TOLOMEO, RE D'EGITTO - Handel
Baroque Encounter has on occasion ventured into the theatrical world of costumed, choreographed and semi-staged productions. Below is one of those productions involving larger forces of performers (both on- and off-stage). These are all available to be revived - please contact us to discuss!
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Handel’s opera Tolomeo, premiered in 1728 and was the last opera he wrote for the Royal Academy of Music and for the superstar trio of castrato Senesino with sopranos Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni. Baroque Encounter presents a costumed and semi-staged performance in a new English translation.
The opera tells the tale of the exiled Egyptian prince in shepherd’s disguise, his loving wife searching for her lost husband, his shipwrecked brother on an assassin’s mission, and the romantic yet obsessively malevolent attentions of the Cypriot royal siblings who pursue them. Handel’s score weaves a rich web of emotions - romantic, poignant, tragic and tormented - which eventually resolves into a glorious harmony that only the great master can achieve. Tolomeo assembles a cast of 5 solo singers who also combine for the opera's choruses. They are supported by a period instrument chamber orchestra and two dancers. TOLOMEO - Glenn Kesby counter tenor SELEUCE - Carmen Lasok soprano ELISA - Lucy Thomas soprano ARASPE - John Lofthouse baritone ALESSANDRO - Alexander Hutton counter tenor Asako Ogawa conductor/harpsichord Christopher Tudor director/choreographer |