Nicola Porpora was Farinelli’s teacher and a rival of Handel and Hasse. As one of the most enigmatic figures of the musical baroque, he gave...

Nicola Porpora was Farinelli’s teacher and a rival of Handel and Hasse. As one of the most enigmatic figures of the musical baroque, he gave decisive impetus to opera development in the first half of the 18th century. He worked in Italy especially in his native Naples but also in London, Dresden and Vienna, though not always with great fairness to his fellow composers, but always intent on the development of elementary musical beauties. He knew how to deal with singing voices, both in terms of their training and their effective use. At the beginning of 1735, he wrote the opera seria Polifemo for the Opera of the Nobility, which had been set up in the British metropolis as a competitor to Handel’s opera empire.
The libretto by Paolo Rolli is based on two well-known Greek myths, both linked to the Cyclops Polyphemus: the story about the nymph Galatea and the shepherd Acis, and the encounter with Odysseus, which ends less than favourably for the one-eyed giant. Porpora created music of great expressiveness and virtuosity for the many-coloured scenes, which does not fail to have an effect then or now especially when a top-class ensemble makes Porpora’s score shine.