Staatskapelle Dresden, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester & Christian Thielemann
Biography Staatskapelle Dresden, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester & Christian Thielemann
Christian Thielemann
has been principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden since the 2012/13 season. For the F.A.Z. newspaper, he inspired the musicians of this »famed miraculous harp to new musical heights« in his acclaimed inaugural concerts.
Thielemann began his professional career in 1978 as a rehearsal pianist at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Following positions in Gelsenkirchen, Karlsruhe and Hanover he joined the conducting staff of the Rhine Opera in Dusseldorf in 1985. Three years later he moved to Nuremberg to become Germany’s youngest Generalmusikdirektor, before returning to the Deutsche Oper in Berlin in 1997, holding the position of music director for seven years. Thielemann held the same post at the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra from 2004 to 2011.
He is particularly recognised around the world for his brilliant readings of German romantic music, both in opera and on the concert stage. His Bayreuth debut came in 2000, since when he has returned year after year to produce definitive interpreta ons of Wagnerian opera. For his work on Richard Strauss’s »Die Frau ohne Schatten« at the Salzburg Festival of 2011 Thielemann was voted »Conductor of the Year« by »Opernwelt« magazine. His Brahms cycle with the Staatskapelle will be issued both on CD and DVD, while with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra he has made a complete recording of Beethoven’s symphonies.
Christian Thielemann has been artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival since 2013. He is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, and holds honorary doctorates from the Franz Liszt College of Music in Weimar and the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.
Staatskapelle Dresden
On 22nd September 2008 the Staatskapelle Dresden celebrated its 460th jubilee. Founded by Prince Elector Moritz von Sachsen in 1548, it is one of the oldest orchestras in the world and steeped in tradition. Over its long history, many distinguished conductors and internationally celebrated instrumentalists have left their mark on this one-time court orchestra.
Previous directors include Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, who called the ensemble his »miraculous harp«. The list of prominent conductors of the last 100 years includes Ernst von Schuch, Fritz Reiner, Fritz Busch, Karl Böhm, Joseph Keilberth, Rudolf Kempe, Otmar Suitner, Kurt Sanderling, Herbert Blomstedt and Giuseppe Sinopoli. The orchestra was directed by Bernard Haitink from 2002-2004 and most recently by Fabio Luisi from 2007-2010. Principal Conductor since the 2012/2013 season has been Christian Thielemann. The first and only Conductor Laureate in the history of the Staatskapelle, from 1990 until his death in April 2013, was Sir Colin Davis. Myung-Whun Chung has been Principal Guest Conductor since the 2012/2013 season.
Richard Strauss and the Staatskapelle were closely linked for more than sixty years. Nine of the composer’s operas were premiered in Dresden, including »Salome«, »Elektra« and »Der Rosenkavalier«, while Strauss’s »Alpine Symphony« was dedicated to the orchestra. Countless other famous composers have written works either dedicated to the orchestra or first performed in Dresden. In 2007 the Staatskapelle reaffirmed this tradition by introducing the annual position of »Capell- Compositeur«. Following on from Hans Werner Henze, Wolfgang Rihm will hold the title for the 2013/2014 season.
The Staatskapelle’s home is the Semperoper, where it performs around 260 operas and ballets each season. In addition the ensemble presents another 50 symphonic and chamber concerts in the opera house, as well as playing at various musical events in Dresden’s Frauenkirche. As one of the world’s most celebrated and opular symphony orchestras, the Staatskapelle regularly travels abroad to the world’s leading classical venues.
From 2013 the Staatskapelle Dresden is the resident orchestra of the Salzburg Easter Festival, whose Artistic Director is none other than Christian Thielemann. The Staatskapelle also does valuable work to support the local region: Since October 2008 it has been the patron orchestra of Meetingpoint Music Messiaen in the double city of Görlitz- Zgorzelec. And in September 2010 the orchestra helped found the International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch (Saxon Switzerland), which is the only such annual event dedicated to the music and life of Dmitri Shostakovich.
At a ceremony in Brussels in 2007 the Staatskapelle became the first – and so far only – orchestra to be awarded the »European Prize for the Preservation of the World’s Musical Heritage«.
Volkswagen´s Transparent Factory has been a Partner of the Staatskapelle Dresden since 2008.
