Handel's Timeless Art · Caesar Returns

George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare (Semi-staged)

19:30 · Sunday, October 18, 2026 · Poly Theatre

China Philharmonic Orchestra

Baroque Splendor — and Caesar Returns

Highlights

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen｜Giulio Cesare

Nardus Williams｜Cleopatra

China Philharmonic Orchestra

If Mozart's The Magic Flute stands for the clarity and balance of Classical opera, Handel's Giulio Cesare carries the listener back to an older, more opulent world: the Baroque. By setting the two side by side, the festival lets its audience survey the evolution of opera across the centuries — and this semi-staged Giulio Cesare is the very gateway to the Baroque golden age.

Premiered in London in 1724, Giulio Cesare is the most celebrated of Handel's Italian opere serie, and today among the most frequently staged of all Baroque operas. Drawn from the legend of the Roman general and Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, it weaves power, vengeance, love and stratagem into a vast historical canvas — while Handel, in one resplendent da capo aria after another, gives each character an inner life of astonishing depth.

The glory of opera seria lies precisely in those da capo arias: in the repeated sections the singers embellish and improvise, peeling back layer after layer of the heart. Cleopatra's seductive “V'adoro, pupille,” her desolate “Piangerò la sorte mia,” Caesar's “Va tacito e nascosto,” with its hunter stalking his prey — each is a touchstone of the singer's art, demanding the utmost in technique and expression.

The performance is entrusted to the China Philharmonic Orchestra in semi-staged form. Stripped of elaborate scenery, music and voice become the absolute protagonists, and the pure vocal beauty of Baroque opera stands out in fullest relief. To hear Handel's Caesar and Cleopatra on a Chinese stage is this festival's precious gift to lovers of opera and of early music alike.

About the Opera

Egypt, 48 BC. The Roman general Julius Caesar, having defeated his rival Pompey in civil war, pursues him to Egypt. To curry favor, the Egyptian king Ptolemy has Pompey beheaded and presents the head to Caesar — who recoils in fury at the atrocity. Pompey's widow Cornelia and his son Sesto vow revenge; meanwhile Cleopatra, Ptolemy's sister, resolves to win the throne by winning Caesar's heart.

Amid plots and perils, true feeling grows between Caesar and Cleopatra; Sesto seeks his vengeance at every turn, and Cornelia guards her dignity against Ptolemy's advances. Through betrayal, pursuit and battle, the tyrant at last meets his end; Caesar and Cleopatra are united, and peace returns to Egypt. The opera closes in a chorus of rejoicing — love and justice victorious.

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen｜Giulio Cesare, Countertenor

American countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen is rapidly earning acclaim for his “astonishingly beautiful” and “golden-toned” voice. In the 2025/26 season, he makes his house debut at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia in the title role of Giulio Cesare, sings Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with Music of the Baroque Chicago, performs the title role in Handel’s Rinaldo with The English Concert on tour in Europe and Asia, and returns to Houston Grand Opera for a staged production of Handel’s Messiah.

Recent highlights include his acclaimed return to Glyndebourne as Giulio Cesare, his Metropolitan Opera debut as Rosencrantz in the US premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet, and appearances in La Calisto, Written on Skin, Semele, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Orlando. He has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall, and released the solo album Uncharted on AVIE Records.

A graduate of Princeton University, he holds degrees in history, vocal performance and Judaic studies. He continued his training at Houston Grand Opera Studio and in San Francisco Opera’s Merola and Adler Fellowship Programmes.

Nardus Williams｜Cleopatra, Soprano

Praised for her “magnetism” and “inobtrusive intimacy”, Nardus Williams has been described as an outstanding artist by Early Music Review. In the 2025/26 season, she makes her role debut in the title role of Partenope for English National Opera, reprises the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro for Norwegian National Opera, and appears as Asteria in Tamerlano for the London Handel Festival.

She tours Handel’s Solomon with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and performs Messiah with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music and Dunedin Consort. Recent operatic highlights include Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Poppea in The Comet / Poppea, Belinda in Dido’s Ghost, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro.

Cameron Shahbazi｜Tolomeo, Countertenor

Rising countertenor Cameron Shahbazi is praised for his “full, voluminous” voice and “personal and beautiful” timbre. He is celebrated for his acclaimed interpretations of both Baroque and contemporary music. In 2023, he received the Opus Klassik Award for “Innovative Concert of the Year” for his benefit concert Woman. Life. Freedom., presented at Oper Frankfurt in support of human rights in Iran.

In the 2025/26 season, Shahbazi makes his house debut at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia as Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, a role he later reprises at Deutsche Oper Berlin. He also appears in George Benjamin’s Picture a Day Like This at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and Oper Köln, and sings the title role in Vivaldi’s Tamerlano with Les Accents in Madrid and Budapest.

Claudia Huckle｜Cornelia, Contralto

Anglo-German contralto Claudia Huckle was selected by BBC Music Magazine as one of “11 of the greatest contraltos of all time”. She was a Grand Final Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the first female recipient of Operalia’s Birgit Nilsson Prize for singing Wagner.

A graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera, she was a member of the ensemble at Oper Leipzig for four seasons. Her operatic highlights include Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia, Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Galatea in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Meg Page in Falstaff, Irene in Tamerlano, Olga in Eugene Onegin and the First Norn, Erda and Waltraute in Wagner’s operas.

Her concert work includes Delius’s A Mass of Life, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St John Passion and St Matthew Passion, performed with ensembles including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Svetlina Stoyanova｜Sesto, Mezzo-Soprano

Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Svetlina Stoyanova is celebrated for her expressive artistry, radiant voice and compelling stage presence. Praised for her warm, resonant timbre, she has appeared at leading opera houses including the Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opernhaus Zürich, Hamburg State Opera and Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

In the 2025/26 season, she returns to Opernhaus Zürich as Hänsel in a new production of Hänsel und Gretel, appears at Teatro alla Scala as Wellgunde in Götterdämmerung and in Das Rheingold, and makes her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro.

Her international breakthrough came in 2016 with a prize at Le Grand Prix de l’Opéra in Bucharest, followed by First Prize at Neue Stimmen in 2017. As a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble from 2018 to 2020, she performed roles including Rosina, Zerlina, Lola and Cherubino. Her repertoire also includes Sesto in Giulio Cesare.

Daniel Thomas Vening｜Achilla, Bass

British bass Daniel Thomas Vening is a member of the International Opera Studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons. In summer 2025, he was a Jerwood Young Artist at Glyndebourne.

In September 2024, he made his BBC Proms debut as Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Garsington Opera. He has also performed Lackey in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and covered Mícha in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.

For Royal Academy Opera, he has sung Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Re di Scozia in Handel’s Ariodante, Betto in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Snug in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His concert repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St John Passion and Mass in B minor, Fauré’s Requiem and Schubert’s Winterreise.

Jared Mac Werlein｜Curio, Bass-Baritone

California-born bass-baritone Jared Mac Werlein is a member of the Troupe at Grand Théâtre de Genève, where he appears in productions including Le nozze di Figaro, La Fanciulla del West, Il Viaggio a Reims and Candide.

Recent engagements include Ashby in La Fanciulla del West with Korean National Opera, Lodovico in Otello with the Berliner Philharmoniker, a Vassal in Götterdämmerung with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah at the Aspen Music Festival.

A recipient of the American Opera Foundation Scholarship, he joined the ensemble of Deutsche Oper Berlin and performed more than sixteen roles with the company. In 2024, he joined Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, covering Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Achilla in Giulio Cesare. He holds both Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in voice from The Juilliard School.

Meili Li｜Nireno, Countertenor

London-based Meili Li is the first Chinese countertenor to have established an international career. He has been praised by The New York Times, The Guardian and Opera magazine for his crystalline timbre, glorious voice and limpid, deeply expressive singing.

Recent highlights include Nireno in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with The English Concert under Harry Bicket on tour in the United States and the United Kingdom, including Carnegie Hall and the Barbican Centre; Licida in Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade for Irish National Opera and the Royal Opera House; and Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Royal Danish Opera.

He has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Centre, the Concertgebouw, Salle Gaveau and 11 Downing Street, and has collaborated with conductors including Harry Bicket, Jordi Savall, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski and Laurence Cummings.

Li studied Film and Philosophy at Peking University before completing vocal studies at the Royal Academy of Music and opera training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He is currently Resident Artist of the AHRC CounterTenor Project at King’s College London.

Laurence Cummings｜Conductor

Laurence Cummings is one of Britain’s most exciting and versatile exponents of historical performance, as both conductor and harpsichordist. He is Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music and Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música in Porto, and has previously served as Artistic Director of the Internationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen and Musical Director of the London Handel Festival.

Praised for stylish and compelling performances in the opera house, he has conducted productions at the Royal Opera House, Opernhaus Zürich, Oper Frankfurt, Dutch National Opera, Theater an der Wien, Gothenburg Opera, Theater Basel, the Halle Handel Festival, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris and Opéra de Lyon.

He is equally at home on the concert platform and regularly conducts period and modern instrument orchestras worldwide, including the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Netherlands Bach Society, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Music of the Baroque Chicago and Handel and Haydn Society Boston.

His recordings have been released by Sony BMG, Naxos, Harmonia Mundi and BIS.

China Philharmonic Orchestra

The China Philharmonic Orchestra was founded on 25 May 2000 on the basis of the China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra. It is a national-level orchestra administered by the State Administration of Radio and Television, with Long Yu serving as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor.

Since its foundation, the CPO has presented more than one thousand concerts and performed more than 6,000 works with over 1,000 artists from China and abroad. In 2009, it was named by Gramophone as one of the ten most influential orchestras in the world.

The orchestra has undertaken major projects including complete cycles of Mahler’s symphonies and Beethoven’s symphonies and concertos. It has also presented numerous world and Chinese premieres, promoted new Chinese music and appeared at major international venues and festivals including the BBC Proms and the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican.

