Axel Köhler’s production of Der Freischütz at the Dresden State Opera was described by Die Presse as “a minor miracle in Dresden”. In the words of the Salzburger Nachrichten, Köhler “scored a bulleye” with his sombre and satanic interpretation of Weber’s Romantic opera about love, temptation, souls sold to the Devil, obsession andfaith. According to the Financial Times, Christian Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle conjured up a sense of “mortal terror from the orchestra pit. […] Thielemann is in command of every detail. That makes for utterly gripping listening.”
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4
After the release of the Bruckner Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 and 9 with Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Bruckner cycle is continued with Symphony No. 4, “Romantic”, one of Bruckner’s most popular work. It is played here in the presumed original version recovered by Robert Haas, which differs considerably from the first published score, accepted by Bruckner as a stopgap only so that the work could easily be performed. The press cheered the performance: “Tone paintings of the finest quality.”
Bruckner Symphony No. 2
Thielemann‘s brilliant interpretation of Bruckner´s Symphony No. 2 is performed wonderfully by the Staatskapelle Dresden, completing their critically acclaimed Bruckner cycle with a concert at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. “In the Elbphilharmonie Thielemann once again proved to be the unrestricted Ruler on his ancestral territory, German Romantic repertoire” (Hamburger Abendblatt) and critics praised how lucent and with how much musical intensity Thielemann conducted this symphony in the acoustics of this hall – an exceptional positive example for subsequent conductors and orchestras.
Richard Strauss Gala
This exceptional programme of highlights from Richard Strauss´s works Der Rosenkavalier, Feuersnot,
Salome, Elektra, Die ägyptische Helena, Arabella, Die schweigsame Frau and Daphne was dedicated to Richard
Strauss 150th birthday in Dresden. The reputation as »THE Strauss-Orchestra« of the Staatskapelle
Dresden results from the special relation to Richard Strauss and his works, which started 130 years ago,
performing many world premieres of Richard Strauss´s operas and orchestral works.
The DVD includes the documentary My Strauss with Christian Thielemann, including a lot of archival
footage with Richard Strauss, rehearsals and concert excerpts of Elektra, Rosenkavalier, Frau ohne
Schatten, Heldenleben, Four last songs and more.
Vier letzte Lieder
Dresden and the Staatskapelle Dresden have a special relation to Richard Strauss. Many of his compositions had their world premiere in Dresden and the composer dedicated An Alpine Symphony to the Dresden orchestra. The programme includes Four Last Songs, Ernster Gesang by Wolfgang Rihm and the German premiere of the last completed Strauss song “Mallows” in an orchestral version, arranged specifically for Dresden by Wolfgang Rihm.
Bruckner, Symphony No. 5
Following on from their recording of the Eighth, Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden are continuing their internationally acclaimed Bruckner cycle with the Symphony No. 5. For Anton Bruckner, his Fifth Symphony was a glorious confrontation with the music of the past – from a personal, biographical angle, but also as a departure from the composition techniques he preferred up to this point. Not for nothing is this tremendous opus magnum regarded as Bruckner’s “contrapuntal masterpiece”. In this universally lauded performance, Christian Thielemann, already the leading Bruckner interpreter of our times, has once again proven himself to be a “magician of the Bruckner sound”. (Kurier)
Arabella
A “lyric comedy” is how Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal described their final collaboration, on which they worked between 1927 and 1929. Arabella revolves around the true
love between two very different couples – the love that unites two people forever “in joy and sorrow, hurt and forgiveness”, as Arabella herself puts it at the end of the opera. With Renée
Fleming in the title role and a supporting cast that includes Thomas Hampson, Gabriela Benacková and the young tenor Daniel Behle – surely a star of the future – this production from the Salzburg Easter Festival was the first of the piece at the Festival since 1958. Under the Strauss specialist Christian Thielemann, it featured a Strauss ensemble that could hardly be bettered today. Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson are a “dream couple for Richard Strauss” (Salzburger Nachrichten).
Bruckner Symphony No. 8
Bruckner’s Eighth is one of the most powerful works in music and the symphony that Bruckner himself regarded as his “opus summum”. This recording by the acknowledged Bruckner master Christian Thielemann and “his” orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, marks the beginning of a cycle of the Austrian composer’s complete symphonies that is to be produced over the course of several years – a living monument of musical architecture! Thielemann’s Bruckner “is so mighty, and with such a depth of sound … that one would have to be hard-hearted not to be touched by this heartfelt music” (Der Tagesspiegel).
Johannes Brahms: The complete Symphonies – Christian Thielemann / Discovering Brahms with Christian Thielemann
After the great success of his Beethoven cycle, Christian Thielemann now turns with his new orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, to the symphonic works of Johannes Brahms. And once again he succeeds in presenting a new and authoritative reading of these compositions. His conductorial trademarks – broad soundscapes originating in calm and composed tempi, a sense of romanticism only heightened by clarity and a finely judged balance, with overwhelming and sometimes even brutal climaxes as stark contrast – cause Brahms’s symphonies to shine in a fresh light. Thielemann once again consolidates his reputation as the most genuine successor of the great German conductors of the past. “We can’t think of any other conductor than Thielemann at present who has all those endowments, which used to be the (original) trade mark of German maestros.” Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo) Bonus: A one-hour documentary with Christian Thielemann, providing an in-depth look into his interpretation of Brahms.
Thielemann conducts Faust
Under the musical direction of their chief conductor designate, Christian Thielemann, the Staatskapelle Dresden performed this special concert to celebrate Franz Liszt and his bicentenary. At its home, the prestigious Semperoper in Dresden, the orchestra presented a Faust-themed concert with two works by Wagner and Liszt inspired by Goethe’s drama. “Fired up by inspiration, the Dresden musicians and their leader offer a superb demonstration of their ability, their precision and their feeling for colour and temperament … A top orchestra and a top conductor have found each other” (Die Welt).