Thursday Live

No. 25 Brook Street is a landmark address in the history of music. Now every Thursday the house is brought back to life with live music. Between 6pm - 6.45pm and 7pm - 7.45pm, the Museum entertains its visitors, as Handel would have done, with a baroque recital in the rehearsal and performance room.

The room is the largest room in the house at the front of the first floor. It is equipped with a double-manual harpsichord, commissioned according to the specifications of Handel's period. The room is wooden paneled with no soft furnishings creating a rich and intimate acoustic environment. The walls are hung with portraits of Handel's musical associates including the Italian soprano Faustina Bordoni and John Beard, the tenor who sang Messiah at the Foundling Hospital.

Thursday Live is part of the Handel House Museum's ongoing live music programme. Students and young professionals rehearse during opening hours and public concerts are organised as part of the events seasons.

Jacqueline Riding, Director, says:

"For decades, the only indication that Handel had resided in London - for almost fifty years - was a blue plaque on his house in Brook Street. I am proud that one of Britain's greatest adopted sons now has not a memorial or shrine, but a living testament to his fame and genius."

Posted: 17 December 2002