Taipei:The Staatskapelle Berlin, a prestigious German orchestra with over 450 years of history, is set to debut in Taiwan this November under the direction of esteemed conductor Christian Thielemann, as announced by the Taipei-based Management of New Arts (MNA).
According to Focus Taiwan, the orchestra will present three concerts in Taiwan, starting on November 21 at the National Concert Hall in Taipei. The program will feature Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 and Bruckner's Symphony No. 4.
The orchestra will perform again in Taipei on November 22 before heading to Kaohsiung on November 24 for a concert at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying). Both of these performances will include Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs and An Alpine Symphony.
Thielemann was appointed music director of the Berlin State Opera and Staatskapelle Berlin in 2025, following in the footsteps of notable figures such as Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, and Daniel Barenboim. In a 2023 interview with German broadcaster BR-Klassik, he reflected on his early experiences with conducting Bruckner's symphonies, noting that he learned to adjust the tempo and rhythmic flow over time.
The Staatskapelle Berlin has a tradition of performing Bruckner's works. Under the former music director Daniel Barenboim, the orchestra recorded all nine of Bruckner's numbered symphonies and performed them in cities like Vienna, New York, and Paris, according to MNA.