''Cesare e Cleopatra'' is a

dramma per musica Dramma per musica ( Italian, literally: ''drama for music'', plural: ''drammi per musica'') is a libretto. The term was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the mid-17th and mid-19th centuries. In modern times the same meaning of ''dr ...

in three acts by composer

Carl Heinrich Graun Carl Heinrich Graun (7 May 1704 – 8 August 1759) was a German composer and tenor. Along with Johann Adolph Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time. Biography Graun was born in Wahrenbrü ...

. The opera uses an Italian-language libretto by Giovan Gualberto Bottarelli.

Performances

It was commissioned by

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

for the opening of the newly built ''Königliches Opernhaus'' (Royal Opera House) in Berlin, and was notably the inaugural performance of the newly formed

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

. Although construction of the opera house was not entirely complete, the opera premiered in the new theatre using a German language translation on 7 December 1742 under the baton of the composer. The production starred soprano Maria Giovanna Gasparini as

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. ...

and

castrato A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due ...

Paolo Bedeschi as Julius Caesar.

Recordings

* 1992 on the Serenissima label (360171), live: Jacobs/Williams-J/Dawson/Beronesi/Popken/Francis/Rayam/Trekel * 1995 on the HM label (mis-titled "Cleopatra e Cesare"):

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

; Janet Williams (Cleopatra), Iris Vermillion (Cesare),

Lynne Dawson Lynne Dawson (born 3 June 1953) is an English soprano. She came to great prominence through her performance as a soloist in ''Libera me'' from Verdi's Requiem with the BBC Singers at Princess Diana's funeral in September 1997. Lynne Dawson has r ...

(Cornelia), Robert Gambill (Tolomeo), Ralf Popken (Arsace), Jeffrey Francis (Lentulo), Klaus Häger (Achilla),

Elisabeth Scholl Elisabeth Scholl (born 1966 in Kiedrich) is a German soprano and academic teacher. Career Elisabeth Scholl was the first girl to sing with the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben. From 1982 to 1987 she sang the role of the First Boy in Mozart's ' ...

(Cneo),

María Cristina Kiehr María Cristina Kiehr (born in Tandil, Argentina) is a soprano vocalist associated with Baroque music. After receiving her early musical training in Argentina, she moved in 1983 to Europe and studied under René Jacobs at the Schola Cantorum Ba ...

(Sesto).

RIAS Kammerchor The RIAS Kammerchor (RIAS Chamber Choir) is a German choir based in Berlin, Germany. It receives support from the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin ("Berlin Radio Orchestra and Choirs"), a limited-liability company owned by the public bro ...

Concerto Köln Concerto Köln is an ensemble specialising in music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The group formed in 1985, one of many groups associated with the surging interest in period instruments in that decade. Its members consisted mainly ...

. Recorded Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin-Dahlem April–May 1995. * 2017 on the Sony label: Cleopatra e Cesare, WV B:I:7: Tra le procelle assorto (Aria) · Regula Mühlemann · Carl Heinrich Graun · La Folia Barockorchester · Robin Peter Müller

References

{{authority control 1742 operas Italian-language operas Operas Operas by Carl Heinrich Graun Opera world premieres at the Berlin State Opera Depictions of Cleopatra in opera Depictions of Julius Caesar in opera