COMPOSERS: Handel
LABELS: Harmonia Mundi
WORKS: Aci; Galatea e Polifemo
PERFORMER: Emma Kirkby, Carolyn Watkinson, David Thomas; London Baroque/ Charles Medlam
CATALOGUE NO: HMA 1901253/54
Handel wrote Aci, Galatea e Polifemo in Naples in 1708, ten years before his better-known masque Acis and Galatea, which tells a similar story but in different music. The earlier ‘serenata a tre’, virtually a one-act opera, is typical of Handel’s Italian period – brimming with energy and melodic invention, every aria a delight. The three singers give sparkling performances and London Baroque dispatches the brightly variegated score with much aplomb. Three flute sonatas provide an attractive makeweight. Recommended. Graham Lock
Handel: Aci; Galatea e Polifemo
Handel wrote Aci, Galatea e Polifemo in Naples in 1708, ten years before his better-known masque Acis and Galatea, which tells a similar story but in different music. The earlier ‘serenata a tre’, virtually a one-act opera, is typical of Handel’s Italian period – brimming with energy and melodic invention, every aria a delight. The three singers give sparkling performances and London Baroque dispatches the brightly variegated score with much aplomb. Three flute sonatas provide an attractive makeweight. Recommended. Graham Lock
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:29 pm