Handel renaissance after 1945
A Centre of the Handel Renaissance
Revival of Operas
George Frideric Handel Society
Cultivation of the Entire Œuvre of Handel
Authentic Performing Practice
The City of Halle´s Handel Prizes
A Centre of the Handel Renaissance
The first concerts that took place in Halle after 1945 included performances of Handel works.
Single concerts were followed in 1948 by the Handel Days, promoted by the Hallische
Händel-Gesellschaft recently newly formed by Max Schneider, the State College for Theatre and
Music, the civic theatres, the musical School of the Evangelical Church and the
Robert-Franz-Singakademie. Fruitful work was also done by the Working Group for the Promotion of
Handel’s Music (a sub-unit of the League of Culture of Democratic Renewal in Germany), which under
the guidance of the devoted musical salesman Arno Rammelt, organised concerts in the Handel House,
which had been founded as a Handel memorial and music museum by the City of Halle in 1937 (but
opened to the public only in 1948).
In the following years Handel Days were held regularly and public interest in them grew
steadily. Such was the situation in which the first new Handel Festival took place in 1952. From
then on annual Handel Festivals have been held continuously, mainly performed by native ensembles
but more and more assisted by international artists, and with them Halle has become a centre of the
Handel renaissance.
Revival of Operas
The very first festival was made the starting point for a fresh interpretation of Handel’s
operas suited to our times. The work done in Halle on Handel’s operas had far-reaching results. It
not only lent new highlights to the festivals themselves but also stimulated the inclusion of
Handel’s operas in the repertoires of many opera houses in Europe. Nearly all of Handel
operas that have come down to us have been performed here since 1922.
George Frideric Handel Society
A new quality was attained by the Handel Festivals after the foundation of the
Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Gesellschaft (George Frideric Handel Society), an international association,
which set itself the task, right from its inception, of all-embracing research into, and the
propagation of, Handel’s music. Since its foundation in 1955 it has published the Handel Yearbooks
and, progressively, the Halle Handel Edition under the direction of Professor Dr. Walther
Siegmund-Schultze, later Professor Dr. Baselt and now Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ruf and Terence Best.
These, are common grounds for close co-operation between the Society and the Department of
Musicology of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and with eminent Handel scholars at
home and abroad. In cooperation with the Handel House the Society also holds musicological
conferences with international participation, which take place annually as an integral part of the
festivals.
Cultivation of the Entire Œuvre of Handel
Regardless of the emphasis on operas, since the founding of the
Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Gesellschaft the Halle the Handel Festival has considered consistently its
intention to include in its programmes the whole variety of Handel´s œuvre.
Authentic Performing Practice
Once organizers of the Handel House began their work in Halle in 1937, and especially after
its official opening in 1948 there were concerts on historical musical instruments including the
program of the Handel Festival in Halle. Since 1990 it has become normal practice to engage
specialised baroque music ensembles.
The City of Halle´s Handel Prizes
Between 1956 and 1990 the former Rat des Bezirkes Halle (district government) awarded Handel
Prizes. In 1992 the City of Halle endowed an award “for exceptional artistic, academic or
politico-cultural services as far as these are connected with the City of Halle's Handel
commemoration”, and besides Handel awards for young artists.
The Handel Prize consists of a diploma and a badge as well as of an amount of money.
In
1993 Nicholas McGegan was the first to be honoured; he was followed by
Axel Köhler in
1994;
• 1995: Winton Dean;
• 1996: Howard Arman;
• 1997: Emma Kirkby;
• 1998: Helmut Gleim;
• 1999: Trevor Pinnock;
• 2000: Donald James Burrows;
• 2001: John Eliot Gardiner;
• 2002: Jean-Claude Malgoire;
• 2003: Marc Minkowski;
• 2004: Wolfgang Katschner;
• 2005: Stanley Sadie;
• 2006: Klaus Froboese;
• 2007: Paul Goodwin;
• 2008: Christopher Hogwood
