Three centuries ago this year, a pioneering musician arrived in Leipzig with the sense that he could further his craft and his career there. That was Johann Sebastian Bach. In the intervening 300 years, he was followed by Felix Mendelssohn, both Schumanns, Gustav Mahler and countless others.

Leipzig has retained its enviable music scene precisely because it remains a magnet for talent. Right now the city is in the grip of one of the most notable periods of musical creativity in its history. This will be remembered as a prime vintage for the Gewandhausorchester under current Kapellmeister Andris Nelsons. Bach’s old Boys’ Choir at St Thomas’s Church is thriving under cantor since 2021, Andreas Reize.

Leipzig’s civic opera company, meanwhile, is just as resurgent. In 2022, an almost entirely new leadership team arrived at what is the world’s oldest operational operatic institution, led by intendant Tobias Wolf. He took over Oper Leipzig fresh from its greatest achievement to date: performing all 13 of Wagner’s mature stage works in just three weeks in the summer of 2022.

Now, Oper Leipzig has set itself an even bigger challenge: resolving to develop new ways of creating opera productions with zero-carbon footprint. The testing ground for the opera’s climate zero initiative will be a new production of Thea Musgrave’s landmark 1977 opera after Schiller, Mary Queen of Scots directed by Ilaria Lanzino and opening in December. The true litmus text of success, of course, is that the audience shouldn’t notice any different in quality at all.

Truly, this will mark the start of something as sustainability becomes a benchmark standard for every department in Leipzig’s biggest cultural employer. Already, Oper Leipzig has partnered with the Icelandic Opera in Reykjavik to explore sustainable methods of costume making. Innovations for the production of Mary Queen of Scots include a public call for props and material that might be used in the show, and the transporting of each piece of scenery from the workshops to the theatre by hand – a spectacle that will double as a giant, mobile advert for the coming production.

In the immediate term, there are compelling new productions to look forward to. In May, Leipzig will play host to the Saxon premiere of Benjamin Britten’s operatic tale of small-town fury and character assassination, Peter Grimes. New music director Christoph Gedschold conducts the Gewandhausorchester, opera chorus and soloists in Kay Link’s staging. Fans of baroque opera won’t want to miss Damiano Michieletto’s production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, which opens in April under conductor Rubén Dubrovsky. For full details of the current season visit oper-leipzig.de

2023 couldn’t pass without marking the anniversary of Bach’s arrival. That will make for a very special edition of the Bach Festival in June, which will include all manner of performances under the title BACH for Future – all of its carbon emissions offset by the dedicated ‘forest of Bach’ by Lake Störmthal, where Bach once inspected the new Hildebrandt organ in the village church and played his cantata Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest.

For many, Leipzig is synonymous with the music of Felix Mendelssohn – the musician who made the Gewandhausorchester the envy of Europe. For a week at the start of November, the city will salute one of its dearest musical sons with a series of symphonic concerts, chamber music performances and discussions. See mendelssohn-stiftung.de/en for more.

But the biggest noises of all will emanate from the Gewandhaus itself during the Mahler Festival, running for 18 days in May in celebration of the years the composer spent in the city. The 2023 festival will include performances of Mahler’s complete symphonies from world-class visiting orchestras - including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - alongside ‘home team’ that is the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester. More details at gewandhausorchester.de/en

In between concerts or sightseeing, there’s always the chance to hop on the Leipzig Music Trail – a walking route connecting 23 locations of historic musical significance. But whatever you choose to do here, you’ll be welcomed by a city whose leaders and citizens set great store by musical creativity of the highest standards. They always have done. leipzig.travel/cityofmusic