Giulio Cesare

by

Georg Friedrich Händel

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"Julius Caesar" is one of my very favorite operas and I have been waiting not-so patiently for a recording as complete and first-rate as this one. The cast is perfect, headed by "the" Caesar of our time: Jennifer Larmore. I have seen Larmore perform the role at the Metropolitan Opera and this recording actually catches her strong, fervant, romantic and absolutely astonishingly sung perfomance perfectly. The sound, as usual with the Harmonia Mundi label, could not be bettered. The Concerto Koln, led by Rene Jacobs (a period instrument specialist) plays with the passion and precision that is absolutely necessary for this work.

Until this 4CD set was released, one had to do with an abridged version, of which the one on 2 discs starring Beverly Sills must be given first place because of her astounding "Cleopatra." (This is the role, remember, that catapulted Sills to international fame & even onto the cover of "Time" magazine!) Also on a Decca re-release of Handel's "Alcina" (another superb Handel opera) there are about 45 minutes worth of excerpts from "Julius Caesar" with Marilyn Horne triumphant as "Cornelia."

What an exciting opera this is! But let me warn first-time Handel opera listeners: it is very, very long--over four hours of baroque vocal music, so if you're not sure, why not buy the excerpts CD of this recording and after you fall in love with the piece as I did, you can give that CD away as a gift and buy the complete version for yourself. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Durante mucho tiempo esta ha sido la version referencial de la obra de Haendel. Al escucharla una y otra vez yo personalmente cada vez le encuentro mas cosas mediocres. En absoluto estado de gracia indiscutible esta Jennifer Larmore, un Cesare de voz segura y portentosa. Bernarda Fink se encarga de ofrecer una Cornelia que es sencillamente insuperable: no se puede ser mas dramatica y tener voz mas bella al mismo tiempo. Insuperable. La cosa empieza bien, pero llegados a este punto empiezan los problemas con una Barbara Schlik que no puede con la tesitura de Cleopatra (sus problemas en el registro agudo son muy notorios), y con una Marianne Rolhom que resulta el colmo de la ridiculez, destrozando el papel de Sesto (completamente olvidable). Derek Lee Ragin tiene las notas para cantar Ptolomeo, pero su voz es de escaso atractivo, y con cambios de color en el registro. Furio Zanassi hace un Aquiles digno de tener en cuenta, lo mismo que el sensacional Nireno de Dominique Visse. La direccion de Rene Jacobs peca de poco original en los tempi, y demasiado lenta a veces; el barroco debe tener algo mas de chispa y un profesional como Jacobs deberia de saberlo. El Concerto Koln consigue un sonido de gran calidad.

Aunque esta version tiene autenticos puntos de excelencia, en conjunto es solo aceptable. Yo recomendaria elegir la version de Minkowski (Archiv, 2003) mucho mas equilibrada en conjunto que esta.