Handel: Acis and Galatea

Acis and Galatea was one of the most successful of George Frideric Handel’s works during his lifetime. Nicholas McGegan and his Festspiel Orchester Göttingen, along with the North German Radio Choir, and an excellent ensemble of soloists (including Julia Kleiter and Christoph Prégardien) are heard in this recently discovered version by Mendelssohn.

Acis and Galatea is the Dunedin Consort's second Handel recording and follows their hugely successful 1742 version of Messiah, which earned the group a Classic FM Gramophone Award for "Best Baroque Vocal Album" in 2007 and a Midem Award in 2008.

The Dunedin Consort continues its critically acclaimed practice of recording unusual but authentic recording versions of well-known works; Acis and Galatea is no exception. The Consort has recorded the Original Cannons Performing Version from 1718.

There are notable differences in the Cannons version including changes in instrumentation and vocal scoring (there is no alto line) made by Handel to suit the forces at Cannons. This includes one-to-a-part choruses, in a similar manner to the choruses in the Consort’s Matthew Passion recording.

Director John Butt chose this version because of the small forces involved (which was one of the aspects that made Messiah so distinctive) and although there have been 'first versions' of Acis recorded before, Butt felt that there were certain aspects of the original version that had not yet been sufficiently realised.

Acis and Galatea is a beautiful pastoral entertainment, Handel's first dramatic work in English, with a simple yet highly emotional story that encompasses the extremes of love and tragedy.

In 2007, the Dunedin Consort’s tenth anniversary year, the group reached a new level of critical acclaim, culminating in the Classic FM Gramophone Award for Messiah in the Baroque Vocal category. This is the only such award presented to a Scottish group in recent years (and the first to an ensemble that is not a Scottish National Company or BBC orchestra) and now gives the Dunedin Consort a truly international reputation.

“A genuine sparkle which lifts Handel's music above the ordinary, and a fresh angle for just about every moment.” The Scotsman

Christopher Hogwood conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and a distinguished cast including Danielle de Niese and Charles Workman in Wayne McGregor's new production of Handel's opera in which The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet appear in a rare and beautifully crafted collaboration. Filmed with High Definition cameras and recorded in true surround sound.

“Charles Workman and Danielle de Niese had bags of vocal and personal charm in the title roles, with strong contributions from Matthew Rose as Polyphemus and Paul Agnew and Ji-Min Park as attendant shepherds; among the dancers, special praise to Lauren Cuthbertson as Galatea's frolicking nymph. …An evening of exquisite sensual pleasure.” The Telegraph

Extra features:

Illustrated synopsis

Cast gallery

Documentary: Staging Acis and Galatea

Running time 110 mins

Region code All regions

Video codec: AVC/MPEG-4

Disc size: BD50

Picture format 1080i High Definition / 16:9

Sound format 2.0 PCM & 5.0 DTS Master Audio

Menu language EN

Subtitles FR/DE/ES (extra features only)