recent years he has conducted in San Francisco (Don Giovanni), Salzburg (Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Mitridate re di Ponto, Così fan tutte), Geneva (Les Huguenots), Brussels (La Cenerentola, Les Huguenots, Il trovatore), Zurich (Les Boréades, Fidelio, La Favorite), Venice (Le Domino noir), Moscow (Pelléas et Mélisande), Amsterdam (Romeo and Juliet and Faust by Gounod) and Vienna (Hamlet and Der fliegende Holländer at the Theater an der Wien, Armide and Alcina at the Staatsoper). He is a frequent guest conductor with leading symphony orchestras – ranging from classical to modern repertoire – including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Mariinsky Orchestra.