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Andrew Tortise – Acis
Rowan Pierce – Galatea
Ashley Riches – Polyphemus
Richard Egarr – director & harpsichord
The year Handel spent as composer to James Brydges, the Earl of Carnarvon, at his house at Cannons would prove an important catalyst for his future success in England. Here, without the pressures of public performance, Handel was free to explore instrumental genres, new modes of dramatic representation, and the English language itself.
Acis and Galatea, Handel’s first setting of a substantial English text, has its origins in the poetry of Ovid, but is transformed in this version into a quintessentially English pastoral entertainment. The humble shepherd Acis seeks his beloved, the nymph Galatea, and when they are reunited they anticipate everlasting bliss together. But the giant, Polyphemus, has ambitions of his own for a life with the fair nymph. Brute that he is, he destroys Acis with a giant boulder. Beside herself with grief, Galatea uses her divine powers to transform Acis into an everlasting fountain and peace returns once more to the plain.
Director Richard Egarr leads a peerless cast in this beloved one-act masque. Longtime AAM collaborators Andrew Tortise and Ashley Riches are joined by emerging artist Rowan Pierce for an evening of heartrending melody and lyrical storytelling.