Christian Thielemann

Christian 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.