Press review

Concertgebouw Orchestra to perform Handel's opera Acis and Galatea at grand Annual Gala

Festive event for the orchestra's audience, relations, donors and sponsors  
image: Jorrit Lousberg
image: Jorrit Lousberg
On Friday, 30 September the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will present a very special concert evening for its loyal audience, relations, donors and sponsors at The Concertgebouw: the Annual Gala. With its grand Annual Gala, the orchestra is continuing a gala tradition which was previously part of its Opening Night (until 2019).  
 
The Gala evening on 30 September will start at 7.30 p.m. with a welcome reception. The concert starts at 8.30 p.m. Leonardo García Alarcón, one of the most important new talents to have emerged in the field of Baroque conductors, will conduct Handel's pastoral opera Acis and Galatea in an orchestral arrangement by Mozart, with vocal contributions from the Netherlands Chamber Choir and five highly acclaimed soloists. Creative partner Pierre Audi and lighting designer Jean Kalman are contributing an extraordinary mise en espace, transforming the stage into a true opera decor.  
 
During the afterparty, the members of the audience will have the opportunity to mingle and to meet the musicians in the foyers of The Concertgebouw. A variety of programmes at the Recital Hall, the Choir Hall, the Mirror Hall and the Conductors' Foyer featuring orchestra members and other musicians in unexpected styles and genres will last until midnight. 
 
Start welcome reception: 7.30 p.m. 
Dress code: back tie 
 
Vocal and visual contributions 
The soloists in Handel's Acis and Galatea are:  
- Keri Fuge, soprano (Galatea) 
- Mark Milhofer, tenor (Acis) 
- Valerio Contaldo, tenor (Damon) 
- Sreten Manojlovic, bass (Polypheme) 
- Guy Cutting, tenor (Coridon) 
Choir conductor Netherlands Chamber Choir: Boudewijn Jansen. 
 
- Pierre Audi: mise en espace 
- Jean Kalman: light and scenography 
- Wojciech Dziedzic: costumes 
 
The concert will be surtitled in English and Dutch. 
This programme is made possible thanks to the financial support of Ammodo.  
 
Opening Night 
Since 2021, the orchestra's freely accessible Opening Night is held at a special location in Amsterdam. In 2021 it took place at The Dam, this year's Opening Night was an open air concert at Amsterdam's Westerpark.