Program

George Frideric Handel, Acis and Galatea

I: Overture

I: Chorus - Oh the pleasure of the plains

I: Recitative - Ye verdant plains

I: Aria - Hush, hush, ye pretty warbling quire

I: Aria - Where shall I seek the charming faie

I: Recitative - Stay, shepherd, stay

I: Aria - Shepherd, what art thou pursuing

I: Recitative - Lo! here my love

I: Aria - Love in her eyes sits playing

I: Recitative - Oh! didst thou know the pains

I: Aria - As when the dove

I: Duet - Happy we

I: Chorus - Happy we

II: Chorus - Wretched lovers

II: Recitative - I rage, I melt

II: Aria - O ruddier than the cherry

II: Recitative - Whither, fairest, art thou running

II: Aria - Cease to beauty to be suing

II: Aria - Would you gain the tender creature

II: Recitative - His hideous love provokes my rage

II: Aria - Love sounds th'alarm

II: Aria - Consider, fond shepherd

II: Recitative - Cease, oh cease, thou gentle youth

II: Trio - The flocks shall leave the mountains

II: Recitative - Help, Galatea

II: Chorus - Mourn, all ye muses

II: Solo with Chorus - Must I my Acis still bemoan

II: Recitative - Tis done, thus I exert my pow'r divine

II: Aria - Heart, the seat of soft delight

Chorus - Galatea, dry thy tears

Leonardo García-Alarcón conducts Handel's Acis and Galatea

With Cappella Mediterranea and the Chœur de Chambre de Namur at Les Coups de Cœur à Chantilly 2025

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Cast

Charlotte Bowden  — Galatea

Guy Cutting  — Acis

Staffan Liljas  — Polyphemus

Valerio Contaldo  — Damon

Thibaut Lenaerts  — Choirmaster

Namur Chamber Choir

Cappella Mediterranea

Leonardo García Alarcón  — Conductor

Program notes

At the 2025 Coups de Cœur à Chantilly, Maestro Leonardo García-Alarcón takes to the organ and leads his celebrated ensembles Cappella Mediterranea and Namur Chamber Choir in Handel’s most frequently performed work during his lifetime: Acis and Galatea! A miniature drama, the opera takes its tragicomic story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and blends the English pastoral style with Italianate arias and choruses. The Château de Chantilly creates a compelling backdrop for the doomed love of the nymph Galatea and shepherd Acis, brought to life by the excellent ensembles and solo vocalists Guy Cutting, Charlotte Bowden, Staffan Liljas, and Valerio Contaldo.

Photo © Lyodoh Kaneko

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