Around the Music Festival

The Berlin State Opera has announced the appointment of Christian Thielemann as general music director. The post of music director has been vacant since Daniel Barenboim retired on January 31 of this year. His term of office will be five years, beginning with the 2024/2025 season.

Thielemann was born in 1959 in then West Berlin and is 64 years old. He was Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1997-2004), Music Director of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (2004-2011), Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden (2012-), Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival (2013-2022) and Music Director of the Bayreuth Festival (2015-2020).

He has worked with Barenboim as an assistant at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Bayreuth Festival. In October of last year, Thielemann conducted a new production of “The Ring of the Nibelung” as Barenboim’s understudy at the Berlin State Opera.

The year 2024 is a milestone year for Thielemann. He will appear at the New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic (for the second time after 2019) and will also step down as principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. He will also conduct a new production of “The Ring of the Nibelung” at La Scala in Milan.

Photo：Staatsoper Unter den Linden　/　Jakob Tillmann