Annual Reviews

Stuttgart State Orchestra 1:1 concert with guitarist Jonas Khalil playing solo at the port of Stuttgart | Photo (detail): © Staatsoper Stuttgart Photo (detail): © Staatsoper Stuttgart

Classical, Contemporary and Early Music 2020
 The year the show went online

As in many other areas of society, the coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll on German musical life in 2020. Patrick Hahn recalls what did happen last year all the same in the classical, contemporary and early music scenes.

Classical Scene 2019
 The Next Instalment in the Twilight of the Old Boys

The German classical music scene is still preoccupied with #MeToo and what to do about dirty old men. And grappling with badly needed renovations.

Classical Scene 2018
 The Future of Classical Music is Female

In 2018 the debate on sexual harassment in the film industry and cultural sector started to infiltrate the classical music scene, at the same time women started to gain ground in the realm of conducting and directing. The festivals in Bayreuth and Salzburg scored hits with interesting productions, and in Wuppertal there was a boom in digitally supported opera.
 

German Classical Music Scene 2017
 Visionaries rekindle German opera

The year 2017 was marked by courage for innovations in classical music, for example at the music festivals in Salzburg and Bayreuth. In addition, newly opened concert halls brought new experiences for the audience and artists. Julia Spinola looks back on these and other events of the classic year.

Classical Scene 2016
 A musical paradigm shift

Concert halls were completed last year, theatres merged and the digitization process continued apace.

Classical scene 2015
 On the brink of the sea change

People in Dresden have been demonstrating against refugees, who have been streaming into Munich. The social ramifications are bound to change the classical music scene in Germany, where traditional and innovative forces look pretty much irreconcilable. 

CLASSICAL SCENE 2014
 Debts and Chances

Smart singers, new exhibitions, books worth reading, daring productions: The music scene in Germany again affirmed its unrivalled density and diversity in 2014, whilst coming up with creative ways of coping with budget cuts and digitization.

Classical Scene 2013
 Heterogeneity rules

Granted - Wagner and Verdi, the two titans of 19th-century opera, dominated the international music scene last year hands down. Yet on the whole, heterogeneity rules in the classical music scene.

Classical Scene 2012
 Departures and Farewells

The year 2012 saw an ongoing boom for string quartets, new approaches in the opera and further discussions about orchestras and concert halls.

Classical Scene 2011
 A brave new concert world?

Between concert hall debates and Liszt’s bicentenary, small-town festivals that pricked up ears and some personnel changes, the German concert world was on the go last year. Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich on classical drifts and developments in 2011.

Classical Scene 2010
 Crisis deferred

Schumann, Chopin and Mahler jubilees were lavishly celebrated in 2010, but the economic crisis put a damper on all that jubilance.