Opera review: Death and desire explored in Giulio Cesare at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival
The headline Opera Giulio Cesare by G.F. Handel on the grounds of Lismore Castle Co Waterford as part of the Blackwater Valley Opera festival 2024. Picture: John D Kelly Photography
- Giulio Cesare
- Blackwater Valley Opera Festival
- ★★★★☆
In a day of unbroken sunshine, expectant opera goers boarded golf buggies shuttling back and forth to the entrance of Lismore Castle Gardens.
The headline production at this year’s Blackwater Valley Opera Festival was Handel’s Giulio Cesare, 300 years after its first performance at the Theatre Royal, London in February 1724.
The action takes place in the aftermath of a civil war dividing ancient Rome. Although the first act opens in daylight, the mood darkens quickly in the plot laden with death, grief, vengeance and desire.
The opera opens as Caesar lands in Egypt with his army in pursuit of Pompey. While his wife and son appeal for mercy, they are interrupted by a delivery of Pompey’s severed head sealed in a plastic bag. Caesar’s rejection of the gift antagonises local royal, Tolomeo who vows to kill the ungrateful emperor who in the meantime falls for his sibling, Cleopatra.
Aedin Cosgrove’s minimalist set in front of the stable walls is dominated by giant figures of a hippo representing chaos and the Egyptian Cat Goddess, Bastet. Catherine Fay’s costumes are a mix of ancient and modern. There are gold lame suits for the royals with the Roman troops clad in boiler suits. Caesar wears more traditional Baroque attire. Director Tom Creed injects some lighter moments; the troops don sunglasses and finger click in synch to an aria and there is a moment for Cleopatra that raises a chuckle.
The abundance of mellifluous arias is well sung by the cast. Particularly powerful are the scenes between mezzos, Carolyn Holt as Cornelia and Sharon Carty as Sesto. Anna Devin as Cleopatra moves effortlessly from coquettish seduction to emotional heartbreak. German countertenor, Nils Wanderer is both comical and menacing as Tolomeo. American baritone Dean Murphy brings a welcome bass ballast to the ensemble. In the title role, Dutch contralto Ingeborg Brocheler has a lovely moment in Act 3 when Caesar can’t resist a smile as the resident ‘augellin’ or little bird chirrups as if on cue in the aria Se in Fiorito Ameno Prato with in tandem with a violin obligado.
The Irish Baroque Orchestra under Nicholas McGegan were side-lined away from the main stage which did not enhance the connection between orchestra and stage. While there is some lovely delicate solo work throughout, the period instrument sound is not the most robust especially in the tent acoustic and I wished for more oomph.
Even with an hour or so trimmed from the four-hour original, this production, delivered in two parts with interval, is still quite a long sit for a modern audience obliged to be still in a way that 18th century audiences were not.
As well as the main event in the castle stable yard, the festival schedule includes an impressive roster of recitals in some of the splendid houses and churches in the area. On Saturday, there was a charming salon opera by Joseph O’Kelly, a French composer with Irish roots. La Zingarella, a one act comic piece for two voices premiered at the Opera Comique in Paris in 1878. Soprano Kelli Ann Masterson and tenor Dean Power both sounded rich and resonant in St Carthage’s Cathedral.
Later in the same venue, baritone Padraic Rowan home from his Deutsche Oper base impressed in a powerful delivery of 20th century song settings of poems by Oscar Wilde. Barry McGovern read the Ballad of Reading Gaol. Emma Power, a young mezzo soprano from Waterford sang with composure and a rich timbre.
An army of courteous volunteers added much to the cheerful atmosphere in Lismore and there much to enjoy over five days with an excellent array of shorter events for day trippers. A rewarding and entertaining few days at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival.
- For more information, see: blackwater-valley-opera-festival-schedule
