G.F. HANDEL: Acis and Galatea



Composer: G.F. Handel
Conductor: Valentin Radu
Performer: AMA DEUS ENSEMBLE: Chorus & Period-Instrument Orchestra
Soloists: Julianne Baird (Galatea) Frederick Urrey (Acis) David Price (Damon) Kevin Deas (Polyphemus) Harpsichord: Bronwyn Fix-Keller
Recorded: February 1995 at the Chapel at Valley Forge Military Academy, Wayne, PA
Label: Vox Classics
Catalog #: 7519
On-Line Price: $20 Double CD.

Handel served as Music Director for the Duke of Chanods from 1717 to 1721 and it was at Canons – the Duke’s residence in Middlesex, England – that Acis and Galatea was first produced. The date of the first performance is approximated at 1718. The work is classified as an English Masque, dramatic piece most often on a theme from classical mythology.

Whether staged or in concert form, it is clearly the most successful treatment of the myth. The spontaneity of this exuberant score serves to keep Acis and Galatea forever young.