A strong cast without a weak link in sight, an inspired director, lavish production and glorious conducting combined to make this perhaps the greatest production of a Handel opera to be staged in our time.

Arguably Handel's best, Julius Caesar is one of the three extraordinary operas that the composer wrote in the space of a year in 1724.

The others are Rodelinda and Tamerlano, both of which have remarkable aspects. But Cesare seems to blend tragedy and comedy, history and drama, in the best proportions, and the score provides well over three hours of incomparable arias, duets and sinfonias.

The producer of this production, David McVicar, took a risk when choosing to stage many of the arias in the style of a Bollywood musical, but it pays off surprisingly well. Movement Director Andrew George has concocted a choreography for Cleopatra's arias, for instance, that combines a sense of moving to the sharp rhythms of some of the music (such as in the sparkling 'Da tempeste il legno infranto') with the intense sensuality of Handel's music (the extraordinary 'V'adoro pupille', sung as a diegetic entertainment to Caesar with stars and moon in the background).

McVicar also updates the political side of the action so that the British are depicted as the invaders of Egypt, complete with pompous martial actions in Caesar's 'Va tacito nascosto'. The sets by Robert Jones blend a vivid modernity with a wave machine portraying the sea in the background. The self-conscious functionality of this effect is an echo of the stagings of Handel's day, when scene changes were made with the house lights up so that audiences could understand and marvel at the way certain effects worked. Barry Emslie has described this mode of production as an almost postmodern 'celebration of the artificiality of its own apparatus', a comment with which McVicar would seem to agree.

The cast is led by Sarah Connolly as Giulio Cesare. Even her mighty portrayals of Handel's trouser roles for ENO in the past are outdone by her performance in this production. The most striking thing about it is her total masculinity: when she walks onto the stage at the beginning, it's easy to forget that she's a woman. Both her physical appearance and her mannerisms are carefully planned so that she can embody this most brave of warriors. And let's not forget her magnificent singing, which is performed at low baroque pitch to further give a sense of the masculine. Whether in the allegory hunting aria (complete with horn calls) 'Va tacito', or in the nonchalant duet with an onstage violinist (the honey-toned Nadja Zwiener) 'Se in fiorito', Connolly sings with a beautiful full tone and well-controlled coloratura.

Yet the star of the show is without doubt Danielle de Niese as Cleopatra. In ravishing good looks, vocal stamina and beauty and acting ability, this is a superlative performance. She carries off the taxing choreographic demands with total conviction, and in the extra DVD feature claims she's having as much fun as the audience. She has some of Handel's greatest arias to sing, and immerses herself into his soundworld with wondrous assurance. The embellishments of the da capo arias are entirely satisfactory to these ears – who cares if they stray from the original line, when they give the voice the opportunity to shine?

Completing an ideal trio of stars, German mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager is at the height of her powers as Sesto. She has a number of revenge arias to sing, such as 'Svegliatevi nel core', and like Connolly she inhabits the role of a man so well that one can almost believe it is a man. Negotiating the running scale passages with ease, and carrying out the murder of Tolomeo with serious brutality, she's perfectly cast in the role.

The other characters are equally vivid. Cornelia, Sesto's mother, is played by Patricia Bardon, singing her two arias that almost bookend the piece with pathos. Nireno is the hilarious countertenor Rachid Ben Abdeslam, whose dancing and singing in 'Chi perde un momento' are thoroughly entertaining. Ex-Cardiff Singer of the World Christopher Maltman furthers his reputation as the ghastly Achilla, and Christophe Dumaux quickly overcomes a tendency to lose his falsetto register in his opening aria, inhabiting the role of Tolomeo with camp humour and cunning at the same time.

Musically outstanding, William Christie's conducting of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is flexible and rigorous, allowing both sumptuous tone and lucid timbre.

Hot on the heels of an outstanding La traviata, Opus Arte is on a roll with this Cesare. The hour-long documentary Entertainment is not a dirty word by Ferenc van Damme gives a more than usually insightful exploration of behind the scenes of this production. I'm not sure why we needed to see Danielle de Niese eating from a mulberry tree in the second, shorter feature, but it does show a different side to the operatic diva.

This is the opera DVD for people that don't like opera, as well as for those that do. It's entertaining, sexy and moving, and beautifully sung. Art doesn't come much better than this.

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