Dmitrij Kitajenko conducted Gustav Mahler’s Eight Symphony two times in Zagreb, on September 27 and 29. Besides the Zagreb Philharmonic, the performances involved the Ivan Goran Kovacic Academic Choir, the Ivan Filipovic Chamber Choir, the Zvjezdice Girls’ Choir, Kristina Kolar, Valentina Fijacko Kobic and Marija Kuhar Sosa, soprano, Ivana Srbljan and Martina Gojceta Silic, mezzo-soprano, Nikolai Schukoff, tenor, Ljubomir Puskaric, baritone as well as Luciano Batinic, bass. In the completely sold out hall, the audience cheered the performers.
Kitajenko first conducted this work nearly 30 years ago with the Moscow Philharmonic, on December 25, 1988. It was the work’s very first performance in Russia.