George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2005) [Blu-ray]

This production of Handel's 'Giulio Cesare' was a box-office and critical triumph at the Glyndebourne Festival, as it well deserved to be. I'll get to the music later, but first let me rave about the theatrical staging It's 305 minutes of spellbinding Entertainment! It has everything: pathos and passion, wit, visual splendor, a seductive Cleopatra voluptuous enough to be plausible as the most beautiful woman in history, Vegas-worthy strutting and dancing, well choreographed swordplay, outrageous gender-nuanced camp humor, a beefcake acrobat, an onstage fiddler, and marvelous acting by all the principals. This is not the stand-and-belt stereotypical opera of the Age of Divasaurs and Pachytenors. This is Baroque opera in full crowd-rousing mode, as Handel's original 1724 production must have been, since that production was also a box-office success, revived in 1725, 1730, and 1732, and also staged in Paris, Hamburg, and Brunswick. If all of Handel's operas had been as well-attended as 'Giulio Cesare', odds are that he could have remained true to his First Love - Italian Opera - and not have been forced to compose music for pious pastiches by Charles Jennons in the barbarous English tongue.The love affair of Caesar and Cleopatra has been transported from imperial Roman times to a setting in the British Raj, circa 1910, with the Roman legions in redcoat regimentals and the subservient locals in costumes that blend Egypt and Punjab. It's a concept that works well for me, apt historically and dramatically, considering that Handel wrote for an audience of rising Brrrritish world-conquerers. One would not have seen togas on a baroque opera stage in 1724, I hope everyone realizes. This is a modernizing production -- "Eurotrash" for some hide-bound conservatives-- that truly expands and enhances the 'content' of the libretto and the music.Caesar, sung by soprano Sarah Connolly, is a foppish, starchy gentleman/officer -- a character straight from the pages of a Harry Flashman novel. He's a bit of a poof, yet calmly secure in his Sahib mastery and brave as a schoolboy on the fields of Eton. Connolly manages to look quite masculine in an epicene upper-class fashion, and she sings gloriously. The role of Caesar has the widest diversity of musical affects, from military bravura to love-torn rapture to birdsong glee. Connolly renders them all, eventually with apomb enough to make even a 'soprano' Caesar quite a dominant, heroic presence.Ptolmey is sung by countertenor Christophe Dumaux; he's an odious, corrupt, cruel slimebag, this descendent of Alexander's general, and Dumaux makes him effectively creepy. His right-had villain, Achilla, is sung by baritone Christopher Maltman, the only non-trebel voice in the cast. Maltman is a skillful foil, musically, to all those high voices, and he acts his tough-guy role convincingly.Cornelia, the widow of murdered Pompey the Great, is sung by alto Patricia Bardon, while her impetuous son Sextus is sung superbly and acted powerfully by soprano Angelika Kirschschlager. Their troubles at the hands of Ptolmey and Achilla form a sub plot almost as compelling as the 'hooking up' of Caesar and Cleopatra, and their duet in the first act is one of the pinnacles of Handel's composition. It's also a sterling example of stage director David McVicar's witty attention to detail; mother and son sing their poignant duet in the posture of a Michelangelo Pieta. They're so good vocally, especially Kirschschlager, that they'd steal the show if the other principals weren't equally good. Kirschschlager has the finest voice per se, the finest physical instrument, of the cast.But the show-stealer, as the recorded enthusiasm of the audience proves, is Danielle de Niese in the role of Cleopatra. De Niese is gorgeous, as beautiful of face and form as the actress Halle Berry, whom she resembles. She also vivacious, sexy, agile; she dances and prances as well as any hoofer in a Broadway musical, and she can convey anguish, despair, or anger just as well as allure. It's an odd phenomenon, which you can see in the reviews of d Niese's Handel showcase CD, that her rapid success and/or her physical charms seem to provoke some people into ridiculous diatribes -- one-star reviews --about her vocal technique. "She's no Beverly Sills" they howl. Well, thank goodness! Sills completely lacked the historically-informed vocal technique to sing Handel. De Niese does not have a voice per se of the quality of Kirschschlager's, but then neither does Sarah Connolly, Both of them amply compensate by their control of their voices, that is, by their polished baroque technique. De Niese has three major virtues: She has excellent tuning, something that Kathleen Battle, for instance, never learned. She makes expressive use of her control of dynamics, something Cecilia Bartoli or Renee Fleming often fail to do. And she deeply understands baroque ornamentation, her graces, trills, and cadences are always 'integrated' into her phrasings, making musical sense of a sort that Joan Sutherland or even the sublime Janet Baker never approached. To denigrate her singing as 'technically undeveloped' is bizarre. One make think she was running for Congress against a darling of the Tea Party blatherskates.Music? Oh yeah, this IS an opera, not just a stage spectacular. 'Giulio Cesare' is a ravishing score, still composed in the style of Handel's Roman cantatas, calling for flamboyant vocal virtuosity. I can hardly imagine a more perfect cast for it than Connolly, Kirschschlager, Bardon, and d Niese. The orchestral writing is equally flamboyant, with colorful obbligatos for flutes and natural horns. Conductor Bill Christie brings out the elegance and complexity of the score without any twitch of academicism. In fact, he lets the music and the instruments be playful. He doesn't need to be cautious; the musicians of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment handle their 'period instruments' as skillfully as any opera orchestra of 20th C instruments in the world. And if you still cling to the troglodytic notion that Baroque instruments lack the richness or power of modern, just listen closely. You'll be disabused.Fortunately, the sound recording is equal to the quality of the musical performance. Voices and orchestra are well in balance, equally 'present'. The camera work is also first rate, a good mix of long shots and close-ups, with good editing, nothing distracting or overdone, totally supportive of the singing and acting. This is a magnificent DVD, one of the most excellent filmings of an opera I've ever watched and heard.

