HANDEL Giulio Cesare (Bicket)

HANDEL: GIULIO CESARE
THE ENGLISH CONCERT / HARRY BICKET
CKD792

Considering that it is one of his best-known operas today, there are fewer albums of Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt, HWV 17) than one might expect and as such, a newcomer - especially one of this quality and completeness - is most welcome. Handel composed Giulio Cesare for the Royal Academy of Music's fifth season, and it forms part of an extraordinary trilogy written between 1723 and 1725. In fact, of this trio, each opera has different qualities: Rodelinda (1725) is known for an unrelenting procession of beautiful arias; Tamerlano (1724) offers a cracking plot, especially memorable for the second act climax where all the characters admit guilt in an ensemble number; but Giulio Cesare (1724) has the fastest moving plot and it's that dramatic momentum that helps transcend the formulaic structures of this genre.

[...]

In the overture Bicket and his players bring out the polarized interplay between the parts and contrast this pleasingly with the faster contrapuntal movement. Just as we think it should be over a Gavotte starts while the rare early use of orchestral horns warn us that all is not as it seems, and indeed it isn't since this dance is a chorus heralding Cesare's arrival on the banks of the Nile armed with a confident Aria Presti omai l'Egizia terra. This is clearly a recording that understands how Handel's entrance arias are deeply revealing, and Dumaux does not disappoint as he takes up the orchestra's bold, confident theme (which undoubtedly prefigures 'Every valley' of Messiah) and revels in word painting as he describes palms waving in his honour. Cesare, however, is a primo uomo and cannot leave the stage without an exit aria: Empio diro, tu sei may look thin on paper but in this performance it's a smoldering outburst as Cesare, confronted with the severed head of Pompeo finds his plans to show mercy have just been derailed by Tolomeo. Dumaux's dramatic presence is superb, and his tone secure through his range as he rehearses lines with which to denounce Tolomeo. The strings are also united with a firm tone and again and again in this recording they shine this way. Crucially, through this opening scene Bicket ensures the connecting tissue between recitative and aria gives thrust to the story, overriding any sense of set pieces. By the end of the act Dumaux finds a steely determination in what David Kimbell once called the 'cagey diplomatic bluffing' of Va tacito e nascosto in which both his slow-motion cadenza and synchronicity with the horn held me totally rapt.

Louise Alder's Cleopatra charts one of Handel's most satisfying dramatic journeys. Initially she sparkles with wit and effortless charm in Non disperar, chi sa?, delighting in the prospect of ensnaring Caesar through seduction. Yet by Act III, in Piangerò la sorte mia, that playful confidence has dissolved into genuine tragedy. Alder allows the opening section to unfold with extraordinary poise, her long-breathed phrases never compromising vocal lustre, before unleashing the fury of the central episode. In her hands the aria becomes far more than a lament: it marks Cleopatra's complete emotional transformation.

[...] An outstanding addition to the Handel for All collection and an album which surely captures Dumaux at the top of his game.

To read the full text of this review please visit Gramophone.co.uk (Oct 2026)