Giulio Cesare in Egitto

Händel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (2016 and 2020 in CNT Rijeka; 2017 in Cankar Hall, Ljubljana; 2022 at Savonlinna Opera Festival) was interpreted as an orchestrated Shakespearean tragicomedy, namely, the so-called “romance”, in which ironic and comic scenes, actions and affairs interchange and often interweave with scenes of tragic pathos. Furthermore, Händel’s masterpiece was dramaturgically revised (though performed almost integrally) as a meta-opera, or opera-about/within-opera, which is revealing the process of construction and deconstruction of operatic spectacle. It all began “as if” the ensemble is gathering for a “sitting” (Sitz) rehearsal, during which singers appear and behave as “they themselves”, gradually transforming the performance into an ultimate, eclectic and recycled, baroque-style operatic spectacle. As we were approaching its finale, the spectacle is being once again transformed, but this time into a disturbing vision of the end of theatre and performing arts in a post-pandemic future.