The Standard Cantatas: Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers: A HandbookUpton, George P. (George Putnam)
History
The Standard Cantatas: Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers: A Handbook
Upton, George P. (George Putnam)
Cantatas -- History and criticism
Handel had taken no notice of the 1731 performance; but this
representation, given at a theatre directly opposite the one of which he
was manager, roused his resentment, though piracy of this kind was very
common in those days. He determined to outdo the manager "over the way."
On the 5th of June he announced in the "Daily Journal":--
"In the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, the present Saturday, being
the 10th of June, will be performed a serenata called 'Acis and
Galatea,' formerly composed by Mr. Handel, and now revised by him, with
several additions, and to be performed by a great number of the best
voices and instruments. There will be no action on the stage,[23] but
the scene will represent in a picturesque manner a rural prospect, with
rocks, groves, fountains, and grottos, among which will be disposed a
chorus of nymphs and shepherds; the habits, and every other decoration,
suited to the subject. Also on the 13th, 17th, 20th. The libretto
printed for J. Watts, in three acts."
The rival establishment had produced the work as it was originally given
at Cannons; but as intimated in his advertisement, Handel made additions,
interpolating a number of airs and choruses from the serenata which he
had composed at Naples, thus requiring the work to be sung both in
Italian and English,--a polyglot practice from which our own times are
not exempt. The part of Acis was sung by Senesino, a male soprano;
Galatea by Signora Strada; and Polyphemus by Montagnana. The other
parts--Clori and Eurilla sopranos, Filli and Dorinda contraltos, and
Silvio tenor--were also represented. It was performed eight times in
1732, and was brought out in the same form at Oxford in 1733; but in 1739
Handel restored it to its original shape as it had been given at Cannons.
It is now generally performed in two parts with the three characters
Galatea, Acis, and Polyphemus, and choruses of nymphs and shepherds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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