A report on Joan Sutherland and Giulio Cesare

First edition of July 1724 printed by Cluer and Creake

Senesino, Cuzzoni and Berenstadt, probably in a scene from Flavio

The librettist Nicola Francesco Haym seated at the harpsichord, Marco Ricci, c 1709

Senesino, who created the role of Giulio Cesare

Francesca Cuzzoni, who created the role of Cleopatra

Anastasia Robinson, Countess of Peterborough, who created the role of Cornelia shortly before her retirement, British Museum

Caricature of Gaetano Berenstadt, who created the role of Tolomeo

End of sinfonia and beginning of Cleopatra's aria "V'adoro, pupille", act 2, scene 2, autograph manuscript, 1723, British Library

Part of final chorus and duet in minor key for Cesare and Cleopatra, act 3, autograph manuscript

The King's Theatre, London, where Giulio Cesare had its first performance

William Hodges: The Pantheon, Oxford Street, designed by Richard Wyatt in 1772

Plan by Lediard for on-stage firework display in the epilogue to the spectacle

Oskar Hagen, the German art historian whose programme of Handel operas in Göttingen led to an international revival in performances of Handel operas

Thyra Leisner-Hagen, wife of Oskar Hagen and sister of the celebrated contralto Emmi Leisner, sang Cleopatra in Göttingen in 1922

Caesar giving Cleopatra the throne of Egypt, Pietro da Cortona, 1637

The Triumphs of Caesar: the Vase Bearers, Andrea Mantegna, Fifteenth century, Royal Collection

The Triumphs of Caesar: the Picture Bearers by Andrea Mantegna, fifteenth century, Royal Collection

During the 1960s, Sutherland added the heroines of bel canto to her repertoire: Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, Amina in Bellini's La sonnambula and Elvira in Bellini's I puritani in 1960; the title role in Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda in 1961; Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots and the title role in Rossini's Semiramide in 1962; Norma in Bellini's Norma and Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare in 1963.

- Joan Sutherland

There is also a 1963 recording of highlights with Margreta Elkins (Cesare), Joan Sutherland (Cleopatra), Monica Sinclair (Tolomeo), Marilyn Horne (Cornelia), Richard Conrad (Sesto) and Richard Bonynge conducting the New Symphonic Orchestra of London on Decca (coupled with a complete performance of Alcina).

- Giulio Cesare

3 related topics with Alpha

Beverly Sills

0 links

American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s.

The tombstone of Beverly Sills in Kensico Cemetery

In 1966, the New York City Opera revived Handel's then virtually unknown opera seria Giulio Cesare (with Norman Treigle as Caesar), and Sills' performance as Cleopatra made her an international opera star.

Her farewell performance was at San Diego Opera in 1980, where she shared the stage with Joan Sutherland in a production of Die Fledermaus.

Margreta Elkins

0 links

Australian mezzo-soprano.

She recorded alongside sopranos such as Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland.

Alcina [does not feature Elkins] coupled with Giulio Cesare in Egitto (highlights) – Margreta Elkins (Giulio Cesare), Joan Sutherland (Cleopatra), Marilyn Horne (Cornelia), Monica Sinclair (Tolomeo), Richard Conrad (Sesto), New Symphonic Orchestra of London, Richard Bonynge – Decca 00289 433 7232 / 467063-2 / 467 067-2 – Track listing and excerpts

Rodelinda (opera)

0 links

Opera seria in three acts composed for the first Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel.

Francesca Cuzzoni who played the role of Rodelinda in the first performance

Senesino, who played the role of Bertarido in the first performance

Caricature of Francesco Borosini, who played the role of Grimoaldo in the first performance

The King's Theatre, London, where Rodelinda had its first performance

A further notable London revival by the Handel Opera Society, in English and using a cut text, including both Joan Sutherland and Janet Baker in the cast, conducted by Charles Farncombe, was performed in June 1959.

Within a year, 1724–1725, Handel wrote three great operas in succession for the Royal Academy of Music, each with Senesino and Francesca Cuzzoni as the stars, the other two being Giulio Cesare and Tamerlano.