Giulio Cesare review – concert staging with plenty of sublime, and ridiculous, moments

There is simply a transition astatine the extremity of Act 1 of Handel’s Giulio Cesare erstwhile a parent and lad sing together, unaccompanied, agreed by loss. In this no-frills performance staging, mezzo-sopranos Beth Taylor (Cornelia) and Paula Murrihy (Sesto, a trouser role) faced each other, hardly projecting, their vocal lines – locked successful sighing parallel thirds – ringing perfectly true.

It was 1 of the powerfully aggravated moments successful a show that ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. Also sublime: countertenor Christophe Dumaux’s lucid, liquid ornamentation arsenic Caesar admits helium has fallen for “Lydia” (Cleopatra successful disguise), entering competitory philharmonic dialog with a solo violin and shrugging astatine a flurry of philharmonic leaps helium was ne'er going to imitate. Or his bonzer power of a azygous unaccompanied sustained enactment astatine the commencement of his heartfelt aria successful the last act, shaping an achingly dilatory crescendo and decrescendo successful a mode that was small abbreviated of bewitching. Or John Holiday’s compelling crook arsenic Cleopatra’s member Ptolemy, his countertenor flexible, his ornamentation nimble. Or the English Concert nether creator manager Harry Bicket – ever energetic, ever neat, ne'er flamboyant – whose drawstring code was lukewarm oregon frozen arsenic the affectional somesthesia demanded, the horns burnished, the occasional woodwind solos elegantly shaped.

Christophe Dumaux with Morgan Pearse (Achilles) positive Waitrose container and all-important bloodied head. Photograph: Mark Allan

At the other extremity of the spectrum was the quality of Achilles (baritone Morgan Pearse) carrying a Waitrose bag, from which helium produced the plot’s all-important bloodied caput to delighted giggles from the auditorium. Later – present mortally wounded – helium arranged himself onstage with a grin astatine the audience. Meanwhile, aft Ptolemy’s death, Holiday picked himself up, dusted himself down and hoiked his trousers earlier walking off. And successful the lack of “staging” beyond that integrative bag, an urn and a integrative knife, determination was a batch of melodramatic walking: striding and shuffling, a fewer tentative steps and the occasional full-pelt dash.

Some of this seemed mannered and self-conscious alongside an unequivocally world-class philharmonic performance. The changeless question connected and disconnected signifier besides gradually began to pall. But 1 standout crook negotiated the accelerated switches betwixt carry-on drama and searing calamity with ease. Louise Alder’s Cleopatra treated the signifier similar a manner runway, her archetypal aria a heady cocktail of charisma and confidence, crooning and ferocious coloratura. Yet it was her aboriginal sincerity that deed location supra all: lines sustained with tenderness and poise, her ornamentation exquisitely graceful – each utterly compelling.