Culture vultures who want to be really sophisticated have a rare opportunity in April, when San Diego Opera (SDO) presents its first-ever performances of George Frideric Handel’s 1724 opera “Julius Caesar in Egypt.”
Handel (1685-1759) is the bewigged dude that penned the great oratorio, “Messiah,” a staple of the concert hall at Christmas time. He also wrote such ubiquitous ditties as “The Royal Fireworks Music” and “The Water Music,” recognizable to millions for their melody but not their names.
SDO’s “Caesar” stars internationally renowned Polish contralto Ewa Podles in the title role. That’s right: she plays a he-man Roman general in a toga.
In Handel’s day, women were not allowed to perform onstage, so most male roles were performed by adult males who had been castrated (!) before puberty to preserve their lovely voices and vocal facility, which is known as ornamentation, or coloratura. In “Julius Caesar” there is a lot of rapid-fire ornamentation, and castrati voices were perfect for the task.
Mercifully, the practice of castration for musical purposes ceased, and baroque opera fell by the wayside. In the 20th century there was a phenomenal rise of great mezzo-sopranos like the late Marilyn Horne and, more recently, of countertenors such as Brian Asawa. There followed a renaissance in performance of baroque works, which possess a plethora of ravishingly beautiful melodies.
A striking figure in his regal rags from the Metropolitan Opera production, Asawa portrays Ptolemy, who is co-ruler of Egypt, along with his sister, Cleopatra (soprano Lisa Saffer). Ptolemy is not a nice man. His welcome gift to Julius Caesar is the head of Caesar’s military rival. Then Ptolemy proceeds to force himself upon the widow, Cornelia (mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzman).
“Ptolemy is definitely the funnest character,” said Asawa in a recent interview. “Every aria has coloratura. I get to torture Cornelia. I get to torture Cleopatra, and I have the best costumes, like ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.'”
Ptolemy meets death on the sword of Cornelia’s son, Sesto (mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux in another “trouser” or, in this case, toga role). Internationally acclaimed for such roles, Genaux says she loves playing Sesto, a boy just coming into manhood. She recently donned tights to play the title role in SDO’s “Ariodante” and, in her own true gender, quite captivated San Diego audiences as Rosina in SDO’s 1998 “Barber of Seville.”
Podles, Asawa and Genaux are among the top-rank artists performing baroque opera internationally. You can hear a sample of the music at SDO’s Web site. One’s trip to “Egypt” promises pageantry, vocal trills and dramatic thrills.
“Julius Caesar in Egypt” is performed at the Civic Theatre, 202 C St. at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 15, and Tuesday, April 18; at 8 p.m. Friday, April 21, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 23. Single tickets range from $27 to $142. Visit www.sdopera.com or phone (619) 533-7000.