26 Jan 2007

Polish & Pastoral Charm

http://www.nysun.com/article/47461

By George Loomis [NY Sun, 26 January 2007]

Handel's "Acis and Galatea," like his later "Semele," is rightly considered an opera, even if it went by other labels during the birth of English opera. Both works have rightly been accorded recent productions at the New York City Opera, "Semele" just last fall. But "Acis and Galatea," it seems, was originally given by quite modest forces, in a performance with soloists doubling as choristers and perhaps as few as seven or eight instrumentalists.