Acis and Galatea

opera

One of Handel's most stunningly beautiful stage works, Acis and Galatea (1718), a "masque" rather than an opera or oratorio, is both droll and deeply moving. The story comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses, and no less than Alexander Pope helped to craft the libretto. Living in happy Arcadian plains, the titular shepherd and nymph pledge eternal love but are separated by the mountain monster (think Rock Troll) Polypheme, who -- spurned by Galatea -- finally drops a rock on poor Acis. Galatea intercedes with her fellow immortals to have Acis turned into a burbling stream that will forever sing their love. Her final "Heart, the seat of soft delight" can be as wrenching as Isolde's "Liebestod." One of the city's most long-standing musical treasures, the Philadelphia Singers, will undertake Acis in the pleasing acoustics of St. Mark's. The soloists, all of whom have wonderful arias, include David Price (Acis), Leslie Johnson (Galatea) and Franklin Phillips (Polypheme), with Ken Garner as the ambiguously loyal shepherd Damon, who advises both of Galatea's suitors. David Hayes conducts the reliably excellent Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia for what should be a beautiful concert.

Acis and Galatea, Fri., March 5, 8 p.m., $20, St. Mark’s Church, 1625 Locust St., 215-751-9494, www.philadelphiasingers.org.

—David Shengold

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