Giulio Cesare
'Julius Caesar in Egypt'; HWV 17), commonly known as Giulio Cesare, is a dramma per musica (opera seria) in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724.
A contemporary wrote in a letter on 10 March 1724: ...the opera is in full swing also, since Hendell's new one, called Jules César – in which Cenesino and Cozzuna shine beyond all criticism – has been put on.
Although a caricature, the contemporary engraving of Senesino on the left, Francesca Cuzzoni and castrato Gaetano Berenstadt on the right, provides valuable information about the visual aspect of the original performances of Handel operas.
Cesare appears and demands the seal, promising that he will either save both Cornelia and Cleopatra or die (Aria: Quel torrente, che cade dal monte).
With Cesare alive and Achilla dead, Sesto's spirits lift, and he vows to fight on (Aria: La giustizia ha già sull'arco).
The roles of Cesare and Cleopatra, sung by the castrato Senesino and famous soprano Francesca Cuzzoni respectively, and which encompass eight arias and two recitatives accompagnati each, make full use of the vocal capabilities of the singers.
She has great arias of immense dramatic intensity Se pietà di me non senti (II, 8) and Piangerò la sorte mia (III, 3).
Her sensual character is described magnificently in the aria V'adoro, pupille, in which Cleopatra, in the guise of Lidia, appears to Cesare surrounded by the Muses of Parnassus (II, 2).
This number calls for two orchestras: one is a small group to play behind the scene with strings with sordino, oboe, tiorba, harp, bassoons and viola da gamba concertante.
The opera is scored for transverse flute, two alto recorders, two oboes, two bassoons, four horns, viola da gamba, harp, theorbo, strings and continuo.
The final chorus for full orchestra with divided horns has a central interlude in the minor key with a duet for Cesare and Cleopatra accompanied only by oboes and continuo.
The most elaborate and ravishing orchestration occurs at the beginning of act 2 in Cleopatra's aria "V'adoro, pupille" sung in the guise of Lidia to seduce Cesare.
On stage there is a tableau of the Temple of Virtue, below Mount Parnassus with a second orchestra or "symphony" of nine instruments played by the muses, with muted strings in the pit.
In the case of Giulio Cesare, following the positive public response to the performances, Handel decided to use the printers Cluer and Creake in order to produce pocket-sized vocal scores and songbooks in high quality copper engravings, a time-consuming process.
The arias included were: Non e si bello e vago ("With thee is ev'ry pleasure beyond expressing");Non ha piu che temere ("My life my only treasure"); Cara speme ("Cruel creature"); Spera ne ingannai; La speranza all alma mia ("Hopes beguiling, pleasures smiling"); Chi perde un momento ("While Celia is flying"); Venere bella ("Gazing on my idol"); Se pieta di me non senti ("Welcome death, oh end my sorrow"); V'adoro pupille ("Lamenting, complaining"); and Non disperar ("Oh what a fool was I").
Some of these songs in the Pocket Companion reappeared in Peter Prelleur's "The Modern Musick-Master", an instructional manual published in 1730 for those learning singing, harpsichord, oboe, flute or violin.
In his account of the performance, attended by George III, Charles Burney wrote of the aria: Whoever is able to read a score, and knows the difficulty of writing in five real parts, must admire the resources which Handel has manifested in this.
In the accompanying libretto Arnold stated, "The original, however, offering a great number of incongruities, both in the language and the conduct, several material alterations have been thought absolutely necessary, to give the piece a dramatic consistency, and to suit it to the refinement of a modern audience.
"[14][15] In the summer of 1724, after the first run of Giulio Cesare had finished, the London cast gave a private concert performance in Paris at the residence of Pierre Crozat, retired royal treasurer and patron of the arts.
The trip, which lasted from July to September, had initially been planned for the previous year when, following similar favourable newspaper reports, fully staged performances of Ottone at the Paris Opera had been envisaged, with financial support from Louis XV.
Senesino had fallen out with the company and Anastasia Robinson could not participate because of the complications in her private life, so a new female singer was brought in to fill the gaps they created, with Durastanti doubling some parts.
In Hamburg, where Handel had himself been a violinist in the opera orchestra, the arias were sung in Italian but the recitatives were translated into German by the Englishman Thomas Lediard.
The spectacle, entitled "The Joy and Happiness of the British Nation," involved a lengthy sung prologue with illuminations and an epilogue with fireworks ignited within the opera theatre.
The entertainments were set to music by Georg Philipp Telemann with trumpets, horns and drums played from the galleries which contrasted with the flutes and violins that accompanied the Roman gods and nymphs on stage for the prologue.
At the base of a large sculpture of George I, suitably attired singers portrayed Britain, Ireland, France, America and the House of Hanover.
He produced a comprehensive full score in 1875, using all the available sources in London including those in the Royal Collection; Chrysander's volume gave all the variants in the different revivals.
Of the fifty two songs from operas and oratorios in the "Royal Edition" selected by William Thomas Best in 1880, with English translations of the Italian texts by Maria X. Hayes, only three came from Giulio Cesare, all for Cleopatra: Piangerò la sorte mia ("Hope, no more this heart sustaining"); V'adoro, pupille, saette d'amore ("Ye dear eyes so tender"); and Da tempeste ("When by storms").
As well as local singers for the chorus, the cast included Wilhelm Guttmann as Cesare, Thyra Hagen-Leisner as Cleopatra, Bruno Bergmann as Tolomeo, Eleanor Reynolds as Cornelia and G. A. Walter as Sesto.
[23] The first uncut performance of modern times with the voices at correct pitch did not take place until 1977 at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, England.
[28] The discography below lists separately recordings with the title role of Cesare sung at the original pitch (as mezzo-soprano or counter-tenor) and those adopting the pre-historically informed performance practice of transposing the part down an octave to bass-baritone.
