Acis and Galatea at Opera Holland Park

About the Event

Immerse yourself in the breathtaking architecture of London's Opera Holland Park Theatre for a concert that will awaken your understanding of opera.

A new production by Opera Holland Park, English libretto by John Gay, surtitles in English. With the City of London Sinfonia and the Opera Holland Park Chorus.

A miniature masterpiece of love, loss, and transformation. Composed in 1718 for private performance in the gardens of the Duke of Chandos’s palace, Handel’s tragicomic serenata is a beautiful story of love, loss, and transformation. The music is filled with birdsong and murmuring waters as the sea nymph Galatea and the shepherd Acis celebrate their love, enraging the lustful cyclops, Polyphemus. When Polyphemus attacks Acis, the shepherd is transformed into a natural spring, forever part of 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 on the role of Polyphemus, the cyclops driven mad by unrequited passion.