Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

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Work data
Original title: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
Shape: Dramatic cantata / Serenata a tre
Original language: Italian
Music: georg Friedrich Handel
Libretto : Nicola Giuvo
Literary source: Ovid , Metamorphoses
Premiere: July 19, 1708
Place of premiere: Naples
Playing time: approx. 1 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: mythical time
people

Aci, Galatea e Polifemo ( HWV 72 ) is a dramatic cantata or a Serenata a tre in a part by Georg Friedrich Handel ( music ) with a libretto by Nicola Giuvo . Handel wrote the work in Italy, where he was staying for study purposes. The premiere took place on July 19, 1708 in Naples for the wedding of Tolomeo Saverio Gallio, Duke of Alvito, with Beatrice Tocco di Montemiletto. The latter was Aurora Sanseverino's niece , who commissioned the work.

action

The plot follows a story from Book 13 of Ovid's Metamorphoses . The nymph Galatea , a daughter of the sea god Nereus , is happily in love with Aci , the son of King Faunus of Lazio. The one-eyed giant Polifemo also desires them. Out of jealousy, he kills Aci with a boulder. Galathea asks Nereus to turn Aci's blood into a silver spring and to let him live on as a river god so that she can find him again in the water.

layout

Although the content of the work is almost identical to Handel's Masque Acis and Galatea (HWV 49a) composed in 1718 , there are no musical similarities between these two works. Only in the new version of HWV 49b from 1732 did Handel take over some sentences.

The musical affects are very differentiated. Each aria is in a different key, so that all keys commonly used at the time appear in the score. The instrumental line-up includes strings and basso continuo as well as a recorder , two oboes and two trumpets . Compared to other contemporary works of the genre, the instruments are combined in a more varied and experimental way. There is an aria (“Fra l'ombre e gl'orrori”) which is accompanied only by muted violins , recorder and violone without a harpsichord , and the aria “Se m'ami, oh caro” uses two solo cellos. The role of Polifemo is a particular challenge for the singer due to its large vocal range from D to a1 .

Performance history and discography

After the world premiere in 1708, there were several other contemporary performances in Italy, for example in December 1711, on July 26th and September 26th, 1713 and in early December 1722.

The first re-performance in recent times was in 1961 as part of the Göttingen Handel Festival. Günther Weißenborn was the musical director .

There are now several CD recordings of the work:

Furthermore, a DVD of a scenic performance from 2009 from the Teatro Carignano in Turin has been released. The production and set design are by Davide Livermore . The musical performers are those of the Dynamic recording from 2011.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Discography at Allmusic , accessed on September 8, 2014.