Christian Thielemann Withdraws from Staatskapelle Dresden Concerts Due to Illness

Thielemann will be replaced by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Marie Jacquot for sold-out concerts in May and June

The German conductor Christian Thielemann has led Germany’s Staatskapelle Dresden since 2012. Previously, he served as principal conductor and music director of the Munich Philharmonic. 

“Due to illness, Christian Thielemann has to give up conducting our 10th symphony concert and the subsequent European tour,” Staatskapelle Dresden posted on Facebook. “We are pleased that two world-leading female conductors will be taking his place at the orchestra’s podium.”

In his place, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will lead the symphony concerts at Semperoper Dresden with pianist Lang Lang from May 19, 2024, as well as the guest concerts on May 29 in Vienna and June 1 in Hamburg, with a slightly adapted French program. Gražinytė-Tyla serves as music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

On May 30, Marie Jacquot will step in for Staatskapelle Dresden’s concerts in Paris, Essen, Cologne and Vienna, in a program of works by Strauss and Brahms. Jacquot is currently musical director of the Royal Opera House Copenhagen and principal guest conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. 

In 2021, it was announced that Thielemann’s contract with the orchestra would not be renewed after 2024 — as of September 2024, he will succeed Daniel Barenboim as Berlin State Opera’s general music director.

Thielemann’s withdrawal from the upcoming concerts will also affect what was to be his final tour with the ensemble. In July, he will give his farewell concerts as chief conductor with Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. The Italian conductor Daniele Gatti will succeed Thielemann in the role at the end of August 2024.