Giulio Cesare - full opera
Rent the Handel collection • 3h 45m
Bollywood meets baroque in David McVicar’s legendary staging.
When Egypt’s seductive queen meets Rome’s powerful ruler, the stakes are high, both for politics and passion. Horrified by the brutal murder of his rival by Cleopatra’s brother Tolomeo, Cesare joins forces with Cleopatra to depose her unscrupulous sibling. But is their alliance one of love, lust or just mutual ambition?
A true Glyndebourne classic, David McVicar’s production brings all-singing, all-dancing energy to one of Handel’s greatest scores. Sumptuous designs that nod to Britain’s colonial history and transform a tale of political intrigue into a dazzling spectacle, sweeping the audience up in its tangled web of power, revenge and romance.
The resourceful, complicated Cleopatra and smooth statesman Cesare are two of Handel’s most fascinating creations – characters whose music, by turns heart-breaking and ecstatic, includes so many of the composer’s finest arias.
William Christie conducts a cast led by Sarah Connolly’s Cesare and Danielle de Niese as Cleopatra.
Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Festival 2005.
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