Giulio Cesare in Egitto

Location
Opéra di Montecarlo (MC) 2025
Year
2025
Status
Completed
Typology
Opera

It was for the British capital and its refined, opera seria loving public that Georg Friedrich Handel reserved the quintessence of his art. The premiere of Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the King’s Theatre, Haymarket in February 1724 was received triumphantly.

Although the adventures of the Roman consul and the Egyptian queen were not a novelty, the magnificent beauty of the countless arias dedicated to the castrato Senesino and the famous soprano Francesca Cuzzoni turned this work into one of the most performed operas.

However, swept away by the Romantic wave of the 19th century, it was only in 1922, in Göttingen, that it would briefly return to the stage, before making a comeback after the War with the great voices of that period. It was not until the 1970s, however, that the score would be reinstated in its entirety, with the original orchestration and tessitura.  This new production, directed by Davide Livermore, continues in this tradition of historically informed performance practice.
Conductor | Gianluca Capuano
Director | Davide Livermore
Sets | GioForma
Costumes | Mariana Fracasso
Lighting design | Antonio Castro
Videos | D-Wok
Choirmaster | Stefano Visconti
Assistante à la mise en scène | Aida Bousselma
Assistant conductor | Davide Pozzi
Repetitor | Marie-Eve Scarfone

Chorus and soloists on a two-level ship-like set with a staircase and CESARE lettering above – Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo, Monaco, 2025 – set design
Singer on a small stage under draped curtains, with dancers, café tables and men on a balcony above – Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo, Monaco, 2025 – set design
Darkened set with a huge orange explosion on the screen and bodies lying on the floor – Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo, Monaco, 2025 – set design
Three singers in white on the stairs and deck of the set against a starry projected sky – Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo, Monaco, 2025 – set design
Singers in costume and fezzes before a projected desert with a stranded steamboat – Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo, Monaco, 2025 – set design
Chorus in pale costumes in front of a projected sea of fire and dark clouds – Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Monte Carlo, Monaco, 2025 – set design