SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

The last of 4 programmes of music from Handel’s dramatic works focuses on Act 1 of Handel’s Italian opera Julius Caesar, prepared for broadcasting by Anthony Lewis who also conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Geraint Jones plays the harpsichord. The opera is sung in English.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Radio

Transmission details

19 Dec 1948 at 20:40 (Channel: BBC Third Programme)

Duration

65 mins

Availability

No archive copy known

Credits

Writer

Geoffrey Dunn

Editor

Anthony Lewis

Cast

Nancy Evans	Julius Caesar (Julius Caesar)
Alexander Henderson	Achilla
Alfred Deller	Ptolemy
Anne Wood	Cornelia
Catherine Lawson	Nirenus
Dorothy Bond	Sextus
Gwen Catley	Cleopatra

Additional Details

Production type

Operas and Musicals

Plays

Julius Caesar

Subjects

Drama; Music

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

In this production the role of Julius Caesar is sung by mezzo-soprano Nancy Evans. Other female singers are also cast in male roles, a reversal of the seventeenth century practice which gets around the lack of castrato performers.

General

Nicola Francesco’s libretto for this Italian opera was adapted from renditions of the story popular in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It is a simple heroic narrative with easily recognizable, clearly defined characters ideal for this opera format: Cleopatra is saved from the clutches of her evil brother Ptolemy by dashing Caesar. He has come to Egypt in pursuit of arch-rival Pompey, who has just fled Rome in the wake of the civil war.

History

Handel’s Julius Caesar (Giulio Cesare) premiered at the Royal Academy of Music, London, in 1724.

Textual information

English translation by Geoffrey Dunn.

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)