The Göttingen International Handel Festival (German, ''Internationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen'') is a German festival of baroque music, based in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, Germany. The festival was established in 1919 by Oskar Hagen, art historian and father of actress Uta Hagen, and gave its first performances in 1920. The festival has largely focused on the music of

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

and has helped to revive and cultivate increased performances of Handel's music during the twentieth century. The festival involves professional musicians from throughout the world and their performances are largely concerned with employing historical baroque performance practices. The festival produces one fully staged

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

by Handel every year and several of his

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s. In 2006, the festival created its own professional orchestra, the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (FOG), which focuses on performing baroque music. In addition, the Festival features several performances of the

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

of Handel and his contemporaries. The festival also features open-air classic events, late evening concerts and a host of other performances in especially distinctive surroundings, lectures, film showings and guided tours of the city. Past artistic directors have included Fritz Lehmann, from 1934 to 1953, except for a break from 1944 through 1946 related to conflict with the Nazi authorities.

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...

was the festival's artistic director from 1981 to 1990. Nicholas McGegan served as the festival's artistic director from 1991 to 2011. In September 2011, Tobias Wolff assumed the post of ''Intendant'' (managing director) of the Festival, and Laurence Cummings became the new artistic director of the festival.

Artistic directors (partial list)

* Fritz Lehmann (1934–1944, 1946–1953) * Günther Weißenborn (1960-1980) *

(1981–1990) * Nicholas McGegan (1991–2011) * Laurence Cummings (2011–2021) * George Petrou (since 2021/22)

References

External links

Göttingen International Handel Festival official home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottingen International Handel Festival Music festivals established in 1919 1919 establishments in Germany Classical music festivals in Germany George Frideric Handel Annual events in Germany Handel festivals