Юлий Цезарь в Египте: Опера Генделя

1724 opera by George Frideric Handel

Giulio Cesare in Egitto (ˈdʒuːljo ˈtʃeːzare in eˈdʒitto, ˈtʃɛː ; ; 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. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym who used an earlier libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani, which had been set to music by Antonio Sartorio (1676). The opera was a success at its first performances, was frequently revived by Handel in his subsequent opera seasons and is now one of the most often performed Baroque operas. The opera's plot is loosely based on historical events during the Roman Civil War of 49–45 BC.

Giulio Cesare in Egitto was first performed at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, London on 20 February 1724. The opera was an immediate success. A contemporary wrote in a letter on 10 March 1724: <blockquote> 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. The house was just as full at the seventh performance as at the first. Curio and Nireno were not allotted any arias in the original version, only singing in recitatives, although they take part in the first and final choruses. However, Handel composed an aria for Nireno for a later revival in 1730. 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. The illustration is probably of a scene from Handel's Flavio, presented by the Royal Academy of Music in 1723, although it has sometimes been identified as a scene from Giulio Cesare. The elongated bodies of the castrati tower over Cuzzoni, who was described by Horace Walpole as "short and squat". The set is architectural and generic, not a specific locale, and the costumes for the men are also generic, with some inspiration from ancient Roman military attire; breastplates, armoured skirts and leg armour, combined with plumes on the headdresses. Such costumes were worn by the leading men in Handel operas whether the setting was ancient Rome or Gothic Europe. Cuzzoni, in contrast, wears a contemporary gown such as might have been suitable for presentation at court, with a dwarf to serve as her train bearer.

1. Coro – Viva il nostro Alcide
2. Aria (Cesare) – Presti omai l'egizia terra

3. Aria (Cesare) – Empio, dirò, tu sei, togliti

4. Aria (Cornelia) – Priva son d'ogni conforto, e pur speme
5. Aria (Sesto) – Svegliatevi nel core, furie d'un alma offesa

6. Aria (Cleopatra) – Non disperar; chi sa? se al regno

7. Aria (Tolomeo) – L'empio, sleale, indegno

8. Recitativo accompagnato (Cesare) – Alma del gran Pompeo
9. Aria (Cesare) – Non è sì vago e bello il fior nel prato
10. Aria (Cleopatra) – Tutto può donna vezzosa

11. Arioso (Cornelia) – Nel tuo seno, amico sasso
12. Aria (Sesto) – Cara speme, questo core tu cominci a lusingar
13. Aria (Cleopatra) – Tu la mia stella sei

14. Aria (Cesare) – Va tacito e nascosto

15. Aria (Achilla) – Tu sei il cor di questo core
16. Duetto (Cornelia, Sesto) – Son nata a lagrimar

17. Sinfonia e recitativo (Cesare, Nireno) – Taci / Cieli
18. Sinfonia e recitativo (Cesare) – Giulio, che miri
19. Aria (Cleopatra) – V'adoro pupille
20. Aria (Cesare) – Se in fiorito ameno prato

21. Arioso (Cornelia) – Deh piangete, oh mesti lumi

22. Aria (Achilla) – Se a me non sei crudele
23. Aria (Tolomeo) – Sì spietata, il tuo rigore sveglia

24. Aria (Cornelia) – Cessa omai di sospirare! 25. Aria (Sesto) – L'angue offeso mai riposa

26. Aria (Cleopatra) – Venere bella, per un instante

27. Aria e Coro (Cesare) – Al lampo dell'armi / Morrà, Cesare, morrà
28. Recitativo accompagnato (Cleopatra) – Che sento? Oh Dio! 29. Aria (Cleopatra) – Se pietà di me non senti

