Cesare e Cleopatra is a dramma per musica, that consists of three acts, by composer Carl Heinrich Graun. The opera uses an Italian-language libretto by Giovan Gualberto Bottarelli.

Performances

It was commissioned by Frederick II of Prussia for the opening of the newly built Königliches Opernhaus (Royal Opera House) in Berlin, and was notably the inaugural performance of the newly formed Berlin State Opera. Although construction of the opera house was not entirely complete, the opera premiered in the new theatre using a German language translation on 7 December, 1742, under the baton of the composer. The production starred soprano Maria Giovanna Gasparini as Cleopatra VII and castrato Paolo Bedeschi as Julius Caesar.

Recordings