ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN AS CLEOPATRA

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

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THE OTHER CLEOPATRA: QUEEN OF ARMENIA
IL TIGRANE ARIAS
ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN, SOPRANO
CONSTANTINE ORBELIAN – KAUNAS CITY SYMPHONY
DELOS (DE 3591) RECORDED SEPTEMBER 2019
ARIAS BY JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE (1699-1783), ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741), CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK (1754-1787)

In this intriguing DELOS release the Armenian-Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian explores the story of Cleopatra of Egypt, Queen Consort of King Tigranes II of Armenia in the operatic music of Hasse, Vivaldi and Gluck, all three of whom wrote operas about the Armenian King.

Much of this music is sober and stately and not yet given to the vocal pyrotechnics that Handel (younger than both Hasse and Gluck) gave to the greatest singers of his time. True, both the rival prima donnas Bordoni and Cuzzoni graced the stages of Europe in stagings of works by Hasse, but by the time Gluck began to have his operas mounted in Italy and Austria, Handel’s opera serias were becoming old fashioned and the text-driven French operas, especially those of Rameau were setting different standards for singers.

Isabel Bayrakdarian does a superb job of bringing to life the multi-faceted character of Cleopatra in music that ranges from the poised to the extravagant. The lyrical sound she must have brought to the Mozartian roles she extensively sang during the first years of her career has developed into that of a spinto soprano, complete with an unabashed use of the chest range, so much so that at times she summons the plumy sound of a mezzo-soprano.

Constantine Orbelian authoritatively conducts the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, eliciting a lean sound perfectly suited to the High Baroque style of Hasse and Vivaldi as well as to the transitional Early Classical leanings of the young Gluck.

The project is given scholarly annotations by the soprano in the CD’s accompanying booklet and the overall project – production and engineering – is first class in sound and looks.

Rafael de Acha http://www.RafaelMusicNotes.com

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”