Name: Mahler's Symphony No.2 ‘Resurrection' in Edinburgh
Start: 2026-03-01T15:00:00
Location: Usher Hall

Edinburgh sets the stage for an unparalleled celebration of musical brilliance, as the city hosts a series of concerts that promise to captivate and inspire. From the ethereal choral compositions of Sir John Tavener to the orchestral grandeur of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Mahler, these events showcase the talents of world-renowned conductors, singers, and orchestras. Join us on a journey through sound as we explore the remarkable performances and unique contributions of artists at the Edinburgh International Festival.

A Symphony of Voices: Unveiling Edinburgh's Musical Extravaganza

Edinburgh is set to resonate with the sounds of a vibrant musical tapestry in 2025. From the ethereal choral harmonies of John Tavener's 'The Veil of The Temple' to the orchestral grandeur of Vaughan Williams' 'A Sea Symphony', this year's lineup at the Edinburgh International Festival promises to captivate. Highlights include the return of conductor Karina Canellakis with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the powerful narrative of Mahler's Symphony No. 2. Join us as we delve into these remarkable performances, bringing to life the stories and artists behind the music.

A Harmonious Journey: Edinburgh's 2025 Musical Extravaganza

Edinburgh's storied Usher Hall comes alive this festival season, hosting a captivating series of concerts that traverse the realms of choral and orchestral music. From the transcendent sounds of John Tavener’s 'The Veil of the Temple' to the cosmic journey of Mahler's 'Resurrection Symphony', these performances promise profound musical experiences. Featuring the talents of distinguished orchestras like the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, alongside a slew of renowned performers, this lineup is set to enchant audiences with its rich tapestry of sound and emotion.

Symphonic Splendor: A Tapestry of Choral and Orchestral Masterpieces in Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s Usher Hall is set to host a series of captivating performances that promise to immerse audiences in diverse choral and orchestral masterpieces. From the monumental 'The Veil of the Temple' by John Tavener to Mahler's cosmic 'Resurrection Symphony,' these events bring together renowned orchestras and accomplished performers. The Edinburgh International Festival and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra present an extraordinary program featuring Karina Canellakis and the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano, offering a rich tapestry of sound and emotion that transcends time and tradition.

A Symphony of Voices and Emotions at Edinburgh's Usher Hall

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is set to astound audiences with its 2026 season, featuring a diverse array of performances that blend classical masterpieces with contemporary artistry. From the soul-stirring harmonies of Rachmaninov to the mesmerizing narratives of Debussy and Bartók, this season promises an immersive musical experience. Join us as we explore the key events, artists, and compositions that define this remarkable series of concerts, showcasing talents like Alessio Bax, Imogen Cooper, and Ryan Wigglesworth.

A Symphony of Emotions: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's 2026 Season Highlights

Experience an orchestral journey with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2026, featuring a stellar line-up of performances from Rachmaninov's soul-stirring concertos to Mahler's cosmic symphony, and contemporary gems like Britten's expressive compositions. Immerse yourself in music that spans a range of emotions, settings, and stories, through a series of events across Scotland, bringing together world-renowned performers and a diversity of musical genres.

A Symphony of Emotions: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's 2026 Highlights

Donald Runnicles

Karen Cargill

Jennifer Davis

James Grossmith

Edinburgh Festival Chorus

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Described by composer Sir James MacMillan as “one of the most astonishing and surprising young newcomers in Scottish music,” Glasgow-born accordionist and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist (2022-24) Ryan Corbett is redefining expectations of his instrument. And in a concerto written especially for him, fellow Scot Jay Capperauld—praised for his “unbridled sonic imagination” (The Scotsman)—channels the crackling energy of electricity into music that dazzles.

Afternoon Performance: Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet

City Halls

The air shimmers, and a horn calls softly in the distance. Is there a more magical beginning to any symphony than the vista that opens Bruckner’s Fourth? No wonder he called it “Romantic”.

Closing Night: BBC Singers, Bruckner, Wigglesworth

A mysterious princess. A remote castle. A love triangle. Debussy’s breathtaking opera is a dark fairytale caught in a dream.

“No time, no place. No big scene.” So Debussy wrote to his teacher Ernest Guiraud in 1890. It was a kind of mission statement for his ideal style of opera: in a world of increasingly “big scenes” – courtesy of Wagner and Verdi – Debussy wanted something radically different.

