Anastasia Kobekina and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester Open SHMF 2026 with Dvořák and Mahler

The Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival (SHMF) 2026 opened on July 4 at the Musik- und Kongresshalle Lübeck (MuK) with a concert featuring cellist Anastasia Kobekina and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester under conductor Karina Canellakis. The program included Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, and Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D major "Titan". Kobekina performed barefoot, creating an atmosphere of simplicity and seriousness. For an encore, she played a Galliarda composed by her father, a medieval fast dance accompanied by tambourine. Dvořák composed his cello concerto in 1896 at age 55 while serving as artistic director of the New York National Conservatory of Music. The work expresses his "consuming homesickness," according to biographer Otakar Sourek. Johannes Brahms reportedly admired the piece. Mahler wrote his First Symphony in 1888 at age 28, eight years before Dvořák's concerto. Canellakis's conducting was noted for precise beat technique and elegant demands. The concert concluded with a radiant C-major finale. A second performance of the Dvořák concerto with Yo-Yo Ma and Daniel Barenboim is scheduled for August 15 at the Konzerthaus am Schloss in Kiel.