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The fact that the role of Handel's Cleopatra includes enough music to fill out a CD, and that, combined with the music's demands for immense virtuosity and versatility, makes it a daunting challenge and Natalie Dessay is impressive in her account of these excerpts. Dessay's singing is not entirely consistent throughout the album, recorded in 2010, whether because some arias are simply better suited to her voice than others, or because she was not at her best for some of the recording sessions. While the agility and precision of her coloratura are always intact, in some selections, such as the arias "Tutto può donna vezzosa," and "Venere bella," Dessay's voice sounds lighter than it does on albums from earlier in her career, and even a little breathy in her lower register. In other arias, though, she conveys the remarkable fullness and purity for which she is renowned. "Se pieta di me non senti" is breathtaking; her gleaming tone is practically voluptuous and she spins lines of miraculously velvety smoothness and searing emotional intensity. "Piangerò la sorte mia" and the substitution aria "Per dar vita all'idol mio" are other highlights that showcase Dessay at her most vocally and dramatically dazzling. Mezzo-soprano Sonia Prina as Caesar is a capable partner for Dessay in several recitatives and the duet, "Caro! Bella!" Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d'Astrée, frequent collaborators with Dessay, bring their characteristic finesse, spirited intelligence, and dramatic urgency to the music, and the realizations of the continuo parts are especially inventive. Virgin Classics' sound is exceptionally vivid and present, with good balance.
© TiVo
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Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Georg Friedrich Händel)
Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Sonia Prina, Contralto (Giulio Cesare) - Stephen Wallace, Countertenor (Nireno) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Sonia Prina, Contralto (Giulio Cesare) - Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Sonia Prina, Contralto (Giulio Cesare) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics/Erato release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Natalie Dessay, Soprano (Cleopatra) - Sonia Prina, Contralto (Giulio Cesare) - Le Concert d'Astrée - Emmanuelle Haïm, Conductor - Georg Friedrich Händel, Composer
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company A Warner Classics release, ℗ 2011 Parlophone Records Limited
Album review
The fact that the role of Handel's Cleopatra includes enough music to fill out a CD, and that, combined with the music's demands for immense virtuosity and versatility, makes it a daunting challenge and Natalie Dessay is impressive in her account of these excerpts. Dessay's singing is not entirely consistent throughout the album, recorded in 2010, whether because some arias are simply better suited to her voice than others, or because she was not at her best for some of the recording sessions. While the agility and precision of her coloratura are always intact, in some selections, such as the arias "Tutto può donna vezzosa," and "Venere bella," Dessay's voice sounds lighter than it does on albums from earlier in her career, and even a little breathy in her lower register. In other arias, though, she conveys the remarkable fullness and purity for which she is renowned. "Se pieta di me non senti" is breathtaking; her gleaming tone is practically voluptuous and she spins lines of miraculously velvety smoothness and searing emotional intensity. "Piangerò la sorte mia" and the substitution aria "Per dar vita all'idol mio" are other highlights that showcase Dessay at her most vocally and dramatically dazzling. Mezzo-soprano Sonia Prina as Caesar is a capable partner for Dessay in several recitatives and the duet, "Caro! Bella!" Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d'Astrée, frequent collaborators with Dessay, bring their characteristic finesse, spirited intelligence, and dramatic urgency to the music, and the realizations of the continuo parts are especially inventive. Virgin Classics' sound is exceptionally vivid and present, with good balance.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 19 track(s)
- Total length: 01:05:20
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Natalie Dessay Le Concert d'Astrée Emmanuelle Haïm
- Composer: Georg Friedrich Händel
- Label: Warner Classics
- Genre: Classical Opera Opera Extracts
© 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2011 Erato/Warner Classics, Warner Music UK Ltd. A Warner Music Group Company
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