Exciting New Era at Göttingen International Handel Festival

Fresh from the success of this year’s London Handel Festival, this summer sees Laurence Cummings make his first appearance in his capacity as Artistic Director of the International Handel Festival at Göttingen.

Described by David Vickers in Gramophone Magazine as “one of our finest and most natural Handelian conductors”, Laurence Cummings will initially hold the post for five years. This year, he conducts the 1732 version of Handel’s oratorio, Esther, as well as a semi-staged performance of the dramatic cantata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo with Gillian Ramm as Aci. As part of the festival he will also give a harpsichord recital exploring the influences of Girolamo Frescobaldi, François Couperin and Louis Couperin on Handel’s keyboard writing, and has invited Andrew Parrott to conduct the festival’s staged operatic production: Amadigi di Gaula.

The appointment at Göttingen follows 13 years as Artistic Director of the London Handel Festival, conducting “scintillating” (The Independent on Sunday) performances of Handel’s operas and oratorios. Reviewing this year’s festival and his performance of Handel’s opera Riccardo Primo, The Guardian describes Laurence Cummings as “Now one of the composer’s most sought-after champions”, and his appointment to the directorial role at Göttingen has been keenly anticipated.

Further upcoming highlights for Laurence Cummings include performances with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opéra National de Lyon, English National Opera and The Metropolitan Opera New York.

Listen to Laurence Cummings direct the Overture to Handel’s Arminio.

Find out more about the Göttingen International Handel Festival here.

Read Die Zeit‘s article on Laurence Cummings here.