Acis et Galatée

Acis et Galatée (Acis and Galatea) is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Unlike most of his operas, which are designated tragédies en musique, Lully called this work a pastorale-héroïque, because it was on a pastoral theme and had only three acts (plus a prologue) compared to the usual five. Otherwise, there is little musically or dramatically to distinguish it from Lully's tragédies. The opera was commissioned by Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme in honour of Louis, le Grand Dauphin. Lully did not work with his usual librettist Philippe Quinault, although the two men collaborated on Armide, which premiered the same year as Acis et Galatée. The duke considered giving the commission to Racine, but it went instead to his protege Jean Galbert de Campistron. The libretto is based on the story in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

The same story was also to inspire a dramatic work by Handel, Acis and Galatea.

Text from the Wikipedia article "Acis et Galatée", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the Composer

Jean-Baptiste Lully (born Giovanni Battista Lulli; 28 or 29 November [O.S. 18 or 19 November] 1632 – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-French composer, dancer and instrumentalist, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV and became a French subject in 1661. He was a close friend of the playwright Molière, with whom he collaborated on numerous comédie-ballets, including L'Amour médecin, George Dandin ou le Mari confondu, Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, Psyché and his best known work, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme.

Text from the Wikipedia article "Jean-Baptiste Lully", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Other Operas by Jean-Baptiste Lully

• Armide
• Cadmus et Hermione  (1673)
• Alceste  (1674)
• Atys  (1676)
• Isis  (1677)
• Bellérophon  (1679)
• Amadis  (1684)