Giulio Cesare

Sarah Connolly (left), Danielle de Niese

With its plot and many subplots, Giulio Cesare could easily be a long hard slog of a night at the opera. There’s the main story—that of Caesar and Cleopatra falling in love—but there’s also young Sesto who plans to avenge his father’s murder at the hands of Ptolemy; Achille and Ptolemy who lust after Cornelia, Sesto’s mother; and the various concerns of Cleopatra’s courtiers competing for attention. Any production that can keep all of these balls in the air and field a cast of singers that sing extraordinarily well deserves attention. This three-DVD set does.

In the two trouser roles, mezzos Sarah Connolly (Caesar) and Angelika Kirchschlager (Sesto) come up aces. Connolly sings her brazen scales with gusto and Kirchschlager’s Sesto is at once threatening and unsure of himself. Sesto’s pistol-wielding Act II aria “L’angue offeso mai riposa,” in which he (or is it she?) declares his thirst for revenge, is taken with harrowing assurance.

Soprano Danielle de Niese, a veteran of Chicago Opera Theater, makes a strong impression in the challenging role of Cleopatra. Her low notes may go a little foggy, but she clearly renders Cleopatra’s exoticism.

The Glyndebourne Festival Opera production benefits immensely from David McVicar’s incisive direction. Robert Jones’s sets draw you in, and Andrew George’s choreography is the icing on the cake. William Christie vigorously conducts.—Marc Geelhoed