My initial aversion to Handel was based in the idea that nothing ever really happens in his operas, a simplistic and inaccurate reading blown to bits by watching the DVD of David McVicar‘s Giulio Cesare, captured in 2005 at Glyndebourne. While McVicar has become something of a caricature of himself in recent years, all victorian garb and monochromatism, his bag of tricks were fresh and invigorating, and his exploration of power, trauma and sex is searingly effective in this recounting set in the British Raj.

With Cesare’s old-school rules of war set spinning by Cleopatra’s Bollywood-inspired manipulations, a Da Capo aria has never felt more dangerous, and the fustiest of operas becomes thrilling theatre. Danielle DeNiese, an artist who was never used better than she was here, is a captivating Cleopatra alongside Sarah Connolly‘s exquisite Cesare and a strong supporting cast. The Met’s remounting of the production never worked quite as well – both due to casting and a loss of intimacy, but the Glyndebourne cast is true lightning in a bottle.