Georg Philipp Telemann
Dimitry Rostovsky
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Gioachino Rossini
Alexander Ostrovsky, music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Giacomo Puccini
Giuseppe Verdi
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Richard Strauss
Alexei Verstovsky
Sergei Prokofiev. Maurice Ravel
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Francesco Cilea
César Cui. Igor Stravinsky
Dmitry Shostakovich
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Umberto Giordano
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Dmitry Shostakovich
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Benjamin Britten. Camille Saint-Saëns
Anton Rubinstein
Hector Berlioz
Giacomo Puccini
Modest Mussorgsky
Grigory Frid. Udo Zimmermann
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mieczysław Weinberg
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Sergei Banevich
Georges Bizet
Gaetano Donizetti
Richard Wagner
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Richard Strauss
Jacques Offenbach
Sergei Prokofiev
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Andrei Rubtsov
Tatiana Kamysheva
Gioacchino Rossini
Alexander Borodin
Giuseppe Verdi
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Georges Bizet
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.