The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden (), or Saxon State

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

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 ...

, is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, created by order of

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 dignit ...

in 1548. Under communist

East Germany 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 ...

and until 1992 it was called Staatskapelle Dresden; an earlier name was Kurfürstlich-Sächsische und Königlich-Polnische Kapelle, or Electoral Saxon and Royal Polish Orchestra. It is a constituent body of the

Semper Opera House 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 T ...

, along with two choruses and a ballet troupe, where it plays in the pit for opera and on a platform for its own concert series.

History

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

was associated with the orchestra early in its existence. In the 19th century,

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

and

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

each served as ''Hofkapellmeister''. In the 20th century,

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

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, St ...

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 of classical music. At the age of 97 he continues to conduct concerts in Europe and the United States. Biography Herbert Blomstedt was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, t ...

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

Hiroshi Wakasugi was a Japanese orchestra conductor. He premiered many of the major Western operas in Japan, and was honoured with many awards for cultural achievement. He was best known for conducting works by German composers such as Richard Wagner, Anton B ...

had served as a regular conductor with the orchestra since 1982, and was elected as the successor to Hans Vonk, but the reunification of West Germany and East Germany caused the contract to be annulled.

Giuseppe Sinopoli Giuseppe Sinopoli (; 2 November 1946 – 20 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 Cerv ...

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 (15 September 1946 – 17 January 2024) was a German music teacher and a music and opera manager. From 1993 to 2000 he was artistic director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and from 2003 to 2010 he directed in the same positio ...

, 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 been 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 Generalmusikdirektor of the Berlin State Opera (''Staatsoper Unter den Linden'') and chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin. Biography and career Born in West Berlin, ...

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 (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

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 Myung-whun Chung (; born 22 January 1953) is a South Korean conductor and pianist. Career Performer Chung studied piano with Maria Curcio and won joint second-prize in the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He performed in the Chun ...

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, Hesse in 1963 and studied composition at the Berlin University of the Arts, Hochschule der Künste and electronic music, musicology and ...

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Modernism (music), modernist Holy minimalism, sacred music. She was highly prolific, producing numerous Chamber music, chamber, Orchestra, orch ...

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 p ...

held 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 (, sometimes OFS) is a classical music and opera festival held every year over the extended week before Easter (Holy Week) in Salzburg, Austria since 1967. It was created by the conductor Herbert von Karajan, and for ...

, 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, music director of the Orchestra Mozart and chief conductor of the Staa ...

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

Herbert von Karajan Prize The Herbert von Karajan Prize is a music award for young artists. It was endowed by Eliette von Karajan in 2015 and first awarded in 2017 at the Salzburg Easter Festival. The prize is endowed with €50,000 and is presented by von Karajan annu ...

in 2022 and donated the prize money of 50,000 euros to the project

Musaik – Grenzenlos musizieren Musaik – Grenzenlos musizieren (German for Musaik - Making music without boundaries) is a multi award winning music for social change programme situated in the district of Prohlis, Dresden. Musaik was founded in 2017 with the aim of utilizing mus ...

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- ...

(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-Re ...

(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 succeedi ...

(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 Early life Michael came to Vienna as a child with his ...

(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 ...

(1654–1680) * Giovanni Andrea Bontempi (1656–1680) * Carlo Pallavicini (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 ...

(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 ...

(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 h ...

(1776–1801, ''Hofkapellmeister'') *

Ferdinando Paer Ferdinando Paer (1 June 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 He was bor ...

(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 and ...

(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 Arthu ...

(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 – 10 May 1914) was an Austrian conductor. He became famous through his working collaborations with Richard Strauss at the Dresden Court Opera. Biography Schuch was born ...

(1884–1914) *

Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin Reiner (; December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was an American 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 to promine ...

(1914–1921) *

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

(1922–1933) *

(1934–1943) *

Karl Elmendorff Karl Eduard Maria Elmendorff (October 25, 1891 – October 21, 1962) was a German opera conductor. Born in Düsseldorf, Elmendorff studied music at the Cologne College of Music and Hochschule für Musik Köln from 1913 to 1916 under Fritz S ...

(1943–1944) *

Joseph Keilberth Joseph Keilberth (19 April 1908 – 20 July 1968) was a German conductor who specialised in opera. Career Keilberth began his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe, joining as a répétiteur in 1925 and conducting from 193 ...

(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. Biography Konwitschny came from a family of musicians. From 1920 to 1923 he took violin lessons at the Academ ...

(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, Rijeka, Sušak to a family that was granted a noble title in the early 17th century. Growing up, ...

(1956–1958) *

Otmar Suitner Otmar Suitner (; 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 conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden from 1960 ...

(1960–1964) *

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

(1964–1967) *

Martin Turnovský Martin Turnovský (29 September 1928 – 19 May 2021) was a Czech conductor whose career flourished under the guidance of George Szell, but was hampered by the communist regime. Biography Turnovský was born in Prague. As a boy, he showed promi ...

(1966–1968) *

(1975–1985) * Hans Vonk (1985–1990) *

(1992–2001) *

(2002–2004) *

(2007–2010) *

(2012–2024) *

(2024–present)

Conductors laureate

* Herbert Blomstedt * Christian Thielemann

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- ...

(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/ ...

(2010–2011) *

Lera Auerbach Lera Auerbach (, born Valeria Lvovna Averbakh, ; October 21, 1973) is a Soviet-born Austrian-American classical composer, conductor and concert pianist.Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...

(2012–2013) *

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

(2013–2014) *

(2014–2015) *

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. According to ''Grove Music Online'', with a style that draws on " Bartók, Webern and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky, his work is c ...

(2015–2016) *

(2016–2017) *

(2017–2018) *

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös (, ; 2 January 194424 March 2024) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and academic teacher. After studies of composition in Budapest and Cologne, Eötvös composed film music in Hungary from 1962. He played with the Stockhaus ...

(2018–2019) *

Aribert Reimann Aribert Reimann (, 4 March 1936 – 13 March 2024) was a German composer, pianist, and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', the opera '' Lear'', was written at the suggestion of Dietr ...

(2019–2020) *

(2020–2021, posthumous) *

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

(2021–2022) *

Olga Neuwirth Olga Neuwirth (; born 4 August 1968) is an Austrian contemporary classical composer, visual artist and author. She is famed especially for her operas and music theater works, many of which have treated sociopolitical themes. She has emphasized an ...

(2022–2023) *

Georg Friedrich Haas Georg Friedrich Haas (born 16 August 1953) is an Austrian composer. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, pieces by Haas received the most votes (49), and his composition ''in vain'' (2000) topped the li ...

(2023–2024)

Capell-Virtuos

Frank Peter Zimmermann Frank Peter Zimmermann (born 27 February 1965) is a German violinist. Childhood He was born in Duisburg, West Germany, and started playing the violin when he was five years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at the age of 10. Since h ...

(2024–2025)

References

External links

*
English-language history of the orchestra, official website

of 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 ...

* {{Authority control 1548 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire German symphony orchestras Orchestras in Dresden Musical groups established in the 16th century Organizations established in the 1540s Tourist attractions in Dresden Herbert von Karajan Prize winners Semperoper