One of Georg Friedrich Händel's (1685 – 1759) greatest
and most successful operas, Giulio Cesare was first
performed at the King's Theatre in London on February
20, 1724, when it ran for 13 performances. Handel
subsequently revived the work on three occasions, the
last in 1732. It was composed for the Italian opera
season of the Royal Academy, the organization formed by
a group of noblemen under Handel's musical direction in
1719. From its inception, the Academy had sought to
present some of the greatest singers of the day to
London audiences; the original cast of Giulio Cesare
was no exception: the great castrato Senesino (Caesar),
and Francesca Cuzzoni (Cleopatra), one of the leading
prima donnas of the day, took the stage to premiere
Handel's work.
By the conventions of the day, Giulio Cesare is unusual
in a number of respects, not least of which is its
subject matter. Based as it is on the famous historical
love affair between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, it
departs from the more traditional realm (at least for
opera seria of the time) of mythology. Around this
central argument an excellent libretto, cast in the
usual three acts by Nicola Haym, weaves a story of
political intrigue and treachery involving Cleopatra's
brother and co-ruler of Egypt, Tolomeo (Ptolemy).
Giulio Cesare was the only opera Handel composed for
the Royal Academy during 1724, and he lavished extra
time and care on a score that frequently breaches the
conventions of its genre. To a greater degree than in
any other of Handel's operas, there is a flexibility of
design that departs from the rigid alternation of
recitative and da capo aria. Handel's orchestration is
also richer than in any other of his operas. Nowhere is
this richness and flexibility better demonstrated than
in the extraordinary scene in Act Two in which
Cleopatra attempts to seduce Caesar by revealing to him
a pageant set on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. Here
Handel employs a double orchestra, one on stage
including harp, theorbo, and viola da gamba, combined
with the main body in a ravishing symphony of
sensuality.
Above all, perhaps, the greatness of Giulio Cesare
resides in the person of Cleopatra, for whom the
composer created one of the most acute and vividly
drawn characterizations in operatic history. In the
course of her eight arias, Cleopatra's progress from a
self-confident ruler and vivacious flirt to mature
young woman is charted with unparalleled sympathy and
insight. Nowhere is she more affecting than in
adversity, particularly after her imprisonment by
Tolomeo, when she is given three magnificent arias,
culminating in her famous "Piangerò." While it is
Cleopatra who dominates the opera, the other major
characters are also unusually well-drawn -- Caesar
truly heroic yet vulnerably susceptible, and Tolomeo a
more rounded and convincing villain than is frequently
the case. While Handel may have later equaled the
achievement of Giulio Cesare in Orlando and Alcina, it
attains an overall level he never surpassed.
Source: AllMusic
(https://www.allmusic.com/composition/giulio-cesare-in-
egitto-opera-hwv-17-mc0002359520).
Although originally written for Opera, I created this
Arrangement of the Arioso: "Belle dee di questo core"
from "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" (HWV 17 Act II Scene IX
No. 28) for Concert (Pedal) Harp. |
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