Dresden

Dresden. City in Germany (Saxony) with long mus. tradition. Its archives mention an organist in 1370 and from about 1420 three wind players were instructed to play on 29 major church fests. At the court mus. first achieved prominence c.1540. In the 18th cent. artistic life at court was on a grand scale and among the court composers and Kapellmeisters of that era were Zelenka, Lotti, Hasse, and J. S. Bach (who held the title 1736–50 but was active only in Leipzig at this period). By the end of the cent. Dresden's reputation for It. opera was high. A German Opera was founded in 1817 with Weber as cond. Weber's ideals were continued 17 years after his death by Wagner, whose own Rienzi was produced in Dresden in 1842, followed by Der fliegende Holländer 1843 and Tannhäuser 1845. The Royal Saxon Opera House, designed by Gottfried Semper, was opened 1841. This was burned down 1869 and his second building was opened 1878. Dresden's most illustrious operatic period dates from the appointment as cond. in 1882 of Ernst von Schuch. He championed Wagner's later operas and those of Richard Strauss whose Feuersnot (1901), Salome (1905), Elektra (1909), and Der Rosenkavalier (1911) had their f.ps. under Schuch. After Schuch the opera was cond. by Fritz Reiner (1914–21), but it was Fritz Busch (1922–33) who revived its glories and continued the Strauss assoc. with f.ps. of Intermezzo (1924) and Die ägyptische Helena (1928). He also cond. new operas by Hindemith (Cardillac, 1926) and Busoni (Doktor Faust, 1925). Driven out by the Nazis, Busch was succeeded by Karl Böhm, although Clemens Krauss cond. the f.p. of Strauss's Arabella in 1933. Under Böhm (1934–42), Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau (1935) and Daphne (1938) were first performed, also Sutermeister's Romeo und Julia (1940). Böhm was succeeded by Karl Elmendorff (1943–4). The opera house was bombed in 1945 and the co. moved into a rebuilt theatre in 1948. In 1977, rebuilding began of the Semper Opera House to a design faithful to the original, and it opened in February 1985 with Der Freischütz. Cond. of Staatskapelle from 1945 to 1950 was Joseph Keilberth. His successors were Rudolf Kempe (1950–3), Franz Konwitschny (1953–5), Lovro von Matačić (1956–8), Otmar Suitner (1960–4), Kurt Sanderling (1964–7), Martin Turnovsky (1967–8), Siegfried Kurz (1971–5), Herbert Blomstedt (1975–85), Hans Vonk (1985–91), and Giuseppe Sinopoli from 1991. Operas given f.ps. in Dresden since 1945 incl. Blacher's Die Flut (1947), and U. Zimmermann's Levins Mühle (1973). The opera dir. from 1973 to 1981 was Harry Kupfer, and Joachim Herz 1985–91.

Orch. mus. in Dresden has been provided by two orchs., the venerable Staatskapelle (which plays for the opera) and the Philharmonic. The Staatskapelle dates its origins to the 16th cent. and has had various guises. One of them, from 1923, was as the Saxon State Orch. cond. by Busch and later by Böhm. The Philharmonic was founded in 1871, though under another name. Its conds. incl. Strauss, Bülow, Nikisch, Mottl, and Edwin Lindner. Its greatest period, which incl. fests. of modern mus., was under Paul van Kempen (1934–42). After 1945 conds. incl. Heinz Bongartz (1947–64), H. Förster (1964–7), Kurt Masur (1967–72), Günther Herbig (1972–7), Herbert Kegel (1977–85), Hans Vonk (1985–91), and Jörg Peter Weigle from 1991.

Other composers beside Wagner to have lived in Dresden were Schumann (1844–50), who cond. the Liedertafel and founded a choir, and Rachmaninov (1906–9).