The Dresden Music Festival (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
: Dresdner Musikfestspiele) is an annual
music festival
A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...
which takes place in
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, Germany in May and June. Although classical music, including
contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...
, forms the core of its performances,
world music
"World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...
, jazz, and dance are also presented. One of its hallmarks is that the choice of repertoire is built on a specific theme which changes each year. The festival was established by government decree in 1978 when Dresden was still part of the
German Democratic Republic
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
. The German cellist
has been its artistic director since 2009.
[Rosenberg, Donald (7 June 2009)]
"Dresden Music Festival embraces spirit of renewal for Germany and the world"
''Cleveland Plain Dealer
''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...
''. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
The performances are held at a variety of venues in the city, including many baroque buildings destroyed in the bombing of World War II and since rebuilt, including 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 Th ...
opera house, the
Dresden Frauenkirche, and the summer palace and grounds of the
Großer Garten
The Großer Garten (English: Great Garden) is a Baroque style park in central Dresden. It is rectangular in shape and covers about 1.8 km2. Originally established in 1676 on the orders of John George III, Elector of Saxony, it has been a pu ...
. Among the opera rarities presented at the festival have been Richard Strauss's ''
Feuersnot'', a co-production with the Dresden Semperoper nominated for the 2015
International Opera Awards
The International Opera Awards is an annual awards ceremony honouring excellence in opera around the world.
Origins
The International Opera Awards was founded in 2013 by Harry Hyman, a UK businessman, philanthropist and supporter of opera, and ...
, and
Princess Amalie of Saxony
Amalie Marie Friederike Auguste (10 August 1794 – 18 September 1870), Princess of Saxony, full name Maria Amalia Friederike Augusta Karolina Ludovica Josepha Aloysia Anna Nepomucena Philippina Vincentia Franziska de Paula Franziska de Chan ...
's ''
La casa disabitata'', which received its first performance in the 177 years following its premiere during the 2012 festival.
Since 2009 is
artistic director of the Dresden Music Festival. Before it was Hartmut Haenchen (2002–2008), Torsten Mosgraber (interim/2001–2002),
Michael Hampe (1993–2000), Mattis Dänhardt (1991–1992) and Winfried Höntsch (1977–1991). From 1994 to 2012, , who studied law and business administration, was deputy director and managing director, wo came from the Danish Ministry of Culture and the Royal Theater in Copenhagen.
References
External links
* (with German and English versions)
Classical music festivals in Germany
Music in Dresden
Music festivals established in 1978
Festivals in Dresden
{{music-festival-stub