9 Best Performing Arts Venues in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, Germany

Regular concerts are held at the Albrechtsburg castle, and in early September the Burgfestspiele—open-air evening performances—are staged in the castle's romantic courtyard.

Meissen's cathedral, the Dom, has a yearlong music program, with organ and choral concerts every Saturday in summer.

This variety theater features a blend of circus, vaudeville, and comedy that is fairly accessible for non-German speakers.

This uninspired touch of socialist architecture is home to an undeniably splendid orchestra. Tickets to concerts are difficult to obtain unless you reserve well in advance. Sometimes spare tickets are available at the box office a half hour before the evening performance.

The Leipzig Opera, the third-oldest civilian music theater in Europe, boasts an outstanding international reputation shaped by the renowned Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, distinguished soloists, an award-winning choir, and the Leipzig Ballet. Its repertoire spans from Baroque to contemporary operas and ballets.

Dresden's fine orchestra takes center stage in the city's annual music festival, from mid-May to early June.

The opera in Dresden holds an international reputation largely due to its opera house. Destroyed during the war, the building has been meticulously rebuilt and renovated. Tickets are reasonably priced but also hard to come by; they're often included in package tours. Try reserving tickets on the website, or stop by the box office (in Schinkelwache during the day or inside the Opera house starting from one hour before the performance). If that doesn't work, take one of the opera-house tours, a nice consolation that gets you into the building.

In the august setting of the Schauspielhaus (city theater), the Tanzpalast attracts a thirtysomething crowd. This was the place to be seen in GDR Leipzig.

Leipzig's annual music festival is in June.