PRESENTED BY Opera Holland Park
DIRECTED BY Louise Bakker
CONDUCTED BY Michael Papadopoulos
DESIGNED BY Alyson Cummins
LIGHTING DESIGNED BY Johanne Jensen
CHOREOGRAPHED BY Merry Holden

ACIS Anthony Gregory
GALATEA Elizabeth Karani
POLYPHEMUS Chuma Sijeqa
DAMON Ruairi Bowen

Shakira will sing in the 8 Part Ensemble.

A miniature masterpiece of love, loss and transformation

Composed in 1718 for private performance in the gardens of the Duke of Chandos’s palace, and based on an episode in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Handel’s tragicomic serenata is a miniature masterpiece of love, loss and transformation. Birdsong and murmuring waters weave through the music as the sea nymph Galatea and the shepherd Acis celebrate their mutual love, enraging the lustful cyclops, Polyphemus. When Polyphemus attacks Acis, the shepherd is transformed into a natural spring, forever at one with the idyllic landscape and the tears of his beloved nymph.

Louise Bakker directs Opera Holland Park’s first production of a Handel opera. Former Opera Holland Park Young Artist and alumnus of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker scheme Michael Papadopoulos conducts, with Anthony Gregory and Elizabeth Karani as the lovers, Acis and Galatea. South African bass-baritone Chuma Sijeqa takes the role of Polyphemus, the cyclops driven mad by unrequited passion.

Friday 19th July 2024, 7:30pm
Wednesday 24th July, 7:30pm
Friday 26th July, 7:30pm
Wednesday 31st July, 7:30pm
Friday 2nd August, 7:30pm
Opera Holland Park, Ilchester Place, London W8 6LU