Handel: Giulio Cesare - excerpts

Fantabulous! Glyndebourne's 'Giulio Cesare' 2005

Advantages: Everything.
Disadvantages: Nothing.

Scotsman David McVicar has blazed a spectacular trail in his fabulous staging of this Baroque opera seria for the 2005 Glyndebourne Festival. His starting material is Georg Frideric Handel?s formidable, four-hour-long ?Giulio Cesare in Egitto? (?Julius Caesar in Egypt?; also known simply as ?Giulio Cesare?), with libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Giacomo Grancesco Bussani?s work of the same name. The sheer length of the piece, with its typically Baroque musical da capo repeats of many verses can easily render this work into a completely boring and tedious affair. However, as you will see for yourself, ?boring? and ?tedious? will hardly apply to this particular staging as conceived by David McVicar and friends. Mr McVicar had the rare privilege of hand-picking his entire cast, and the wisdom of his choices shows clearly in ...

zerbine28 29.04.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Giulio Cesare - Handel (DVD)

Too hot to Handel!

Advantages: Fleming is sublime, well sung throughout
Disadvantages: Live recording is slightly noticeable in places

Despite being one of the most prolific composers of opera and very successful in his own time, Handel operas have remained largely neglected in the operatic repertoire until fairly recently with the Handel revival that began in the '60s. Because of this, if you're looking for recordings of Handel operas there are often not too many to choose from and to my knowledge there are only 3 recordings available of Alcina: one with Joan Sutherland in the title role, one with Renee Fleming, and one with Arleen Auger. I am eagerly awaiting the release this month of another recording with Joyce DiDonato in the title role - possibly an unorthodox choice as a mezzo soprano, but one of my favourite singers. Alcina tells the story of a sorceress (Alcina herself) who seduces every man who dares to set foot on her island. However, Alcina is fickle ...

bubblegum_princess 30.03.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Handel: Alcina

Cesar's Way , Cesar Millan `The Dog Whisperer'.

Advantages: Very interesting insight into how your dogs mind works
Disadvantages: Not many actual methods of training described in the book

When I first started watching Cesar Millan?s Dog Whisperer program on the National Geographic channel I became a bit obsessed with the program. I recorded every episode on my Sky+ Box and have now seen them all. So I am a big fan. As soon as this book arrived in the post I started to read it that very night. I couldn?t put it down!! Such a great read. It probably helped that I am a big fan of Cesar anyway. But it does give you a great insight into how your dog sees the world and you. This is a `Dog Psychology? book, looking at how your dog actually sees the world. Whereas a `Dog Training? book? would look more at teaching your dog commands. Both have there place. Cesar Millan in a Mexican dog behaviour expert who runs a dog psychology centre in Los Angeles. Cesar makes a lot of sense but so many people seem to think that they ...

BallisticSpin 17.06.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems - Cesar Millan