Welcome to London Grip, a forum for reviews of books, shows & events – plus quarterly postings of new poetry. Our most recent posts are listed below. Older posts can be explored via the search box and topic list. For more information & guidelines on submitting reviews or poems please visit our Home page.
Presented by New Trinity Baroque
Until September 5
Arcola Theatre London as the final instalment of the Grimeborn Festival
Artistic director, conductor and producer: Predrag Gosta
Cast: Sandro Rossi, Radoslava Vorgic, Silvja Radjen Kumar, Julia Portela Pinon, Federica Moi, Marcio da Silva
Running time: approximately 2 hours 45 minutes, including interval
Baroque opera is about repeating things again and again, which means time stands still, bass-baritone, stage director/lighting designer – and master of ceremonies – Marcio da Silva tells the audience.
He is teasing – and yet, the recurrent sequences and emphatic laments in this low budget, stellar quality production make us want the repetition to go on and on. The sustained, virtuosic length of Handel’s arias is a joy. In our own times of conflict, the only nagging undercurrent is that we are presented with a view of human nature that inextricably links the heights of passion with the depths of war.
The convoluted plot is loosely based on the Roman civil war of 49-45 BC when Cleopatra had her sights on Giulio rather than Mark Antony. it serves primarily as a vehicle for emotional intensity conveyed by performance that is precise and passionate and, for all the standing still of time, fast-paced and tense.
Under Gosta’s direction, in the European commedia dell’arte tradition, the music is matched by much business with a polystyrene head, masks and multiple on-stage costume changes, but nothing delivers the experience of confronting the extremes of human behaviour as powerfully as the singers’ voices and the New Trinity Baroque’s playing.
The leading combination of soprano and countertenor is balanced by the lower-pitched pairing of da Silva as Achilla and Cornelia, sung by contralto Federica Moi.
Among the most striking interactions of voices and instruments, first violinist Simone Pirri enhances all the sounds of nature countertenor Sandro Rossi as Giulio Cesare evokes when at his most lyrical and loving.
Above all, Radoslava Vorgic soars, burns and overwhelms as an irresistible Cleopatra. We can well imagine she will have many future conquests.
Giulio Cesare in Egitto,
George Frideric Handel
Presented by New Trinity Baroque
Until September 5
Arcola Theatre London as the final instalment of the Grimeborn Festival
Artistic director, conductor and producer: Predrag Gosta
Cast: Sandro Rossi, Radoslava Vorgic, Silvja Radjen Kumar, Julia Portela Pinon, Federica Moi, Marcio da Silva
Running time: approximately 2 hours 45 minutes, including interval
Baroque opera is about repeating things again and again, which means time stands still, bass-baritone, stage director/lighting designer – and master of ceremonies – Marcio da Silva tells the audience.
He is teasing – and yet, the recurrent sequences and emphatic laments in this low budget, stellar quality production make us want the repetition to go on and on. The sustained, virtuosic length of Handel’s arias is a joy. In our own times of conflict, the only nagging undercurrent is that we are presented with a view of human nature that inextricably links the heights of passion with the depths of war.
The convoluted plot is loosely based on the Roman civil war of 49-45 BC when Cleopatra had her sights on Giulio rather than Mark Antony. it serves primarily as a vehicle for emotional intensity conveyed by performance that is precise and passionate and, for all the standing still of time, fast-paced and tense.
Under Gosta’s direction, in the European commedia dell’arte tradition, the music is matched by much business with a polystyrene head, masks and multiple on-stage costume changes, but nothing delivers the experience of confronting the extremes of human behaviour as powerfully as the singers’ voices and the New Trinity Baroque’s playing.
The leading combination of soprano and countertenor is balanced by the lower-pitched pairing of da Silva as Achilla and Cornelia, sung by contralto Federica Moi.
Among the most striking interactions of voices and instruments, first violinist Simone Pirri enhances all the sounds of nature countertenor Sandro Rossi as Giulio Cesare evokes when at his most lyrical and loving.
Above all, Radoslava Vorgic soars, burns and overwhelms as an irresistible Cleopatra. We can well imagine she will have many future conquests.
Barbara Lewis © 2026.
By Barbara Lewis • added recently on London Grip, music, opera, theatre • Tags: Barbara Lewis, music, opera, theatre