New Year's Eve Concert of the Staatskapelle Dresden

Christian Thielemann

  
Principal conductorChristian 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. Alle Veranstaltungen mit Christian Thielemann

Ingeborg Schöpf

Die aus der Steiermark stammende Sopranistin ist mehrfache Preisträgerin bedeutender Wettbewerbe und arbeitete bei Meisterkursen mit Brigitte Fassbaender, Kerstin Meyer und Wilma Lipp zusammen. Gastengagements führten sie bislang an die Komische Oper Berlin, die Deutsche Oper Berlin, die Staatsoper Hannover, die Volksoper Wien und in Konzertsäle wie die Avery Fisher Hall in New York und das John F. Kennedy Center in Washington. Ingeborg Schöpf begeistert ihr Publikum von Beirut über Wien bis nach Dänemark als Rosalinde (»Die Fledermaus«), Sylva (»Die Csárdásfürstin«) und Hanna Glawari (»Die lustige Witwe»). Zu ihren Partien im Opernfach zählen Agathe (»Der Freischütz«), Marie (»Die verkaufte Braut«) und Martha aus der gleichnamigen Oper. Seit 1998 ist sie die Erste Sängerin an der Staatsoperette Dresden und hier u.a. als Gräfin Mariza, Josepha im »Weißen Rössl«, Micaëla in »Carmen«, Saffi im »Zigeunerbaron« und Rosalinde in »Die Fledermaus« aufgetreten. In der Saison 2009/2010 feierte sie ihr Debüts an der Kölner Oper sowie an der Dresdner Semperoper als Elvira in Rossinis »L’Italiana in Algeri«. In Köln gastierte sie außerdem als Giulietta (»Hoffmanns Erzählungen«) und Gerhilde (»Die Walküre«). In der Semperoper war sie zuletzt im September 2012 in der Neuproduktion von Hans Werner Henzes Oper »Wir erreichen den Fluss« zu erleben.Alle Veranstaltungen mit Ingeborg Schöpf

Piotr Beczala

The star tenor Piotr Beczala melted the hearts of the audience at the New Year’s Eve Concert 2011 in Dresden with his performance of Lehár’s hit song »Dein ist mein ganzes Herz«. There is little doubt, therefore, that the Polish singer has a real talent for operetta. At the same time he is regarded as one of world’s leading lyric tenors, enjoying tumultuous acclaim from both press and public. His career began with an engagement at the Landestheater in Linz, from where in 1997 he went to Zurich Opera House. In the meantime he is at home on the world’s great stages, including the MET, the Mariinsky Theatre as well as the opera houses of Vienna, Munich, Hamburg and Paris. Now he is returning to the Semperoper for the Staatskapelle’s New Year’s Eve Concert 2012.Alle Veranstaltungen mit Piotr Beczala

State Opera Chorus Dresden

Chorus director: Pablo Assante

Dresden’s Opera Chorus was founded in 1817 by a royal decree of Friedrich August III. This act was mainly due to the efforts of Carl Maria von Weber, who, as the newly appointed Court Music Director, was charged with founding a German »Opera Department« in Dresden as a counterweight to the dominant Italian opera. Weber called for the establishment of a »permanent theatre chorus« able to cope with the ever increasing demands of such a newly created operatic repertoire. The resulting Opera Chorus developed into a first-rate vocal ensemble with the help of former directors Johann Miksch, Karl Maria Pembaur, Hans-Dieter Pflüger and Matthias Brauer. Until today the chorus is recognised for its refinement, homogeneity and delicacy of tone which does not relinquish vocal presence and depth. Pablo Assante has been the chorus director of Saxon State Opera since 2009.Alle Veranstaltungen mit State Opera Chorus Dresden