Name: Evening Recital N° 4
Start: 2026-07-09T20:00:00
Location: Semperoper Dresden

Gergely Madaras

Michael Goldammer

Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden

A romantic programme with a close connection to Dresden. As royal Kapellmeister from 1817, Carl Maria von Weber had a long-lasting impact on the city’s musical life. His »Oberon« overture is a late vision of romantic opera that is both radiant and dramatically charged. Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto was premiered on 4 December 1845 at the local Hotel de Saxe with Clara Schumann as soloist and Ferdinand Hiller conducting. Clara noted in her diary: »The concerto is quite rich in invention. All the movements are particularly beautiful, all of a piece, fresh and not too long.« Johannes Brahms was also closely associated with Dresden, frequently performing here as a pianist and conductor of his own works.

Symphony Concert N° 9

Semperoper Dresden

Blending sonic mysticism with maritime contemplation, this concert unites German and French Romanticism in a way that is both rich in contrasts and affinities. Richard Wagner’s music from »Parsifal« and »Tristan und Isolde« transports us into worlds of redemption and Liebestod (love death), metaphysical silence and burning ecstasy. Between these works come two French masterpieces that create their own unique sensuality: Camille Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto is a virtuoso and dramatic concert piece without symphonic pretensions, while Claude Debussy’s »La Mer« is an impressionistic naturalistic panorama, full of movement and refracting sunlight. The Cello Concerto is interpreted by our »Artist in Residence« Gautier Capuçon, a master of the warm, cantabile tone.

Symphony Concert N° 10

Marie Jacquot is one of the leading conductors of her generation. According to one critic, her interpretations are »more inventive than innovation-driven, they float, they arise autonomously, without the gesture of emancipating oneself from anything.« In Dresde1, the French maestra will present two key works: Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, a piece of luminous clarity with a symphonic breadth and formal balance, complemented by Béla Bartók’s »Concerto for Orchestra«, which the composer wrote in 1943 while living as an émigré in America. This is a work of irrepressible energy and subtle irony, combining counterpoint, Hungarian folklore and late Romantic opulence.

Symphony Concert N° 11

On the eve of the International Shostakovich Days, the Staatskapelle is exploring two key works by the Russian composer. Written for David Oistrakh in 1967, the Second Violin Concerto is a work full of inner tension that captivates with its austere tonal language and chamber music-like density. The Tenth Symphony, composed in 1953 shortly after Stalin’s death, is one of the most discussed orchestral pieces of the 20th century. Here Shostakovich truly makes his mark: featuring his musical monogram – the famous DSCH motif (i.e. D-Eb-C-B) – this work is also an existential cri de coeur. The Tenth has been interpreted as a denunciation of Stalinism, particularly the second movement, which is seen as a savage portrayal of the brutal dictator.

Special Concert International Shostakovich Festival Gohrisch

Palace of Culture

Born into a family of musicians in Munich, her career began at an early age. Her breakthrough came at the latest with numerous prizes at the Sarasate, Paganini and Tchaikovsky competitions, which quickly took her to the world's most important stages as a soloist. As a soloist and chamber musician, Yuki Manuela Janke also inspires as concertmaster of the most traditional orchestras. Her interpretation of Richard Strauss' "Heldenleben" in the Golden Hall in Vienna with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann attracted particular attention.

Chamber Music Evening N° 8

A colourful season finale with works of great imagination and formal diversity. The concert begins with a late Romantic masterwork in Paul Dukas’s »Sorcerer’s Apprentice«, a brilliantly orchestrated musical parable on power and its unintended consequences. »Puzzles and Games« features scenes from the opera »Alice in Wonderland« by Capell-Compositrice Unsuk Chin; at times poetic, grotesque and even playful, this is a veritable cosmos of sonic illusions and absurd humour. The programme is capped by Sergei Prokofiev’s thrilling suite from »Romeo and Juliet«. Here the great Russian composer created an enchanting score of ever shifting moods that marries classical dance with the sounds of the first half of the 20th century.