I found this recording of Handel's English masque "Acis and Galatea" to be as good as any at full-price. The recording is crisp and clear, the singers and instrumentalists top-notch, and in contrast to many budget CDs this one provides a full libretto. Naxos has managed to fit the entire masque -- nearly 80 minutes long -- onto a single CD, without cutting anything that Handel himself didn't cut when this piece was revived in his own lifetime. It is heartening to learn that you don't always get what you (don't) pay for -- I would charactize this as a fantastic recording even if it were at full-price.

Lovely recording of the Handel work and the players give a brisk and moving sound to the numbers. The cast is light with four singers and only these four make the chorus as well as the characters, which sounds like more of a consort than a opera chorus. Four more singers would have made the chorus stand out better for the opera. Touching plot of simple pastoral lovers threatened by a rival giant. The lamenting chorus with Galatea give much light as she weeps at Acis' tragic loss. And calling it a masque is too small for this fine piece; it is an opera.

I should commend the Scholars Baroque Ensemble for the work they are doing in popularising early music at a price most people can afford. Yet don't be mistaken: what is budget-priced is budget-quality. The in-house singers are not the greatest, especially as compared to the star-studded performances of other Handel operas and oratorios which are currently available. Unless you have a particular reason to own this recording, or can't afford anything else, I would not recommend it. If you can own only one Handel recording, I would suggest a recent recording of oratorio Esther, directed by Christophers.