30. Arioso (Tolomeo) – Belle dee di questo core

31. Aria (Sesto) – L'aure che spira tiranno e fiero

32. Aria (Achilla) – Dal fulgor di questa spada

33. Sinfonia
34. Aria (Tolomeo) – Domerò la tua fierezza

35. Aria (Cleopatra) – Piangerò la sorte mia

36. Recitativo accompagnato e Aria (Cesare) – Dall'ondoso periglio / Aure, deh, per pietà spirate

37. Aria (Cesare) – Quel torrente, che cade dal monte

38. Aria (Sesto) – La giustizia ha già sull'arco

39. Recitativo accompagnato (Cleopatra) – Voi, che mie fide ancelle
40. Aria (Cleopatra) – Da tempeste il legno infranto

41. Aria (Cornelia) – Non ha più che temere quest'alma

42. Sinfonia / La Marche
43. Duetto (Cleopatra, Cesare) – Caro! – Bella! – Più amabile beltà
44. Coro – Ritorni omai nel nostro core
45. Aria (Nireno) Chi Perde un Momento. (act 2 appendix)

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. Cornelia and Sesto are more static characters because they are completely taken by their primary emotions, she with pain because of her husband's death and constantly constrained to defend herself from the advances of Achilla and Tolomeo, and he consumed by vengeance for his father's death. Curio and Nireno do not get any arias in the original version, only singing recitatives, though they take part in the first and final choruses. However, Handel composed an aria for Nireno for a later revival in 1730.

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 basic orchestra consists of oboes, strings and continuo. The horns, divided into four parts, are used in the opening and closing choruses. Other obbligato instruments are used to add orchestral colour to individual arias: a hunting horn for Cesare's aria "Va tacito"; divided alto recorders for the central largo section of Sesto's "Svegliativi nel core"; solo concertato violin and divided bassoons in Cesare's aria "Se in fierto"; alto recorders in unison for Cornelia's aria "Cesa omai"; a solo violin for Cleopatra's aria "Venere bella"; sustained bassoons in unison for Cleopatra's aria "Se pieta"; transverse flute, first violins and obbligato cello for Cleopatra's aria "Piangero"; divided strings for Cesare's arioso aria "Aure de per pieta". 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. It is preceded by another duet for Cesare and Cleopatra and an orchestral march with obbligato trumpet (not in the autograph manuscript and not always performed). 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. The celestial instruments—oboes, bassoons, viola da gamba, harp, theorbo and strings—are first heard off stage in a sinfonia behind the scene in what Cesare takes to be the "music of the spheres", before the tableau is revealed on stage as the music burgeons, with rich arpeggios in the harp, double stopping on the viola da gamba and strumming on the theorbo.

For Handel's previous London operas, the scores and selected arias had been made available to the public by the printer and publisher John Walsh. These had proved to be popular and were an extra source of income. Even when printed copies of Handel's works were unavailable, Handel—through the offices of his assistant Christopher Smith on Dean Street—would authorise copies to be made in answer to requests from musical societies that wished to mount performances. 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. Cluer and Creake produced a first official edition of the vocal score in July 1724. In May 1724, however, an unauthorised edition had appeared printed by Daniel Wright, advertised as being available in "Musick Shops": Wright, probably acting on behalf of Walsh, had printed the score using a quicker but inferior stamping process on pewter: as a softer metal than copper, pewter could be stamped without raising its temperature. Later in 1724, several arias or "favourite songs" from the opera were included in the second of two pocket songbooks, "A Pocket Companion for Gentlemen and Ladies", printed by Cluer and Creake and edited by Richard Neale. The texts were provided in Italian mostly with English translations by Carey, so that the arias could be sung, played on the harpsichord or, in a transposed version, on the transverse flute. 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"). Again the rival publisher and printer produced The favourite songs in the opera of Julius Caesar and a sequel in 1724. 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 1784, during the centenary commemoration of Handel in Westminster Abbey and the London Pantheon, the second of five concerts, held on 27 May in the Pantheon, contained two numbers for Cesare sung by the castrato Pacchierotti—the hunting aria "Va tacito" and the accompanied recitative Alma del gran Pompeo. In his account of the performance, attended by George III, Charles Burney wrote of the aria:

