Cleopatra virtuosa
Baroque concert with Cecilia Bartoli
ANTONIO SARTORIO • Sinfonia to act III from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
ANTONIO SARTORIO • Aria of Cleopatra "Quando voglio" from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
ANTONIO SARTORIO • Sinfonia to act II from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
ANTONIO SARTORIO • Aria of Cleopatra "Ho un’ alma che brilla" from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
DANIELE DA CASTROVILLARI • Introduzione to scene XVI act III from the opera La Cleopatra
DANIELE DA CASTROVILLARI • Lamento of Cleopatra "A Dio regni, a Dio scettri" from the opera La Cleopatra
GEORGE F. HANDEL • Sinfonia from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
GEORGE F. HANDEL • Aria of Cleopatra "Venere bella" from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
GEORGE F. HANDEL • Recitative and aria of Cleopatra „Che sento? Oh Dio!“ – „Se pietà di me non senti“ from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
GEORGE F. HANDEL • Sinfonia (Battaglia) and March from Act III from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
GEORGE F. HANDEL • Sinfonia "Il Parnaso" from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
GEORGE F. HANDEL • Aria of Cleopatra "V'adoro pupille" from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
GEORGE F. HANDEL • Aria of Cleopatra "Da tempeste il legno infranto" from the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto
JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE • Sinfonia from the serenata Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra
JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE • Aria of Cleopatra "Morte col fiero aspetto" from the serenata Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra
JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE • Aria of Cleopatra "Un sol tuo sospiro" from the serenata Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra
JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE • Recitative and aria of Cleopatra "Signor, la tua speranza … A Dio trono, impero a Dio" from the serenata Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra
CARL HEINRICH GRAUN • Sinfonia from the opera Cesare e Cleopatra
CARL HEINRICH GRAUN • Aria of Cleopatra "S’avvien che si posi" from the opera Cesare e Cleopatra
CARL HEINRICH GRAUN • Recitative and aria of Cleopatra "Certo è il mio fato" – "Ah, dirti non poss’io" from the opera Cesare e Cleopatra
CARL HEINRICH GRAUN • Aria of Cleopatra "Tra le procelle assorto" from the opera Cesare e Cleopatra
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Cleopatra virtuosa
While the figure of Cleopatra in Handel’s opera Giulio Cesare is undoubtedly among his greatest and most nuanced creations, other German proponents of Italian opera seria also devoted fascinating portraits to this legendary woman, who in this concert is portrayed by Cecilia Bartoli. Johann Adolf Hasse, for example, created a monument of her love for Antonio in one of his serenatas, Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra. Here, the protagonists live through their tragic last hours after escaping from the battle of Actium – Cleopatra leaves the battlefield first, and Marc’Antonio follows her, propelled by love. They are moved by feelings of passion, depression, desperation, love and hope, until they finally choose to commit suicide. This serenata, which bears all the characteristics of baroque virtuoso belcanto, paved the „way to his future happiness” for the 26-year-old composer, as Johann Joachim Quantz reported. On the other hand, Carl Heinrich Graun, music director to King Frederic the Great, also chose Cesare e Cleopatra as an opera subject – focusing again on the scandalous liaison between a married Roman general and an Egyptian queen. This was the work with which the newly built Royal Court Opera “Unter den Linden” in Berlin was ceremoniously inaugurated on December 7, 1742.