The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, the capital of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. Founded in 1548 by

Maurice, Elector of Saxony Maurice (21 March 1521 – 9 July 1553) was Duke (1541–47) and later Elector (1547–53) of Saxony. His clever manipulation of alliances and disputes gained the Albertine branch of the Wettin dynasty extensive lands and the electoral dignity. ...

, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly regarded orchestras. Its precursor ensemble was Die Kurfürstlich-Sächsische und Königlich-Polnische Kapelle (The Electoral Saxon and Royal Polish Orchestra). The orchestra is the musical body of the

Staatsoper Dresden The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

(Dresden State Opera). The venue of the orchestra is the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

History

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

was associated with the orchestra early in its existence. In the nineteenth century,

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

and

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

each served as ''Hofkapellmeister'' of the orchestra. In the twentieth century,

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

became closely associated with the orchestra as both conductor and composer, which premiered several of his works.

Karl Böhm Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz. T ...

and Hans Vonk were notable among the orchestra's chief conductors in that they served as chief conductors of both the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the State Opera simultaneously.

Herbert Blomstedt Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor. Herbert Blomstedt was born in Massachusetts. Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Ro ...

was musical director of the Staatskapelle from 1975 to 1985, and now has the title of ''Ehrendirigent'' (honorary conductor) with the orchestra.

Giuseppe Sinopoli Giuseppe Sinopoli (; 2 November 1946 – 21 April 2001) was an Italian conductor and composer. Biography Sinopoli was born in Venice, Italy, and later studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice under Ernesto Rubin de Cervin ...

was chief conductor from 1992 until his sudden death in 2001.

Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...

replaced him in August 2002, but resigned in 2004 over disputes with the Staatskapelle's ''Intendant'',

Gerd Uecker Gerd Uecker (born 15 September 1946) is a German music education, music pedagogue, music and opera director. From 2003 to 2010 he was artistic director of the Semperoper in Dresden. Life Born in Munich, Uecker studied piano, music education an ...

, on the orchestra's choice of successor. In August 2007

Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Biog ...

began his tenure as chief conductor after having appointed as far back as January 2004. He shared with Böhm and Vonk the historic distinction of being chief conductor of both the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Sächsische Staatsoper simultaneously. Luisi was scheduled to step down as chief conductor in 2012 in accord with the October 2009 announcement of

Christian Thielemann Christian Thielemann (born 1 April 1959) is a German conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. He was artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival from 2013 to 2022, and a regular conductor at the Bayreuth F ...

as the orchestra's next chief conductor, effective with the 2012–2013 season. However, Luisi resigned as chief conductor of the Staatskapelle in February 2010, effective immediately, after reports that the management had secured a contract with the

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

network for a scheduled televised concert on New Year's Eve 2011 without consulting him at all in his capacity as the orchestra's GMD. Thielemann was initially contracted with the orchestra through 2019. In November 2017, the orchestra announced the extension of Thielemann's contract as chief conductor through 31 July 2024. In May 2021, Barbara Klepsch, the Culture Minister of Saxony, announced that Thielemann is to conclude his tenure with the Staatskapelle Dresden at the close of his current contract, at the end of July 2024.

Sir Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...

held the title of 'conductor laureate' from 1990 until his death in 2013, the first and only to-date conductor to be granted this title by the orchestra. The orchestra named Myung-Whun Chung as its first-ever principal guest conductor, effective as of the 2012–2013 season. In 2007, the orchestra inaugurated the post of ''Capell-Compositeur'' or composer-in-residence, with each appointed composer installed for one concert season. The first ''Capell-Compositeur'' was

Isabel Mundry Isabel Mundry (born 20 April 1963) is a German composer. Life and work Isabel Mundry was born in Schlüchtern (Germany) in 1963 and studied composition at the Hochschule der Künste and electronic music, musicology and history at the Berlin Tech ...

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (russian: Софи́я Асгáтовна Губaйду́лина, link=no , tt-Cyrl, София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина; born 24 October 1931) is a Soviet-Russian composer and an established ...

was ''Capell-Compositrice'' for the 2014–2015 and 2016–2017 seasons, the first composer to hold the title more than once.

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...

holds the title of ''Capell-Compositeur'' for the 2017–2018 season. The orchestra featured Sinopoli as its ''Capell-Compostiteur'' for the 2020–2021 season as a posthumous tribute. In April 2007, the European Cultural Foundation awarded the orchestra a prize "''zur Bewahrung des musikalischen Weltkulturerbes''" (for preservation of the world's musical heritage"). In June 2011, the orchestra was announced as the new resident orchestra of the

Salzburg Easter Festival The Salzburg Easter Festival (German: ''Osterfestspiele Salzburg'') is an annual festival of opera and classical music held in Salzburg, Austria during Easter week. For most of the festival's history, the resident orchestra of the Easter Festival ...