Between 2000 and 2006, the China Philharmonic collaborated with Deutsche Grammophon on four recordings, becoming the first Chinese orchestra to work with a major international record label and release recordings worldwide. In 2012, it released a 100-CD box set of live recordings from previous seasons.

Additional Artists and Creative Team

Menglin Gao, theorbo　Xiao He, viola da gamba　Sean Tyson Heath, harpsichord

Noa Naamat｜Director and Set Designer

Opera director Noa Naamat is quickly establishing herself as one of the most exciting and fresh voices on the international opera scene. A native Israeli, she has worked across the UK, Europe, America and Asia on a vast range of productions, from mainstream repertoire to world premieres.

Her directing credits include Aida at Staatstheater Darmstadt and Finnish National Opera and Ballet; Henze’s Phaedra at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, which was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera; Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor at Staatsoperette Dresden; The Rape of Lucretia and Orfeo ed Euridice at the Royal Danish Opera; La Bohème at Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater; Benvenuto Cellini at the Royal Opera of Versailles; Salome at Theater Hagen; La Traviata and Un ballo in maschera at Alden Biesen Opera Festival; Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro at Helsinki Music Centre; Suor Angelica at Copenhagen Opera Festival; Hänsel und Gretel at Theater im Delphi, Berlin; Faust at Mascarade Opera Firenze; Gianni Schicchi at Netherlands Lyric Opera Festival; Don Pasquale and L’elisir d’amore at Arezzo Opera Festival; and the Chinese premiere of Porgy and Bess for the Beijing Music Festival, in co-production with Cape Town Opera and the KT Wong Foundation.

Noa became the youngest director accepted to the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She holds an MA in Directing from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and studied Theatre Practice at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and Italian and History of Opera at the Accademia Europea di Firenze. She was Apprentice Director at Lyric Opera Studio Weimar and Oberlin’s Summer Opera Program in Italy, and held a directing residency at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Noa is dedicated to the development and training of young talents and has delivered classes and workshops for the Royal Opera House, the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Mascarade Opera Studio Firenze, Royal Academy of Music, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music, Clonter Opera and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She has also worked extensively as an assistant and staff director for international opera houses including Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, Scottish Opera, The Israeli Opera, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.

Yimei Zhao｜Set and Costume Designer

Yimei is a London-based set and costume designer working across theatre, dance and film. She trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating with First-Class Honours in Design for Performance. In 2023, she was selected as one of the winners of the Linbury Prize for Stage Design, the UK’s only nationwide award dedicated to stage design, with her work subsequently exhibited at the National Theatre. In 2024, Yimei was the Resident Design Assistant at the National Theatre Design Studio, where she developed her practice while collaborating with leading theatre-makers on a wide range of productions.

As a designer in the UK, her credits include P**n Play at the Royal Court Theatre; THE HEAT at Sadler’s Wells, The Lowry and South East Dance; The Hungry Ghost at Bush Theatre; Chewing Gum Dreams at Theatre503; The Society For New Cuisine at Omnibus Theatre; Before After at Southwark Playhouse; Heartwood for curious directive; May Day and Dare You Say Please at King’s Head Theatre; Absolute Hell at Embassy Theatre; Unbound at Birmingham Hippodrome; and the independent short film I often wonder what they would say about me if they met.

As an associate designer in the UK, her credits include The Hot Wing King at the National Theatre; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo at the Young Vic; An Ideal Husband at Lyric Hammersmith and Bristol Old Vic; and King Troll at New Diorama.

Jake Wiltshire｜Lighting Designer

Jake designs extensively both in the UK and worldwide. His work has been seen with major opera companies and festivals including The Royal Opera House, Welsh National Opera, New Zealand Opera, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Garsington Opera and St. Galler Festspiele, as well as nearly all of the UK’s top music conservatoires.

Internationally, he has worked throughout Europe, North America and Asia in a variety of venues, from traditional proscenium arch theatres to unique site-specific spaces. He won the “Outstanding Achievement in Opera” Award at the 2026 Profile Awards and in 2009 was made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (HonARAM).

Recent credits include The Old Maid and The Thief for Spoleto Festival USA; Madame Butterfly, a co-production between Irish National Opera and Scottish Opera; Follies for Northern Ireland Opera; Susanna for Opera North; L’Olimpiade, a co-production between the Royal Opera House, Irish National Opera and Fribourg Nouvel Opera; Nabucco for Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland; Albert Herring for Scottish Opera; Il viaggio a Reims for Oper Leipzig, Germany; Andrea Chénier for St. Galler Festspiele, Switzerland; and Don Giovanni for Kilden Opera, Norway.

His other recent work includes The Magic Flute and Don Pasquale for Welsh National Opera; Bluebeard’s Castle for Theatre of Sound, winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Award, presented in London, Atlanta, Beijing, Toronto, Edmonton and across New Zealand; Amadigi and Le Comte Ory for Garsington Opera; Peter Pan for Haydn Fondazione, Italy; and Vixen for Silent Opera in association with ENO, presented in London, Helsinki, Trento, Hong Kong and Beijing. Jake has also lit multiple productions for Buxton International Opera Festival, Longborough Festival Opera and Opera Holland Park.