British mezzo Sarah Connolly gives a tour de force in the role of Caesare in this 2005 Glyndebourne production, directed by David McVicar and featuring William Christie conducting the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment. McVicar's production follows the more recent trend of using modern theatrical devices to stage the work instead of the historically accurate (and sometimes frankly dull) dramatic conventions of 18th century opera seria. His approach is creating and engaging while not overwhelming the music or the drama and remaining true to the characters that are so wonderfully developed through Handel's lush score.The star of this production is Sarah Connolly. The honeyed hue of her voice is perfectly suited to the role of Cesare, and she sings the role in a way that can only be described as absolutely alluring and utterly beautiful. She conveys, both through her voice and stage presence, a full and richly textured portrayal of her character. I can't imagine how anyone could watch this performance and not be convinced she is the foremost Cesare of our time.The present fetish for countertenors has lead to many companies shying away from casting a woman as Cesare, and audiences are missing out because of this fad. Why cast an aging, technically inconsistent countertenor, (e.g., David Daniels, Andreas Scholl) as your Giulio Cesare when you could have someone like Sarah Connolly, or even countertenor Christophe Dumaux (more on him later), either of whom have both the voice and stage presence necessary to carry off the role. Having seen both David Daniels and Andreas Scholl in the role in past years, I have to say that Sarah Connolly's Cesare was utterly more convincing as Cesare and much more virile than either Daniels or Scholl, who come across as vocally weak and dramatically impotent, which is hardly convincing for Cesare, who is apparently strong enough to be dictator of Rome. In my mind, only Connolly's performance conveys this strength, which is essential to understanding Cesare's character in the opera.That having been said, the other real news in this production is the outstanding performance of Christophe Dumaux as Tolomeo--a role in which he is now quite comfortable, having given over 100 performances in the role at major houses worldwide. Unlike Daniels and Scholl, Dumaux has a strong, powerful voice that seems fully capable and secure throughout his range, both in the highest notes and the lowest. Even at the top of his register, there is a certain resonance to his voice that gives it a strong, natural sounding quality that in no way seems forced or artificial. And there is seamless integration between his lower chest voice and the upper head voice. The solid timbre of his voice comes across as almost Podleś-like, but with a much more masculine quality to the voice and a more confined range. His performance as Tolomeo was captivating, and it has evolved considerably since the recording of this DVD given the number of times he has performed the role. Tolomeo is a role that can be played from a variety of angles with equal success, but the characterization he uses in this performance, as an immature, childish, sexually-frustrated tyrant, is both engaging and entertaining. While his voice lacks the beauty of Connolly's, Dumuax will undoubted make a fantastic Cesare when he decides to move on to that role.The murdered Pompey's wife, Cornelia, and son, Sesto, are sung by Irish mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon and Austrian mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager, respectively. Both deliver stunning and moving renditions of their arias and the pair of them lend real dramatic credibility to this production. While Danielle di Niese's flippant, dancing Cleopatra seems cartoonish compared with the rest of the portrayals in this production, the absurdity of her rendition is reigned in by the many poignant moments brought about by Bardon and Kirchschlager as they plot against Tolomeo to avenge the killing of Pompey. Christopher Maltman brings a certain Mozartian flare to his coy portrayal of Achilla, Tolomeo's general. Another young countertenor, Rachid Ben Abdeslam, also gives a solid performance in the role of Nireno.William Christie leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment a perfectly executed, and at times creative, interpretation of Handel's score. Christie's tempos are flawless throughout, and although some might be a bit unsettled by his choice of tempo in places (e.g., a very slow and deliberate "Va tacito e nacasto"), but these departures from the more conventional tempos are all well reasoned and result in an interpretation of his frequently heard score that is both thoughtful and a delight to the ear.McVicar's choice to set the production in British colonial Egypt is a clever twist, adding an additional layer of meaning and interpretation to this opera seria.Audio quality on this DVD is excellent with 5.1 surround sound available. Video quality is good for a DVD, but I do wish they would reissue this performance on Blu-ray as well.I have no idea if this is true or not, but I've heard multiple rumors that his performance is soon be released on CD and as MP3. If this audio release does actually transpire, this 2005 Giulio Cesare from Glyndebourne will be the definitive recording of reference of the opera.

