It is hard to express the charm of the city of Dresden in one word. The capital of the former Saxony Kingdom. It is described as “Florence of the Elbe” with magnificent buildings of baroque style. Frauenkirche in the center of the city is one of them. It was destroyed during the second world war, but they rebuilt it reusing fragment from rubble into tremendously beautiful church again, which took over 10 years. Kreuzkirche, standing nearby area end of Altmarkt, is the oldest church of the town. This church was also rebuilt. It is highly recommended to listen to choir or organ music here, as the acoustic here is exceptional.
Moreover, it is a city which does not fancy art love. Not to mention the vast Zwinger Palace, the Alte Meister Gallery, which belong to the palace, is a spot art lovers should visit. Opening the first door, Madonna Sistina, the famous masterpiece by Raffaello looks at you smiling from the back of the room. You can also meet works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Lucas Cranach and José de Ribera as you follow the path. When you walk from Zwinger Palace towards east beyond the Frauenkirche, you will find Neue Meister Museum of Albertinum with portraits of Paganini by Caspar David Friedrich and Georg Friedrich Kersting. On the new town area across the Elbe, you can see a contemporary art museum and a folk museum which is also called Japanese Palais.
The music festival was founded in 1978 during the East German era. List of performers and conductors on the official programs shows its brillant history: prominent conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Sergiu Celibidache, Sir Georg Solti, Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, as well as renowned musicians such as Martha Argerich, Edita Gruberová, Olaf Bar, Theo Adam, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, etc. There is also a connection with Japan. Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo (now Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra) was invited as resident orchestra in 2005. It gave four performances under the baton of Hartmut Haenchen and Wakasugi Hiroshi at Semperoper, Japanese Palais, the Meissen Cathedral with co-star soloists Peter Rösel, Baiba Skride and Paul Meyer.