Burney described the audience in the Pantheon as restless during the recitative (sung in Italian), remarking that the original opera house audience had been captivated by the dramatic music. He described it as "the finest piece of accompanied recitative, without symphonies, with which I am acquainted. The modulation is learned, and so uncommon, that there is hardly a chord that the ear expects; and yet the words are well expressed, and the phrases pathetic and pleasing." This commemoration, mounted on a giant scale, proved so popular that it was repeated in succeeding years. The dissemination of Handel's music from Giulio Cesare for domestic music making continued when one of Handel's two arrangements of the overture for harpsichord–the less ornamented and polished of the two–was included in Walsh's second collection of Handel overtures published in 1727; the chorus with horns was included as a dance. The overture itself was performed separately in concerts, including in London in 1729 and Manchester in 1745. There were also a few concerts in the 1720s where some of the more popular arias were performed. In 1789, following the culmination of Handel Commemoration concerts, a further volume of songs was published in London entitled Handel's songs selected from his most celebrated operas: for the harpsichord, voice, hoboy, or German flute. Printed by H. Wright in Catherine Street off the Strand and without English translations, it contained the arias Va tacito, Da tempeste, Non desperar and Venere bella as well as the duet Caro, bella, piu amabile belta. Despite the popularity and dissemination of Handel's music, changes in taste resulted in Samuel Arnold staging a revival of Giulio Cesare in 1787 as a "pasticcio" constructed from the original opera and other operas by Handel. 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."

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. Prior to the performance the Mercure de France had reported that Italians in the audience in London had rated the opera as a masterpiece. 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. In the event, these plans were abandoned, and Ottone was also performed as a private concert. 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.

The nineteenth century saw the publication by Breitkopf & Härtel of the complete works of Handel for the Händel Gesellschaft with Friedrich Chrysander as editor. 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. Like Handel's other works in the opera seria genre, however, there were no public performances of Giulio Cesare in the 19th century; opera seria had been supplanted by oratorios in the English language with large scale choral writing. By the early nineteenth century operas with librettos by Bussani or music by Handel had become obsolete; the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto performed in the Teatro Argentina in Rome in 1821 was by Giovanni Pacini. 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"). Chrysander's faithful rendition of Handel's original score was accompanied in 1878 by a seven volume compendium of opera and oratorio songs prepared for Breitkopf & Hārtel by Victorie Gervinus, widow of the Handel scholar Georg Gottfried Gervinus. The possible voice types—soprano, mezzo soprano, alto, tenor, bass—are given for each aria or recitative. All the texts were in German with no reference to Italian or English; and in all the seven volumes there are only six numbers from Giulio Cesare: Alma del gran Pompeo (Vol. 1), Priva son d'ogni conforta (Vol.2), V'adoro pupille (Vol. 3), Svegliatevi nel core (Vol. 4), Nel tuo seno, amico sasso and Tutto può donna vezzosa (Vol. 5).

Handel's operas were revived in the twentieth century by Oskar Hagen and other Handel enthusiasts in Göttingen, starting with Rodelinda in 1920 and Ottone in 1921. The first performance of Giulo Cesare was on 5 July 1922, with designs reminiscent of expressionist art, Bauhaus and silent film. Hagen's performing edition was significantly altered from Handel's score: it was translated into German, heavily edited and reorchestrated, with the male castrato roles transposed down for baritone, tenor or bass. 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. Hagen's vocal score was published by C. F. Peters and the version became popular throughout Germany, with performances in over 38 different localities within 5 years: Hans Knappertsbusch and Karl Böhm both conducted it in Munich in 1923; and it was also performed in neighbouring countries such as Austria (Vienna), Switzerland (Basel, Zürich, Bern), Denmark (Copenhagen) and Poland (Poznań). The first American performance took place at the Smith College of Music in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1927. The first British revival of a Handel opera was the staging of Giulio Cesare at the Scala Theatre in London in 1930, by the London Festival Opera Company, singing in English. In 1966, the New York City Opera revived the then virtually unknown opera seria with Norman Treigle as Cesare and Beverly Sills as Cleopatra. Sills' performance in the production, and on the cast recording that followed, made her an international opera star. 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. Giulio Cesare is now regularly performed.

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.

