Joel Frederiksen sings Achilla in Handel's opera, Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar) in Egypt

in Italian with German surtitles with Ensemble così facciamo
Opera (dramma per musica) in three acts by Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759), HWV 17 libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym based on “Giulio Cesare in Egitto” by Giacomo Francesco Bussani (1677)

Staging: Martina Veh / Musical Direction: Hans Huyssen / Stage & Costumes: Nikolaus Maier / with Lena Spohn (Giulio Cesare), Stephanie Krug (Cleopatra), Christian Sturm (Sesto), Martina Koppelstetter (Cornelia), Jan Wouters (Tolomeo), Joel Frederiksen (Achilla) and Kammersänger Christopher Robson (Nireno)
Chamber orchestra così facciamo on historical instruments; special guests: Axel Wolf (Chitarrone) and Hugo Siegmeth (saxophone) for the »Cesare – Jazzare« cross-over scenes premiere at King’s Theater, London on February 20, 1724

The "così facciamo" early music ensemble emerged from Nikolaus Harnoncourt's Salzburg seminars for historical performance practice and, based on knowledge of historical performance practice, practices an individually shaped, contemporary, appealing form of music making. This realization focuses on the dramatic core of the story, including musical highlights and with a special focus: Just as Handel transformed distant and foreign historical figures into close, familiar ones, it is now time, distant and supposedly exotic locations to integrate into your own world of experience. The staging therefore moves the plot into the "roaring twenties" of the previous century and thus into an atmosphere that is characterized by Egyptomania and the Jazz Age. This "Cesare" becomes a "Jazzare" in which Handel's music will also share the evening with other musical styles. The point is not to falsify or distort the score, but rather - on the contrary - to apply performing practice to the spirit of the work and to propel Handel's music into the future.