Dutch National Opera Presents GIULIO CESARE

Romance and power take centre stage in Handel's Giulio Cesare, set against the backdrop of Ancient Rome and Egypt. In the midst of the Roman Civil War (49-45 BCE), Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar) discovers that his rival Pompeo has been cruelly executed by the Egyptian king Tolomeo. While Pompeo's widow Cornelia mourns her husband, and his son Sesto vows vengeance on the man who killed his father, Tolomeo's sister and wife Cleopatra decides to seduce Cesare in order to enlist his support and tip the balance of power in her favour.

After directing a highly praised production of Rudi Stephan's Die ersten Menschen in June 2020, Spanish opera and theatre director Calixto Bieito returns to Dutch National Opera to immerse himself in a very different type of family drama, with an added political dimension. In Bieito's very own physical and visually impressive theatrical language, we can expect a reading of Handel's opera with a focus on the darker sides of human desire. For his staging, he drew inspiration from rich, money- and power-hungry visitors of world exhibitions. He places his characters in a fairly literal translation of Saudi Arabia's pavilion at the Expo in Dubai in 2020.

Giulio Cesare is in expert hands with Emmanuelle Haïm, who specialises in the Baroque repertoire and has an impressive and much-praised discography to her name. Both Haïm and her ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée will be making their Dutch National Opera debut.

Bieito and Haïm have a first-class ensemble of Handel singers at their disposal, including French soprano Julie Fuchs also making her DNO debut, French countertenor Christophe Dumaux and Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari.

Eight performances of Giulio Cesare at National Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam
Mon 16 (premiere), Thu 19, Sun 22*, Wed 25, Sat 28, Tue 31 January, Thu 2, Sun 5* February, 19:00 hrs (*14:00 hrs)

Musical direction: Emmanuelle Haïm
Stage direction: Calixto Bieito
Set design: Rebecca Ringst
Costume design: Ingo Krügler
Lighting design: Michael Bauer
Video: Sarah Derendinger
Dramaturgy: Bettina Auer

Giulio Cesare: Christophe Dumaux
Cornelia: Teresa Iervolino
Sesto: Cecilia Molinari
Cleopatra: Julie Fuchs
Tolomeo: Cameron Shahbazi
Achilla: Frederik Bergman
Nireno: Jake Ingbar*
*Dutch National Opera Studio

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