|
The Handel Festival Orchestra Halle [German: Händelfestspielorchester] has been performing on historical instruments since 1993 and has greatly enriched the city's musical life with concerts and opera performances ever since. Its affiliation with the Staatskapelle Halle, a concert and opera orchestra playing modern instruments, is unique in the German music scene.
This special ensemble for early music continues Halle's long tradition of cultivating George Frideric Handel and represents Halle on tours regionally and around the world. In recent years, the orchestra has performed in various German music centers, including the Musikfest Stuttgart, Magdeburger Telemann-Festtagen, Händel-Festspiele Halle, Händel-Festspiele Halle, Bachfest Leipzig, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and two opera productions at the Semperoper Dresden, as well as in Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Austria, and South Korea.
In Halle, the ensemble can be heard in its own subscription series, the "Barock-Abonnement," as well as in a chamber music ensemble in cooperation with the Stiftung Händel-Haus, performing "Händels Schätze." It also works closely with the Stadtsingechor Halle. As part of the Händel-Festspiele Halle, the ensemble participates annually in a new production of a G.F. Handel's opera.
Since the English conductor Howard Arman laid the foundation for the ensemble's rapidly growing reputation, the Halle Handel Festival Orchestra has repeatedly collaborated with internationally renowned specialists such as Paul McCreesh, Paul Goodwin, Marcus Creed, Michael Schneider, Fabio Biondi, Andreas Spering, Wolfgang Katschner, Sergio Azzolini, Petra Müllejans, Mayumi Hirasaki, and Enrico Onofri. Anton Steck and Bernhard Forck (2007-2019) have had a lasting impact on the ensemble as Artistic Directors for many years. In 2021, Attilio Cremonesi took over this position at the request of the orchestra.
Several CD and DVD recordings are available, including the CD Vol. 1 of the Haendeliana Hallensis series with Benno Schachtner, produced by the Querstand label in 2017. The series was recently expanded to include Vol. 4: a pasticcio of "Hercules" settings by J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel with the Stadtsingechor Halle under the direction of Clemens Flämig (Querstand, 2020). Also released in 2020 on the Orfeo label was the CD "Care pupille," featuring excerpts from works by G.F. Handel and Christoph Willibald Gluck, featuring the Venezuelan soprano Samuel Mariño under the musical direction of Michael Hofstetter. |
