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Conductor Thielemann in the Semperoper (archive picture): At the end of the 2023/24 season it will be over
Photo: Matthias Creutziger / picture alliance / dpa
The contract of Christian Thielemann, 62, as chief conductor of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden will not be extended after the end of the 2023/2024 season. This was announced by the Saxon culture minister Barbara Klepsch (CDU) on Monday in Dresden. “Regardless of that, I would be delighted if Christian Thielemann, with his internationally respected profile, would continue to remain artistically connected to the Semperoper,” explained Klepsch.
Peter Theiler, 64, is to remain director of the Semperoper until 2024. Afterwards, they want to fill the management of the opera and the position of chief conductor with the »Perspective Semper 2030«. At last there had been discrepancies between Theiler and Thielemann. In February, Theiler contradicted representations by Thielemann and the orchestra board of the Staatskapelle, hindering their work in the corona pandemic. In a newspaper article, Thielemann was disappointed that there were no more efforts at the Semperoper to enable performances again despite Corona requirements. Theiler then said, among other things: "The crisis shows the true face of loyalty."
Christian Thielemann had headed the Staatskapelle Dresden as chief conductor since 2012. At the Bayreuth Festival, Thielemann's five-year tenure as music director ended in 2020. But this year he will conduct a concert in Bayreuth. In addition, Thielemann stood for the first time at the podium of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich in April.
According to MDR, Klepsch explained about the future of opera: “We see what is good today and still think about the day after tomorrow of opera.
And an opera in ten years' time will be different from the opera of today: It will in some cases have to break new ground between traditional opera and concert performances and contemporary interpretations of musical theater and concert art to retain or increase established regular guests and new target groups.
This also applies to the relationship between the usual visit to the opera house and the use of digital offers.
feb / dpa