Handel’s Tolomeo
Music Director Peter Whelan opens his first Philharmonia season with a semi-staged production of Handel’s Tolomeo, combining historically informed performance with theatrical elements that sharpen the drama.
Stripped of power and living in exile under an assumed identity, Tolomeo must navigate betrayal, shifting loyalties, and enduring love as political order collapses around him.
Concert Highlights
- This semi-staged production incorporates theatrical direction and movement, intensifying the opera’s dramatic impact.
- Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen takes the title role, leading an exceptional cast in one of Handel’s most emotionally charged scores.
- Stage director James Darrah Black brings a character-driven approach known for clear storytelling and psychological depth.
- Sung in Italian with English supertitles and performed on period instruments, the opera reflects the sound world Handel’s first audiences would have known.
