Sarah Connolly
‘Julius Caesar’ Finds a New Life in the Summer of the British Empire
By PAUL GRIFFITHS [NY Times, 5 July 05]
LEWES, England, July 3 – Glyndebourne’s achievements are too various for one to speak of a company style, but there is certainly a Glyndebourne scent: of excellence and elegance, of singers and musicians enjoying at once the freedom gained by thorough rehearsal and the intimacy of a small, warm house. And its waft is strong, luxurious and exciting around the new production of Handel’s “Giulio Cesare,” which opened on Sunday afternoon.
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Giulio Cesare
Robert Thicknesse at Glyndebourne [Times Online, 5 July 05]
IMAGINE the relief that swept through Glyndebourne as the realisation filtered down that this four-hour opera seria wasn’t going to be, well, serious. Phew! A grateful audience unbuttoned, and by the end they roared the house down.
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Giulio Cesare
Tim Ashley [The Guardian, 5 July 05]
First performed in London in 1724, Handel’s Giulio Cesare is essentially a study of the hidden agendas at work during the creation and consolidation of empire. Its politics are at once bleak and dodgy. Julius Caesar and his supposedly noble Romans take on the manipulative world of Cleopatra’s Egypt. The Romans are trying to bring their own civil war to an end, while Egypt is being pulled apart by dynastic intrigue. Peace in both camps necessitates the absorption of Egypt as a Roman province.
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Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Glyndebourne
By Andrew Clark [Financial Times, 5 July 05]
Handel returns in triumph to Glyndebourne. It is by no means a flawless show: you will look in vain for depth, nobility or heroism, all of which are part of Handel’s most popular opera. And the voices lack variety of colour. But the music is so perfectly conducted by William Christie and the action sent up by David McVicar with such funky tongue-in-cheek that three-and-a-half hours fly past. After Rodelinda and now Cesare, it’s clear that Handel is at home at Glyndebourne – much more so than poor old Mozart.
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