CD 5 stelle ***** Questa “serenata”, composta nel 1708 a Napoli probabilmente per l’occasione di un importante matrimonio aristocratico, non deve essere confusa con la successiva “Acis and Galatea”, un “masque” composto in Inghilterra nel 1718 su di un libretto in inglese. La triste storia dell’amore infelice fra il giovane Aci e la ninfa Galatea, spezzato dal geloso ciclope Polifemo che induce la ninfa ad annegarsi …
Trouble in Arcadia Fires Handel’s Musical Imagination 5 stars ***** The shepherd Aci is in love with the sea nymph Galatea, but so is the cyclops Polifemo, the same cruel monster later to be blinded by Ulysses. Galatea flees from Polifemo into the depths of the sea. Polifemo seeks revenge by crushing Aci with a boulder. The ‘Gods’ feel pity for the lovers and change Aci’s …
qualità artistica: 7.5 | qualità tecnica: 9.5 Nel profluvio creativo con cui Georg Friedrich Händel inondò (1685-1759) il Settecento maggiore – ed era in buona compagnia coetanea – Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (luglio 1708), un’estesa serenata a tre voci su testo anonimo, non occupa un posto di rilievo: essa venne composta a Napoli, durante l’Italienreise del 1706-1708, dopo la tappa fiorentina e il soggiorno romano durante …
One of the most remarkable things about Handel’s stay in Italy is the fact that he, who had travelled south to learn the Italian way of composing in no time developed into one of Italy’s most celebrated composers. As a result he got many opportunities to perform his own music, and also was in demand as a composer for occasional music. Aci, Galatea e Polifemo is …
Aci, Galatea e Polifemo was composed in Naples in 1708, apparently for use as a wedding entertainment. It has been overshadowed by the very different (and musically almost totally separate) treatment that Handel later gave the old Sicilian myth of love and jealousyin his English language work, Acis and Galatea. But this earlier Italian venture stands well on its own as Handel’s demonstration of mastery of …
Handel from the Netherlands and an auspicious start to a promising series Handel’s serenata was composed for a wedding celebration at Naples in summer 1708. Emmanuelle Haim’s quirky 2003 recording (Virgin, 7/03) features plenty of colourful music-making and presents a stronger conflict between the jealous Cyclops Polyphemus and the two lovers than this tidy performance by the young Netherlands-based group Contrasto Armonico, which is apparently the …
