Christian Thielemann

Conductor Christian Thielemann has exerted considerable influence over both operatic and orchestral traditions in his native Germany, holding the position of music director with the Staatskapelle Dresden since 2012. He ranks among the foremost living exponents of the operas and tone poems of Wagner and Richard Strauss.

Born in West Berlin on April 1, 1959, Thielemann studied several instruments during his formative years, performed as a violist with the German Youth Orchestra, and completed his training at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik. His professional path opened remarkably early: at age nineteen he became assistant to Heinrich Hollreiser at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and subsequently assisted Herbert von Karajan at the Berlin Philharmonic. He also worked under Daniel Barenboim at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. In 1985 he obtained his first leadership post as principal conductor of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. Successive appointments followed; he assumed the general music directorship of the Nuremberg Opera in 1988 and advanced to the same role at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1997. Although his principal engagements remained in Germany, he served as principal guest conductor of Bologna’s Teatro Comunale throughout the 1990s and appeared as a guest at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the San Francisco Opera, among other leading international houses.

Thielemann made his Bayreuth Festival debut in 2000 and quickly earned the favor of festival director Wolfgang Wagner, grandson of the composer. He was named chief musical advisor there in 2008 and continued to lead Wagner performances at the theater even after relinquishing his formal position in 2021. That same year a letter published in the Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung contained an anti-Semitic remark directed at Barenboim’s leadership of the Berlin State Opera; the statement was attributed to an unnamed Berlin musical figure later identified in some quarters as Thielemann. He denied the allegation vehemently, and Barenboim stated that, lacking conclusive proof, he accepted the denial. Whatever his political outlook, Thielemann has consistently favored a conservative repertoire, seldom venturing beyond the early twentieth century, a preference that has persisted as his concert activities have grown.

While serving as chief conductor of the Münchener Philharmoniker from 2004 to 2011 and, since 2012, of the Staatskapelle Dresden, he has concentrated on Austro-German music from Mozart through Bruckner. He will conclude his Dresden tenure in 2024. In 2015 he was a leading candidate for the music directorship of the Berlin Philharmonic, yet the orchestra remained divided between him and Andris Nelsons; ultimately Kirill Petrenko received the appointment. Thielemann also directs the Salzburg Easter Festival, a post he will leave in 2021. Numerous recordings with both the Munich and Dresden orchestras have appeared on Deutsche Grammophon. In 2019 he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic’s traditional New Year’s Concert for the first time. He has continued to record extensively with the Staatskapelle Dresden and, increasingly, with the Vienna Philharmonic; for the latter ensemble he initiated a live Bruckner symphony cycle on Sony Classical, the label that had already released his Beethoven and Schumann cycles. His account of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor was issued in 2022. By then his discography exceeded seventy-five titles.