Christian Thielemann

Christian Thielemann (born 1 April 1959) is a German conductor. He is Generalmusikdirektor of the Berlin State Opera (Staatsoper Unter den Linden) and chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin.

Biography and career

Born in West Berlin, Thielemann studied viola and piano there and took private lessons in composition and conducting before becoming répétiteur at 19 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Heinrich Hollreiser and working as Herbert von Karajan's assistant. He worked at a number of smaller German theatres, including the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen; in Karlsruhe, Hanover, at Düsseldorf's Deutsche Oper am Rhein as First Kapellmeister; and in Nürnberg as Generalmusikdirektor before returning to the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1991 to conduct Wagner's Lohengrin. During this time, he also assisted Daniel Barenboim at the Bayreuth Festival.

Thielemann made his US debut during the 1991–1992 season in a new production of Strauss's Elektra in San Francisco. Subsequent engagements at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City followed. In 1997, he became Generalmusikdirektor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. A report in 2000 stated that Thielemann was to leave the Deutsche Oper in 2001 over artistic conflicts with the then-incoming artistic director Udo Zimmermann. Thielemann remained with the company until 2004, when he resigned over conflicts regarding Berlin city funding between the Deutsche Oper and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

Thielemann became principal conductor and music director of the Munich Philharmonic in September 2004. He stepped down from his Munich post in 2011 after disputes with orchestra management over final approval of selection of guest conductors and programs for the orchestra.