GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL Giulio Cesare (DVD) Andreas Scholl, Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen

Here is what is probably Handel’s most accomplished opera: the heir to L’incoronazione di Poppea with respect to the villainy of some of its characters, but also the Baroque ancestor of certain Romantic operas! Scrupulously based on historical characters, this work illustrates many different facets of the human soul, and also boasts perhaps the most sumptuous orchestral textures Handel ever conceived, magnificently brought out by Lars Ulrik Mortensen in this production from the Copenhagen Opera. Francisco Negrin’s transposition of the opera to the universe of modern war and Anthony Baker’s refined designs place Andreas Scholl (Giulio Cesare) and the other soloists in an unsettling, crepuscular atmosphere that is highly contemporary.

Andreas Scholl (Giulio Cesare); Inger Dam-Jensen (Cleopatra);
Randi Stene (Cornelia); Tuva Semmingsen (Sesto);
Christopher Robson (Tolomeo); John Lundgren (Curio);
Palle Knudsen (Achilla); Michael Maniaci (Nireno);
Concerto Copenhagen, Conductor: Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
Director: Francisco Negrin. Designer: Anthony Baker.
Lighting: Allen Hahn. Choreographer: Ana Yepes.

Subtitles including English & Italian libretto. 4/3 Full screen / NTSC / PCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Production of the Royal Danish Theater - Copenhagen, filmed by THOMAS GRIMM, DR, March 2005.