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).
