Come, See, and Conquer

There are far too many events at the San Francisco Conservatory to mention on SFCV, even if we restricted ourselves to the free ones. But when they do an entire opera for free, there's reason to open a space on your calendar to see it. The performances may not be in the elite professional category, but they're close enough that you won't mind, especially when all you have to pay for is a coffee at intermission.

In this case, the Conservatory Baroque Ensemble and the Voice Department are putting on a fully staged production of Handel's Giulio Cesare, one of his greatest triumphs, and certainly the most popular and longest-established of his operas. Handel's retelling of the meeting between Caesar and Cleopatra boasts several hits, including Cleopatra's sumptuous siren call “V'adoro pupille,” and her lament “Piangerò.”

Caesar doesn't get slighted, and has a slew of great scenes, including his own love song, “Aure, deh, per pietà,” as well as arias that exhibit the other Roman virtues. In fact, there's so much great music in this opera that the hardest part of doing it may be to decide what gets cut. (The full show lasts almost hours.) Performances of this masterpiece are not yet so common that a free one can be ignored.