Tcherniakov: Giulio Cesare in Egitto

Черняков: Юлий Цезарь в Египте

Baroque opera is always a challenge for a director. How does one bring to life a work where characters typically "stand and sing"? But Chernyakov's genius lies in his complete mastery of the concept of affect, hurling his characters from one emotional extreme to another. He masterfully directs the internal drama, with a keen dramatic instinct and unwavering trust in the score, somehow conjuring endless surprises from the long-familiar material.

Theatrical wizard Dmitry Chernyakov places the characters of the monumental Giulio Cesare within the stark neo-realism of a giant concrete bunker from the Cold War era. The result is not merely an opera, but a psychological drama of the highest intensity, where plaster crumbles from the ceiling and the walls shudder from explosions.

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Actors

Caesar

Christophe Dumaux

Cleopatra

Olga Kulchynska

Cornelia

Lucile Richardot

Tolomeo

Yuriy Mynenko

Achilla

Andrei Zhilikhovsky

Sesto

Federico Fiorio

Crew

Director & Sets

Dmitri Tcherniakov

Conductor

Emmanuelle Haïm

Costume designer

Elena Zaiceva

Lighting designer

Gleb Filshtinsky

About

Three hundred years old and as timely as ever, Handel's monumental Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt) arrives at the 2025 Salzburg Festival in a new staging by the audacious, award-winning Dmitri Tcherniakov!

When Caesar (Christophe Dumaux) comes to Egypt on the hunt for his enemy Pompey, he discovers that the pharaoh Ptolemy (Yuriy Mynenko) has beaten him to the punch, setting Pompey's son Sextus (Federico Fiorio) on a mission for vengeance — all while Ptolemy's sister Cleopatra (Olga Kulchynska) schemes to take the throne for herself, leading her directly into the path of Caesar…

This tale of uncompromising rivalries and the corrupting thrall of political power is animated by one of Handel's finest scores, majestic in the hands of expert Baroque ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée under their celebrated founder Emmanuelle Haïm.

Special project

Salzburger Festspiele

In summer Salzburg transforms: music takes over. It echoes through the cobblestone streets of the Old Town (Altstadt), in historic theatres, churches, and concert halls. It gathers the most renowned performers, directors, conductors, and critics. And, of course, the audience from all over the world. Because there is no other festival like it: the Salzburg Festival lures with bold, unique opera productions and stirs an irresistible desire to see it all! →