The Saxon Staatskapelle Dresden, founded in 1548 by Elector Moritz von Sachsen and one of the oldest orchestras in the world, has a rich tradition. Its leaders have included such luminaries as Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber, and Richard Wagner, among others. For over sixty years, Richard Strauss enjoyed a close association as conductor, composer, and friend of the ensemble, whose international reputation as a “Strauss Orchestra” endures to this day. Nine of his operas received their premieres in Dresden, and he dedicated his Alpine Symphony to the Staatskapelle. In the 20th century, Fritz Reiner, Fritz Busch, Karl Böhm, Joseph Keilberth, Kurt Sanderling, and Herbert Blomstedt exerted a major influence as principal conductors; since 1990 Colin Davis has been conductor laureate. From 1992 until his premature death in April 2001, Giuseppe Sino-poli helmed the orchestra; he was succeeded by Bernard Haitink and Fabio Luisi. In 2012 Christian Thielemann assumes the position of principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Currently the orchestra gives some 260 opera and ballet performances per season in the Semperoper, as well as about 50 concerts of symphonic and chamber music. Additional performances take place in Dresden’s Frauenkirche; the ensemble also tours extensively around the world. In 2013 they will take over as the annual festival orchestra for the Salzburg Easter Festival. Through the position of “Capell-Compositeur,” which Lera Auerbach will hold in the 2011-12 season, the Staatskapelle promotes contemporary music. In 2007 the orchestra received the European Culture Foundation Prize for Preservation of the World’s Musical Heritage. Since the 2008-09 season Volkswagen’s Transparent Factory in Dresden has been a partner of the Staatskapelle Dresden.
LUCERNE FESTIVAL (IMF) debut on 24 August 1979 in works by Respighi and Bruckner under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt.
August 2011