Giulio Cesare

Approximate running time 4 hrs. 35 min.

The opera that conquered London in Handel’s time comes to the Met in David McVicar’s witty and effervescent production. The world’s leading countertenor, David Daniels, sings the title role opposite Natalie Dessay as Cleopatra. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts.

“Hail, Cesare! Met Production a Conquering Hero” (New York Post)

"Supple, vivid, and complete... The genius of this production lies in the mixture of the deep and the frivolous, the dance of slapstick and sublimity." (New York Magazine)

“The Met's smashing new production… is a thrilling operatic experience that is a feast for the eyes and ears” (Huffington Post).

“A masterpiece the Met is treating with just the right mix of respect and irreverence” (New York Post).

In the title role, David Daniels “is remarkable, singing with his full-bodied sound, emphatic delivery and technical command” (New York Times).

“Natalie Dessay was simply brilliant as Cleopatra. She has always been one of the best acting sopranos, and in Giulio Cesare she ranges seamlessly from seductress to desperate defeat to jubilant triumph” (Huffington Post).

Dessay "sashays like a silent-movie star... While her torso swings one way, her voice flies another, caroming around the house with an aerialist's precision." (New York Magazine)

As Sesto, Alice Coote was “fiery and rich-voiced” and Christophe Dumaux as Tolomeo “sang his tricky arias with fresh, even tone and immaculate technique” (AP).

Conductor Harry Bicket “draws a lithe, lyrical and stylish performance of this great score from the Met orchestra” (New York Times), conducting "hour after hour of music without letting a single measure go blurry or slack"(New York Magazine).

Harry Bicket "conducts hour after hour of music without letting a single measure go blurry or slack."

“A stunning production of one of Handel’s most magnificent works… so kaleidoscopically imaginative that repeated viewings are mandatory… an unforgettable, visionary theatrical event” (Classical Review).

Production a gift of the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, in memory of
William B. Warren, former Co-Trustee and Governor of the Foundation

Additional funding from The Annenberg Foundation

Production owned by Glyndebourne Festival Opera

View further information about the gala celebration

Synopsis