Handel Festival Hall: Gender Roles in the Baroque Era (faz.net)

• Handel Festival Halle 2026 with theme 'Mannsbilder' from June 5-14.
• Director Florian Amort highlights diversity of male roles in Handel's operas.
• Performance of 'Talestri' by Baroque composer Maria Antonia Walpurgis.

"The International Handel Festival in Halle (June 5-14, 2026) focuses on gender images in the Baroque under the motto 'Mannsbilder' (Male Images). Director Florian Amort explains that masculinity at the time meant emotional control, but Handel's operas display a wide spectrum of male characters. A highlight is the opera 'Talestri' by Electress Maria Antonia Walpurgis, telling the Amazon queen's story from a female perspective. Amort emphasizes that female creativity was more accepted in the Baroque than in the 19th century. Drag workshops and a fashion party reflect on historical gender boundaries."