YMMV / Giulio Cesare in Egitto

• Alternate Character Interpretation: The Values Dissonance heaped over the centuries makes practically every character subject to it.
  • Caesar. Is he a hero who fights for love and justice? Or a cunning politician who fights to secure his rule over Egypt and takes the opportunity to have a fling with the queen? Or a lonely Broken Ace, depressed after Pompey’s murder, who clings to the sweet and charming Cleopatra because she brings some light into his life (Janet Baker’s performance in the ENO recording seems to favor this interpretation)?
  • Cleopatra. Either a compassionate and noble young woman or a clever and cold-blooded schemer who sees people only as possible allies or enemies. In David McVicar’s production, she barely reacts to the news that Ptolemy chopped off someone’s head and only gets alarmed when she learns it was Pompey’s.
  • Sextus. Honorable and brave? Or Ax-Crazy after the murder of his father (his constant foolish Revenge Before Reason plans and his harsh reaction to Achillas’s death seem to point towards it)? Or dejected and disillusioned (David McVicar’s production shows him breaking down after killing Ptolemy)? Or a boy becoming a warrior in his Coming of Age Story arc?
  • Achillas. While hardly anyone doubts his Heel–Face Turn by the end, his behavior throughout the opera can be wildly different in different portrayals. In some stagings, he is unfeeling and brutish with Cornelia all the time, while in others he tries to be affectionate.
  • At one moment, Achillas says with conviction that he saw Caesar already dead. Is it a mistake made because of the Rule of Drama, or is he already realizing the depth of the king’s villainy and lying to him about the enemy’s real strength? Since it happens after Achillas walks in on Ptolemy’s Attempted Rape of Cornelia, it’s quite possible it dawns on him already that Ptolemy deceived him.
  • Nirenus. Is he loyal to Cleopatra or does he only drift to the side that seems to be currently winning?
• Broken Base: Who’s better – the more musically authentic Caesars and Ptolemys sung by mezzos and countertenors or the more realistic ones in terms of plot sung by baritones and basses?
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Some productions imply that the supposed good guys are just as selfish, power-hungry and merciless as the bad guys, making the ending a Full-Circle Revolution. For example, in the 2013 Salzburg production, Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending, while the war rages on.
• Evil Is Cool: Ptolemy is a terrible man, but he has several beautiful arias, and a well-cast countertenor (or, occasionally, mezzo-soprano) can make him sound downright awesome.