, as of 2013. In 2000,

Daniele Gatti Daniele Gatti (born 6 November 1961) is an Italian conductor. He is currently chief conductor of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, artistic advisor of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and music director of the Orchestra Mozart. Biography Gatti was born i ...

first guest-conducted the orchestra. In June 2022, the orchestra announced its election of Gatti as its next chief conductor, effective in 2024.

Kapellmeister and chief conductors

Johann Walter Johann Walter, also known as ''Johann Walther'' or ''Johannes Walter'' (original name: ''Johann Blankenmüller'') (1496 – 25 March 1570) was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period. Life Walter was born in Kahla, in present-d ...

(1548–1554) *

Mattheus Le Maistre Mattheus Le Maistre or Matthaeus Le Maistre ( 1505–1577) was a Flemish Renaissance choirmaster and composerPratt p. 131 who is best known for his time in Dresden. His music was superior but in no way progressive, influential in both Counter-Ref ...

(1555–1568) *

Antonio Scandello Antonio Scandello (January 17, 1517 – January 18, 1580) was an Italian composer, born in Bergamo. He worked as musician at the court of the Electors of Saxony in Dresden. In 1549 he became court-bandmaster, and in 1568 Kapellmeister succeedin ...

(1568–1580) * Giovanni Battista Pinelli (1580–1584) *

Rogier Michael Rogier Michael von Bergen (ca. 1553 probably in Bergen-op-Zoom – after middle 1623 in Dresden) was a Franco-Flemish composer, singer and Kapellmeister of the late Renaissance. Life and work Michael came to Vienna as a child with his father S ...

(1587–1619) *

(1615–1672, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

Vincenzo Albrici Vincenzo Albrici (26 June 1631 in Rome - 7 September 1687 in Prague) was an Italian composer, brother of Bartolomeo and nephew of Fabio and Alessandro Costantini. Albrici was born as the son of singer who settled from Marche in Rome. In 1641 he ...

(1654–1680) * Giovanni Andrea Bontempi (1656–1680) *

Carlo Pallavicini Carlo Pallavicino (Pallavicini; c. 1630 – 29 January 1688) was an Italian composer. Pallavicino was born at Salò. From 1666 to 1673, he worked at the Dresden court; from 1674 to 1685, at the '' Ospedale degli Incurabili'' (a conservatory where ...

(1666–1688) *

Nicolaus Adam Strungk Nicolaus Adam Strungk (christened 15 November 1640 in Braunschweig – 23 September 1700 in Dresden) was a German composer and violinist. Life Nicolaus Adam was the son of the organist Delphin Strungk. He studied organ under his father, then a ...

(1688–1700, ''Hofkapellmeister'') * Johann Christoph Schmidt (1697–1728, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

Antonio Lotti Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. Biography Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was ''Kapellmeister'' at Hanover at the time. Oral tradition says that in 1682, Lotti be ...

(1717–1719) *

Johann David Heinichen Johann David Heinichen (17 April 1683 – 16 July 1729) was a German Baroque composer and music theorist who brought the musical genius of Venice to the court of Augustus II the Strong in Dresden. After he died, Heinichen's music attracted little a ...

(1717–1729) *

Giovanni Alberto Ristori Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692 - 7 February 1753) was an Italian opera composer and conductor. He was the son of Tommaso Ristori, the leader of an opera troupe belonging to the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony August II the Strong (based in ...

(1725–1733) *

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

(1733–1763, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

Johann Gottlieb Naumann Johann Gottlieb Naumann (17 April 1741 – 23 October 1801) was a German composer, conductor, and Kapellmeister. Life Johann Gottlieb Naumann was born in Blasewitz and received his musical training from the teachers at his town school, where he ...

(1776–1801, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

Ferdinando Paer Ferdinando Paer (1 July 1771 – 3 May 1839) was an Italian composer known for his operas. He was of Austrian descent and used the German spelling Pär in application for printing in Venice, and later in France the spelling Paër. Life and career ...

(1802–1806, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

Francesco Morlacchi Francesco Giuseppe Baldassare Morlacchi (14 June 1784 – 28 October 1841) was an Italian composer of more than twenty operas. During the many years he spent as the royal Royal Kapellmeister in Dresden, he was instrumental in popularizing the Ita ...

(1810–1841, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

(1816–1826, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

Carl Gottlieb Reißiger Carl Gottlieb Reißiger (also ''Karl Reissiger'', ''Carl Reissiger'', ''Karl Reißiger'') (31 January 1798 – 7 November 1859) was a German Kapellmeister and composer. Biography Born in Belzig, Reissiger attended the Thomasschule zu Leipzig an ...

(1826–1859, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

(1843–1848, ''Hofkapellmeister'') * Carl August Krebs (1850–1880) *

Julius Rietz August Wilhelm Julius Rietz (28 December 1812 – 12 September 1877) was a German composer, conductor, cellist, and teacher. His students included Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur O'Leary, and (by far the most celebrated) Sir Arthur ...

