Concerto Copenhagen

“here are sex and violence, speeding cars, and plenty of rough language. Maltman himself supplied the translation, which fits the updated setting supremely well but won’t appeal to maiden aunts...Holten has created a film that treats the opera with the respectful kind of disrespect that leaves the work’s core intact. And the performances are mostly riveting...Go on, be brave, give this adventurous Giovanni a whirl.” The Times, 29th September 2012 ****

“a pacey (if slightly cheesy) drama complete with sexy escapades, a car chase, and hospital scenes...Funnily enough, it all sort of works. This is partly because the singers are not only musically good, they can also carry the close scrutiny of the camera lens...Holten gives a lucid account of his motivations for the film in the 'Extras' section.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 ****

“Holten trades too knowingly, at times, on the narrative disparities between the opera and his film. But this is much more erotic than many stagings of the piece, and by the end we really do understand the nature of Juan's unsettling sexual hold...That's ultimately due to Maltman's charismatic artistry and Holten's filming of it, both of which are sensational.” The Guardian, 13th December 2012 ****

“The well-chosen cast, led by Maltman's assured, sexy Juan, truly look and sound great...But perhaps the ultimate achievement of the Roal Opera House's Kasper Holten in his first feature film...is to make an 'opera film' that really doesn't look like singers standing around a street in costumer wondering why they're not in a theatre. Even if you're phobic about 'modern' productions, give this a go.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2013

“It’s all rather ingenious, and will no doubt launch a thousand undergraduate musicology essays...There’s a lot to admire in the technical achievement the film represents, and, as an exploration of the possibilities of opera as film, it’s undoubtedly fascinating; but it is so, one feels, precisely because it demonstrates the limits of that hybrid genre.” Opera, December 2012

“Mortensen's magnificent direction brings out the full measure of excitement, pathos and emotion in Handel's score...[the production] conveys an enormous amount of what makes Partenope very special” Gramophone Magazine, May 2010

“Though all of the performances are delivered with some intelligence Negine fails to draw much in the way of intensity from any of his singers, either individually or in confrontation. …any DVD Caesar has to measure itself against Glyndebourne's (on Opus Arte), which is going to take some beating.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 ***

“This is certainly the most insightful and intelligent for drama, and probably also the best for all-round musical consistency” Gramophone Magazine

“Francisco Negrin's production, though not without judiciously applied humour in a few places, is essentially of a serious nature (and more so than his lighter and brighter Sydney production, reviewed above). Unsurprisingly, this sympathetic approach suits Handel's operaseria to a tee. There are neither damaging large cuts nor ill-advised reordering of movements, and Negrin's ideas fully support the musico-dramatic nature of the characters as presented in the libretto and score. The modernistic setting laced with elements of ancient Egypt provides the platform for a dark and brooding drama.
Where some directors use tricks to amuse the audience, Negrin uses visual playfulness to illustrate a serious point about the characters (such as the contest between elevating thrones in 'Va tacito'). It is refreshing that at the end there is little doubt that the good guys have triumphed: Sesto is caked in Tolomeo's blood, which seems to mark his coming of age in a brutal world, but there is no attempt made to ridicule the victorious leading characters, who fully deserve their happy ending.
Andreas Scholl's singing is consistently astute, and his acting has advanced considerably in subtlety since his operatic debut in Glyndebourne's Rodelinda nearly a decade ago. However, this is an excellent team performance.
Inger Dam-Jensen performs with the ideal sincerity and emotiveness that Cleopatra's character too often lacks in superficial productions.
Tuva Semmingsen's Sesto sings with crystalclear phrasing ('Cara speme' is heart-stopping).
Christopher Robson's singing is weak but his acting as the nasty Tolomeo is superb in its timing of gestures (there is plenty of comedy in his scenes, but he is brutal and menacing rather than the simply camp idiot too often portrayed onstage). Lars Ulrik Mortensen's direction of the music from his harpsichord is well nigh perfect.
This is not the most flamboyant or fancy Giulio Cesare on DVD, but it is certainly the most insightful and intelligent for drama, and probably also the best for all-round musical consistency.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010