Handel - Giulio Cesare
|
List Price: Our Price: $27.77 You Save: $14.17 (34%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $25.50 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Handel - Giulio Cesare
Movie Review: Nordic Egyptians and Rubberheads
Summary: 5 Stars
If this turkey was anything but an opera we'd have to burn down the theater and hang the director. Why would anyone cast a tubby 52 year old as the 18 year old king of Egypt? And what half-bright guy put a rubber skullcap on a sweet Danish pastry like Inger Dam-Jensen? A bald Danish Cleopatra? Yuck.
However, Christopher Robson is a villainous Ptolemy. His 52-year-old voice is not up to the demands of Handel's music, and never was. I should have deducted a star for that but he could act the role even if he could not sing it.
And I'd like to knock off another star for the frightful overuse of those rubberized wigs to give some of the performers bald heads. The skin tone was dreadfully off and it showed to the camera if not to the live audience.
So why still give five stars? Well, for starters, despite the title of GIULIO CESARE, this opera stands or falls by the character of Cleopatra. Inger Dam-Jensen might not be the best I've seen in that role but she's pretty good. Those eight famous arias, which progress in emotion and intensity, come off just fine, thank you. There's also splendid singing and acting in the part of Cornelia (Randi Stene) and the trouser role of Sesto (Tuva Semmingsen). Also Palle Knudsen is great in the baritone role of Achilla. (Only in opera could a bunch of Nordic types pretend to be Egyptians and Romans--you gotta love the irony!)
This story, one of Handel's greatest hits, shows the arrival of Julius Caesar in Egypt hard on the heels of his defeated rival Pompey. Ptolemy and Achella present him with Pompey's head in an attempt to curry favor. Pompey's wife and son are present and they swear revenge. Ptolemy's sister Cleopatra decides to seduce Caesar to get him on her side as she attempts to wrest the throne from Ptolemy. The historical setting makes this opera accessible to modern audiences as it portrays: ambition, lust, love, defeat, revenge and triumph. This particular production set Europe abuzz with its innovative staging: Caesar and the soldiers in camouflage; Ptolemy and Cleopatra as goth punkers...and so forth. There really isn't a coherent plan behind the costumes.
This March 2005 version of Casare was acclaimed then eclipsed by the dynamic version staged at Glyndebourne in July 2005. There, the Roman Empire was convincingly updated into the British Empire and David Daniels sang the title role. That production is the best of the modern era but unfortunately, the Glyndebourne DVD of GIULIO CESARE uses a different singer in the title role. So I'll take this production warts and all because of the incomparable countertenor Andreas Scholl singing Handel's incredible heroic music written for Caesar.
Scholl is a lyrical and tender Caesar; Scholl is the ardent lover to perfection. Watching him, hearing him, my glasses steam up. Rrrrr, honey, I have to go take a cold shower...
Movie Review: A powerful performance with the great Andreas Scholl
Summary: 5 Stars
This performance of the opera «Giulio Cesare in Egitto» (1724) by Georg Friedrich Händel is outstanding and wonderful. Andreas Scholl as Giulio Cesare made a performance full of difficult gorgheggi. Between his best arias in this production are: «Non é si vago e bello il fior nel prato quanto é vago e gentile il tuo bel volto», «Se in fiorito e ameno prato» ed «Aure deh per pietá». The first one is the most sensual performance that I have seen in a haendelian opera in DVD; in the second one you can enjoy the comparison between the voice of Andreas and the trino of a fiddle. Inger Dam Jensen as the Queen Cleopatra has a sensual role and has a charming beauty. Tuva Semmingsen as Sesto has a good performance in the aria «La giustizia». Christopher Robson as the King Tolomeo is funny sometimes and you can enjoy his grimaces in the aria «Sí, spietata, il tuo rigore sveglia l`odio in questo seno». Michael Maniaci has a superb role as Nireno; this character has only an aria: «Chi perde un momento». I recommend this DVD set, because it`s seldom to find this aria in anothers performance of Giulio Cesare in DVD and CD and it`s one of the most beautiful arias that I have heard. This performance of Giulio Cesare remind us the struggle between the powerful countries in the West and the East of the world. We can feel identified with this one. Outstanding performance!Movie Review: Sexy Funny Brilliant: Caesar and Cleopatra from Copenhagen's Royal Opera
Summary: 5 Stars
Not only is Andreas Scholl a hunk, he's a counter-tenor...which of course means he can almost out-sing Inger Dam Jensen's Cleopatra in terms of roulades, trills, and runs. And in pretty much the same register! It comes a surprise at first to hear that light, flexible, high tone coming from his lips...and then come the vocal duels with Cleopatra's brother, Ptolomeo, another gifted countertenor. So okay...who's coming out on top? Whose pillar of power is the higher? How will Cleopatra slither out of that bathtub to complete her seduction of Caesar? Innovative staging and a delightful sense of the humor help bring Handel's music to life in this utterly captivating production. Handel himself would be pleased with Lars Ulrik Mortensen's Concerto Copenhagen as the musical engine which keeps the plot turning. And for pathos, Pompey's widow and son - a pants part, but for a woman, this time (Tuva Semmingsen) - give us arias which embody their loss of husband and father in elegant and moving simplicity. In a word: brilliant!Movie Review: Gotta be blunt here: This thing ROCKS.
Summary: 5 Stars
As I said, this is a bit on the blunt side -- this is one of the best all-around operatic DVDs I've ever seen, and I'm thrilled to have been fortunate enough to take the chance on buying it. The voices are all top notch, pure and clear and delicious -- especially Tuva Semmingsen and Michael Maniaci. The acting is fabulous; often a weak spot in many operas. The costuming and staging are incredibly creative, but not so much that they detract and leave sticky directorial fingerprints everywhere. The music is letter-perfect, granted I'm a Baroque fan. I can't wait to find a long weekend to pop it back in the player and watch the whole thing again.
If you're curious about Baroque opera, counters, modern staging ... grab this thing NOW. Use it to convert opera-skeptical friends who think opera is all about people in enormous dresses throwing themselves off cliffs. You'll be glad you did.
Movie Review: Scholl RULES!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is absolutly the best performance of Giulio Cesare that`s available on DVD. The singers are all superb, esp. Andreas Scholl who not only sings awesome, but also is a great actor, and this all just adds to the pleasure of viewing and hearing it.
The scenography is also very good and adds greatly to the story. This is a modern version, but not just to be modern, it actually fits very well.
GET IT!!!!
More Movie Reviews:
1 2
1 2