Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden / Lang Lang / Christian Thielemann

Abschiedsklänge

Excitement is guaranteed when Christian Thielemann makes one of his rare excursions into the French repertoire and brings his musical aesthetics, trained in the music of Wagner, Strauss and Bruckner, to bear on the colourful tone poems of Debussy and Ravel. With the end of his tenure as principal conductor of the Sächsischen Staatskapelle Dresden he adds a personal note of melancholy to »La valse«, Ravel’s farewell to Europe as he knew it in the aftermath of the First World War: Thielemann is saying goodbye to twelve impressive years in which he wrote orchestral history. The Dresden-based musicians have often shared the concert platform with world star Lang Lang in this time, as they do tonight at the Elbphilharmonie. Lang Lang’s sensitive touch and impeccable virtuosity make him the perfect soloist for the Ravel Piano Concerto.