Thomas Guggeis returns to the podium of the Mehta Hall for his second symphonic concert

On Friday, 2 October at 8 p.m., Thomas Guggeis returns to the podium of the Mehta Hall for his second symphonic engagement.

The programme features Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in D major, Hob. I:104, “London” and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in E major.

Florence, 29 September 2026 – Following his 26 September concert featuring Gustav Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”, which was enthusiastically received by both audiences and critics, and the recent opening of the new production of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, directed by Deborah Warner and running until 3 October – also greeted with great success – Thomas Guggeis returns to the podium of the Orchestra of the Maggio for his second symphonic engagement, scheduled for Friday, 2 October at 8 p.m. in the Mehta Hall.

The concert brings together two significant moments in the European musical tradition. The evening opens with Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in D major, the last of the twelve symphonies he composed during his stays in London, as well as the final symphony of his entire output. Its premiere at the King’s Theatre in May 1795 was a triumph: contemporary critics described it as the finest symphony the composer had ever written.

The programme continues with Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in E major, composed between 1881 and 1883. Unlike many of his other symphonies, it did not undergo the composer’s often painstaking process of rethinking and multiple revisions, which had become a constant feature of his work. The Seventh was consistently performed in its original version and represented a culmination in the career of the over-sixty Bruckner, further consolidating his reputation as a symphonist.

The concert:

Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 104 in D major, Hob. I:104, “London”

Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in D major was the last of the twelve symphonies he composed during his stays in London, as well as the final symphony of his career. Its premiere at the King’s Theatre on 4 May 1795 was met with unprecedented acclaim. Contemporary critics described it as the finest symphony the composer had ever written, once again demonstrating Haydn’s ability to surpass himself. The two names by which the Symphony No. 104 is commonly known, “London” and “Solomon”, underline both the special relationship the Austrian composer established with the British capital, where he enjoyed enormous success, and his connection with impresario Johann Peter Salomon, the driving force behind Haydn’s journeys and concert engagements in England. Like several of his other symphonies, No. 104 opens with a broad and solemn introduction: an Adagio that leads into the Allegro, where the compositional mastery of the father of the Viennese symphony is combined with a remarkable variety of dazzling and sumptuous timbral effects. These were made possible by the extraordinary orchestral forces available to Haydn in London for his final symphonies. The Andante follows, in the form of a theme and variations, together with a Minuet marked by a firm, decisive rhythm underscored by the roll of the timpani. The final movement, by contrast, is distinguished by its exuberant Slavic-inspired theme, accompanied by a sustained pedal in the cellos and horns, creating a drone-like effect.

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 7 in E major

Composed between 1881 and 1883, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in E major did not undergo, like many of his other works, the tortuous process of rethinking and multiple revisions that had become a constant feature of the composer’s creative practice. The Seventh was always performed in its original version and represented a culmination in the career of the composer, then in his sixties, further consolidating his reputation as a symphonist. Nevertheless, it did not escape the usual dissenting voices, foremost among them that of the critic Eduard Hanslick, who was unable to formulate a balanced judgement on a symphony he considered “unnatural, bloated, morbid”. The reason for such hostility lay largely in the overtly Wagnerian character of the Seventh: melodic lines marked by continuous chromaticism, daring harmonic developments, shifts between moments of chamber-like intimacy and passages of monumental orchestral grandeur, as well as the unmistakable tribute to Wagner in the second movement. While Bruckner was completing the Adagio, news reached him of Wagner’s death on 13 February 1883. The composer was devastated by the loss, to such an extent that he added an epilogue to the Adagio in memory of the musician he had revered above all others. The movement thus took shape under the shadow of the imminent death of Bruckner’s deeply revered master and reaches its emotional climax in the chorale intoned by the Wagner tubas – instruments commissioned and employed by Wagner in his Ring Cycle.