+YearCast:Cesare, Cleopatra,Tolomeo, CorneliaSesto, AchillaConductor,orchestraLabel1969Huguette Tourangeau,Joan Sutherland,Cvetka Ahlin, Ursula Boese,Lucia Popp, Tom KrauseRichard Bonynge,Philharmonisches Staatsorchester HamburgCD: Opera Depotcat. : OD 10123 21984Janet Baker,Valerie Masterson,James Bowman,Sarah Walker,Della Jones,John TomlinsonCharles Mackerras,English National OperaCD: Chandoscat. : CHAN 30191991Jennifer Larmore,Barbara Schlick,Derek Lee Ragin,Bernarda Fink,Marianne Rørholm,Furio ZanasiRené Jacobs,Concerto KölnCD: Harmonia Mundicat. : HMC 901385/872002Marijana Mijanovic,Magdalena Kožená,Bejun Mehta,Charlotte Hellekant,Anne Sofie von Otter,Alan EwingMarc Minkowski,Les Musiciens du LouvreCD: Archivcat. : 474 210 22008Kristina Hammarström,Emanuela Galli,Irini Karaianni,Mary Ellen Nesi,Romina Basso,Tassis ChristoyannisGeorge Petrou,Orchestra of PatrasCD: MDGcat. : MDG 609 1604 22011Marie Nicole Lemieux,Karina Gauvin,Romina Basso,Emőke Baráth,Filippo Mineccia,Johannes WeisserAlan Curtis,Il Complesso BaroccoCD: naïve,cat. : EAN 709861305360

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).

+YearCast:Cesare, Cleopatra,Tolomeo, Cornelia,Sesto, AchillaConductor,orchestraLabel1965Walter Berry,Lucia Popp,Karl Christian Kohn,Christa Ludwig,Fritz Wunderlich,Hans Günter NöckerFerdinand Leitner,Münchner PhilharmonikerCD: Orfeo d'Orcat. : C 351 943 D1967Norman Treigle,Beverly Sills,Spiro Malas,Maureen Forrester,Beverly Wolff,Dominic CossaJulius RudelNew York City OperaCD: RCAcat. : 61821969Dietrich Fischer Dieskau,Tatiana Troyanos,Franz Crass,Julia Hamari,Peter Schreier,Ernst Gerold SchrammKarl Richter,Münchner Bach OrchesterLP: Deutsche Grammophoncat. : 2711 009

+YearCast:Cesare, Cleopatra,Tolomeo, CorneliaSesto, AchillaConductor,orchestraStage directorLabel1984Janet Baker,Valerie Masterson,James Bowman,Sarah Walker,Della Jones,John TomlinsonCharles Mackerras,English National OperaJohn Copley, LondonDVD: Arthaus Musikcat. : 1003081990Jeffrey Gall,Susan Larson,Drew Minter,Mary Westbrook Geha,Lorraine Hunt Lieberson,James MaddalenaCraig Smith,Staatskapelle DresdenPeter Sellars, BerlinDVD: Deccacat. : 07140891994Graham Pushee,Yvonne Kenny,Andrew Dalton, Rosemary Gunn,Elizabeth Campbell,Stephen BennettRichard Hickox,Australian OperaFrancisco Negrin, SydneyDVD: EuroArtscat. : 20535992004Flavio Oliver,Elena de la Merced,Jordi Domènech,Ewa Podleś,Maite Beaumont,Oliver ZwargMichael Hofstetter,Gran Teatro del LiceoHerbert Wernicke, BarcelonaDVD: TDKcat. : EAN 8241210014072005Sarah Connolly,Danielle de Niese,Christophe Dumaux,Patricia Bardon,Angelika Kirchschlager,Christopher MaltmanWilliam Christie,Orchestra of the Age of EnlightenmentDavid McVicar, GlyndebourneDVD: Opus Artecat. : OA BD 7024 D2005Andreas Scholl,Inger Dam Jensen,Christopher Robson, Randi Steene,Tuva Semmingsen,Palle KnudsenLars Ulrik Mortensen,Concerto CopenhagenFrancisco Negrin, CopenhagenDVD: Harmonia Mundicat. : HMD 9909008/092011Lawrence Zazzo,Natalie Dessay,Christophe Dumaux,Varduhi Abrahamyan,Isabel Leonard,Nathan BergEmmanuelle Haïm,Le Concert d'AstréeLaurent Pelly, ParisDVD: Virgincat. : 07093992012Andreas Scholl,Cecilia Bartoli,Christophe Dumaux,Anne Sofie von Otter,Philippe Jaroussky,Ruben DroleGiovanni Antonini,Il Giardino ArmonicoMoshe Leiser, Patrice Caurier,SalzburgDVD: Deccacat. : EAN 044007438565