Christian Thielemann

Christian Thielemann (born 1 April 1959 in West Berlin) is a German conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden and the director of the Salzburg Easter Festival.
Biography and career.
Thielemann studied viola and piano at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and took private lessons in composition and conducting before becoming "répétiteur" aged 19 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Heinrich Hollreiser and working as Herbert von Karajan's assistant. He worked at a number of smaller German theatres including the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen, in Karlsruhe, Hanover, at Düsseldorf's Deutsche Oper am Rhein as First "Kapellmeister" and in Nürnberg as "Generalmusikdirektor" before returning to the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1991 to conduct Wagner's "Lohengrin". During this time, he also assisted Daniel Barenboim at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
Thielemann made his US debut during the 1991-1992 season in a new production of Strauss' "Elektra" in San Francisco. Subsequent engagements at the Metropolitan Opera in New York followed. In 1997, he became "Generalmusikdirektor" of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. A report in 2000 stated that Thielemann was to leave the Deutsche Oper in 2001 over artistic conflicts with the then-incoming artistic director Udo Zimmermann. Thielemann remained with the company until 2004, when he resigned over conflicts regarding Berlin city funding between the Deutsche Oper and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
Thielemann became principal conductor and music director of the Munich Philharmonic in September 2004. He stepped down from his Munich post in 2011, after disputes with orchestra management over final approval of selection of guest conductors and programs for the orchestra. In October 2009, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden announced the appointment of Thielemann as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2012/13 season. His current contract with Dresden was through 2019. In November 2017, the Staatskapelle Dresden announced the extension of Thielemann's contract as chief conductor through 31 July 2024. In May 2021, Barbara Klepsch, the Culture Minister of Saxony, announced that Thielemann is to conclude his tenure with the Staatskapelle Dresden at the close of his current contract, at the end of July 2024.
Thielemann is a regular conductor at the Bayreuth Festival, following his début in 2000 with Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg", and at the Salzburg Festival. With the decision in September 2008 of the Richard Wagner Festival Foundation to appoint Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier to succeed Wolfgang Wagner as directors of the Bayreuth Festival, Thielemann was named musical advisor. In June 2015, the Bayreuth Festival formally announced the appointment of Thielemann as its music director.
Thielemann attracted controversy after attribution of anti-semitic remarks to him in 2000, regarding Daniel Barenboim, which Thielemann subsequently denied. Other controversy has related to Thielemann's publication of opinions in sympathy with the Pegida movement.
In 2003, Thielemann was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany ("Bundesverdienstkreuz"). In October 2011, he received honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2015, Thielemann won the Richard Wagner Award "(Richard-Wagner-Preis)" of Leipzig. He served in the Humanitas Programme as Visiting Professor in Opera Studies at Oxford University in January 2016. In 2019, he made his first conducting appearance in the New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recordings.
For Sony Music
For Profil
For Opus Arte
For Brilliant Classics
For Decca
For Deutsche Grammophon
For EMI Classics
For Unitel Classica