Monuments on the portal depict artists, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, William Shakespeare, Sophocles, Molière and Euripides.

In 1945, during the last months of World War II, the building was largely destroyed again, this time by the bombing of Dresden and subsequent firestorm, leaving only the exterior shell standing.

It was rebuilt almost identically to its appearance before the war, but with the benefit of new stage machinery and an accompanying modern rear service building.

[3] The Semperoper reopened with the opera that was performed just before the building's destruction in 1945, Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz.

Whilst the Semperoper does not have a GMD as of 2015, the chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden was Christian Thielemann, as of the 2012/13 season.

In May 2021, his initial contract as Intendant was extended through the 2023–2024 season, at which time Theiler is scheduled to conclude his tenure in the post.

[6] In June 2021, the Semperoper announced the appointment of Nora Schmid as the incoming Intendantin of the company (the second woman to hold the post, after Ulrike Hessler), effective with the 2024–2025 season.