Wonderful music by Handel and superb production at Glyndbourne with an excellent cast!

This is a review of Handel's Giulio Cesare from Glyndebourne with Sarah Connolly, Angelika Kirchschlager and above all Danielle de Niese. Handel's operas are rather an acquired taste and I am perhaps halfway there; this version of Giulio Cesare certainly gave me a considerable push in the right direction because it is such fun and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves tremendously, and you the viewer just can't hold yourself back. At one point in the extras someone talks about helping a modern audience appreciate Handel, and this is precisely what the Glyndebourne crew do, pricking his moments of pomposity with dance hall routines and very welcome silliness. This light relief helps because it allows the viewer to accumulate the patience to deal with the stodgy stuff, which despite its pomposity often contains delightful music which otherwise you might have missed due to baroque fatigue. My only quibble is I do wish someone would explain in the extras in simple language why some of the blokes are blokes and some aren't: in my state of ignorance I am left feeling like a Trump voter facing a open-gender restroom, as the Americans say, and wondering what the hell's going on.

ENO and one of the touring companies did new productions and this one was revived at the Met. Fortunately for those of us in the UK, the latter also got a live broadcast.Much that I liked the others, it's this one that I wanted to have a copy of. Do I mind that the costumes aren't ancient Egyptian? No. That's because the singing is excellent and the direction makes up for the 'let's pause the action and have a character repeat the same line, usually about how unhappy they are, thirty times' format that was how operas were done in Handel's day.If you want a Handel opera DVD, it's this and the ENO Xerxes that should be your first choices.

