Giulio Cesare

Expectations were high on all sides when Artistic Director of Opera, ONO Kazushi, scheduled Giulio Cesare as the first production in our baroque opera series. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic put rehearsals and performances on hold. After two and a half years of anticipation, we are now finally able to bring this magnificent baroque opera to the Opera Palace.

Giulio Cesare by master Baroque composer Georg Friedrich Händel is a notable work that established his reputation in England. This opera seria is based on the story of Caesar and Cleopatra and features successively unfolding arias in recitativo style. It is a spectacle of pleasure, showcasing dramatic effects, a variety of beautiful music and skilled vocal performances.

This production by Laurent PELLY was a success as soon as it hit the stage of Palais Garnier, Opéra National de Paris in 2011, and then performed at the Teatro Regio di Torino in 2014. PELLY's concept is that of "history in a dream". Taking a "playful look at history", a dramatic fantasy unfolds in the storeroom of an Egyptian antiquities museum. Colossal statues and paintings successively come to life in a clever mix of the ancient and the modern.

Baroque music virtuoso Rinaldo ALESSANDRINI takes up the conductor's baton, alongside notable singers MORIYA Mari, FUJIKI Daichi, KANOH Etsuko, KANEKO Mika and others from the scheduled cast in 2020. An outstanding Swedish mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate KIELLAND appears in the title role.

* Please note that there might be changes depending on the Covid-19 situation.