Giulio Cesare with Accademia Bizantina
Julius Caesar, conducted in 1991 by René Jacobs, is one of the iconic productions of the festival and album recorded that same year with the American mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore in the title role, and is still a reference work. We have entrusted the direction of this new production of Julius Caesar to Ottavio Dantone at the head of his brilliant Accademia Bizantina orchestra, with a cast of young talents (in particular the promising French countertenor Paul- Antoine Bénos, who makes his debut in the title role of Julius Caesar) and renowned soloists including Mari Eriksmoen as Cleopatra and Arianna Venditelli as Sesto. Panache, burlesque, wonderful feelings, a handful of characters full of colour and depth, a myriad of tunes, each more magical than the next: this is Julius Caesar, the quintessence of what we call opera seria, which George Frideric Handel takes to new heights. A series of tunes alternately tender, mischievous, fiery, martial, majestic, tearful, languorous and desperate which narrate the love of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, against a backdrop of the Egyptian war, political quarrels and internal tumult. In this heroic and amorous theatre, the voices reign supreme, flying in a whirlwind of vocalisations that lead the listener into an intoxication of the senses.
ACCADEMIA BIZANTINA ORCHESTRA
Musical Direction : OTTAVIO DANTONE
- Giulio Cesare Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian
- Cleopatra Mari Eriksmoen
- Cornelia Delphine Galou
- Sesto Arianna Venditelli
- Tolomeo Filippo Mineccia
- Achilla Riccardo Novaro