Acis and Galatée

Acis and Galatée is a opera in form of Pastorale composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1686. The booklet is drawn from the legend from Acis and Galatée such as it is brought back in the Metamorphoses of Ovide.

Played in first representation at the court of the Large Dolphin (wire of Louis XIV) to the castle of Seals, this pastoral avoids the gallant and too light Style that the booklet of Thomas Corneille could make fear and at the same time breathes on the contrary by one of the feats of ingenuity of Lully a tragic and bucolic atmosphere.

The history recalls the legend of the nymph Galatée with which the Cyclops Polyphème fell in love. Gotten rid of by the nymph and furious to see itself preferring the beautiful shepherd Acis, the giant will kill this one by crushing it under a rock.

The partition contains superb passages like long the Passacaille instrumental and vocal which concludes the spectacle, or the role of Polyphème which is certainly one of the most beautiful writings for a basic voice in the opera French baroque.

Discography

Acis and Galatée was recorded in a very beautiful version by Marc Minkowski and the Musicians of Louvre with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt and Veronique Gens by Archiv Produktion.

Prolog

Diane - Monique Simon
Dryade - Francoise Masset
a Sylvain - Thierry Felix
Abundance - Mireille Delunsch
Comus - Jean-Louis Miller
Apollo - Howard Crook

Act

Acis - Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Télème - Howard Crook
Galatée - Veronique People
Scylla - Francoise Masset
Tircis - Rodrigo Del Pozo
Aminte - Mireille Delunsch
Polyphème - Laurent Naouri
the Priest of Juno - Howard Crook
Neptune - Thierry Felix
First Naïade - Mireille Delunsch
Second Naïade - Monique Simon

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