Lully / Campistron - Acis Et Galatee - DVD

Having been granted unprecedented authority by Louis XIV, the Sun King, no one could stage operas in France without Jean-Baptiste Lully's permission. By 1686, however, Lully's authority was waning and his long-standing librettist deserted him to write sacred works. Despite these setbacks, Lully wrote Acis et Galate, a pastorale hroque, and one of his final masterpieces. It's plot - the cyclops Poliphme's love for the nymph Galate - drew from Lully an astonishing alternation of effects, a profound monologue for the nymph in Act III and a magnificent concluding Passacaille, all framed by a succession of dances and vividly conceived choruses.