Acre to hail Julius Caesar in summer opera festival
Annual event brings New Israeli Opera to northern port city to perform Handel’s 18th-century work
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
The New Israeli Opera returns to Acre for the fourth time this August with Handel’s “Julius Caesar in Egypt,” performed as part of the city’s annual summer opera festival.
A joint venture between the northern port city and the Tourism Ministry, as well as Treasures of the Galilee, a nonprofit organization that highlights the places and events of the Western Galilee, the operatic weekend will take place August 3-5.
“Julius Caesar in Egypt,” composed in 1724 by George Frideric Handel, will be performed by Israeli Opera singers and dancers from the Vertigo dance troupe and choreographed by American choreographer Donald Byrd in his first work for the Israeli Opera.
The opera tells the story of the battle of control for Egypt, and has a connection to Acre, as Julius Caesar visited the ancient port city in the year 47 CE and ended up having a street in the Old City named for him.
The two performances of “Caesar” will take place on Friday and Saturday at 8:30 p.m. (NIS 300 tickets) along with “The Magic Flute,” a family-friendly operatic event translated into Hebrew on August 5, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (NIS 60 tickets).
There are other musical events, including “Products of the Land,” a nod to nostalgia with a performance of Arik Einstein favorites reworked in an operatic manner, on August 4 at 9 p.m. (tickets NIS 140).
Tickets are available at the Israeli Opera website and packages for the festival are available through the Treasures of the Galilee website.
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