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TRACK LISTING:
1. Carl Heinrich - Graun Cleopatra e Cesare
2. Johann Adolf Hasse - Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra
3. George Frideric Handel - Giulio Cesare in Egitto
4. Johann Mattheson - Cleopatra
More Information
Isabel Bayrakdarian, scored a major success when she appeared as Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, in Handel’s opera Giulio Cesare for the Canadian Opera Company. As one critic observed, “Cleopatra is one of Handel's most superb, and psychologically intricate, creations. The luminous Bayrakdarian has made a wonderful beginning in a role she will surely take to the great stages of the world – at first childishly seductive, then calculating, and ultimately revealing a profound nobility and vulnerability."
Reviews
“Bayrakdarian’s pointed, focused soprano gleams brilliantly in three arias from Carl Heinrich Graun’s Cleopatra e Cesare. Singing boldly, she articulates the notes with a keen attack and technical command. Her voice soars through the ornamented lines in Hasse’s music. The high point in this interesting recital comes in six selections from Mattheson’s Cleopatra.”
– Courier Post
“You easily can hear that this is the work of a phenomenally gifted singer and an extraordinary artist who possesses not only a voice of rare power and agility but who also has the kind of interpretive instincts that separate the truly elite from the merely great.
Bayrakdarian leaves no doubt about her command of the technical details of the most wildly spinning coloratura runs and swirling ornamentation, all the while making the most glorious-toned, pitch-accurate sounds and convincing us that this not-to-be-messed-with Cleopatra is serious when she tells her suitor Arsace why she’s dumping him for Caesar. Bayrakdarian’s mastery of ornamentation is remarkable – and many of these arias are so packed with it that it’s hard to imagine how she manages to fit everything in without losing time or the driving impetus of the line. Wow! This is singing that gives us no choice but to pay attention! The real focus here is Bayrakdarian, who doesn’t disappoint for a second--and if you’ve been following her career (and you should be) you hear yet another series of shining moments in the progress of a wonderful singer on her way to becoming a major star.”
– ClassicsToday
Rating: 5(of 5) “Isabel Bayrakdarian has followed her Juno award-winning Azulão with a recording that should make her international reputation grow even faster. Bayrakdarian reminds us of what a fine singer of simple, moving melodies she is where ease of production and unadorned presentation impress as much as any pyrotechnic display of rococo ornamentation. There isn’t a disappointing moment on this disc.”
– Edmonton Journal
“Isabel Bayrakdarian’s renditions of excerpts from their Italian operas should delight anyone who enjoys baroque vocal display. [The] note-spinning is brilliantly conceived and executed. Bayrakdarian’s interpretations are as dramatically convincing as they are musically distinguished.”
– Ottawa Citizen
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