The Staatskapelle Dresden (officially known in German as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is an orchestra based in Dresden, Germany founded in 1548 by Kurfürst Moritz (Elector Moritz, or Maurice) of Saxony. It is one of the world’s oldest orchestras. The precursor ensemble was Die Kurfürstlich-Sächsische und Königlich-Polnische Kapelle (The Saxony Elector and Royal Polish Band).
The orchestra is the musical body of the Sächsische Staatsoper (Saxon State Opera). Venue of the orchestra is the Semperoper opera house. The orchestra has had many eminent chief conductors. Heinrich Schütz was associated with it early in its existence, and in the nineteenth century Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner were both chief conductors.
In the twentieth century, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) became closely associated with the orchestra as both conductor and composer, which premiered several of his works. Karl Böhm and Hans Vonk were notable among the orchestra’s chief conductors in that they served as chief conductors of both the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the State Opera simultaneously. Herbert Blomstedt was musical director of the Staatskapelle from 1975 to 1985.
Conductors
- 1548-1554 Johann Walter
- 1555-1568 Mattheus Le Maistre
- 1568-1580 Antonio Scandello
- 1580-1584 Giovanni Battista Pinelli
- 1587-1619 Rogier Michael
- 1615-1672 Heinrich Schütz (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1654-1680 Vincenzo Albrici
- 1656-1680 Giovanni Andrea Bontempi
- 1666-1688 Carlo Pallavicini
- 1688-1700 Nicolaus Adam Strungk (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1697-1728 Johann Christoph Schmidt (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1717-1719 Antonio Lotti
- 1717-1729 Johann David Heinichen
- 1725-1733 Giovanni Alberto Ristori
- 1733-1763 Johann Adolph Hasse (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1776-1801 Johann Gottlieb Naumann (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1802-1806 Ferdinando Paer (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1810-1841 Francesco Morlacchi (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1816-1826 Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1826-1859 Carl Gottlieb Reißiger (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1843-1848 Richard Wagner (1813-1883) (Hofkapellmeister)
- 1850-1880 Carl August Krebs
- 1874-1877 Julius Rietz
- 1877-1884 Franz Wüllner
- 1884-1914 Ernst von Schuch (1846-1914)
- 1914-1921 Fritz Reiner
- 1922-1933 Fritz Busch
- 1934-1943 Karl Böhm
- 1943-1944 Karl Elmendorff
- 1945-1950 Joseph Keilberth
- 1949-1953 Rudolf Kempe
- 1953-1955 Franz Konwitschny
- 1956-1958 Lovro von Mata?i?
- 1960-1964 Otmar Suitner
- 1964-1967 Kurt Sanderling
- 1966-1968 Martin Turnovský
- 1975-1985 Herbert Blomstedt
- 1985-1990 Hans Vonk
- 1992-2001 Giuseppe Sinopoli
- 2002-2004 Bernard Haitink (1929)
- 2007-2010 Fabio Luisi
- 2012-present Christian Thielemann