Giulio Cesare, Quarantined
Want to join our Opera “book club” Wednesdays at 5pm CST? You choose which operas appeal. We provide a delicious cocktail idea and an opera to chat about. We all get to talk to someone who doesn’t live in our house. Want to be the keener? Check out the post below for the opera we’re discussing for some background!
We will forward the link to you on Wednesdays mornings when you sign up here: Quarantine Opera Book Club. Next up: Giulio Cesare on June 3.
Boston Lyric Opera had to make the difficult decision to cancel their spring production of Giulio Cesare. We raise a glass to them and the other opera companies that had to cancel or postpone this season.
Need to know
Some quick Baroque Opera definitions:
Opera Seria (Serious Opera): In content, the shows lean towards the dramatic and lack comic characters. Often focused on stories of the Gods or, in the case of Giulio Cesare, the ancient Romans.
Recitativo is where the action is! recitativo secco (accompanied by harpsichord) and recitativo obbligato (accompanied by orchestra) used throughout the show for dramatic effect.
Arias (songs) represent a single specific mood or affections, and sometimes two contrasting but relating affections, da capo (from the beginning) ABA musical structure (look below, we’ll explore this further!)
It’s all about the singer! Handel knew Londoners didn’t speak Italian so he gave the people what they wanted and what they wanted was famous singers!
Wide variety of style! Since Handel had the best singers, he used their voices every way you could think, from brilliant coloratura passages to long expressive vocal lines.
Orchestra: Various early instruments including recorder, viola da gamba, and theorbo (large lute), make up sounds of the orchestra.
Some Handel background!
Baroque composer George Frideric Handel (1685- 1759) is probably best known today for his oratorios (concert works, usually with religious themes, or as I like to call them Religious opera with no staging!), especially his masterpiece Messiah. Click here to hear the complete Messiah or here for its most famous chorus Hallelujah.
Unlike his contemporaries (Vivaldi, Rameau, and Bach), Handel won international fame during his lifetime (as well as after) and moved comfortably between German, Italian, and English speaking cities, maturing as a composer in England. He was an accomplished organist and harpsichordist and was immediately hired at the age of 18 to be the cathedral organist in his hometown of Halle, Germany. He quickly gave up his church career to pursue writing operas.
By 1703, Handel had moved to the center of German Opera culture, Hamburg, where his first opera Almira, was performed. From there he departed to Italy in 1706, moving between Rome, Florence, Naples and Venice with his chief patron Marquis Francesco Ruspoli keeping him employed. In 1710, Handel left Italy to become the music director at the electoral court of Hanover, but it was very short lived as he took a leave of absence to travel to London, England, where he lived out the remainder of his life and career.
Italian Opera by a German in England…
Opera was created by the Florentine Camerata in the later half of the 16th century and quickly became all the rage throughout Europe. By 1710, London and England in general couldn’t get enough of Italian Opera. Handel quickly found success and in 1718, along with 2 composers and 6 wealthy mean started a company called the Royal Academy of Music, to present operas to the London public. During this period (1720- 1728) Handel produced some of his best operas, including Radamisto, Ottone, Giulio Cesare, Rodelinda, and Admeto.
Didn’t we just hear that?
The major musical form used during the Baroque period is what is known as de capo (from the beginning). This basically means the music has an “A” section followed by a “B” section and then returns to the “A” section to finish the aria.
The two sections often would sound very different and allowed the singer to really shine both dramatically (happy/sad) and vocally (the return of the “A” section meant the singer could ornament it like crazy!)
Here are some of the da capo arias from Giulio Cesare:
Sesto’s aria Svegliatevi nel core, listen to it sung by Mezzo Soprano Isabel Leonard.
Cleopatra’s aria V’adoro pupille, listen to it sung by Soprano Renée Fleming.
Cleopatra’s aria Piangero La Sorte Mia, listen to it sung by Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa.
Ceasar’s aria Non è si vago e bello, listen to it sung by countertenor Jeffrey Gall.
Still want to hear more arias? Here is a list of 16 arias from Giulio Cesare broken down by character and scene, click here.
Whole lot of Treble…
The five major roles in Giulio Cesare (Cesare, Cleopatra, Tolomeo, Cornelia, and Sesto) are all performed by treble voiced singers. Today several of the male characters are sung by Mezzo-Sopranos or Countertenors (Male singing in falsetto voice). Originally, Handel had set these roles for castrati (male sopranos and altos who had been surgically castrated before their voices changed).
Castrati singers were the rock stars of their time. In addition to maintaining their higher register, these singers also grew to be very tall and also had giant ribcages, allowing them to sing very long, superhuman lines. Read more about the castrati here.
