
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Alexander Tchaikovsky

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Georges Bizet

Giacomo Puccini

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Mieczysław Weinberg

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Giacomo Puccini

Giuseppe Verdi

Giacomo Puccini

Sergei Banevich

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Francesco Cilea

Sergei Prokofiev

Modest Mussorgsky

Dmitry Shostakovich

Richard Wagner
Camille Saint-Saëns

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Gaetano Donizetti

Benjamin Britten. Camille Saint-Saëns

Georg Philipp Telemann

Hector Berlioz

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Jacques Offenbach

Sergei Prokofiev. Maurice Ravel

Tatiana Kamysheva

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
César Cui. Igor Stravinsky

Richard Strauss

Gioachino Rossini

Dmitri Shostakovich

Gioacchino Rossini
Alexander Ostrovsky, music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Giuseppe Verdi

Anton Rubinstein

Richard Strauss

Grigory Frid. Udo Zimmermann

Benjamin Britten

Georges Bizet

Dimitry Rostovsky

Modest Mussorgsky

Umberto Giordano

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Andrei Rubtsov

Giuseppe Verdi

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Alexei Verstovsky

Dmitry Shostakovich

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The premiere of the opera by George Frederic Handel Giulio Cesare in Egitto took place on the 20th of February 1724 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. It became one of the composer’s greatest triumphs.
It was followed by further success, which was proved by its multiple renewals in London and productions on the continent – in Paris, Braunschweig and Hamburg.
The enthusiastic reception by the audience was facilitated by the outstanding cast at the premiere: alto castrato Senesino (Guilio Cesare), soprano Francesca Cuzzoni (Cleopatra), alto castrato Gaetano Berenstadt (Tolomeo), contralto Anastasia Robinson (Cornelia), soprano Margherita Durastanti (Sesto), bass Giuseppe Maria Boschi (Achille). All of them were the stars of the operatic stage and collaborated with Handel for many years, as participants of an enterprise that he managed. Later, when new artists were introduced, the composer rewrote the parts for voices of different tessiture. That way the part of a young Sesto was given to tenors and the role of Tolomeo was performed by Francesca Bertolli (contralto). The name of the opera varied even during the life of the composer. For instance, in Braunschweig it was called Giulio Cesare and Cleopatra.
Premiered at the Boris Pokrovsky Musical Theatre on November 3, 2002.
Presented with one interval.
Saturday, 19:00
Act I
Cesare and his troops settle victoriously in Alexandria after defeating Pompeo’s forces. Cesare, who knows nothing about the fate of the vanquished enemy, is generous: he agrees to an appeal from Pompeo’s wife and son – Cornelia and Sesto – for a peaceful settlement of his and Pompeo’s old rivalry.
Their joy was tempered, however, by Achille, leader of the Egyptian military, who brings Cesare a casket containing the head of Pompeo, presented as a giſt from the king of Egypt Tolomeo. Cornelia is grief-stricken, she faints as a result. Cesare is furious about Tolomeo’s cruelty and sends Achille back with a message of contempt and disgust. He orders to bury Pompeo’s body with the dignity and the respect that he deserves.