Not Handel’s English masque Acis and Galatea but an entirely different work on the same theme, a dramatic cantata or serenata written for a royal wedding in Naples in 1708.

The anonymous Italian libretto, derived from a story in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, concerns a love triangle between the shepherd Acis, the nymph Galatea, and the jealous Cyclops Polyphemus, said to be a personification of Mount Etna – or perhaps, in this case, Vesuvius, the volcano overlooking Naples. The giant kills Acis with a boulder, causing Galatea to use her devine powers to transform him into a flowing stream. Handel’s music has a youthful fire, brilliance, and tragic intensity that makes it the equal of the much better-known Acis and Galatea.

Philippa Hyde and Beth Mackay sang together in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater to great acclaim in the 2007 Festival. Giles Davies is one of London’s busiest operatic baritones and appeared with Opera Restor’d at the 2001 Festival.