Handel’s Baroque opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto unfolds here as a high-stakes drama of power, passion and survival. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s powerful production strips the story to its psychological core, placing political rivalry and a fiery love story within the claustrophobic setting of an underground bunker. Christophe Dumaux delivers a compelling Cesare, while Olga Kulchynska shines as a “lyrical” Cleopatra in her Salzburg debut. With a superb supporting cast, above all Lucile Richardot as Cornelia “with her smouldering mezzo” (BR Klassik) and Federico Fiorio as Sesto, Emmanuelle Haïm conducts Le Concert d’Astrée from the harpsichord, shaping “a perfect whole” (Kurier) of musical brilliance and electrifying theatre.