The festival theme

OH LÀ LÀ! HANDEL? – FRENCH INSPIRATIONS

Dear Friends of the music of George

Frideric Handel,

The foundations for Handel’s cosmopolitan career was

the education he received in his native city of Halle.

When the well-travelled Johann Philipp Krieger moved

with the ducal court from Halle to Weissenfels, he sold

his music collection to St. Mary’s Church on Markt

square. For every Halle musician, the still extant

Marien-Bibliothek – St. Mary’s Library – became a

treasure trove. The organist of the Marktkirche,

Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, familiarised Handel with

the different musical styles. According to the Handel

biographer Mainwaring, Zachow “had a large

collection of Italian as well as German music. He

showed him the different styles of different nations;

the excellences and defects of each particular

author”. A critical mind helps even when composing.

Of course, at the same time Handel became

acquainted with French music, as every educated

person was familiar with French culture. And Halle

also sent Handel on his way with an education in the

humanities – French was presumably the first living

foreign language he learned. How familiar he was

with French dances can be heard in every suite, and

his operas usually open with the measured tread of a

French overture. So many reasons for exploring the

French side of Handel’s music in this edition of the

Handel Festival.

Of the Hanoverian court orchestra, Telemann wrote

that there, “the best seed of French science thrives to

become a tall tree and ripest fruit” – no wonder the

young Handel wanted to go there. Racine’s Esther,

Athalie and Bérénice (the model for Titus) and

Quinault’s Amadis and Thésée served him as models

for the libretti of operas and oratorios, and even Flavio

and Theodora have French roots. You can hear five of

them at this year’s festival, as well as the completed

fragment of Titus l’Empereur at the Carl Maria von

Weber Theatre in Bernburg.

Two programmes include

dance, which was of such importance to the Sun King:

with Danse l’Europe, the popular Pera Ensemble

builds a bridge to the Orient, while Lautten

Compagney has devised a dance performance to

Handel’s ballet music for the French dancer, Marie

Sallé – Terpsicore, the Muse of Dance. Names such as

Magdalena Kožená, Jos van Immerseel and Franco

Fagioli are guarantors of the highest artistic standard.

As a surprise guest, I have engaged the phenomenal

organist, Cameron Carpenter.

At the weekends this year we are offering three

weekend tickets, which will facilitate your choice and

spare your wallet. We invite visitors from Germany

and elsewhere to use the free mornings to discover

Halle. Two new guided tours will show you what a

beautiful city this is. Thanks to the last-minute

capitulation it remained largely undestroyed and with

its extensive Gründerzeit (mid-19th century) districts

and Jugendstil houses shows how German cities

looked before the war.

I wish you a wonderful Handel Festival in Halle

Yours,

Bernd Feuchtner

Executive Director of the Handel Festival