| Hertog van Gelre |
27 november 2010 10:32 |
One was the psychedelic king of the electric guitar; the other the harpsichord virtuoso whose choral works thrilled the court of George I. And for just a few months at the height of the swinging 60s their lives – separated by more than two centuries in time – became briefly linked in the unassuming environs of a top- floor flat above a Chinese restaurant in London's Mayfair.
When Jimi Hendrix moved into 23 Brook Street in 1968 with his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham one of the first things he noticed was the blue English Heritage plaque marking the house next door as the former abode of composer George Frideric Handel. So intrigued was Hendrix by the historical connection with the late German genius of baroque that he set out to discover his works, buying them at local record shops.
Today Hendrix's old flat, which now boasts its own blue plaque, is the administrative headquarters of the Handel House Museum and for 12 days in September office staff will vacate their desks to turn over the premises to a unique exhibition celebrating the life of the guitarist in Britain and his unlikely association with Handel.
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