US TARIFFS UPDATE | August 2025 | No impact expected on your Presto orders | Read full details
Handel: Aci Galatea E Polifemo
Raffaele Pe (counter-tenor), Giuseppina Bridelli, Andrea Mastroni, La Lira Di Orfeo
Notwithstanding flaws in conception, this is an intriguing opportunity to hear some of Handel’s 1730s alternative numbers recorded for the first time.
Handel: Aci Galatea E Polifemo
Raffaele Pe (counter-tenor), Giuseppina Bridelli, Andrea Mastroni, La Lira Di Orfeo
Purchase product
Notwithstanding flaws in conception, this is an intriguing opportunity to hear some of Handel’s 1730s alternative numbers recorded for the first time.
About
Handels dramatic cantata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo is a serenata first performed in Naples in 1708 with a libretto by Niccola Giuvo after Book 13 of Ovids Metamorphoses. Handel adapted this score several times: The one-act masque Acis and Galatea (HWV 49), with an English text by John Gay, was first performed at Cannons in 1718.
This was followed by, among others, a version as a three-act serenata for the Italian opera company in London in 1732 and an adaptation of the original English work into a two-act work in 1739.
The so-called Senesino version presented on this recording is based on a manuscript from the British library in London.
In this version probably written for the famous castrato Senesino, Aci is an alto and Galatea is a soprano, all arias of the two characters are transposed. Polifemos part is almost completely re-written, with long accompanied recitatives and new arias.
The instrumentation is slightly different from the Neapolitan version: No trumpets are present but a more extended use of woodwinds and recorders.
Contents and tracklist
- Luca Guglielmi, Andrea Mastroni, Raffaele Pe, Giuseppina Bridelli
- La Lira di Orfeo
Awards and reviews
December 2021
Notwithstanding flaws in conception, this is an intriguing opportunity to hear some of Handel’s 1730s alternative numbers recorded for the first time.
January 2022
the performance is more worth hearing for the singing of the three soloists...Bridelli is superb. This Galatea is no shrinking violet...Pe, too, is outstanding.
24th October 2021
there are commanding performances from Mastroni as Polifemo, Bridelli as Galatea and Pe as a plangent alto Aci.
