Dresden receives federal funding for the construction of a Richard Wagner Academy (September 2024)

Dresden receives federal funding for the construction of a Richard Wagner Academy and the establishment of an international center of excellence for Romantic orchestral and opera practice

Dresden, September 25, 2024. The state capital of Dresden is receiving a grant of 15 million euros from the »KulturInvest« funding program of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media for the construction of the new Richard Wagner Academy of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele. The aim is to create an internationally oriented competence center for 19th century romantic orchestral and operatic practice. In addition to a concert hall with 600 seats, the new building on the Königsufer – opposite Dresden’s old town – will include an orchestra and choir rehearsal hall, workshop, archive and seminar rooms. The aim is to establish a place for training, research, performance and debate with global appeal on the banks of the Elbe, based on the 19th century tradition of world premieres in Dresden.

»I am delighted for the city of Dresden and the Dresden Music Festival about this generous support! A visionary meeting place for musicians, academics and the public, the Richard Wagner Academy Dresden, can now be built on the most beautiful site in Dresden. This decision inspires me to continue to invest all my energy in the cultural charisma of Dresden as one of the world’s leading cities of music,« says Jan Vogler, Artistic Director of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele.

Dresden’s Lord Mayor Dirk Hilbert: »We are very pleased about the decision from Berlin and the enormous amount of the proposed funding. Of course, we will now enter into talks with the Free State of Saxony, without which overall funding is not possible. In view of our own challenges, we need to act with courage and foresight. From an urban development perspective, this decision could be an outstanding milestone for the Königsufer.«

With »The Wagner Cycles« project, the Dresdner Musikfestspiele has revolutionized the performance practice of Richard Wagner’s music in a short space of time. Richard Wagner’s »Der Ring der Nibelungen« will be scientifically reworked from 2023 to 2026. This historically informed approach is now being given a permanent home in order to make the global demand for the findings available for practical use, to develop them further and to work on them practically with artists in workshops and academy formats. The development of the Königsufer for cultural purposes has been planned in Dresden for some time and is now taking on a concrete form.

The Dresdner Musikfestspiele was founded in 1978 by the city of Dresden and, under the directorship of cellist Jan Vogler since 2009, has developed into one of the most successful and modern festivals in Europe. The festival’s spectrum ranges from guest performances by top international orchestras and soloists as well as leading artists from world music, jazz, crossover and rock to appearances by Hollywood star Bill Murray and blues legend Eric Clapton.

The Dresdner Musikfestspiele bring their new Wagner Sound to the Lucerne Festival (August 2024)

The Dresdner Musikfestspiele opens a new chapter in Wagner interpretation history with its »The Wagner Cycles« project. At the invitation of the Lucerne Festival, Richard Wagner’s »Die Walküre« will be performed in a historically informed concert version with the Dresdner Festspielorchester and Concerto Köln under the baton of Kent Nagano at the KKL Lucerne on August 21, 2024.
After the celebrated performance of »Das Rheingold« last year, the audience can once again revel in the clear, transparent and textually intelligible Wagner sound of the 19^th century when »Die Walküre« is presented: an experience promising inspiring musical discoveries.

»Since Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s spectacular Monteverdi interpretations in the 1970s, we have been living with the words original sound and performance practice. The Dresden Ring gives these terms a new lease of life. Our Wagner sound is warm, transparent and enormously colorful, it not only promotes text comprehensibility, it builds a magical bridge to a new Wagner reception that opens up the work of the much-discussed composer to us anew,« says Jan Vogler, Artistic Director of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele.

The performance is part of the project »The Wagner Cycles«, initiated in Dresden in 2023 to bring together musical practice and academic research for a novel sound experience in the city that was Wagner’s home for many years. Featuring historical instruments and the vocal and declamatory style of the Wagner era, this research-based performance reveals unknown or long-forgotten facets of the music.
The goal is to work with a team of international academics to perform one part of the »Ring« every year, in keeping with the principles of historically informed performance practice, in Dresden and worldwide. The guest appearance in Lucerne marks the final touring stop of »Die Walküre« this year, after concerts in Prague, Amsterdam, Cologne, Hamburg and Dresden.

The project »The Wagner Cycles« is supported by the Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the Free State of Saxony.

The Dresdner Musikfestspiele was founded by the City of Dresden in 1978; since the beginning of the cellist Jan Vogler’s tenure as Artistic Director in 2009, it has developed into one of the leading festivals in Europe. In addition to performances by the world’s major orchestras, internationally celebrated soloists and musicians from the jazz, world music, crossover and rock scenes, it also hosts performances by stars such as Hollywood’s Bill Murray and the blues legend Eric Clapton.

The 48th Dresdner Musikfestspiele will take place from May 18 to June 14, 2025.

Cast »Walküre« in Lucerne:

Wotan Simon Bailey
Siegmund Maximillian Schmitt
Sieglinde Sarah Wegener
Brünnhilde Åsa Jäger
Hunding Patrick Zielke
Fricka Claude Eichenberger
Helmwige Natalie Karl
Gerhilde Chelsea Zurflüh
Ortlinde Ania Vegry
Waltraute Ulrike Malotta
Siegrune Ida Aldrian
Roßweiße Marie-Luise Dreßen
Grimgerde Eva Vogel
Schwertleite Jasmin Etmina

Dresdner Festspielorchester and Concerto Köln
Conductor: Kent Nagano