(1874–1877) *

Franz Wüllner Franz Wüllner (28 January 1832 – 7 September 1902) was a German composer and conductor. He led the premieres of Wagner's ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'', but was much criticized by Wagner himself, who greatly preferred the more celebrate ...

(1877–1884) *

Ernst von Schuch Ernst Edler von Schuch, born Ernst Gottfried Schuch (23 November 1846, Graz – 10 May 1914, Niederlößnitz/Radebeul Dresden) was an Austrian conductor who became famous through his working collaborations with Richard Strauss at the Dresden C ...

(1884–1914) *

Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose t ...

(1914–1921) *

Fritz Busch Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor. Busch was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to a musical family, and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior p ...

(1922–1933) *

(1934–1943) *

Karl Elmendorff Karl Eduard Maria Elmendorff (October 25, 1891 – October 21, 1962) was a German opera conductor. Born in Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; ...

(1943–1944) *

Joseph Keilberth Joseph Keilberth (19 April 1908 – 20 July 1968) was a German conductor who specialised in opera. Career He started his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe. In 1940 he became director of the German Philharmonic Orches ...

(1945–1950) *

Rudolf Kempe Rudolf Kempe (14 June 1910 – 12 May 1976) was a German conductor. Biography Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra of Dortmund and ...

(1949–1953) *

Franz Konwitschny Franz Konwitschny (14 August 1901, Fulnek, Moravia – 28 July 1962, Belgrade) was a German conductor and violist of Moravian descent. He started his career on the viola,Schwinger playing in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtw ...

(1953–1955) *

Lovro von Matačić Lovro von Matačić (14 February 1899 – 4 January 1985) was a Croatian conductor and composer. Early life Lovro von Matačić was born in Sušak to a family that was granted a noble title in the early 17th century. Growing up, he was always s ...

(1956–1958) *

Otmar Suitner Otmar Suitner (German pronunciation: �ɔtmaʁ zuˈiːtnɐ 16 May 1922 – 8 January 2010) was an Austrian conductor who spent most of his professional career in East Germany. He was born in Innsbruck and died in Berlin. He was Principal Conduct ...

(1960–1964) *

Kurt Sanderling Kurt Sanderling, CBE (; 19 September 1912 – 18 September 2011) was a German conductor. Sanderling was born in Arys, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Orzysz, Poland), to Jewish parents. His early work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, whe ...

(1964–1967) * Martin Turnovský (1966–1968) *

(1975–1985) * Hans Vonk (1985–1990) *

(1992–2001) *

(2002–2004) *

(2007–2010) *

(2012–present) *

(designate, effective 2024)

Composers-in-residence

(2007–2008) *

Bernhard Lang Bernhard Lang (born 24 February 1957 Linz, Austria) is an Austrian composer, improviser and programmer of musical patches and applications. His work can be described as contemporary classical, with roots, however, in various genres such as 20th-cen ...

(2008–2009) *

Rebecca Saunders Rebecca Saunders (born 19 December 1967) is a London-born composer who lives and works freelance in Berlin. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, Saunders' compositions received the third highest total ...

(2009–2010) *

Johannes Maria Staud Johannes Maria Staud (born 17 August 1974) is an Austrian composer. Biography Staud was born in Innsbruck and studied with, among others, Brian Ferneyhough and Michael Jarrell (at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna). In 1999/2 ...

(2010–2011) *

Lera Auerbach Lera Auerbach (russian: Лера Авербах, born Valeria Lvovna Averbakh, russian: Валерия Львовна Авербах; October 21, 1973) is a Soviet-born American classical composer and concert pianist.

(2011–2012) *

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...

(2012–2013) *

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

(2013–2014) *

(2014–2015) *

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography György ...

(2015–2016) *

(2016–2017) *

(2017–2018) *

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and Colog ...

(2018–2019) *

Aribert Reimann Aribert Reimann (born 4 March 1936) is a German composer, pianist and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', the opera ''Lear (opera), Lear'', was written at the suggestion of Dietrich F ...

(2019–2020) *

(2020–2021, posthumous) *

Matthias Pintscher Matthias Pintscher (born 29 January 1971) is a German composer and conductor. As a youth, he studied the violin and conducting. Life and career Pintscher was born in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia. He began his music studies with Giselher Klebe in ...

(2021–2022)

References

External links

Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden website

English-language history of the orchestra, official website

Homepage
of the Semperoper

of the Semperoper
"Europäische Kulturpreisverleihung am 26. April 2007 in Brüssel", European Cultural Foundation, photo posting, 31 December 2007
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden 1548 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire German symphony orchestras Music in Dresden Musical groups established in the 16th century Organizations established in the 1540s Tourist attractions in Dresden Herbert von Karajan Prize winners