Edit

Categories

  • Album review
  • Art
  • Article
  • Arts and Culture
  • Basketball
  • Blogs and Lifestyle
  • business
  • Clubs
  • Comedy
  • Comment
  • covid
  • Cricket
  • Debate
  • Drag
  • Editor's Letter
  • entertainment
  • Features
    • LS Features
  • Festival Feature
  • Film
  • Flame
  • Football
  • Gallery
  • Gig Guide
  • Homepage
  • In The Middle
  • In The Middle
    • Blogs and Lifestyle
      • Food
      • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Lifestyle & Culture
  • Interview
  • Leeds Internation Film Festival
  • Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Live review
  • Music and Clubs
  • Music Features
  • Music news
  • Music news
  • Musical Theatre
  • News
  • Online Exclusive
  • Poetry
  • Poetry
  • Previews
  • Satire
  • Science
  • Society
  • Sport
  • sports
  • Street Style
  • Television
  • Theatre
  • travel
  • Uncategorized
  • University
  • video
  • Views
  • world
Wednesday July 6, 2022
The Gryphon The Gryphon

6:19 am

  • Home
  • News
  • Features
  • Views
  • Fashion
  • Lifestyle
  • Arts
  • Music
  • Business
  • Science
  • Sport
 Theatre Review: Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Opera North.
Article Arts and Culture entertainment In The Middle Live review Theatre

Theatre Review: Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Opera North.

by Emma Rivers October 26, 2019 0 Comment

Emma Rivers reviews the dazzling Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Opera North at the Leeds Grand Theatre.


George Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt), is an Italian opera first performed in 1724 in London. This opera intertwines themes of political ambition, dangerous love, and survival, all set to an innovative baroque orchestral score. Set in Egypt after the Roman Civil War, the production opens with Tolomeo, the dangerously sadistic ruler of Egypt, murdering Caesar’s rival Pompeo. When Caesar arrives in Egypt to confront Tolomeo, Cleopatra senses an opportunity to overthrow her brother and take the throne for herself by seducing the Roman Emperor. 

Director Tim Albery’s revival of Giulio Cesare, first performed by Opera North in 2012, presents us with a stunning combination of set design, costume and lighting. These aspects work together to blend the traditional and modern, sweeping the audience along with the timeless, character-driven story. 

The set design is striking in its simplicity. When the curtain first lifts the audience is presented with an overbearing edifice of stark grey concrete. The blasted, bullet-pocked structure conjures up thoughts of a war-torn bunker and serves as a perfect introduction for the militaristic Caesar. However, as the story progresses the two-piece set unfolds like a jewellery box, revealing a stunning golden interior that serves as the setting for the intimate Egyptian scenes. Likewise, the lighting created by Thomas Hase is cleverly used to contrast the two opposing cultures of the Romans and Egyptians. Caesar’s scenes feature a harsh white light shining from above severely on to the concrete set. In contrast, the Egyptian scenes have warm low-level candlelight glowing upon the characters, creating an intimate and rich scene against the gold backdrop of the pyramid set. Both lighting and set work to further emphasise the cultural and political divide between the two societies, creating a tangible tension across the stage.

Albery’s influence is further demonstrated through the choice to cast the roles of Caesar and Sesto to women. While these roles could have been cast as countertenors (high male voice), Albery chose to maintain the spirit of the original production’s use of Castrati (yes, that means what you think) while updating it to the modern era by casting contralto Maria Sanner (Caesar), and mezzo-soprano Heather Lowe (Sesto) in traditionally male roles. Both Sanner and Lowe give exceptional performances, Sanner has a commanding and strong presence on stage, and Lowe powerfully portrays the pain and emotion of Sesto throughout the opera.  

The only criticism to put forward of this brilliant production is that, despite the story featuring Egyptian and Roman characters, there are no people of colour in the cast. This inclusion of diversity would have added depth and realism to an otherwise flawless production.

Whether you’re an opera newbie or seasoned veteran, there’s something for everyone in this production. If you’re tempted to explore the world of Caesar and Cleopatra for yourself, Opera North runs an Under 30s Scheme where you can gain access to great tickets for only ten pounds.

Image Credit: Opera North

Tags: Emma Rivers in the middle leeds Leeds Grand Theatre Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House opera north review Theatre Theatre Review University
Previous post
Next post

Emma Rivers

editor

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts
In The Middle

Long Division 2022: Wakefield’s metropolitan music festival returns!

June 29, 2022
Gig Guide

Bluedot Festival returns to Jodrell Bank for 2022!

June 28, 2022
Live review

Jelani Blackman makes Hyde Park Book Club his home for the night with fantastic performance

June 26, 2022
Music and Clubs

Unmissable Events: Caribou and Bonobo headlining opening WHP22 concert

June 24, 2022
Categories
  • Album review 24
  • Art 24
  • Article 8
  • Arts and Culture 85
  • Basketball 0
  • Blogs and Lifestyle 36
  • Blogs and Lifestyle 33
  • business 9
  • Clubs 5
  • Comedy 1
  • Comment 1
  • covid 1
  • Cricket 0
  • Debate 0
  • Drag 0
  • Editor's Letter 0
  • entertainment 2
  • Fashion 38
  • Features 59
  • Festival Feature 3
  • Film 22
  • Flame 25
  • Food 7
  • Football 3
  • Gallery 2
  • Gig Guide 17
  • Homepage 76
  • In The Middle 61
  • In The Middle 85
  • Interview 7
  • Leeds Internation Film Festival 1
  • Lifestyle 53
  • Lifestyle & Culture 14
  • Literature 11
  • Live review 45
  • LS Features 0
  • Music and Clubs 143
  • Music Features 77
  • Music news 50
  • Music news 1
  • Musical Theatre 2
  • News 56
  • Online Exclusive 0
  • Poetry 4
  • Poetry 2
  • Previews 2
  • Satire 1
  • Science 18
  • Society 0
  • Sport 25
  • sports 0
  • Street Style 1
  • Television 14
  • Theatre 5
  • Travel 1
  • travel 0
  • Uncategorized 60
  • University 2
  • video 0
  • Views 36
  • world 1
The Gryphon The Gryphon

Opportunities

Write for us
Advertise with us

Internal Links

Home
About Us
Feedback

External Links

University of Leeds
Leeds University Union
VisitLeeds
Leeds City Council

Follow Us

Subscribe

© Copyright The Gryphon 2012 – 2022. All Rights Reserved.
Web Design by Small Key Studios.