Vive les femmes!

As art always reflects society, the history of music invariably tells a story of male dominance. The fact that women composers such as Handel’s contemporary, “Mrs Philarmonica”, published their works only anonymously was symptomatic of their place in musical life at the time. Consequently, it is predominantly male ideas of femininity – be it beauty and purity or seduction and danger – that find their echo in music.

The four musicians of the French ensemble La Mandorle captivated festival audiences in 2025 at the göttingen händel competition, where they won both the main prize and the audience prize. In their concert this year, they explore and question the imagined feminine in Baroque music between François Couperin and George Frideric Handel.