The Staatskapelle Dresden

On 22nd September 2008 the Staatskapelle Dresden celebrated its 460th jubilee. Founded by Prince Elector Moritz von Sachsen in 1548, it is one of the oldest orchestras in the world and steeped in tradition. Over its long history many distinguished conductors and internationally celebrated instrumentalists have left their mark on this onetime court orchestra. Previous directors include Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, who called the ensemble his »miraculous harp«. The list of prominent conductors of the last 100 years includes Ernst von Schuch, Fritz Reiner, Fritz Busch, Karl Böhm, Joseph Keilberth, Rudolf Kempe, Otmar Suitner, Kurt Sanderling, Herbert Blomstedt, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Bernard Haitink. Fabio Luisi was music director of Saxon State Opera and the Staatskapelle Dresden from 2007 to 2010. Christian Thielemann will assume the post of principal conductor to the Staatskapelle from 2012, and Sir Colin Davis has been the orchestra’s conductor laureate since 1990.

Richard Strauss and the Staatskapelle were closely linked for more than sixty years. Nine of the composer’s operas were premiered in Dresden, including »Salome«, »Elektra« and »Der Rosenkavalier«, while Strauss’s »Alpine Symphony« was dedicated to the orchestra. Countless other famous composers have written works either premiered by the ensemble or dedicated to it. In 2007 the Staatskapelle reaffirmed this tradition by introducing the annual position of »Capell-Compositeur«, subsequently held by composers Isabel Mundry, Bernhard Lang, Rebecca Saunders und Johannes Maria Staud. The Capell-Compositrice for the 2011/2012 season is Lera Auerbach.

The Staatskapelle’s home is the Semperoper, where it performs around 260 operas and ballets each season. In addition the ensemble presents another 50 symphonic and chamber concerts in the opera house, as well as a concert series in Dresden’s Frauenkirche. As one of the world’s most celebrated and popular symphony orchestras, the Staatskapelle regularly travels abroad to the world’s leading classical venues.

The Staatskapelle also does valuable work to support the local region: Since October 2008 it is the patron orchestra of Meetingpoint Music Messiaen in the twin city of Görlitz/Zgorzelec. And in September 2010 the orchestra helped found the International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch (Saxon Switzerland), which is the only such annual event entirely dedicated to the music and life of Dmitri Shostakovich.

At a ceremony in Brussels in 2007 the Staatskapelle became the first – and so far only – orchestra to be awarded the »European Prize for the Preservation of the World’s Musical Heritage«.

Volkswagen’s Transparent Factory has been a partner of the Staatskapelle Dresden since 2008.


April 2011