Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Handel Opera Comes to Gloucestershire — with Local Musician Mark Wilson at its heart
GLOUCESTERSHIRE is to welcome New Trinity Baroque’s acclaimed production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, when the international ensemble brings the opera to Holy Trinity Church, Minchinhampton, on Sunday 6 September at 3pm, immediately following its London performances.
Gloucestershire musician Mark Wilson, a distinguished bassoonist, countertenor and conductor specialising in historically informed performance is at the heart of this exceptional local event. Mark regularly performs with leading period-instrument ensembles and as a countertenor soloist. He directs the chamber choir La Mattina and baroque group Ensemble La Notte, and is Director of Music at Pembroke College, Oxford. He also plays with The English Wind Consort.
As a Baroque opera enthusiast, Mark is delighted that Giulio Cesare is coming to Minchinhampton. He says; “Handel gives both singers and instruments virtuosic music to perform. Arias may be sweet and tender, then followed by a ferocious chorus, or vice versa. His versatile writing is perfectly suited to the story it’s telling. A personal highlight of mine is Cesare’s aria Empio, dirò, tu sei, which has a frenetic upper-string accompaniment that the singer needs to have incredible power to keep up with whilst singing the words ‘I will say, you are wicked!’”
New Trinity Baroque is a UK-registered charity dedicated to historically informed performance on period instruments.
Its musicians come from Britain and Europe and combine specialist knowledge of Baroque performance practice with a highly dramatic approach to opera.
The Minchinhampton performance will be semi-staged, with movement, acting, selected costumes and props, adapting the company’s fully staged London production to the intimate and beautiful setting of Holy Trinity Church. An international cast of six soloists will be accompanied by around ten period-instrument players, including strings, recorder, oboe, bassoon and harpsichord, conducted by their director Predrag Gosta from the harpsichord.
First performed in London in 1724, Giulio Cesare tells the story of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra against the turbulent political world of ancient Egypt. Its combination of political intrigue, romance, revenge and comedy provides the setting for some of Handel’s most dazzling and emotionally powerful music.
The same international cast appears in London at the Arcola Theatre from 2–5 September, before the production travels to Gloucestershire for its unique semi-staged presentation in Minchinhampton.
For local audiences, this is a rare opportunity to experience a major Handel opera performed by internationally experienced singers and period-instrument specialists — while also celebrating the contribution of one of Gloucestershire’s distinguished musicians.
Tickets £18–£25, available on the door, or with a 10% online discount at www.newtrinitybaroque.org
