Florio

Based on the well-know mythological story narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, this is a classical tale of jealousy and love. The giant Polyphemus tries to force his attention on the fair sea-nymph Galatatea, who is in love with shepard Aci. When mad jealousy drives Polyphemus to kill his rival, Galatea, asks her father Nereus to turn Aci’s bood into a river so that, flowing into the sea, he will join her forevermore. It appears this serenade was composed for a marriage in the Neapolitan nobility to celebrate this wedding, Handel wrote this serenade for his new patrons. This is undoubtedly one of Handel’s masterpieces.

The Montecassino Monastery recently hosted the score of this comic opera by Leonardo Leo, one of the leading Neapolitan composers of the 18th century, who introduced new stylistic elements to the genre. Cirillo shows in a very exciting way in his direction how nothing actually happens in this opera - apart from a very subtle play of the relationships between the seven protagonists. As with Marivaux, this is about the social differences when the middle class turns to the servants and vice versa, and as in a Feydeauschen comedy, they wander on stage (and leave again) to spy, to portray themselves, or to court someone until everyone is eaten away by doubt.

The elegant “Jane Austen” costumes, designed by co-choreographer Toer van Schayk, indicate that the production has been set at about the time E.T.A. Hoffman’s original story was written—1816. Great care has clearly been put into getting the “look” right, for even Anna Tsygankova’s tiara in the Grand pas de deux replicates one worn by Napoleon’s Empress Josephine just a few years earlier.

Una sconosciuta opera di Leonardo Leo, importante maestro di una prima fase di scuola napoletana, impone nuovi stili e contenuti al genere della commedia per musica contribuendo a codificarne la forma poi perfezionata dagli autori del secondo Settecento.
Nel 1740 Leonardo Leo vive un anno di particolare intensità lavorativa: sei titoli teatrali tra rifacimenti e nuovi allestimenti tra cui L’Alidoro.
Frutto della collaborazione con il poeta napoletano Gennarantonio Federico, che predispone una commedia in cui i personaggi parlano lingue diverse (napoletano o toscano) a seconda della loro estrazione sociale e agiscono su differenti piani: uno comico e l’altro serio.

TDK presents Pierre Lacotte’s landmark reconstruction of the Romantic Ballet La Sylphide, long regarded as a classic in its own right. The original choreography by Philippe Taglioni had changed ballet forever. It introduced constitutional features of Romantic Ballet as we know it. These include dance en pointe and the tutu, which most certainly owe their omnipresence in ballet to the success of the 1832 staging of La Sylphide in Paris. Everything about the event combined to transform the ballet into a magical spectacle: the libretto, inspired by romantic literature, the bucolic exoticism of the village wedding festivities, the dramatic realism of the Sylvan forest, the eerie halo of the gas lights, the aerial flights of the dancers, the long diaphanous tulle costumes, and the ballerina’s variations en pointes. Through this work, ballet master Philippe Taglioni managed to achieve a magical fusion between mime and artistic dance in a light and flowing style that gave birth to the first “white” act in the history of ballet. Pierre Lacotte’s 1972 reconstruction returned to the very roots of Taglioni’s work. Whilst writing a book on romantic ballet in 1968, he had discovered documents about Philippe Taglioni‘s 1832 La Sylphide, which enabled him to reconstruct the work.

Four mottetti by Francesco Provenzale are interspersed with three instrumental pieces by two other composers of that school. Apart from the opportunity to hear some relatively rare late Italian baroque, the main attraction is the two sopranos - Roberta Invernizzi and Emanuela Galli, two of the finest singers specializing in the Italian baroque repertoire today. Three of the mottetti are soprano duets and in these, the pair blend together beautifully.

Dynamic is proud to present the World Première Recording of Handel's Aci Galatea e Polifemo. Davide Livermore, the director, makes this 2009 production both enjoyable and interesting to watch. It has been recorded in the newely restored and beautiful Teatro Carignano in Turin and features Sara Mingardo, Ruth Rosique and Atonio Abete in the leading roles.