Dresden Music Festival also makes guest appearances abroad

The Dresden Music Festival is also finding resonance abroad with its Wagner project. "I am looking forward to the 'Walküre' premiere in Prague with great anticipation," Festival Director Jan Vogler told the German Press Agency in Dresden on Wednesday. The series of concert performances of the work on period instruments begins this Saturday in the Czech capital. "What a beautiful sign, which is typical of the character and significance of this new Wagner care. New soundscapes and modern perspectives are coming from the heart of Wagner's long-standing place of activity, Dresden, and sending exciting musical messages out into the world." Further stops on the tour include Amsterdam (March 16), Cologne (March 24), Hamburg (May 1) and Lucerne (August 21). The work will also be performed at the start of the Dresden Music Festival on 9 May.

The Wagner project ("The Wagner Cycles") under the musical direction of Kent Nagano with the Dresden Festival Orchestra and Concerto Köln began in 2023 with "Rheingold" - the first part of Wagner's monumental opera tetralogy "Der Ring des Nibelungen". The aim is to bring one part of Wagner's "Ring" to the stage across Europe every year, with the involvement of academics, using historical instruments and with a view to the singing and language practices of the time of its creation. The concerts are preceded by intensive workshops and rehearsals in close cooperation between the orchestra, the ensemble of singers and academics. The federal government is supporting the project with two million euros. The money comes from the budget of the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Claudia Roth (Greens).

"May the magic of music bring our wonderful cities of Prague and Dresden, and us, their inhabitants, even closer together in friendship," emphasized Vogler. Both cities have a significant Wagner history. "The first director of our State Opera, Angelo Neumann, was a close friend of Wagner and almost turned Prague into a second Bayreuth. As early as 1885, Gustav Mahler conducted 'Die Walküre' here at Neumann's invitation."

The Dresden Music Festival was founded in 1978 and was already well-known before the fall of the Berlin Wall with numerous guest performances by stars and ensembles from the West. With Vogler's directorship, the international appeal of the festival has increased significantly since 2009. The festival not only regularly hosts top orchestras from all over the world, but also renowned soloists from the fields of classical music, jazz, world music and rock. This year, the music festival will take place from May 9 to June 9, 2024.