Handel and Hendrix are getting a £3 million facelift

Press release:

George Frideric Handel lived at 25 Brook Street from 1723 until his death in 1759. It was here that Handel wrote and rehearsed his greatest works, including Messiah and its ever popular ‘Hallelujah chorus’ – perhaps the most famous piece of classical music ever written. His stirring anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’ was also written in Brook Street and has accompanied the coronation of every British monarch since George II (for whom it was written in 1727).

In 1968, Jimi Hendrix moved into an adjoining flat at number 23. Here, in the only place he said he felt truly at home, Hendrix entertained, inspired and collaborated with other icons of British 60s rock music.

Handel & Hendrix in London has begun a £3million project to open all of Handel’s house to the public for the first time by restoring the basement and ground floor, until recently a luxury goods shop, and refurbishing the upper floors which were first opened in 2001. This construction work – the Hallelujah Project – will:
· Faithfully recreate Handel’s basement kitchen with all its fixtures and fittings, carefully detailed on an inventory made shortly after the composer’s death
· Restore the ground floor parlours in which Handel would receive his guests and aristocratic patrons and in which his assistant, J.C. Smith, would sell tickets and subscriptions to new works
· Restore the front façade of 25 Brook Street so that visitors can finally enter Handel’s home through his front door

New things to see in Handel’s house will include:
· Historic rooms presented as they might have been in the 1740s, when the composer was in a new burst of creative energy and commercial success writing dramatic oratorios
· Recently acquired works of art, creating a collection representative of the more than 100 works of art Handel owned in Brook Street
· New exhibitions about Handel’s music and the musicians he worked with and a mixed reality audiovisual display about the writing of Messiah in the very room in which it was composed
· Live music performed in the rooms in which it was written and, often, first heard
· The restored museum will welcome more visitors and host concerts, masterclasses and exclusive private events. The income will be reinvested in the museum’s heritage and learning programme

As Simon Daniels, Director of Handel & Hendrix in London commented: “Handel’s home has been recognised as a monument of great importance since the mid 19th-century, when it was identified with the predecessor to London’s famous ‘blue plaques’. However, this did not protect the building from unsympathetic development, most notoriously at the turn of the last century when it was turned into an antiques shop with two-storey shop front. As the composer Algernon Ashton bitterly complained in the press ‘the beautiful old house, which was splendidly preserved, has been spoilt beyond recognition.’”

He continued: “Restoring Handel’s house to its original appearance was an idea revived by musicologist Stanley Sadie in 1959. After 63 years, the Hallelujah Project will finally realise this noble ambition and ensure 25 Brook Street is an engaging, accessible and permanent testament to the fact that London was home to one of the world’s greatest ever composers.”

Internationally acclaimed countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, whose spectacular performances have brought Handel’s music to new audiences, is supporting the project and said: “Ever since I was a young singer, the Handel & Hendrix house has served as a great inspiration, making the past feel tangible and illuminating the underpinnings of music that has come to define me. I look forward to seeing the results of the spectacular renovations when the house re-opens in spring 2023.”

In 2016, Jimi Hendrix’s flat in 23 Brook Street was brilliantly restored and opened to the public. To be enjoyed as a contrasting and complementary part to a visit to Handel’s home, the Hendrix experience at Handel & Hendrix in London is being expanded as part of the Hallelujah Project:
· For the first time, visitors will be able to walk up and down the stairs to his flat, where George Harrison famously had to step over one of Jimi’s other visitors who had passed out en route to the exit
· A new exhibition will use sound and moving image for visitors to explore Hendrix’s legendary guitar technique and give the opportunity to share their own recollections of Hendrix’s performances

A final exhibition will look at London’s vibrant cultural scene in the 18th century and 1960s, exploring why the capital was a magnet for both Handel and Hendrix and how they shaped and changed the city they made their home.

Handel & Hendrix in London closed for the works to take place in September 2021 and will re-open on 18 May 2023, 300 years after Handel first moved in.