Handel Festival and further
music highlights in Halle

Beside the Handel Festival in Halle, the music land Saxony-Anhalt has many more music festivals in its repertoire. Every year at the end of February until the beginning of March, the Kurt Weill Festival takes place in Dessau, in honour of the composer Kurt Weill, who was born in Dessau in 1900 and had to escape to the USA during the takeover of the National Socialists. His pieces have been discussed quite controversially. Anyway he gained most of his popularity by composing the music for Berthold Brecht’s theatre piece The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper).

Another musical highlight is the Magdeburg Telemann Festival which invites its guests to visit the city of birth of the composer. Up until now, the programme was alternating annually between the Telemann Competition and the Telemann Festival but starting with 2020, it is planned to take place every year. With the growing popularity, the city plans to extend the venues to cater to the visitors' needs and to deliver unforgettable concerts in honour of Telemann.

In the summer, friends of medieval music can enjoy the montalbâne Festival in Freyburg on the river Unstrut. Venues will be, as every year, Neuenburg castle and the church St. Marien. The name of the music festival relates to the “white mountain”, the lime stone mountain on which castle Neuenburg has been overlooking the city since 1090.

At the end of summer, the city of Köthen is hosting the Köthen Bach Festival. The music festival is alternating every two years with the National Bach Contest for young pianists. Johann Sebastian Bach lived in Köthen from 1717 until 1723 and worked as court chapel master. The concerts take place in authentic venues, e.g., the castle and the churches St. Agnus and St. Jakob.