(Photo Credit: Philippe Matsas) The presentation of the 2026 Handel Prize to René Jacobs was a profound validation of historical inquiry made flesh, rendered all the more poignant by the maestro’s heartening return to health. Celebrated for his intellectual rigor and uncanny dramatic instinct, Jacobs marked the ceremony with a concert program that epitomized his lifelong artistic vision and relentless {…}
(Photo: © Barbara Anmüller) The curatorial blueprint for “Bajazet: Der gebrochene Held” was exceptionally well-considered, seamlessly weaving the shared Bajazet/Tamerlano themes of Händel, Gasparini, and Vivaldi into the overarching narrative of the 2026 Halle Handel Festival. Under Michael Schneider, La Stagione Frankfurt joined forces with tenor Samuel Boden and soprano Kateryna Kasper. However, as the live performance unfolded, the evening {…}
(Credit: © Silvia Frigato) Just two violins, a cello, a chitarrone, and a harpsichord alongside a single soprano, nestled within the elegant architecture of the Franckesche Stiftungen, actively transported the audience back to the highly refined, intellectual settings of early 18th-century Roman salons. This beautifully crafted program by Concerto Italiano under Rinaldo Alessandrini mapped the rich cultural patronage of Cardinal {…}
(Credit：Thomas Ziegler ) Written in the wake of the Jacobite rising to celebrate the Duke of Cumberland’s victory, the Händel’s oratorio “Judas Maccabaeus” inherently carries a nearly dynastic majesty. In the hands of conductor Holger Speck, the baroque ensemble Les Favorites, and the Vocalensemble Rastatt, avoided the pitfall of simple martial reading, but into a multi-layered human drama. Speck chose {…}
(Credit: Anna Kolata) When Händel laid aside the nascent blueprint of “Messiah” in the freezing winter of 1740, he was chasing, as Charles Jennens noted, “something of a gayer turn.” That pivotal decision birthed “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato,” a narrative-free oratorio that treats music like a painter’s canvas. Performing in the austere yet acoustically challenging space of the {…}
(Photo Credit: © Anna Kolata) Arguably the most heavyweight highlight of the entire festival, this performance of Händel’s “Ariodante” assembled a stellar cast that uniquely included two laureates of the prestigious Halle Handel Prize, Magdalena Kožená and Andrea Marcon. Adding to the evening’s historical significance was the rare opportunity to hear the 1735 London version ending. However, the acoustic condition {…}
(Photo: Anna Kolata) History is not entirely devoid of female composers. Similarly, history books readily note reigning monarchs who successfully wielded the musical quill. Yet, the convergence of the two remains an exceedingly rare phenomenon. Under the baton of Attilio Cremonesi, the Handel Festival Orchestra Halle brought this rarity to vibrant life. Their performance of Maria Antonia Walpurgis’s 1760 opera {…}
(Photo: Anna Kolata) “Amadigi di Gaula” was from Händel’s early London period. Like the much more famous earlier “Rinaldo,” “Amadigi” is steeped in magic, passion, and deception—its narrative shaped by baroque fantasy and underpinned by musical material recycled from Händel’s years on the continent. It is therefore fitting that this 2024 production was revived for this year’s Händel Festival in {…}
(Photo: Thomas Ziegler) The Leopoldina in Halle, seat of Germany’s oldest scientific academy, offered a rare confluence of setting and sound. Outside, summer plants stirred in the breeze and lavender bloomed along the garden paths. Inside, the classical Festsaal was filled with an attentive audience. In the foyer beyond the hall, portraits of centuries of scholars looked on—silent witnesses to {…}
(Photo: Thomas Ziegler) Among the lesser-known gems presented at this year’s Halle Handel Festival, Alessandro Scarlatti’s “La Santissima Annunziata” stood out for its spiritual focus and musical refinement. Composed around 1700/1703 and revived in 1708 under the patronage of Prince Ruspoli, this early Roman oratorio—with a libretto attributed to Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni—offers a deeply meditative take on the Annunciation. Unlike {…}
(Photo: Thomas Ziegler) Händel’s 1731 opera “Poro, re dell’Indie,” his 28th opera seria, initially proved to be a success, knocking up an initial run of 16 performances at the King’s Theatre, London, followed by revivals in the city as well as productions in Hamburg and Braunschweig. Even before the composer’s death in 1759, however, it had disappeared completely from theatres {…}