After several false starts, he finally found what he was looking for in an enigmatic play by Maurice Maeterlinck called Pelléas et Mélisande, full of symbols, ambiguous meanings and shadowy characters. It was the perfect home for Debussy’s innovative approach to opera, and for his startlingly new musical language. He finished Pelléas et Mélisande, his only completed opera, in 1902. The critics were perplexed, but in more recent years it has become one of the most admired works in the repertoire, beguiling audiences time and again with its elusive, shimmering beauty.

Rory Kinnear directs a semi-staging of the opera, while Ryan Wigglesworth conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and a dream of a cast, including Sophie Bevan and Jacques Imbrailo as the two lovers.

Aldeburgh Festival 2026: Pelléas et Mélisande

Snape Maltings

Music is reborn again and again in an orchestral concert of breathtaking originality: from Ravel’s jazz infusions of the 1920s to Wigglesworth’s time-tripping Concerto, you are invited to a world of limitless possibility.

Elizabeth Ogonek’s All These Lighted Things asks the orchestra to dance, drawing fascinating new sounds from every instrument. The composer remarks that the piece is about the casting away of darkness; that it expresses an “overwhelming…happiness and joy”. Inspired by Thomas Merton’s poem about the oneness of the spiritual universe, the third movement in particular depicts the orchestra as a kind of “community”

Ravel had a revelatory visit to the United States in 1928, where he heard George Gershwin at the Cotton Club in Harlem. He gave a lecture the same year, instructing American musicians to “Take Jazz Seriously!”, and took his own advice by paying a generous tribute to it in his sassy, sumptuous Piano Concerto in G. A few years earlier, Ravel had composed La Valse, a kind of “biography” of the waltz from elegant beginning to increasingly wild end.

Ryan Wigglesworth’s Piano Concerto slowly awakens into an intriguing soundworld, then looks back through musical history. Piano and orchestra engage in a quizzical, sometimes combative conversation on the subject of folksongs, chorales, and gigues.

Steven Osborne’s versatile and responsive style is perfect for both concertos: the playful Ravel and the intriguing, understated Wigglesworth.

Aldeburgh Festival 2026: BBC SSO and Steven Osborne

A rip-roaring tour of the orchestra and a Welcome to Ipswich: two of Britten’s most joyful and energetic works.

In the last two years of his life, Britten experienced an astonishing burst of creativity. From chamber pieces to songs to a full-blown cantata, he wrote some of his most enduringly popular and vigorous works while seriously weakened by illness. Welcome Ode was his final work, composed for the Queen’s visit to Ipswich in her Jubilee Year in 1977. Scored for children’s voices and orchestra, it is one of his most uninhibitedly upbeat works, with a delightfully outdoorsy spirit.

Another work for young people is Britten’s dazzling Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, which is what it says on the tin: a comprehensive look at every participant in a symphony orchestra. Each instrument gets a go at the tune by Purcell on which the piece is based, sometimes solo, sometimes in intriguing combinations. Britten was reportedly so thrilled with the first recording of this work that he bounced up and down with excitement. You may find yourself doing the same – especially at the prospect of a new narration for the work, from eminent actor Rory Kinnear.

This performance will welcome an audience of young people from local schools and communities, with limited tickets available on general sale.

Aldeburgh Festival 2026: Welcome to the Orchestra

Steve Reich’s music is made of movement. Patterns shift, collide, and reform. The smallest rhythm grows into something vast. A single chord can shimmer like glass.

In Three Movements, the music constantly moves and turns. Repeating figures stretch and ripple until you lose track of where the downbeat lands. Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards is a kaleidoscope of colour. Chords slide past one another, glowing one moment, dissolving the next.

Electric Counterpoint, written for both pre-recorded and live guitars, turns repetition into a trance. With Bryce Dessner at its heart, expect a sound both mechanical and deeply human. Then The Four Sections pulls the whole orchestra into Reich’s pulsing universe – strings, winds, brass and percussion stacked into layers that vibrate with raw power.

Steve Reich at 90: The Four Sections

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

A man stands alone at the grave of a friend. Shattered by grief, he shakes his fist at the heavens and begins a journey that will take him to the end of the world and beyond. The sheer ambition of Gustav Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony staggers the imagination—an emotional odyssey on a cosmic scale, embracing tragedy, hope, dark humour, and even Judgement Day itself.

Mahler's Symphony No.2 ‘Resurrection' in Edinburgh

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