”THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER” BY JOHN ADAMS DIRECTED BY LUCA GUADAGNINO WILL OPEN THE NEXT EDITION OF THE MAGGIO MUSICALE FESTIVAL

The 88th edition of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival will be inaugurated on April 19th, 2026 with the opera “The death of Klinghoffer” by John Adams

The direction of the Maggio Orchestra and Chorus is entrusted to Lawrence Renes

The direction and the scenes are signed by Luca Guadagnino

Florence, April 23rd, 2025 - A few days after the inauguration of the current edition of the Maggio Festival, with the great success of Salome by Richard Strauss, the Teatro del Maggio announces the operatic title that will open the next edition of the Festival, the 88th: “The death of Klinghoffer” by John Adams, an opera never performed before in Florence.

On the podium Lawrence Renes, a great promoter of Adams’ music who has frequently directed and recorded; the direction and the scenes are by Luca Guadagnino, for the first time at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The first is scheduled for April 19, 2026 with two more performances scheduled for April 22 and 26, 2026.

“With The death of Klinghoffer we renew the great and noble tradition of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival of openings with new and very rare contemporary titles” - says superintendent Carlo Fuortes announcing the inauguration of the next Festival - “In this case the rarity is double as John Adams' masterpiece, linked to a well-known and tragic news story that is still very current today, has never been performed at the Maggio and it is also the first time that one of his compositions has been performed in our Theater. And I am particularly happy - continues Fuortes - that Luca Guadagnino, one of the most established film directors at an international level, has agreed to take care of the direction and the scenes, and I am sure he will be able to stage the depth and complexity of this great musical work of our time”.

“The Death of Klinghoffer questions, from its very first appearance, the profound complexity of conflicts that are rooted in myth and then burst into history” – comments director Luca Guadagnino, who also signs the sets - “The sublime purity of John Adams’ music and Alice Goodman’s libretto will be my firm guide in staging this immense opera at the Maggio Fiorentino, which I am honored to open in the 2026 season”.

“The death of Klinghoffer” is an opera in a prologue and two acts by composer John Adams with a libretto by poet Alice Goodman, which was first performed in Brussels at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in 1991. In Italy it was only performed in 2002 in Ferrara and Modena. The opera is inspired by the sensational news event of October 1985: the seizure and hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro by terrorists from the Palestine Liberation Front. The incident, which attracted worldwide attention, ended with the murder of one of the passengers, Leonard Klinghoffer, a Jewish American citizen who was confined to a wheelchair, and whose body was then thrown into the sea by the terrorists.

(Biographical notes)

Lawrence Renes

Dutch-Maltese conductor Lawrence Renes is internationally recognized for his expressive balance between orchestra and singers, and for his intense and refined interpretations. An energetic advocate of contemporary repertoire, he is particularly attached to the music of John Adams, having conducted productions of Nixon in China at the San Francisco Opera and Doctor Atomic at both English National Opera and De Nederlandse Opera, as well as orchestral works with the London Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also collaborated closely with composers such as Guillaume Connesson, Robin de Raaff, George Benjamin and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Luca Guadagnino

Luca Guadagnino was born in Palermo, Italy, on August 10th, 1971, to an Algerian mother and a Sicilian father. He is a director, screenwriter and film producer of several films, including Io sono l’amore, A Bigger Splash, Chiamami col tuo nome, Suspiria, Challengers and Queer,released in theaters in April 2025. Guadagnino has served as jury president at various festivals, including: the Beirut International Film Festival (2011), the San Sebastián International Film Festival (2020), and the Marrakech International Film Festival (2024).