After Göttingen, which began in 1920, and Halle, which started in 1952, the “Händel Festspiele” in Karlsruhe is the third German festival to be exclusively devoted to the works of George Frideric Handel. It was indeed the idea of Günter Könemann, the director of the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, to put on a Handel opera every year from the 1977/78 season. At a time when baroque opera had not recovered its place in the repertoire, this work was first presented in the context of the “Händel-Tage des Bayerischen Staatstheaters”, which turned into the “Händel Festspiele” in 1985. The programme was soon enlarged, and it now comprises a newly-staged opera as well as various concerts and revivals. This article, a study of the festival programmes since 1978, mainly focuses on the history of Handel’s reception in Germany, mainly in Karlsruhe but also in Halle and Göttingen.

2013

Haendel après Haendel :

Construction, renommée, influence de Haendel et de la figure haendélienne

Albert Gier

Otto-Friedrich Universität Bamberg

Haendel à Karlsruhe : un festival récent et ses ancêtres