We’re off to the Salzburg Festival for this week’s Sunday Opera (10/26 3:00 p.m.) and their presentation of George Frideric Handel’s “Giulio Cesare in Egitto” which was originally staged by London’s Royal Academy of Music in 1724.
Cesare (Christopher Dumaux), in pursuit of his enemy Pompeo, follows him to Egypt. Pompeo's wife, Cornelia (Lucile Richardot), pleads with Cesare to spare her husband. He is about to grant her plea, when the Egyptians led by their boy king Tolomeo (Yurly Mynenko) bring him the head of Pompeo. Cornelia and Pompeo's son Sesto (Federico Fiorio) vow to avenge his death.
Tolomeo's sister, Cleopatra (Olga Kulchynska), desires to depose her brother in order to become the sole ruler of Egypt. She joins Cornelia and Sesto in their plans for vengeance and entreats Cesare to aid her.
Cleopatra seduces Cesare, and he falls in love with her. Tolomeo attempts to assassinate Cesare, after which, Cleopatra is told that Cesare has drowned while in flight, and Cleopatra is taken captive by her brother. Cesare, who has escaped drowning, enters to free his beloved. Tolomeo is slain by Sesto because he forced himself upon Cornelia against her will.
Cesare makes Cleopatra Queen of Egypt and returns to Rome.
This production features Le Concert d’Astree and the Salzburg Bach Choir with Emmanuelle Haim conducting.
After the opera, we’ll turn to some “seasonal” music to get you ready for Halloween. The pieces include the ominously brooding “Dance of the Knights” from Prokofiev’s ballet “Romeo and Juliet,” the terrifying section of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” that features “The Hut on Chicken’s Feet” or “Baba Yaga,” and a gloriously spooky piece by Bela Bartok, Suite for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta.