This production of Handel's Giulio Cesare was recorded at Glyndebourne in 2005 and delivers a sparkling production by David McVicar and `authentic' styled performances from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under the knowledgeable and expert guidance of William Christie who allows himself some latitude to match the production. The cast are suitably inspired to give a memorable performance of tremendous character which resulted in rave press notices. This recorded performance fully justifies those notices to my mind.The production is typical of David McVicar in so far as it is lively and challenging. As such it demands a flexible approach from the viewer in terms of authenticity but probably no more than Handel himself requires in terms of his portrayal of the personal relationships and historical considerations. It is probably best to approach this as an extravagant and fun entertainment based very loosely on historical considerations but translated into some fictitious modern world of no identifiable period. On those terms it is very successful. To enlarge on this:In this production we witness a very free-wheeling Cleopatra portrayed with verve by Danielle de Niese. Apart from lively singing and acting she also delivers comes some highly entertaining and equally free-wheeling dance choreography. An equally spoiled, very dangerous and thoroughly `camp' Nireno, is played with enormous relish by Rachid Abdeslam. A straightforward example of total power is delivered by Sarah Connolly with a virtuoso vocal display coupled with a commanding stage presence that carries all before. There is a strong physical dimension to the production which can be summarised with Christopher Maltman's backward somersault which may be stretching authenticity a little far in terms of Achilla's real character. Needless to say there is the same licence taken with the stage backdrops which are inconsistent with any fixed historical period to say the least.No more examples need be made about the type of production. To criticise it for historical inaccuracy is surely to miss the point though. In this case the point is to deliver an entertainment and certainly this is entertaining as the Glyndebourne audience clearly shows. As a matter of assurance though, free-wheeling though the production most obviously is, there is nevertheless no trace of bad taste or the type of issue that is often referred to as Eurotrash.Musically the whole cast including the orchestra deliver faultlessly and to a uniformly high standard. The same can be said of their acting. The booklet is detailed and the disc comes with a range of extra features including an illustrated synopsis which is probably vital. There are also various image galleries and an extended 50 minute documentary which explores the notion of entertainment in the light of this opera and production.The actual recording is excellent with crisp and detailed imaging of good colour rendition. The sound is clear and well-balanced and is presented in PCM 5.0 and stereo options. The playing length has required the use of two discs but still provides good value.This has been a very entertaining and successful production at Glyndebourne and has received a great deal of press praise. The audience was equally enthusiastic and obviously felt truly entertained. The discs capture all of this to perfection so, as long as any purchaser is flexible enough to appreciate David McVicar's production on its own idiosyncratic terms, it is very likely that they will thoroughly enjoy the experience.I would therefore suggest that this is a performance with both high musical and entertainment values but also one that will require some flexibility on the part of viewers. Purists may not find it to their personal taste, but there will be plenty of others who will enjoy this enormously.............................................Some dialogue from the comments section that may offer further help:Thank you so much. I would never have purchased this DVD without your review, which is beyond fabulous. I had been longing to SEE this opera. At the moment, I'm hearing the CD conducted by Jacobs, produced by Harmonia Mundi and with Larmore in the title role. She is one of my favorites... or was.<G> I haven't heard her in her new style. (U.S. review)

I loved this production - McVicar just gets better and better. Christie in the pit commanded his forces wonderfully and offered great support to the singers. The recitatives were supported magnificently by Laurence Cummings on continuo. And what a superbe cast! Danielle DeNiese as Cleopatra sings very well although her voice is not what I consider a 'baroque' the voice. However, 'Da tempeste' was superbly done. I particularly liked Patricia Bardon's Cleopatra (in particular the aria 'Priva son ...' and the duet with Sesto ending Act 1) and I was not surprised to hear that she later made her Metropolitan and Chicago Opera debuts in the same role. Dumaux and Maltman as Ptolemy and Achilla too offered Handelian singing of the highest order. But Sarah Connolly as Cesare was nothing short of sensational - in every sense - and she really looked the part. Her aria with the violin obligato is superbly accomplished. Having attended many 'Cesare's' in recent years I have to say that I much prefer a 'mezzo' in this role than counter-tenor. This, in my view, is a wonderful production with a near ideal cast....... more please Mr McVicar.

Another Glyndebourne triumph. The UK's "Auntie Sarah" Connolly in the trousers role of a particularly British Julius Caesar, the charismatic Danielle de Niese as flirty, resourceful Cleopatra, superb countertenors as the evil but bratty Ptolemy and as Cleopatra's elegant, brave servant... The light-hearted, playful interpretation serves to neutralize the aspects of the plot that are uncomfortable for modern audiences. By mixing in anachronistic British imperialist themes the whole thing becomes more a distanced, witty reference to these histories, refusing to legitimize the histories while happily working the personal story-line. And given Handel's own liberties with the plot, that's permitted.