19th Workshop of the Czech Handel Society

Wednesday 23 November 2016 at 6.00 pm.

Classroom No. 19 at ‘Vyšší odborná škola oděvního návrhářství a Střední průmyslová škola oděvní’ (Vocational High School for Clothing Design and Secondary Technical School for Clothing), Jablonského 3/333, Prague 7 – Holešovice, Czech Republic, close to the underground station ‘Nádraží Holešovice’ (line ‘C’).

Admission free.

Snacks & drinks available in vending machines on the premises of the School.

Programme:

There Is Handel on the Roof…

The lecture will be given by Pavel Polka, Chairman of the Czech Handel Society.

On Friday 25 November 2016, the lecture will be followed, as part of the Workshop, by a special ascent to the statues of composers on the balustrade of the building of Rudolfinum in Prague’s Old Town, with participants gathering outside the entrance to the seat of the Czech Philharmonic (side front facing the river) at 3.45 pm.

Further information at ‘info@haendel.cz’.

The building of Rudolfinum in Prague’s Old Town. A view of the main front. The arrow points to the statue of George Frideric Handel. – The Rudolfinum, one of the most accomplished neo-Renaissance edifices in the Czech Republic, was erected in 1876–1884 by Jan Bělský (1815–1880), municipal master-builder of Prague, and his heirs to a design by the architects Josef Zítek (1832–1909) and Josef Schulz (1840–1917). The festive opening of the Rudolfinum took place on 7 February 1885 in the absence of Crown Prince Rudolf of Hapsburg (1858–1889), after whom this multi-purpose building was named. The programme of the inaugural concert in the Rudolfinum, given on the same day, included ‘Hallelujah’ from Handel’s oratorio ‘Messiah’.

Hans Rathausky (1858–1912): statue of George Frideric Handel (1685–1759). Sandstone, 1883–1884. Balustrade of the main cornice on the entrance front of the Rudolfinum in Prague (southwest corner). To the left behind Handel, a statue of the composer Daniel François Esprit Auber (1782–1871). – Photographed by Martina Růžičková on 5 April 2015.