![]() ![]() Mezzo-soprano Alice Coote made a fiery and rich-voiced Sesto, the Roman nobleman who seeks revenge against Cleopatra’s brother Tolomeo for beheading her brother. The two most consistent performances were in supporting roles. She was at her best in her more melancholy arias, like the haunting “Piangero, la sorte mia,” though even there it was apparent that her top notes no longer come easily. Soprano Natalie Dessay as Cleopatra also was slow to warm up, and seemed uncomfortable with her dance moves in the opening scenes. ![]() This was especially noticeable in his opening arias. But at this stage of his career, his middle register sounds underpowered, and rapid coloratura puts a strain on his breath control. In the title role, countertenor David Daniels has tremendous presence and sings much of his music with eloquence. It’s all somehow weirdly appropriate to an opera written in 1724 that contains one of Handel’s most varied scores and veers constantly from the farce of low comedy to the seriousness of high drama, as Caesar’s romance with Cleopatra is set against military plots and counterplots. Anachronisms abound, with servants wheeling in tea sets, blimps hovering over warships and a pistol shot to dispatch the villain (though all the dead come back to life in time for a happy ending). ![]()
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