Cecilia Bartoli: Sacrificium

Cecilia Bartoli explores the dazzling and often astonishing world of the 18th-century castrati in Sacrificium, filmed in 2009 at the spectacular Reggia di Caserta in southern Italy. Joined by Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico, Bartoli performs virtuoso arias by Porpora, Giacomelli, Araia, Broschi and Handel, written for the great stars of the Neapolitan Baroque and marked by extreme technical demands, emotional intensity and theatrical flair. Olivier Simonnet’s film turns the palace and gardens of Caserta into a theatrical backdrop for one of Bartoli’s most adventurous projects.