As of now I do consider Giulio Cesare Handel's best opera, the story, the characters, the drama, the music, everything I love about it. The DVD competition is solid on the whole, the best being the sublime Glyndebourne David McVicar-directed(he also directed the terrific recent Met performance) production and the weakest being the one from Peter Sellars, which was musically excellent but one of those that manages to interest and frustrate. This production from Salzburg is the weakest, DVD or not, that I've seen of Giulio Cesare, it has a lot of things to love but things do let it down. Starting with the pros, the orchestra play with verve and the ability to sensitively accompany the singers, and the conducting, musical and efficient, reflects those qualities. The performances are world-class, Andreas Scholl is amazing in the title role, he sings like an angel and a great understanding of the music and text and dramatically he is commanding and brings out the humour and vulnerability of Caesar really well. Cecilia Bartoli sings with such creaminess and expression, and while her mannerisms might suggest her trying too hard, she is both regal and sensual as Cleopatra. Anne Sofie Von Otter's voice still has the depth and beauty as I've known her to have and her Cornelia is splendidly dignified, while Phillippe Jaroussky singing with vibrancy and intense vocal expression makes for an affecting Sesto. Christophe Dumaux I have heard in better voice, it's not as bright and is a little edgy at times but the menace and lasciviousness is absolutely there for Ptolomeo, and Ruben Drole is very vocally resonant as Achilla. As good as the musical values are however, the production itself was just perplexing for want of a better word. The sets are stark and dull, the lighting is often too much of one colour(could have done with more dynamic contrast to match the mood of each scene) and while the costumes are not ugly so to speak but I was never sure which period the production was meant to be set in. Just for the record, being an admirer of Scholl, Bartoli and Von Otter I saw the whole production on Youtube without looking at any details on the production in case anybody's wondering. If I had done that though the concept might have been clearer, unless it was a hodge-podge of ideas that didn't connect with one another, much of it actually did read along those lines I felt. The staging, while the principals really make the most of making their characters interesting, was not tasteful at all and at times embarrassing, touches like the scantily clad ladies and Ptolomeo masturbating were lost on me I'm afraid. Even the more seductive scenes with Cleopatra got a little too much. In conclusion, I loved the musical values but the visuals and staging didn't work for me. 6/10 Bethany Cox
