Music Festival

Dear Music Friends,

Music is so rich that the splendor of the monarchies and duchies that produced it seems to fade in comparison. After all, the secret behind the brilliance of the music at the heart of Europe lies in the fact that simple people influenced it just as strongly as the courts. »Gypsy music«, Hungarian and Bohemian folk music – in music, the great divide between emperor and people was bridged, and this marriage between courtly splendor and the vitality of folk dances became its triumph.

Join us in discovering the inexhaustible power of music created in the triangle between Vienna, Budapest and Prague from the baroque era to the reign of Empress Maria Theresia and the epoch of the k. u. k. monarchy to this very day. Through the marital and intellectual connections with Saxony, Dresden seemed near to the Habsburgs, a consequence of their not-quite altruistic motto: »Let others wage war; you – happy Austria – marry!« With its 2012 season, the Dresden Music Festival celebrates this proximity of Dresden to Bohemia, Austria and Hungary, delving deep into the river of music between the Danube and the Vltava Rivers. I would like to thank our partners, public and private sponsors and patrons, for their generous support of the Music Festival, and I look forward with you to our new Festival season.

Yours, Jan Vogler [Intendant]