Richard Strauss and the Staatskapelle were closely linked for more than 60 years. In 2007, the Staatskapelle reaffirmed this tradition by introducing the annual position of “Capell-Compositeur”. Following on from Hans Werner Henze, Sofia Gubaidulina, Wolfgang Rihm and György Kurtág, Arvo Pärt held this title for the 2017/2018 season. As “Capell-Virtuos”, the pianist Denis Matsuev took part in concerts at the Semperoper as well as on tour.

 

As one of the world’s most celebrated and popular 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.

 

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 Aktiengesellschaft is Partner of the Staatskapelle Dresden.

 

Principal Conductor: Christian Thielemann

 

The 2017/2018 season was Christian Thielemann’s sixth as Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Following engagements at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Gelsenkirchen, Karlsruhe, Hanover and Dusseldorf, in 1988 he moved to Nuremberg to occupy the post of Generalmusikdirektor. In 1997, he returned to his hometown of Berlin to direct the Deutsche Oper until 2004, when he became Music Director of the Munich Philharmonic, a post he occupied until 2011. In addition to his current position in Dresden, Thielemann has been Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival since 2013, where the Staatskapelle is the resident orchestra.

 

Christian Thielemann has contributed to the birthday celebrations for Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss with numerous Staatskapelle concerts in the Semperoper and on tour. His programmes have also featured a wide range of music from Bach to Henze and Gubaidulina. He has conducted new productions of Manon Lescaut, Simon Boccanegra and Elektra in Dresden and Parsifal, Arabella, Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci and Otello, in Salzburg.

 

 

Christian Thielemann maintains close ties to the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras. Following his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 2000, he has returned every year to thrill audiences with benchmark interpretations. In 2010, he was appointed the festival’s Musical Advisor, and in June 2015 became its Music Director. Much in demand as a versatile concert conductor, he has collaborated with the world’s leading orchestras in Amsterdam, London, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, and has also performed in Israel, Japan and China.

 

Christian Thielemann 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. In May 2015, he was awarded the Richard Wagner prize by the Richard Wagner Society of the city of Leipzig, followed by the prize of the Semperoper Trust in October 2016.