Handel: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
Raffaele Pe (Aci, countertenor), Giuseppina Bridelli (Galatea, mezzo-soprano), Andrea Mastroni (Polifemo, bass)
Luca Guglielmi / La Lira di Orfeo (Audio: Glossa, Video: Opera Streaming)
Director: Gianmaria Aliverta
(scroll down for English review)
韓德爾《Acis and Galatea》是他廿幾歲在意大利寫的獨幕歌劇，韓德爾移居英國後仍有把此作上演，每次演出都會作些改寫，其中一個原因是為了參演的歌手陣容。這個演出嘗試重構1713年時，由閹人歌手Senesino飾演Acis所做的版本，於是這版本將Acis編給假聲男高音、女主角Galatea編給女中音，常用版本則是男高音及女高音，至於壞人Polifemo則仍是男低音。
因為非常喜歡Luca Guglielmi用古鍵琴彈的巴哈《平均律》第一冊，所以聽他這次做指揮。原本只是想聽CD版本，居然有錄影版本，是20年封城期間在無人劇院內拍攝。導演以錄像投射反映角色心情的自然景象，是近年常見的手法。
大約80分鐘的劇長，兩男一女，一個「嬲」字，就是壞人喜歡女主角，她又不喜歡他，於是壞人出橫手，最後有情人雙雙死去，在海王神的庇佑下再續前緣。男女主角固然悲傷，但壞人Polifemo也好不了幾多，他一拍兩散，是想女方都要感受他的痛苦，所以Polifemo的傷感音樂也值得憐憫。
Handel wrote the one-act Aci, Galatea and Poliemo in his twenties, in Italy. He reshaped it into Acis and Galateas after moving to England, but he made modifications on various occasions to suit the singers in his disposal. This performance reconstructed the so-called 1713 version with the castrato Senesino as Acis, so a countertenor was used here, instead of a tenor in the most common version.
I took interest in this simply because I adored Luca Guglielmi’s recording of Bach’s WTC I played on harpsichord. I was going to listen to the Glossa recording but then I found a video, taken from the same lockdown streaming, on YouTube. The director installed video panels on stage and showed natural phenomena in mimic of the protagonists’ emotions.
The 80-minute work is simply a love triangle which ends in tragedy. Rejected by Galatea, the villain Polifemo vents his anger towards the couple. But Neptune blesses the lovers and reunites them beyond their earthly lives. Handel not only wrote passionate and sad music for the couple but he also made a case for the rejected Polifemo, allowing us to feel his pain and wounded pride.