Christian Thielemann

In the 2024/25 season Christian Thielemann will succeed Daniel Barenboim in the role of General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera. Following positions at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Gelsenkirchen, Karlsruhe, Hanover and Düsseldorf, he became general music director in Nuremberg in 1988. In 1997 the Berlin-born conductor returned to his home city as general music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, before taking up the same post with the Munich Philharmonic from 2004 to 2011. He is the chief conductor of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, a position he has held since the 2012/13 season. As well as his chief conductor position in Dresden, he was artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival from 2013 to 2022.

In recent seasons, Christian Thielemann has devoted himself intensively to the anniversary celebrations for the composers Wagner, Strauss and Beethoven. However, repertory from Bach to Henze, Rihm and Gubaidulina has also featured in his programmes both in Dresden and on tour. At the Semperoper he recently led new productions of Ariadne auf Naxos, Capriccio and Aida. At the Salzburg Easter Festival he has conducted operas including Die Walküre, Tosca, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Lohengrin.

He has longstanding collaborations with both the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic, whose New Year’s Concert he conducted in 2019 and 2024.

He was musical advisor and music director of the Bayreuth Festival, where he has appeared almost every year since his debut in summer 2000, shaping the programme with his groundbreaking interpretations. In addition, he has accepted invitations to conduct the major orchestras of Europe, the United States, Israel and Asia.

Christian Thielemann is an exclusive artist with UNITEL. His recent recordings with the Staatskapelle include the symphonies of Anton Bruckner and Robert Schumann, Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder and numerous opera recordings.

Christian Thielemann is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, an Honorary Professor at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden, and also holds honorary doctorates from the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar and the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). In 2003 he received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In May 2015 he received the Richard Wagner Prize from the Richard Wagner Foundation in the city of Leipzig, and in October 2016 he was awarded the Semperoper Foundation Prize. In April 2022 he was given an honorary award from the state of Salzburg, and in July 2022 he was awarded the Wappenmedaille in Gold (coat-of-arms medal in gold) from the city of Salzburg. In 2023 he was appointed an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera and received the company’s Ring of Honour and in 2024 he was made an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic and was also honoured with the Saxon Constitutional Medal. He is also a patron of the Richard Wagner Sites in Graupa. He has won numerous awards for his recordings.