Handel - Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne Opera Festival 2006)
by David McVicar, Robin Lough
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Angelika Kirchschlager, Christophe Dumaux, Danielle De Niese, Sarah Connolly, William ChristieDirector: David McVicar, Robin Lough
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: Italian (Original Language), DTS 5.1; English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 233 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Opus Arte
Movie Reviews of Handel - Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne Opera Festival 2006)
Movie Review: A great TV-evening
Summary: 5 Stars
I love Mozartoperas. And I love Haendeloperas. In general productions of those early-history operas are old fashioned, stiff, characters are slow moving, the librettos do not make matters better.
Now this production is different and really outstanding. Although again the story is complicated and Kindergarten-style there is big action on stage with fighting scenes, erotic sparkling and even a quite intense half-rape scene between a bass and an alto voice (!). The singers are outstanding, Haendel for sure listened from cloud 13 and made it rain over Glyndebourne (tears). The really strange thing: after having seen the whole thing a few times its not just one singer that stands over the whole production, everyone gave his best. And the MUSIC!
Summary of Handel - Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne Opera Festival 2006)
I have always adored Handel's music but when I first saw this production at Glyndebourne, it was a real revelation. An extraordinarily beautiful staging with real drama, but also full of humour and a great deal of dancing - Bollywood style!David McVicar's take on Giulio Cesare left me completely stunned - I have never felt so many different emotions during one performance - it made me both laugh and cry in equal measure. In one scene you are deeply touched by the genuine torment the singers express and in the next, without undermining the story or the music, you delight in the humour and are uplifted by the enchanting dancing that seems to fit so perfectly with Handel's lively rhythms.
The singing, acting and dancing of this all star cast is outstanding and is led by Sarah Connolly as a superb and very convincing Giulio Cesare. Danielle de Niese is a sexy, mesmerizing Cleopatra and a consummate singer/actress who steals the show (you can see more of her discussing this, her debut Glyndebourne performance, in the extra bonus features). William Christie draws rich and magical playing from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, revealing the dramatic, lively and tender layers in Handel's luscious music.
In the documentary feature McVicar says 'Entertainment is not a Dirty Word' and I absolutely agree with him. Opera was always meant to entertain and this production does just that! It is one of the few I can watch again and again and I highly recommend a night on the sofa with this DVD.
There's a chance that purists will be very unhappy with director David McVicar's production of this Baroque masterpiece; there's also an equal chance that they'll be so vastly entertained that all criticisms will be beside the point. Updated to the years before World War I, Caeser's troops are British soldiers come to colonize Egypt, the latter being a place filled with exoticisms in the form of acres of billowing silk, flashy costumes, and full-blown song and dance numbers a la Bollywood (featuring sex-kitten Cleopatra and her minions). It's not only funny/campy, it also makes a certain internal sense. The razzle-dazzle is laid aside for the personal tragedy of Cornelia and Sesto (Patricia Bardon and Angelika Kirchschlager, respectively)--here portrayed as a beaten-down woman in a pathetic rage and a son on the verge of insanity--and for Caeser's and Cleopatra's more introspective moments. Caeser is mezzo Sarah Connelly, in firm voice and with the bearing of an emperor. Cleopatra is the 25-year-old American Daniele de Niese, ravishing in person and voice, with charisma, nerve, and talent in equal proportions. Countertenor Christopher Dumaux' bitchy-queen Tolomeo is remarkable, and the Achilles of bass Christopher Maltman is menacing. William Christie leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with great spirit and dramatic thrust, and the production values---subtitles in major European languages and English, stereo and surround sound, and picture---are ideal. Extras include interviews with the director and singers and an up-close look at Danielle de Niese. This is a fascinating, grand entertainment that may just make new friends for Baroque opera. ---Robert Levine
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