One of the greatest castrati was Farinelli, he was admired all over Europe at the beginning of the 18th century. There was even a movie made about the famous singer, you can rent it on youtube for $1.99.
Can you “Handel”Her?
Caesar couldn’t resist her. See if you can with John’s pre-opera drink "Cleopatra's Kiss" . Click here to watch him make it. This sweet and spicy cocktail is inspired by the Queen of the Nile herself.
Ingredients: 1 1/2 oz Tequila (Silver), 1 oz Mango Nectar, 1 oz Pineapple Juice, 1/2 oz Lime Juice, 1 Sage leaf, pinch of Cayenne pepper, pinch of Ginger, Orange Peel for garnish
Directions: Add Tequila, Mango Nectar, Pineapple Juice, Sage leaf, Cayenne Pepper, and Ginger to a shake and shake with ice. Double strain into a rocks glass (fresh ice) and garnish with an orange peel. Enjoy!
Synopsis
Abridged Plot
Cesare has followed his enemy Pompeo into Egypt. There Pompeo’s wife Cornelia pleads with Cesare to spare her husband. As he’s about to grant her plea, the King of Egypt, Tolomeo, brings Cesare the head of Pompeo. Cornelia and Pompeo’s son Sesto vow to avenge his death.
Tolomeo’s sister, Cleopatra, desires to depose her brother and become the sole ruler of Egypt. She joins Cornelia and Sesto in their plans for vengeance and asks Cesare to help. Cesare falls quickly in love with Cleopatra. Tolomeo learns of his sister’s plan and attempts to assassinate Cesare, but he escapes.
Cleopatra hears that Cesare has drowned and she is taken captive by her brother. Cesare, who escaped from drowning, enters and frees Cleopatra. Tolomeo is killed by Sesto, because he forced himself upon his mother Cornelia. With Tolomeo dead, Cesare makes Cleopatra Queen of Egypt and returns to Rome.
Full plot and other resources
Read the full synopsis from the Met.
Other Resource: Opera North breaks down the plot, cliff notes style, as well as gives other amazing information about Handel’s Giulio Casare.
Stream Handel’s Giulio Cesare
Full production by Le Concert d’Astrée, click here.
Rent the production from the Met for $3.99, click here.
Did You Know…
The Baroque period is full of stories. Explore the era in more detail here.
So Handel became the offical composer for the King. 'Zadok the Priest' was written for the coronation of George II in 1727. It has been used at every British coronation ever since! 'Music for the Royal Fireworks' was written to go with a fireworks display, and Water Music was performed on a barge. The king loved it so much, he made them play the suite three times.
Handel was born in the same year as Bach, 1685. Unlike Bach, his nonmusical father was NOT a fan of his son’s interest in music. Handel had to practice in secret in the attic. Handel did honor his father’s wishes; he studied Law at the University in Halle – but he soon gave it up for music and became an organist instead. Bach is quoted as having said about Handel that he ‘is the only person I would wish to see before I die and the only person I would wish to be were I not Bach’.
Handel’s biggest musical rival during his time in London was Italian composer Giovanni Bononcini. They totally divided the London public on party lines: the Whig party favoured Handel, while the Tories preferred Bononcini. Their competition inspired the epigram by John Byrom that made the phrase "Tweedledum and Tweedledee” famous.
Handel was such a popular opera composer that he was allowed to pick his own leading ladies. However, this perk led to an almighty bust-up between sopranos Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni, two rival singers of the day, who ended up having a scrap on stage during a performance of Bononcini's Astianatte. They both had to be dragged off stage to stop them pulling bits off each other's costumes. Handel and Cuzzoni got into it in a rehearsal once as well. He grabbed her and threatened to throw her out the window! I’m guessing this was terrifying, considering his nickname was “the great bear”.
Over the course of his career, Handel would go on to write 42 operas; 29 oratorios; more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets; numerous arias; chamber music; a large number of ecumenical pieces; odes and sonatas; and 16 organ concerti. Some of Handel's biggest and best works were composed in the latter stages of his life. That might not sound too impressive, but then again he did suffer from a stroke in 1737, was involved in a coach crash in 1750 and had cataracts and eventually went blind after a botched eye operation 1751.
Jimi Hendrix and Handel shared an address, just not on the same timeline. Hendrix unknowingly moved into the same building, and was excited to carry on the street’s musical legacy. When Hendrix found out about his famous ex-neighbor, he went out and bought Handel’s Messiah and Water Music albums from a nearby record store.