Mahler's Symphony No. 3

Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2020 has been cancelled

It is with regret that we have taken the very difficult but ultimately inevitable decision to cancel the 2020 Norfolk & Norwich Festival.

With the rapidly escalating health-crisis and with the safety of our audiences, staff and artists at heart, we have taken the decision that it is impossible for us to deliver the Festival this May.

If you have booked a ticket for the Festival, you do not need to do anything. You are entitled to a refund and we will be in touch soon. Please bear with us during this difficult time. If you have the capacity to make a donation of part or all of your ticket value, we would be extremely grateful – it would help ensure we’re well-placed to support artists and be able to present future Festivals.

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Sara Fulgoni mezzo soprano
Norwich Philharmonic Orchestra
Norwich Philharmonic Choir
Norwich Cathedral Choir
Matthew Andrews conductor

Following their memorable performance of Mahler’s massive 8^th Symphony, bringing almost 2,000 people to their feet at the Showground Arena in the 2016 Festival, the Norwich Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus return with the composer’s epic 3^rd Symphony.  Conducted by Matthew Andrews, they are joined by the children’s voices of Norwich Cathedral Choir and the outstanding British mezzo soprano, Sara Fulgoni, as soloist.

Mahler composed his 3^rd symphony over two summers in 1895 and 1896 hidden away in a lakeside mountain hut, inspired by the sights and sounds around him: “in it the whole of nature finds a voice”, he declared of the work. With 7 movements and a performance time of around 100 minutes, it’s the longest symphony in the repertoire and was voted one of the ten greatest symphonies of all time in a survey of conductors by BBC Music Magazine.

Renowned for the rich, lustrous quality of her voice, as well as her remarkable stage presence, Sara Fulgoni has performed at the world’s major venues all to critical acclaim. In recent seasons, she has performed Mahler’s 3^rd Symphony with the Bergen Philharmonic and Andrew Litton and she has recorded the 8th Symphony for Decca with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly.

‘There was a tremendous sense of occasion throughout the evening, and the spontaneous standing ovation at the end said it all.’  Eastern Daily Press