Christian Thielemann, who was born in 1959 in Berlin, studied viola, piano, and conducting in his native city. He launched his professional career in 1978 as a co-répétiteur at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. In 1985 Thielemann became First Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein nach Düsseldorf, from 1988 to 1992 he was general music director at the Theater Nürnberg, and from 1997 to 2004 he served as general music director of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He gave up this position to take over leadership of the Munich Philharmonic, which he helmed until the summer of 2011. In the 2012-13 season his tenure as principal conductor of the Saxon Staatskapelle Dresden commences, and in 2013 he will become artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival. Through his performances of Wagner and Strauss, Thielemann has developed a reputation as a specialist in German music of the late romantic period. His repertoire also encompasses works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann, as well as compositions by Schoenberg, Henze, and Gubaidulina. In addition to his permanent engagements, Thielemann has conducted at the most prestigious opera houses of Europe and America. Since the millennium he has had close ties with the Bayreuth Festival, where he has conducted Die Meistersinger, Tannhäuser, and the Ring cycle; in 2011 he led a new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Salzburg Festival. In the concert hall Thielemann has appeared with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. He also regularly conducts the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His most recent CD is a recording of the 2010 New Year’s Eve Concert with the Staats-kapelle Dresden.
LUCERNE FESTIVAL debut on 23 March 2002 with the Munich Philharmonic in works by Debussy, Chausson, and Ravel.
August 2011