La Compagnie l’Engrenage was born from the meeting of four young artists during their studies at the Conservatoire de Versailles. United by a love of live performance and a shared desire to create original projects, they develop a wide range of programmes. The company’s first productions focused on the Baroque repertoire (Handel’s Acis & Galatea, Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien, Carissimi’s Jephte, as well as programmes of airs de cour by Lambert, Moulinié, Boesset, etc.), while future projects will also explore operetta and Romantic chamber music. The company is particularly interested in blending music and theatre, with an openness to other art forms. The artists are also committed to educational projects and cultural outreach, sharing their passion with audiences less familiar with classical music. Recently, they have performed at the Protestant Temple of Versailles, the Salle Jacques Villeret in Cornimont (88), Château du Rivau, the Nice Sacred Music Festival, the Nîmes en Baroque Festival, the Musicales de l’Ouest-Aveyron, and more.

Acis et Galatea: Synopsis

With touching simplicity, the libretto tells the love story of Acis, a young shepherd, and Galatea, a nymph, in a Sicily reminiscent of Arcadia. Their feelings arouse the jealousy of the Cyclops Polyphemus, who declares his love to Galatea but is rejected. When he discovers the lovers together, he is overcome with rage and kills Acis by crushing him beneath a rock. Galatea mourns her beloved and transforms him into a river, thus preserving their love beyond death.

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