Christian Thielemann – Schumann Cycle: Symphonies 3 and 4

After Brahms and Bruckner, the Staatskapelle Dresden and its principal conductor Christian Thielemann now devote themselves to the symphonic works of Robert Schumann in a complete cycle. “The phantasmal, the poetry and the abysses of the Biedermeier era are particularly well suited to the orchestra; this music is part of the Staatskapelle’s soul” explains Christian Thielemann. The performance of all four symphonies by this composer, who also lived in Dresden, allows both artists and audience to concentrate on this outstanding repertoire in a unique way.

Staatskapelle Berlin – Christian Thielemann & Erin Morley

With the performance of all of Richard Strauss’s orchestral songs and all of Franz Liszt’s symphonic poems, Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Berlin are dedicating themselves to a rarely performed but artistically significant repertoire. The response to the first concert in this new series has been promising: “A moment of happiness that one would like to hold on to” (Die Presse). “Morley took the audience by storm” (Das Opernmagazin)

Christian Thielemann – Staatskapelle Berlin Inaugural Concert

In his inaugural concert as chief music director of Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Staatskapelle Berlin, Christian Thielemann showcases his versatility. He performs Mendelssohn’s seldom-played Piano Concerto No. 2 with pianist Igor Levit, described as having a “warm, soft, full-bodied” sound. The concert concludes with Schönberg’s Pelleas und Melisande, praised for its emotional depth and Thielemann’s ability to bring out the brass at the perfect moment, generating powerful, transparent music that evokes strong feelings. “It was evident how well Igor Levit and Christian Thielemann work together. Both build up great pressure and tension, seem to literally spur each other on, and the audience cheered”(Bild) PROGRAM: Moussa – Elysium; Mendelssohn – Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 40; Schönberg – Pelleas und Melisande, Op. 5

Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2023

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 under the baton of its music director Christian Thielemann and internationally renowned singers. This edition’s guests are soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (“with a smooth, melodious, effortless sounding voice and great diction”, Online Merker) and tenor Mauro Peter (“offering a lyrical swell with depth”, Sächsische Zeitung). The programme includes baroque instrumental music, Romantic choir works and atmospheric arias. Together with “his” orchestra, “Christian Thielemann spread ut a carpet of pulsating sonority, dynamically highly differentiated, flexibly responding to the respective partners.” (Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten)

Festive Gala at the Semperoper Dresden: From Berlin to Broadway – The Golden Twenties

The Semperoper Dresden invites the public into the New Year with songs, hits and operetta classics from Berlin to Broadway: In the festive ambiance of the Semper Opera House, the audience of the New Year’s Eve concert, which have now become a tradition, can expect lively melodies from the “Golden Twenties”. Under the direction of Christian Thielemann, excerpts from “Metropolis” will be heard alongside well-known film hits from the heyday of cinema in the transition from silent to sound film. Berlin as the glorious center of a new, independent operetta era and New York with its Broadway musicals and George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, played by Igor Levit, are the musical focal points of the program.

Franz Lehar: The Land of Smiles

Staatskapelle Dresden; Staatsopernchor Dresden Top-class soloists, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Sachsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden present highlights from Lehar’s popular operetta The Land of Smiles. Besides a bittersweet love story, the piece offers one of the greatest operetta hits: “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz”. According to conductor Christian Thielemann “Operetta only becomes really good when it is performed at a very high level”, a challenge that the Staatskapelle Dresden together with Jane Archibald, Erin Morley and Pavol Breslik masters impressively.

Festive Gala from the Semperoper Dresden – 100th Anniversary of UFA

The Festive Gala at the Semperoper Dresden brings back the splendour of UFA Film for one scintillating night full of famous melodies. Christian Thielemann and his Staatskapelle Dresden together with outstanding singers Angela Denoke, Elisabeth Kulman und Daniel Behle pay homage to the hit songs of the so-called dream factory, which dominated the German film industry from 1917 to 1945, and produced classics like “Metropolis”, “The Three from the Filling Station” and “The Blue Angel”. Created in the first half of the 20th century, the UFA productions are marked by the ambivalence of culture and politics that is characteristic for this part of German history. For ZDF and the artists, the concert offers the chance for a deliberate, critical review of the “film dreams” of the past and the undeniable “dissonances” of the nation’s history.

Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2017

The Festive Advent Concert has become a much loved tradition in Dresden and one of German TV’s biggest classical music success stories. Christian Thielemann and his Staatskapelle Dresden present a programme ranging from the overture of Bach’s orchestra suite D major to Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Christmas Cantata “Vom Himmel hoch”, Mozart’s Laudate Dominum, excerpts of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung (The Creation) and traditionals. German star soprano Diana Damrau with her “gorgeous and richly coloured timbre” (Sächsische Zeitung), the “brilliant” Helmut Fuchs on trumpet and the “very impressive” Choir of the Sächsische Staatsoper (Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten) create a festive concert experience together. The clear, enchanting soprano of Tuuli Takala blends perfectly with the beautiful, high baritone of Benjamin Appl, winner of the Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award.

Thielemann conducts Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Liszt

Lisa Batiashvili, Gautier Capuçon, Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden present a sophisticated programme about love and death from the perspective of three 19th century composers: The stages of life can be viewed as preludes to the melody of death, as Liszt proposed in Les Préludes. It is only at the very end that the inadequacies of life are resolved – the tragedy behind the love of Romeo and Juliet in Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture. In the jaws of death, Eros enjoys his strongest impulse, one that transcends time. What results is the desire for the epic and heroic, which in Brahms’ final orchestral work, the Double Concerto, achieves a certain consummation. The Double Concerto forms part of Thielemann’s extensive Brahms cycle, containing symphonies and solo concertos performed to frenetic acclaim in Dresden and Tokyo.