It is the traditional start to the pre-Christmas season for classical music lovers throughout Germany: on the eve of the First Advent, the Frauenkirche shines in its baroque splendour and offers a magnificent experience with the Sächsische Staatskapelle, the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor and the Kreuzchor Dresden. Conductor Nicholas Collon takes the podium for this year’s concert, joined by the dazzling soprano Elsa Dreisig, star tenor Benjamin Bernheim, and virtuoso violinist Daniel Hope. Together, they present a festive programme of Mozart, Berlioz, Bach, Gounod, and more.
Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2024
The Advent concerts have long become a tradition, and numerous internationally renowned artists have since accepted the invitation to the annual Advent concert. For this production, the audience can look forward to the Canadian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, who is on stage with the Saxon State Opera Chorus and the Saxon Staatskapelle under the baton of Riccardo Minasi. In addition to soprano Nikola Hillebrand, another prominent guest is Thomas Quasthoff, who celebrates his fiftieth stage anniversary this year.
Festive Gala from the Semperoper Dresden
In this edition of the Staatskapelle Dresden’s New Year’s Eve concert, every classical music fan is sure to get their money’s worth. Exceptional pianist Igor Levit performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, perhaps the most famous of Mozart’s piano concertos. “Transparent, without the slightest scratch, he mastered his part, attentive to the orchestra. At times it seemed as if Levit was stroking the keys, only to grow into brilliant virtuosity.” (Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten) South-African soprano Golda Schultz (“a voice with an almost immeasurable range of colours, effortlessly guided and golden in bloom”, Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten), Czech mezzo-soprano Štepánka Pucálková and Ukrainian baritone Iurii Samoilov take the audience into the world of opera and operetta – from with love arias from Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro to Strauss, Offenbach, Franz Lehár and Strauss II. Conductor Tugan Sokhiev “proved himself to be a man of unerring precision and precisely differentiated orchestral work.” (Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten) “A splendid programme with splendid soloists” (Dresdner Morgenpost)
Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2022
Two world-renowned singing stars are this edition’s guests at the “Festive Advent Concert”, German TV’s most successful concert series: soprano Diana Damrau and tenor Mauro Peter. The young French conductor Marie Jacquot leads the Staatskapelle Dresden for the first time. With the 2024/25 season, Marie Jacquot will take over as Musical Director of the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. In addition to the Staatskapelle Dresden, two choirs complete the cast of the 2022 “Advent Concert”: the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden and the Kammerchor der Frauenkirche. The choir’s director, the cantor of the Dresden Frauenkirche, Matthias Grünert, also appears as organist. “The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Sächsischer Staatsoperchor once again proved their quality.“ (Online Merker)
Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim & Boulez Ensemble
Mozart’s Gran Partita is a Serenade for thirteen instruments: twelve winds and double bass. The work in seven movements became world-famous far beyond the borders of classical music through Miloš Forman’s film Amadeus: Antonio Salieri’s first encounter with Mozart takes place at a performance of the Gran Partita. Igor Stravinsky’s highly original Octet combines woodwind and brass instruments. The three-movement composition, premiered in 1923 in Paris, is considered an important work in Stravinsky’s neoclassical style. Conducted by Zubin Mehta the Boulez Ensemble performs in the concentrated studio-like atmosphere of the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin. PROGRAM: Stravinsky: Octet for Wind Instruments; Mozart: Serenade “Gran Partita”
Mozart y Mambo
Mozart & Mambo: These musically irresistible encounters have been a long-cherished dream of Sarah Willis, hornist at the Berliner Philharmoniker, which came true with a grand concert in which she performs with the young musicians of the Havana Lyceum Orchestra and conductor José Antonio Méndez Padrón, as well as a Cuban salsa mambo band. A joint celebration of Mozart as never before seen and heard, including works such as Mozart’s beautiful Horn Concerto No. 3 and lots of Cuban rhythms! Also available the Documentary “Mozart y Mambo. A Cuban Journey with Sarah Willis” (A05551355)
Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2019
The Festive Advent Concert has become a much loved tradition in Dresden and one of German TV’s biggest classical music success stories. With the spirited Alondra de la Parra a phenomenal young conductor stands at the rostrum of the Staatskapelle Dresden. She is joined by sopranos Regula Mühlemann and Julia Muzychenko as well as tenor Julian Prégardien, presenting works and arias from Handel to Haydn, Schubert and Tchaikovsky to Reger. “A programme with quiet, contemplative passages and almost breathtaking emotional highlights, as well as dramaturgically coherent: a true gift” (Sächsische Zeitung).
BR: Festive Gala with Lang Lang and Mariss Jansons
Feel like taking a world tour? Let Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks take you to Europe, America and Asia in their festive gala programme. They are joined by super star Lang Lang, who performs the dreamy Andante from Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C major as well as an excerpt from the Yellow River Concerto, a popular piece from his native China. To end the concert maestro Jansons unleashes a musical firework display with an Hungarian Dance by Brahms and Rumanian folk music by Ligeti.
Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2018
The Festive Advent Concert has become a much loved tradition in Dresden and one of German TV’s biggest classical music success stories. In 2018, conductor Lorenzo Viotti, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Staatsopernchor join forces with soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller and violinist Daniel Hope to present a programme ranging from Mozart’s Violin Concerto in G Major to excerpts from Rossini’s “Petite messe solennelle” and sacral works by Mendelssohn and Reger.
The Odeonsplatz Concert: Gergiev & Florez
Munich’s Odeonsplatz Concert is one of the open-air highlights of the year. The magnificent Residenz Palace on one side and the serene, towering Theatinerkirche on the other provide the ideal backdrop for exceptional performances of classical music. In this setting, Juan Diego Flórez presents an impressive aria programme, for which “he is celebrated like a popstar” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) by the Munich public. The Münchner Philharmoniker shine with their maestro Valery Gergiev at the helm. Arias by Mozart, Donizetti, Massenet, Puccini, Verdi; Rimskij-Korsakow: Scheherazade