Triumphantly premiered in 1724 at the King’s Theatre in London, George Frideric Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto masterfully combines human emotions: Triumph with sorrow, despair with happiness and love with profound melancholy in the face of the transience of all earthly life. Star director Keith Warner creates a production that imaginatively blends silent film and baroque opera, delightfully echoing Mankiewicz’s legendary Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton. An excellent cast of singers is led by two of the world’s leading countertenors: Bejun Mehta and Christophe Dumaux. Louise Alder shines as the seductive Cleopatra. Patricia Bardon, Simon Bailey and Jake Arditti are further highlights in this extraordinary group of singers, while Ivor Bolton provides the appropriate soundtrack on the podium of the Concentus Musicus Wien. “Cheers for all involved” / “Many of the excellent singing actors present themselves in top form.” Kurier “A must for baroque opera fans.” Kronen Zeitung
Saul
In 2009, Claus Guth staged a highly impressive “Messiah” at the Theater an der Wien; with “Saul”, he created again breathtaking musical theater at its finest. Florian Boesch in the title role dominates the production as the ruler slipping into madness. Boesch is an elemental force that attracts attention on stage like a black hole. As David, British countertenor Jake Arditti gives a perfect presentation of the change from the innocent boy to the man who, after many dramatic events, becomes Saul’s successor. “The pure Handel stroke of luck!” (Neue Musikzeitung). Anna Prohaska (Merab), Giulia Semenzato (Michal) and Rupert Charlesworth (Jonathan) perform convincingly the roles of Saul’s children who succumb to David’s physical and spiritual charms. The Freiburger Barockorchester under Christopher Moulds holds a finely textured balance between powerful ensemble and delicate solo passages of Handel’s score. The Arnold Schoenberg Choir’s nuanced singing – alternately exulting, admonitory or mournful – is as inspiring as the sound of the renowned period-instrument ensemble. “Handel vividly, today, as a mirror of the metamorphoses of power.” (Kurier) / “Florian Boesch as Saul is a vocal and acting elemental force, simply an ideal cast.” (Die Presse)
Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Triumphantly premiered in 1724 at the King’s Theatre in London, George Frideric Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto masterfully combines human emotions: Triumph with sorrow, despair with happiness and love with profound melancholy in the face of the transience of all earthly life. Star director Keith Warner creates a production that imaginatively blends silent film and baroque opera, delightfully echoing Mankiewicz’s legendary Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton. An excellent cast of singers is led by two of the world’s leading countertenors: Bejun Mehta and Christophe Dumaux. Louise Alder shines as the seductive Cleopatra. Patricia Bardon, Simon Bailey and Jake Arditti are further highlights in this extraordinary group of singers, while Ivor Bolton provides the appropriate soundtrack on the podium of the Concentus Musicus Wien. “Cheers for all involved” Kurier. “A must for baroque opera fans.” Kronen Zeitung
Saul
After his impressive Messiah of 2009, Claus Guth once again succeeds in a breathtaking realisation of a Handel oratorio with Saul. Florian Boesch in the title role dominates the production as the ruler slipping into madness. He is an elemental force that attracts attention on stage like a black hole. As David, British countertenor Jake Arditti gives a perfect presentation of the change from the innocent boy to the man who, after many dramatic events, becomes Saul’s successor. “The pure Handel stroke of luck!” (Neue Musikzeitung). Anna Prohaska, Giulia Semenzato and Rupert Charlesworth perform convincingly the roles of Saul’s children who succumb to David’s physical and spiritual charms. The Freiburger Barockorchester under Christopher Moulds holds a finely textured balance between powerful ensemble and delicate solo passages of Handel’s score. The Arnold Schönberg Choir’s nuanced singing – alternately exulting, admonitory or mournful – is as inspiring as the sound of the renowned period-instrument ensemble.