The Classical Source For All The Performing, Visual And Literary Arts & Entertainment News
Classical

Mostly Mozart Presents Handel’s Opera ‘Acis and Galatea’ as Interpreted by the Mark Morris Dance Group and Isaac Mizrahi

One of the most unusual offerings of Mostly Mozart this summer is a new production by the Mark Morris Dance Group of Handel's opera Acis and Galatea, with diaphanous costumes by fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi.

The New York premiere performances of this work will take place at Lincoln Center on August 7-9.

In this new production, director and choreographer Mark Morris revisits Handel with a bold, new approach, using modern dance to tell the story of the shepherd Acis and his love for the sea nymph Galatea, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Isaac Mizrahi has collaborated with Morris for more than 20 years. He has also designed costumes for other productions in New York, including the Guggenheim's Peter and the Wolf last December. Here, he discusses his inspiration for the sea green costumes of Acis and Galatea:

Joining the Mark Morris dancers are four singers who will sing the work in English: Thomas Cooley (Acis), Yulia Van Doren (Galatea), Douglas Williams (Polyphemus), and Isaiah Bell (Damon).

Early-music specialists Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale will perform Mozart's 1788 arrangement of the Handel opera, which was written in 1718 and hugely popular during the composer's lifetime.

Lincoln Center's Artistic Director Jane Moss will lead a pre-performance discussion of Acis and Galatea with Mark Morris on August 8 at the David Rubenstein Atrium.

This production is a Lincoln Center co-commission with several other organizations, including Cal Performances, Berkeley. Here, Morris discusses the world premiere of the new production, which took place at Cal Performances in April:

For a complete schedule of Mostly Mozart Festival performances this summer, please visit mostlymozart.org.

About the Author

Real Time Analytics