IF YOU GO
What: Florida Grand Opera's production of Handel's Julius CaesarWhen: 8 p.m. Wednesday through May 11 at the Adrienne Arsht Center's Ziff Ballet Opera House; May 15 and 17 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort LauderdaleTickets: $10-$250Info: 800-741-1010; www.fgo.orgGeorge Frideric Handel viewed opera as grand entertainment chock full of music, drama, extravagant stage effects and, of course, sensational singing.
The great man could hardly have wished for a more delightful, vocally resplendent evening than Florida Grand Opera's witty, stylish revival of Handel's Julius Caesar, which opened Saturday night at the Ziff Ballet Opera House. With a terrific ensemble cast, spectacular production and virtually faultless stage and musical direction, this Caesar marks a high point in the company's wildly varied fortunes and serves up one of the finest shows it has given us in many years.
Handel's scenario concerns the eponymous Roman general's military intrigue and romance with the beautiful Egyptian, Cleopatra. Her political rival and evil half-brother Tolomeo beheads the defeated general Pompey, horrifying Caesar and causing Pompey's grieving wife Cornelia and son Sesto to swear vengeance. Disguised as the servant Lydia, Cleopatra bewitches Caesar but, surprisingly, falls in love with him. Amid divers romantic complications, Tolomeo ultimately gets his deserved bad end, and Caesar crowns Cleopatra queen in that rare event, a joyous opera ending.
The bewildering scenario serves as scaffolding for one of Handel's most tune-packed scores, with a rich flow of brilliant arias and deeply expressive set pieces for all six major characters.
It's unfortunate that with such a gifted, well-rounded cast, such massive cuts were made, with more than an hour of music jettisoned and several da capo arias abrogated. One would have liked more of Brian Asawa's gender-bending Tolomeo and Katherine Calcamuggio's elegant Sesto, especially.
But the evening bustled along with fine momentum, and director Mark Lamos provided a virtual seminar in staging Baroque opera, providing plenty of imaginative action and just enough audacious humor and postmodern irony without going over the top.
Yet Handel is all about the singing, and FGO's ensemble cast was almost ideal across the board.
Local favorite Leah Partridge has shown her versatility in roles from Violetta to Amina last season in La Sonnambula, but one was unprepared for her extraordinary charismatic turn as Cleopatra. In her slit-to-there evening gowns Partridge's sexy, flapper-style Cleo commanded the stage whether enticing her brother Tolomeo or in disguise to entrap Caesar. As the self-aware, leggy mankiller, Partridge showed great comic flair and striking physical agility, keeping perfectly in tune and tossing off Non disperar, chi sa? as Asawa dragged her by the legs across the stage.
Vocally, Partridge was at her finest, agile and assured in the coloratura challenges. Cautious in decoration early on, by Act 3 she was throwing off stratospheric grace notes with ease. The singer was most effective in Cleopatra's big set pieces, bringing great expressive depth and shading to Piangero la sorte mia, and, especially, a spacious, heart-breaking Se pieta, di me non senti that reduced the vast Ziff audience to silence.
As Caesar, John Gaston led an excellent trio of countertenors. His head-wagging in brilliant passages was a visual distraction in Act 1, but otherwise Gaston showed consistently sensitive phrasing and dazzling agility, delivering Quel torrente che cade dal monte at a staggering clip with spotless clarity.
Asawa was great fun as the androgynous Tolomeo, singing with firm tone and assurance. The countertenor brought uninhibited panache to the decadent villain role in his sashaying about the stage and incestuous tussles with Cleopatra, even giving Partridge a resonant spank that could be heard in the balcony.
As Cornelia, Elise Quagliata was a graceful presence, displaying a rich mezzo voice and singing movingly in her lugubrious arias. On opening night, her singing was fitfully unfocused, however, and too often Quagliata became detached from the orchestra.
No complaints about Katherine Calcamuggio's Sesto. The statuesque mezzo-soprano looked dashing in full-length leather and sang with pure tone and resplendent vocalism. Jason Abrams' Nireno and Sidney Outlaw's Achilla suffered most from the score's trims, but, along with Tom Corbeil's Curio, brought energy and vocalism to their brief opportunities.
Director Lamos provided several inspired touches: the principals arrayed like an Egyptian frieze against the curtain, the comic sexual cavorting of Cleopatra and Tolomeo, and even concertmaster Scott Flavin's onstage cameo to join Gaston's Caesar for the violin obbligato in Se in fiorito ameno prato.
Paul Steinberg's iridescent sets looked magnificent on the vast Ziff stage, from the primary-colored mini-pyramids of Act 1 to the sunburst of golden brilliance for Cleopatra in Act 2. Constance Hoffman's costumes struck a stylish mix of historical tradition and modern cool.
Much of the success of the evening goes to conductor Gary Thor Wedow, who is making his local debut. Wedow's innate sense of Baroque style consistently enlivened the music with lithe, springy rhythms, and the conductor shaped string phrases attentively while giving the singers great freedom in their arias. Let's have this fine musician back as soon as possible.
The Florida Classical Orchestra performed superbly in its final assignment for FGO, and, placed on the pit's Broadway riser, the strings had much greater presence. The performance was bolstered by uncredited guest musicians, notably theorbo player David Dolata and hornist David Peel, who supplied a worthy obbligato to Caesar's Va tacito e nascosto.
Lawrence A. Johnson is The Miami Herald's classical music critic.
