Julius Caesar in Egypt by Händel, st 11 apr 2018, Od (2018/2018), Dirigent Christian Curnyn, St John's Smith Square, London, United Kingdom

“Instrumentalists are often told to listen to singers for inspiration when it comes to phrasing and expression. But one of the qualities that made [this performance] so unusual and exciting was the almost instrumental freedom and accuracy of their delivery, characteristics which help make Handel’s often virtuosic writing shine as it should. Conductor Christian Curnyn and the period instruments players of his Early Opera Company kept the music on a tight rein, and there were strong contributions from Anna Devin’s powerfully seductive Cleopatra, Rachel Kelly’s defiant Sextus and Callum Thorpe’s resonant Achilla.” The Irish Times, August 2017 First performed in London in 1724, and set against the backdrop of the Roman campaigns, Handel’s operatic masterpiece focuses on the legendary romance between the Roman general Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, the Egyptian princess fighting her brother for the throne.