Christian Thielemann conducts Hindemith, Strauss und Busoni

Christian Thielemann has been principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden since autumn 2012 and artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival since 2013. Thielemann studied at the Hochschule der Künste (Academy of Arts) in his native Berlin before gaining a thorough grounding in conducting at smaller theatres in Germany. His first major appointment was as principal conductor at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where he spent three seasons prior to his appointment as general music director of Nuremberg Opera. He held a similar posts with the Deutsche Oper in Berlin from 1997 to 2004, and with the Munich Philharmonic from 2004 to 2011. Christian Thielemann has built up an international reputation for himself, appearing with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and with opera companies throughout Europe, North America and Japan. As a guest conductor he is particularly closely associated with the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic and the Bayreuth Festival where he has been a regular conductor since his debut in the summer of 2000 (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg). He was named musical adviser of the festival in 2010 and its music director in 2015. The principal pillars of Christian Thielemann’s broad repertoire are the works of the Classical and Romantic periods as well as the music of Hans Werner Henze. Thielemann first appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1996 and has returned many times since then, most recently in December 2019, when he conducted works by Wagner and Richard Strauss.

Camilla Nylund has established herself as one of the world’s leading lyric-dramatic sopranos. Born in Vaasa (Finland), she received her musical education with Eva Illes and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. After a highly acclaimed debut at the Niedersächsische Staatsoper in Hanover she was engaged in the ensemble between 1995 and 1999. From 1999 until 2001 she was a member of the ensemble of the Dresden Semperoper. Throughout her career Camilla Nylund has performed in numerous Strauss and Wagner operas. Her international breakthrough was in the 2004/2005 season with three role debuts: as Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, as Salome in Cologne and as Leonore (Fidelio) at the Opera Zurich. All three have become signature roles in her repertoire. Camilla Nylund has sung leading roles in opera houses in Vienna, Paris, Tokyo, Helsinki and Paris and at the Salzburg and Bayreuth festivals. In Berlin she appeared both at the Deutsche Oper and the Staatsoper. The soprano made her acclaimed debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London in 2011. In 2019 she appeared as Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier) at the Metropolitan Opera New York. In addition Camilla Nylund is in demand internationally as concert soloist and has worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti and Christian Thielemann. With the Berliner Philharmoniker she sang Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle and was heard as soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.