"Fireworks and Halle-luja" - the book

To accompany the special exhibition 2022 "Fireworks and Halle-lujah - 100 Years of Handel Festivals in Halle", the Handel House Foundation presents an opulent illustrated book on the multi-faceted history of the festival.

Heavyweight in every respect, this splendidly presented look at Handel's work and the history of the festival in Halle, the city of music in Saxony-Anhalt.

(Blog "live at the opera")

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Handel Festival, the Handel House Foundation is tracing the history of the festival in a special exhibition. The exhibition is entitled "Fireworks and Halle-lujah - 100 Years of Handel Festivals in Halle". Accompanying the exhibition and the anniversary festival, a representative and richly illustrated book will be presented, in which not only the history of the festival will be traced from various points of view, but also renowned personalities will have their say, expressing their attachment to the Handel Festival. The patron is none other than the Federal President. Well-known authors will be represented, for example the former director of the Handel House, Edwin Werner, who provides information on the performance practice of early music in Halle between 1922 and 1993, Matthew Gardner, who reports on the role of the Halle Handel Edition in the performances of the Handel Festival in Halle, Handel Prize winner Silke Leopold, who looks at "Handel's Orlando a hundred years ago", Juliane Riepe, who offers a summary of the history of the Halle Handel Days during the Nazi era, or Bernhard Schrammek with an article on Handel recordings in the GDR.

The case of Handel shows once again how closely music and politics are intertwined. This anniversary volume makes it clear. (...) The wide-ranging panorama of the Halle Handel Festival, as erudite as it is entertaining, is rounded off by useful indexes of persons, works and performances as well as a chronological table on the history of the festival.

(Dieter David Scholz, Operalounge)

The essays read easily and well, presenting historical and new information from Handel research in an entertaining way. (...) The attractive layout makes you want to read the Festschrift. Texts alternate with illustrations of historical documents and portraits, artists' quotations find their way in, and stage events come to life in photographs. A 'firework' of bright lights in the Handel sky.

(Mechthild Tillmann, liveinderoper.com)

A most fascinating compilation and an absolute must for anyone who wants to develop from a Handel fan to a Handel expert.

(André Sperber, Concerti)

It is also nice that "Fireworks and Hallelujah" offers added scholarly value in addition to easy-to-read and not too long texts. (...) One reads firmly - thanks to Handel!

(Markus Burderreck, MDR Klassik on 21 March 2022)