World-class festivals and a wide variety of concerts and events will put the regions of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia once again firmly on the map as the Cultural Heart of Germany. The mix is eclectic, and from Bach to Marilyn Monroe the agenda will cater for every taste. Let's take a look at some event highlights for 2014.



Music galore

The Cultural Heart of Germany is renowned for its outstanding range of music festivals that each year attracts visitors from around the globe. As a special delight for all lovers of Baroque music, the Thuringian Bach Weeks (12 April to 4 May 2014) will next year present over 70 concerts in authentic venues throughout the region that are linked to the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. Fans of the genius composer can also head to Leipzig where the annual Bach Festival (13 to 22 June 2014) is one of the biggest music festivals in the world. 2014 marks the 300th anniversary of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the composer's second eldest son whose work - set in the context of his father's compositions - will be at the centre of the festival.

150th anniversary of Richard Strauss

Leipzig will next year also celebrate the 150th anniversary of composer Richard Strauss with Leipzig Opera and Leipzig Gewandhaus presenting a Strauss cycle from April to July 2014. In June 2014, one of the composer's most important operas, "Die Frau ohne Schatten", will premiere in the city with a world-class cast. Furthermore "Elektra" and "Der Rosenkavalier" from Leipzig Opera's repertoire will be resumed. The Vienna Philharmonic under conductor Christoph Eschenbach will be performing a Strauss programme in the Gewandhaus with Lang Lang on 24 May while the actual birthday concert on 11 June is reserved to Riccardo Chailly and the Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Handel Festival is back

Much-loved Handel Festival in Halle (Saale) sees a welcome return next year after this year's event had to be cancelled due to flooding. From 5 to 15 June 2014, internationally acclaimed stars and ensembles will perform in authentic venues in George Frideric Handel's city of birth. The festival programme, headlined "George & George", will focus on the 300th anniversary of the coronation of George I of England who employed Handel as his Kapellmeister when he was Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and before being called to the British throne in 1714. Highlights include a musical reconstruction of George I's coronation celebrations, a piece of funeral music written on his death and never performed before and a concert of Handel's Coronation Anthems performed at the coronation of George II, including "Zadok the Priest" which some might nowadays know better as the theme song of the UEFA Champions League.

Summer delights

Not to miss in summer is the line-up of concerts and events in the picture perfect town of Weimar which each year in July and August provides an ideal backdrop for a series of summer concerts and events. In 2014, there will even be a touch of the Proms in town with the "Rule, Britannia!" open-air concert on 12 July featuring the State Orchestra Weimar performing works by British composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar. Wagner aficionados should try to get their hands on tickets for "Tannhäuser and the Battle of the Bards at Wartburg Castle". The impressive castle in Eisenach will host a number of concert performances of one of the composer's most famous works (18 April, 1 May, 1 & 8 June, 12, 19 & 26 Sep 2014).

Hello Hollywood goddess

We promised Marilyn and here she is: From 5 April to 29 June, the "Kunsthaus" museum in the small town of Apolda will present "The Last Sitting - Marilyn Monroe". The exhibition focuses on shots taken by New York photographer Bert Stern in 1962 six weeks before the actress's death. The photographs were commissioned by Vogue and show a very private side of the iconic star. For something very different but no less iconic, try Walpurgis Night in the Harz Mountains when each year on the night of 30 April this old pagan festival is celebrated throughout the region. On this night, witches are believed to ride on broomsticks up the famous Brocken mountain where they dance around a huge fire. In the modern version, visitors from all over Germany dress up as witches and devils to celebrate the event which has become a festival for the whole family. Schierke and Thale, the latter with a huge fire being lit up on the Hexentanzplatz (witches' dancing place), are where the largest celebrations including a Walpurgis Night Market take place.

Further information:

Events in the Cultural Heart of Germany 2014

Cultural Heart of Germany (Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia) online: www.culturalheart.info

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/CulturalHeartofGermany

Twitter: www.twitter.com/CulturalGermany

Press contact:

B Connects. Barbara Geier Content Services

On behalf of Cultural Heart of Germany (Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia)

barbara@bconnects.net, phone 07983 242 195