The Maggio musicale fiorentino has announced that it will open its 88th festival season with John Adams’ “The Death of Klinghoffer.”

The work has never been performed in Florence and will be conducted by Lawrence Renes, a great promoter of Adams’ music.

Acclaimed film director Luca Guadagnino will direct the production, which is set to open on April 19, 2026 with two more performances scheduled for April 22 and 26, 2026.

In a statement, superintendent Carlo Fuortes said, “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”  “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 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.”

For his part, Guadagnino said, “’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. 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.”