Meet in Galilee Lyric Art Festival will take place at the Crusader Fortress in Akko, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from July 15 – 17, 2018, in the framework of the France-Israel season 2018. Now in its second edition, the festival was established by Dr. Muriel Haim, with the raison d’être “to provide music beyond boundaries of culture, race or creed, breakdown misconceptions about the region and to bring new visitors to Akko, where diverse communities live in harmony.”
Performances: William Christie conducting Haydn’s The Creation on July 15th and Handel’s Acis and Galatea on July 16th, with Valentin Tournet conducting Bach’s St John Passion on July 17th. Soloists will include singers such as Sandrine Piau, and Alex Rosen. In addition to the concerts, there will also be a master class led by William Christie on July 17th in the Crusader Fortress, from 10:00 – 12:00. A second master class, led by Valentin Tournet will also be scheduled. Admission to the master classes is free and requires pre-registration with Dr. Muriel Haim: write to Muriel_haim@yahoo.fr .
In conjunction with the festival, a symposium on French Baroque Music and its influence, jointly presented with the French Institute, will take place on July 18th from 9:00 – 13:00, at the French Institute on 7 Rothschild Boulevard, in Tel Aviv. Participants include: Prof. David Shemer, harpsichordist, conductor and teacher, founder, conductor and Musical Director of the Baroque Orchestra in Jerusalem, teacher at Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance; Alon Sharf, William Christie and Valentin Tournet. Admission to the master classes is free and requires pre-registration with Dr. Muriel Haim: write to Muriel_haim@yahoo.fr .
The Opera Festival is combined with an Economic Forum, in cooperation with Les Entretiens de Royaumont and the Genopole, on the theme of Genomic medicine and its impact on society. The forum will take place on July 16th at the Alma Hotel in Zichron Yaakov, from 8:30 – 14:00. The combination of a music festival with an economic forum is modeled on a similar program that took place in Aix-en-Provence.
The Musical Program:
July 15th 2018
HAYDN (1732-1809) – THE CREATION – DIE SCHÖPFUNG
The performance will be in German, with English and Hebrew surtitles.
Characters :
- Gabriel, Eve : Sandrine PIAU
- Uriel : Sebastian KOHLHEPP
- Raphael, Adam : Alex ROSEN
The Creation is an oratorio that draws its source from the Genesis, the Book of Psalms and an epic poem in English by J. Milton: Paradise Lost. It was composed between 1796 and 1798, with a translation and adaptation in German by Baron Van Swieten. Although it is inspired by a Biblical story, Haydn was a freemason and influenced by the philosophy of the Enlightenment, as reflected in the work.
A festive dinner will take place before the concert, in the Knight’s Hall in the Old City of Akko. VIP tickets for the dinner and concert will be 360 Euro; concert tickets are 60 – 120 Euro; concert tickets for all three nights 144 – 774 Euro. Tickets may be ordered online via this link.
July 16 th 2018
HANDEL (1685-1759) ACIS and GALATEA
The performance will be in English with English surtitles.
Acis and Galatea are two lovers drawn from the Greek mythology. Their story appears in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Georgr Frideric Handel originally composed it as a one-act masque in 1718, which was later adapted into a three-act serenata in 1732, with the inclusion of songs from Aci, Galatea e Polierno, a work from 1708 in which Handel set the same story to different music. The English libretto was written by John Gay, based on the story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, with additional text possibly by Alexander Pope and John Hughes. The pastoral opera focuses on Acis, a shepherd who is in love with the nymph Galatea. Their love is threatened by the cyclops Polyphemus, who tries to seduce Galatea. Failing, the cyclops takes his revenge, crushing Acis with a rock. Galatea transforms her dead lover into an eternally flowing fountain.
A festive dinner will take place before the concert, in the Knight’s Hall in the Old City of Akko. VIP tickets for the dinner and concert will be 360 Euro; concert tickets are 50 – 100 Euro; concert tickets for all three nights 144 – 774 Euro. Tickets may be ordered online via this link.
July 17th 2018
BACH (1685-1750) – St JOHN PASSION (version 1725)
The performance will be in German with surtitles in English. Singers to be announced.The libretto is primarily based on the Gospel according to St John.
Concert tickets are 200 – 650 Euro; concert tickets for all three nights 144 – 774 Euro. Tickets may be ordered online via this link.
