Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto

Arias from Rinaldo, Orlando and Tolomeo pop up in Wernicke's witty, sexy, stylish production. Pathos, bathos, a singing severed head and a crocodile combine to great effect. — BBC Music Magazine, November 2013, 4 out of 5 stars

Release Date: 29th Apr 2013
Catalogue No: 107279
Label: Arthaus Musik

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Live Recording from The Gran Teatre Del Liceu, 2004
Flavio Oliver (Giulio Cesare), Elena de la Merced (Cleopatra), Ewa Podlés (Cornelia) & Maite Beaumont (Sesto)
Orchestra and Chorus of The Gran Teatre del Liceu
Michael Hofstetter (conductor) & Herbert Wernicke (stage director)

About
Reviews
Videos
Explore

About

Giulio Cesare is one of Handel’s most fascinating and exquisite works.

It was brought to Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu under the direction of Herbert Wernicke, who produced a new adaptation including fragments of other Handel operas such as Rinaldo, Orlando and Tolomeo. This freely-interpreted and updated version does not seek to set the opera in a contemporary context but rather to reveal hidden aspects of the work: its psychology, its history and politics.

The orchestra is conducted by Michael Hofstetter and the title role is sung by the Italian-Spanish countertenor Flavio Oliver, who is one of the leading male sopranos in the world today. Singing opposite him in the role of Cornelia, Polish contralto Ewa Podlés explores the wide range of her warm, agile voice. Soprano Elena de la Merced and mezzo-soprano Maite Beaumont complete the cast. Both are excellent Spanish singers well known on the international scene.

Herbert Wernicke uses this concept to create a transverse encounter between different historical and artistic elements. His production merely transfers to the stage an idea, which Handel himself had shown in Giulio Cesare: disorder as a factor of emotional and cultural wealth.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: 2 x DVD 9 / NTSC

Subtitle Languages: IT (Original Language), FR, GB, ES, DE, CA

Running Time: 216 mins

FSK: 0

Reviews

November 2013

Arias from Rinaldo, Orlando and Tolomeo pop up in Wernicke's witty, sexy, stylish production. Pathos, bathos, a singing severed head and a crocodile combine to great effect.

Videos

An error occurred.

Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.

Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto

2 DVD Videos

Contents

Download queue