{"product_id":"handel-acis-and-galatea","title":"Handel: Acis and Galatea","description":"\u003cb\u003eNote: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e George Frideric Handel \u003cbr\u003e  ACIS AND GALATEA \u003cbr\u003e  (Blu-ray Disc Version)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Galatea – Danielle de Niese (soprano) \/ Lauren Cuthbertson (dancer) \u003cbr\u003e  Acis – Charles Workman (tenor) \/ Edward Watson (dancer) \u003cbr\u003e  Damon – Paul Agnew (tenor) \/ Steven McRae (dancer) \u003cbr\u003e  Polyphemus – Matthew Rose (bass) \/ Eric Underwood (dancer) \u003cbr\u003e  Coridon – Ji-Min Park (soprano) \/ Paul Kay (dancer)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Royal Opera House Chorus \u003cbr\u003e  Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment \u003cbr\u003e  Christopher Hogwood, conductor\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Wayne McGregor, stage director\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, on 8 April, 2009.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Bonus: \u003cbr\u003e  - Illustrated synopsis \u003cbr\u003e  - Cast gallery \u003cbr\u003e  - Documentary – Staging Acis and Galatea\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Picture format: 1080i High Definition \u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM 2.0 \/ DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 \u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide) \u003cbr\u003e  Menu language: English \u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English (bonus features only) \/ French, German, Spanish \u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 110 mins \u003cbr\u003e  No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ctitle\u003e3422090.az_HANDEL_Acis_Galatea_Christopher.html\u003c\/title\u003e  \u003cmeta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eHANDEL \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eAcis and Galatea \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12b\"\u003e• \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eChristopher Hogwood, cond; Danielle de Niese\/Lauren Cuthbertson (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eGalatea\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Charles Workman\/Edward Watson (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eAcis\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Paul Agnew\/Steven McRae\/Mellissa Hamilton (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eDamon\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Ji-Min Park\/Paul Kay (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eCoridon\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Matthew Rose\/Eric Underwood (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003ePolyphemus\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Royal Op Extra Cho \u0026amp; Ballet; O of the Age of Enlightenment (period instruments) \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12b\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e OPUSARTE BD7056 D (Blu-ray: 110:00) Live: Covent Garden 4\/8\/2009 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAs you can tell from the headnote, this production is double-cast (in one case, triple-cast), but not in the usual way; the first name listed for each character is that of the singer, and after that comes the name of the dancer(s) assigned to shadow or echo the actions and emotions of the character. It may sound contrived, but this actually is a marvelous way to amplify the text, and frankly to relieve the score of its sometimes static nature. Handel wrote \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAcis and Galatea\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e as a masque, which for practical purposes today means a secular cantata stringing together \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eda capo\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e arias and a few choruses, and so he had no reason to fill in several important gaps in the action that would help explain character motivation or simply specify between numbers how we got from there to here. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAcis\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e doesn’t quite work as an opera, but this version directed and choreographed by Wayne McGregor makes the best case for its stageworthiness without resorting to musical interpolations. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eNot much happens in the pastoral prologue, in which the river nymph Galatea and the shepherd Acis make goo-goo eyes at each other, to the occasinal commentary of onlookers. Things go bad in the second half, where the jeaolous and volcanic Polyphemus eventually kills Acis; in best Ovidian fashion, the young man’s gushing blood is transformed into a river. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eMcGregor’s choreography fuses elements of ballet with hep Audrey Hepburn-style 1950s modern dance; the dancers, all of them excellent, do not so much act out what the singers are going on about as echo their emotions, although a few gestures do sometimes conform to specific words in the text. The cast is headed by Danielle de Niese, a fine Handel singer who also happens to look the part of a delectable nymph. In the role of Acis, however, Charles Workman’s singing is little better than, well, workmanlike—competent, but little more. Bass Matthew Rose is a rich-voiced Polyphemus, whose only fault is that he tends to miss the humor in his music (perhaps director McGregor wanted him to seem more threatening, which he certainly does). In their smaller roles, Paul Agnew and Ji-Min Park are very good, and it’s too bad Handel doesn’t give us a chance to hear more of them. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eHildegard Bechtler’s set starts off in traditional pastoral mode, but through the course of the performance gradually decays into dark abstraction as the lovers’ lives fall apart; her costumes for the singers are drawn more or less from the mid 20th-century English countryside, while the dancers wear slightly gussied-up bodysuits. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eChristopher Hogwood leads typically crisp playing by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, although there’s more emotional nuance to be found in the audio-only performances under King (Hyperion), Gardiner (Archiv), and Christie (Erato, if you can find it). This version may not displace your CD favorite, but as an audio-visual presentation it’s perfectly good, and often better than that (especially when de Niese has the stage). There’s nothing out-of-the-ordinary to report about the high-definition video and audio quality; the total time in the headnote includes a bit more than 10 minutes of special features—a little documentary and the usual illustrated synopsis. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: James Reel \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Opus Arte","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49607853408536,"sku":"809478070566","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1639507.jpg?v=1777683554","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/handel-acis-and-galatea","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}